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Drum Miking 101, Part 1: Single-Microphone Setups (Video)
In this series we’ll look at how to mike a drumset, starting with a single microphone and adding one each time until we arrive at a complete close-mike configuration. The idea behind the series is to help you fully understand…
Basics - Radio Beats by Rich Redmond
In this month’s article we’ll take a look at some popular grooves on country radio right now. All of them are variations of what I call “money beats,” fundamental drumset rhythms that have been used on countless popular songs. TO…
Strictly Technique - Consecutive Flams
In part two of this series, we’re going to take out the taps between the flams so that the flams are adjacent. When you do that, the challenge becomes playing the consecutive flams with consistent grace-note placement and sound quality.…
Bebop Pioneer Stan Levey
The great bebop trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie affectionately referred to Stan Levey as the “original original.” The two met in Philadelphia in the early 1940s, a time when many jazz musicians called this city home, including Gillespie, John Coltrane, Philly Joe…
The Commandments of the Half-Time Shuffle by Zoro
Welcome to the final installment of my three-part series on the half-time shuffle. I thought it would be fitting to end with some transcriptions of a handful of popular recordings. Immerse yourself in the music so that the grooves envelop…
Samba Songo
The Afro-Cuban songo rhythm was created in the 1970s by the Cuban band Los Van Van and its drummer/percussionist José Luis Quintana, aka Changuito. After many years of studying and playing Afro-Cuban and Brazilian rhythms myself, and participating in a…
Solid Soloing, Part 2: Changing Note Rates
In this miniseries we’re utilizing my “glue” method to gain freedom and flow while soloing. In the first installment we discussed how to connect two ideas without hesitation, using a specific sticking as a transition. In this article we’re going…
Devin Townsend's Ryan Van Poederooyrn
No one’s ever going to accuse Devin Townsend of being a slacker, and you can be damn sure the metal icon’s collaborators work their fingers to the bone just trying to keep up. That goes double for DT’s go-to drummer,…
This is 40
There are forty-year periods…and there are forty-year periods. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS LOG IN
Neil Peart
For his (record) ninth MD cover-story interview, Rush’s drummer holds a typically fluid and intense discussion of soloing and set lists, the very real differences between his drumming past and present, and the much-speculated topic of his band’s future. TO…
Eddie Knight: A Living Legend of Leedy Lore
When I walked into the South Bend, Indiana, drum studio of veteran drummer/teacher/collector Eddie Knight, I picked up more sensory input than I could process. On the walls were autographed pictures of past guests and former students. While I looked…
The War on Drugs’ Charlie Hall
The War on Drugs hit the ground running after Lost in the Dream was released in March 2014, and never slowed down in 2015. MD caught up with drummer Charlie Hall while the band was performing in Miami. TO READ…
Up & Coming: Bryan Carter
He’s been tearing it up in New York and well beyond with some bona fide legends of jazz. But he knows as much as anyone that the learning never stops. TO READ THE FULL STORY: SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS LOG IN
Endorsements Part 2: Are You Really Ready?
by Russ Miller Last month we started our discussion of product endorsements with the equipment manufacturers. I encourage you to read through that article again to familiarize yourself with some of the terms we’re using this month. We’ve been joined…
