Advertisement

July 2018 Issue – Volume 42 • Number 7

TO READ THE FULL STORY:
LOG IN

Digital Access

$4.99 /month or $49.99 /year

SAVE $10 | Yearly Subscription

  • Digital Monthly Magazine
  • 47 Years of Archives (500+ Issues)
  • 40+ Drum Channel

All Access (Print + Digital)

USA $179.99 / year (Billed Annually)

  • Digital Subscription
  • 6 physical copies of Modern Drummer, sent bi-monthly
  • Access to exclusive giveaways and meet and greets
  • Modern Drummer t-shirt / Modern Drummer hat
  • Modern Drummer Masterclass

Articles in July 2018

An Editor's Overview

The Boys Are Back in Town!

Hi, everyone. It feels as though I was just wishing you a happy New Year and we were all freezing in the cold—especially here in the northeast—and now I’m saying, “Happy summer!” Since we last spoke, I’ve been finishing up…

by Billy Amendola
May 30, 2018
Features

Kris Myers of Umphrey's McGee

Toasting its twentieth anniversary this year, Umphrey’s McGee is at the height of its powers, delighting fans with new music, raging shows, and an innovative approach to online outreach. That goes double for its ever-evolving drummer, who brings big beats…

Story by Michael Parillo | Photos by John Fell
May 30, 2018
Features

Drum Wisdom: Susie Ibarra

The highly regarded player/educator, who as usual has a number of fascinating new projects coming to fruition, shares her priorities on and off the bandstand.

Interview by Ken Micallef | Photo by Tony Cenicola
May 30, 2018
Story by Ken Micallef | Photos by Paul La Raia
May 30, 2018
Features

A Perfect Circle’s Jeff Friedl

Watching and listening to Jeff Friedl play drums is like studying a veteran chess grandmaster. All the moves are deliberate, nothing is about speed or rushing to execute ideas, and there’s a thought-out intelligence to every decision. As the drummer…

Interview by Ilya Stemkovsky | Photos by Melinda Oswandel
May 30, 2018
Advertisement
Features

La Luz’s Marian Li-Pino

At the time of this interview, Marian Li-Pino of L.A.-based-via-Seattle psych-surf band La Luz had just returned from finishing their new album, Floating Features, at Dan Auerbach’s Nashville-based Easy Eye Studio. Li-Pino was riding high and excited about the creative…

Story by John Colpitts | Photos by Alex Solca
May 30, 2018
Features

Ben Koller on the Armed’s Only Love

The constantly engaged metal-drumming madman gets conned into recording one of the year’s most brutally raw albums— with a few surprises.

Article by Willie Rose | Photo by David Robinson
May 30, 2018
Education

Must-Know Grooves - The Blues Shuffle

Although the blues is considered an American art form, it’s a genre of music that resonates around the world. With that in mind, if you’re a drummer trying to connect with new musicians, there’s no better opportunity to do so…

by Jim Riley
May 30, 2018
Education

Developing the Weaker Hand

Exercises to Balance Your Technique, Part 1

by Albe Bonacci
May 30, 2018
Education

Five-Note Bop Groupings

Developing Independence with Odd Phrases

by Joe Bergamini
May 30, 2018
Education

Drumset Ergonomics - Part 1: An Introduction

Hello, Modern Drummer readers. My name is Brandon Green, and I’m the owner of a muscle system health and fitness studio in Newmarket, Ontario, called Strata Internal Performance. I’m also a drummer. My mission is to help people move better…

by Brandon Green
May 30, 2018
Equipment

DW - Contemporary Classic Drumset

Deep, dark tones with a boost of modern fidelity.

Article by David Ciauro | Video by Michael Dawson
May 30, 2018
Advertisement
Equipment

Symrna - Neoclassic and Araf Series Cymbals

Modern-sounding yet traditionally handcrafted Turkish instruments.

Article by Christopher Kozar | Video by Michael Dawson
May 30, 2018
Equipment

Tempest - 8x14 Bell Bronze Snare

A massive German-made beast with a big, beefy voice to match.

by Michael Dawson
May 30, 2018
Equipment

Soundbrenner - Pulse Metronome

A wearable, vibrating device designed to eliminate the distractions of an audible click.

by Nick Amoroso
May 30, 2018
Equipment

Seether’s John Humphrey

To translate the heavy, hard-hitting drum sounds on modern-rock band Seether’s seventh studio album, Poison the Parish, to the stage, longtime drummer John Humphrey has returned to the brand that he started with as a child. “My first drumset was…

Interview and photos by Sayre Berman
May 30, 2018
Equipment

New Drum Gear from DW Drums, Paiste, Los Cabos Drumsticks, Spaun, Auralex and More!

Los Cabos Drumsticks Pro Series Line The new Pro Series drumstick line features two artist models. The red hickory David McGraw stick measures .680"x16". The white hickory Lee Stanton stick is .613"x16" and is said to offer more power at…

Modern Drummer
May 30, 2018
Departments

What’s Your Favorite Simon Phillips Performance?

This month we check in with Simon Phillips, the U.K. jazz, fusion, and rock monster and former Toto drummer, who’s on the road in support of his latest solo project, Protocol 4. To find out which performances from the versatile…

Modern Drummer
May 30, 2018
Departments

John McEntire on the Sea and Cake’s Any Day

The multi-instrumentalist and Tortoise drummer ably anchors this Chicago indie-rock group’s outstanding new release.

Article by Ben Meyer | Photo by Andrew Paynter
May 30, 2018
Advertisement
Departments

Adam Levin with X Ambassadors

The group’s founding drummer embraces hybrid roles in the studio and on the road with the alternative pop/rock stars.

Article by Willie Rose | Photo by Graham Fielder
May 30, 2018
Critique

Jeff Hamilton live date, Gavin Harrison with Gleb Kolyadin, Kevin Haskins' Bauhaus coffee-table book, and more

RECORDINGS Photo by John Dankwardt Dan Pugach Nonet Plus One Playful throwback jazz nudged beyond nostalgia by its drummer/leader. The primary factor that seems to separate the Dan Pugach Nonet (“nonet” in this context refers to a nine-piece collective) from…

Modern Drummer
May 30, 2018
Departments

Legendary Blues Drummer Sam Lay Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and More

Sam Lay This past May 9, the Blues Foundation, a Memphis-based nonprofit organization that preserves and celebrates blues heritage, inducted their thirty-ninth class of Blues Hall of Fame members at the Halloran Centre for Performing Arts & Education in Memphis,…

Modern Drummer
May 30, 2018
Departments

Leon “Ndugu” Chancler: 1952-2018

Veteran MD contributor Robin Tolleson remembers the drummer, who made enormous musical contributions across multiple genres and coached scores of players in their own pursuit of greatness.

Article by Robin Tolleson | Photo by Alex Solca
May 30, 2018
Backbeats

Nashville Drummers Jam 11

Music City’s Finest Pay Tribute to Mr. Big’s Pat Torpey

Story and photos by Sayre Berman
May 30, 2018
Interview by Patrick Berkery | Photos by Jason Quigley
May 30, 2018
Departments

Home Studio Drum Recording with Blair Sinta at ProMixAcademy.com

If you want a dose of reality, answer this question: When was the last time you recorded in a big-time studio with a generous budget and the freedom to experiment with drum sounds to your heart’s desire? The sad truth…

Article by Ilya Stemkovsky | Photos by Kirk Wheeler
May 30, 2018
Advertisement

Advertisement