February 2024 – Volume 48 • Number 02
On 31st Jan 2024
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Articles in February 2024
Simple Elegance and Class
For this month’s Modern Drummer Kit of the Month, Shawn Messick has sent us pictures of his simple but elegant Gretsch Catalina Maple seven-piece kit, in the Burgundy Fade to Black finish. The Evans hydraulic black chrome heads really look…
The Twain Shall Meet
I started my musical studies at age 5 by taking drum lessons, I was certain that my place in the world would be that of a jazz drummer. Watching television as a child, it was Leonard Bernstein who best captured…
New And Notable February 2024
DW Launches New Expansion Pack for DW Soundworks™ Drum Workshop launches new expansion pack for its premium virtual studio instrument (VST) and drum sample library, DW Soundworks™: True-Cast™ Expansion Pack, featuring the limited edition DW MFG True-Cast 5 x14” Snare…
Melodics - Now for Acoustic Drums
Melodics is a subscription-based software platform designed to help people develop their skills on various musical instruments. Like popular video games such as Rock Band, Melodics incorporates challenges, levels and points to gamify the process of learning and practicing. Melodics…
SE Electronics BL8 Boundary Microphone - Get Your Kicks!
In 2023, SE Electronics introduced their BL8. It is a rugged, small condenser boundary microphone, great for kick drums, cajons, pianos, speech, conferencing, room micing / ambience, stage floor miking and more. For this month’s product close-up, I was provided…
Eric Singer - Prelude to a KISS
Why would the title of an interview with KISS’s Eric Singer draw a title from a classic Duke Ellington composition? Well, I’ll let Eric explain that,“ I have music playing 24/7 in the house, it’s usually the Sinatra station on…
Greg Hutchinson - The Pocket is the Pocket
The music world has been aware of drummer Greg Hutchinson for a long time, through his jazz work with legends like Joe Henderson, Betty Carter, Johnny Griffin, and Michael Brecker. His work with his contemporaries like Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove,…
Sheridan Riley - Always Deft, Driven, and Devoted
Since their 2014 debut, Alvvays have skyrocketed to become one of the most beloved rock bands around. Their excellent 2022 album, Blue Rev cemented their indie rock hero status, and a huge aspect of their satisfying sound is owed to…
Inside Drum Workshop’s DWe
Now that the Drum Workshop DWe kit has been around for a few months, and people are starting to play them, Modern Drummer had some questions that we wanted to ask about possibly the most groundbreaking advancement in modern drumming.…
Cymbal Swap - Try Before You Buy
As a lifelong cymbalholic (and a longtime member of that defunct website) I don’t know why someone hasn’t thought of the idea of Cymbal Swap before now. But thankfully two drummers and cymbal lovers named Justin Netti and James Saullo…
"The Magician" - Transcription by Marc Atkinson
Experience a timeless performance by Lenny White and Return To Forever, true pioneers of fusion music. Highlighted from the album Romantic Warrior, this month’s featured transcription is “The Magician.” Recorded in 1976 and penned by Stanley Clarke, the performance captures…
delete, Delete, DELETE! Masters Of Minimalism
“Half my life is an act of revision.” —John Irving Deciding what to cut away is the playground where the real masters play. The root meaning of the word decision is ‘to cut away’. Knowing what to DELETE refines your…
Endurance Exercise with Fill-Ins
Joe Morello combined the idea of Endurance Studies with his Fill-In studies in his book Master Studies. These are not “drum fills,” instead they are endurance exercises built on the idea of filling in between the primary rhythm of the…
The Bass Drum Owners Manual: Applying the Moeller Technique to the Bass Drum, More Hand and Foot Combinations
This month Modern Drummer will continue to include excerpts from Michael Packer’s essential book on bass drum control and technique The Bass Drum Owners Manual: Applying the Moeller Technique to the Bass Drum. As you will see, this is a…
The Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming - Five to Sixteen Consecutive 16th Notes
In the new and revised edition of The Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming, Bobby includes nine new double bass drumming chapters. The new and expanded edition covers contemporary techniques such as bass drum double strokes, feet-only exercises, binary and ternary…
Understanding the Language of Music - Form and Structure
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 easy to understand way. It…
Stickman - Music and Drumming Inspired Art
As drummers, we inspire other drummers and other musicians, but our creativity and our beats also inspire and entertain many non-musicians. That is (perhaps) the most important part of playing music. That inspiration can manifest in many ways. Therefore, why…
What do Charlie Watts, Simon Phillips, and Thomas Lang All Have in Common?
There’s never been a more unlikely group of drummers corralled to record an album than the curious trio of Charlie Watts, Simon Phillips, and Thomas Lang. In 2009, Austrian producer Peter Viehweger assembled some of LA’s finest players to record…
Out Now - February 2024
Modern Drummer is delighted to spotlight 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…
