April 2023 – Volume 47 • Number 4
On 31st Mar 2023
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Articles in April 2023
Bryan Hitt’s Ludwig Epic Series REO Speedwagon 2009 Tour Kit
The Ludwig Epic kit shown here was used by Brian Hitt on REO Speedwagon’s 2009 Common Ground Tour, and it also appeared in Ludwig drum ads. It’s a custom kit that starts with two 16x22 bass drums, to which additional…
OUT NOW! April 2023 – Volume 47 • Number 4
Modern Drummer is spotlighting certain new recordings that have the drums at the center of their sound. These recordings might be drummer-led, or just include a high-quality, special, or unique drumming and musical performance from the drummer and/or musicians in…
Tommy Aldridge’s 1977 Sonor Phonic, Pat Travers Band Drum Set
It’s no wonder that Tommy Aldridge is a rock drumming legend. As early as 1972 he set a new standard for hard rock drumming. His pioneering double bass drumming, plus his unique combination of power, precision, energy, and visual excitement,…
Understanding the Language of Music A Drummer’s Guide to Theory and Harmony Pt II
Modern Drummer founder Ron Spagnardi wrote an excellent book called Understanding the Language of Music, a Drummer’s Guide to Theory and Harmony. This book spells out the basics of theory and harmony in a very organized and easy to understand…
The Stone Killer Part 3
Last month we included the second part of Joe Morello’s “Stone Killer” that was inspired by George Lawrence Stone’s “Stone Killer” exercise. These exercises originally appeared in Joe Morello’s book Master Studies. Originally George only wrote out the first four…
Half-Time Shuffle-Funk Exercises in African-American Funk
This month, we move the backbeat of the shuffle groove over to beat three. What this does is transform the shuffle into a half-time, triplet-based funk groove, which we’ll call “shuffle funk.” The Purdie shuffle made famous by the legendary…
The Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming Four Consecutive 16th Notes
Bobby Rondinelli and Michael Lauren wrote The Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming. It takes a slightly different approach from our ongoing studies from the Joe Franco book on double bass drumming. This month’s excerpt develops your ability to create warm-ups,…
The 4 Practice Pockets: #3. Push the EDGES: The Blue Ocean (Great Unknown) of Practice.
Venture into the blue ocean (great unknown,) by doing something you don’t know how to do… YET! I’ve never met a drummer that didn’t want to learn in the “Matrix style.” In the hero’s journey movie The Matrix, Neo plugs…
Double Bass Drumming Broken Bass Drum Patterns
To conclude Modern Drummer’s excerpts from Joe Franco’s groundbreaking book Double Bass Drumming, this month we will include Joe’s concepts of playing fills and solo ideas with broken bass drum patterns. These are very cool sounds, and can be used…
John Sparrow of Violent Femmes
Expect the Unexpected After spending 18 years as the Violent Femmes percussionist, John Sparrow has been playing drums in the band for a while now. But what is the musical training ground for playing drums in one of the most…
Play What You Love: A Look Inside the Craftsmanship of the A&F Drum Co.
Simple design, practical application, and brilliant sound, are the three pillars that stand as the foundation for the somewhat newly created (but by no means unfamiliar) A&F Drum Company. There are so many adjectives that come to mind when I…
Renaissance Woman: Tammy Glover
I enjoy talking to people like Tammy Glover. She is a successful drummer, songwriter, and a muti-instrumentalist. Tammy was the drummer in the celebrated band Sparks for 14 years, she just wrote a musical called Wendy, My Darling, and has…
Grammy Winner Terri Lyne Carrington
Everything is About Breaking Habits Terri Lyne Carrington is only the second drummer-bandleader to win a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group… and she has done it twice. The first was Art Blakey. Her first win was…
For Phil Ehart In Kansas, It’s Always About the Melody
After 50 years of success and creating some of the most popular songs in rock history, Kansas and drummer Phil Ehart are sounding incredible! As further proof of their continued popularity, Inside Out Records (one of the leading progressive rock…
Roland PM-100 Monitor Electronic Drum Amplification
As we have already tested Roland’s new VMH-D1 headphones this month, I thought it would be fitting to examine one of their amplified monitors for situations where amplifying your electronic drum set is required. Roland has provided us with the…
Los Cabos 5A Drumsticks Quality Sticks, Different Woods
Amidst the sea of drumstick offerings by brands vying for drummers’ attention, it’s always a treat to come across quality products from a company that deserves their seat at the table. Such is the case with Los Cabos, a Canadian…
Roland VMH-D1 Headphones Answering The Call For Electronic Drums
In February, Roland introduced the VMH-D1 V-Drums Headphones, developed in collaboration with the popular headphone brand V-MODA. In their press release they describe the product as a complete personal monitoring solution purpose-built for the electronic drumming experience. They mention a…
TRX’s New Online Platform Lets Drummers Custom-Design Their Own Cymbals.
To better meet the wants and needs of today’s players, the new Custom Cymbal builder on the TRX Cymbals website has been developed to give every drummer the opportunity to design their own cymbals and have them made to order…
PDP Extends its Concept™ Select and Concept™ Series Snare Range
Pacific Drums and Percussion announces the addition of five new metal snare drums extending its PDP Concept™ Select and Concept™ Series Snares in a range of sizes and metals. New to the range of its flagship Concept™ Select Snares are…
Balloons in the Sky
You know that feeling when you’re playing a piece of music and you’re somehow disconnected? What you’re playing is not wrong, but it’s not right either. Something is missing. What? Who? The answer is you! YOU’RE missing. And sometimes, you…
Drake’s Avengers kit
Cassie Birchmeier has submitted a cool little kit, and a nice story for Modern Drummer’s April Kit of the Month. She writes, “My son, Drake, has the coolest kit around. He is seven years old, and we bought him a…
Allan, Chick, Edward, Jeff, and Wayne
One of my favorite sayings is “great drumming lives within music” or simply “music contains drumming (and hopefully Drumming Contains Music.)” In the last few years many of my favorite musicians have died. Throughout their careers these musicians have invited…
