August 2013 Issue – Volume 38 • Number 8

Rock Perspectives - Double Bass Workout, Part 1

Rock Perspectives Double Bass Workout Part 1: 16th-Note, Sextuplet, and 32nd-Note Fills by Todd Vinciguerra Welcome to the first installment in a series of articles focusing on double bass. In this lesson we’ll explore fill ideas where we’re mixing 16th…

Concepts - The Endorsement Game

Concepts The Endorsement Game Understanding Product Promotion by Jim Riley I've always tried to make myself accessible to my fellow musicians, and questions about endorsements invariably come up. This article is a collection of my thoughts on the topic, which…

Steve Smith on Narada Michael Walden

Steve Smith on Narada Michael Walden by Ilya Stemkovsky Modern Drummer recently popped in on Vital Information drummer and 2013 Pro Panelist Steve Smith to chat about one of his favorite albums, the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Visions of the Emerald Beyond.…

August 2013 Issue – Volume 38 • Number 8

What Do You Know About...Connie Kay

What Do You Know About... Connie Kay Clad in his trademark bow tie and tux, he set the bar for elegant, sensitive swing with the Modern Jazz Quartet, one of the longest-running successes in music history. But did you know…

Michael Miley

Michael Miley by Ken Micallef Rival Sons are on the crest of a wave of bands dead set on reviving the true essence of classic rock. It’s a path not so easily taken in 2013, as the group’s drummer explains…

Strictly Technique - Part 1: Volume and Accent Character

Strictly Technique Part 1: Volume and Accent Character by Chris Prescott Most of us tackled basic rudimental patterns when we first learned to play the drums. For me, these endless combinations were fun to practice, but I soon wondered why…

Zig’s Signature Beats

Zig’s Signature Beats Here are some of Zigaboo Modeliste’s funkiest grooves and fills with the Meters, most of which fall in the cracks between straight and swung feels. by Mike Adamo “Cissy Strut,” The Meters (1969) This is Zigaboo’s most…

Zigaboo Modeliste

Zigaboo Modeliste Story by "Pistol" Pete Kaufmann Photos by Jay Blakesberg How is it that his drumming approach is so unusual yet so fully representative of the breadth of New Orleans’ remarkable rhythmic legacy? In his first-ever Modern Drummer cover…

Jazz Drummer's Workshop - Stick Control Revisited Drumset Applications

by Steve Fidyk This month’s Jazz Drummer’s Workshop features some of my favorite applications of the classic George Lawrence Stone book Stick Control. The exercises utilize the “72 Single Beat Combinations” found on pages 5–7, and they could also be…

Up & Coming - The Summer Set's Jess Bowen

Up & Coming The Summer Set's Jess Bowen This power-pop rocker talks about bringing the hard stuff. by Ilya Stemkovsky Jess Bowen is no stranger to the “boys’ club” mentality that female drummers have dealt with for decades. “I was…

In Memoriam - Robert Zildjian

In Memoriam Robert Zildjian July 14, 1923–March 28, 2013 by Rick Van Horn Robert Zildjian, who died this past March 28 at the age of eighty-nine, was many things. He was an astute and aggressive businessman, a devoted and revered…

Rock 'N' Jazz Clinic - Samba Coordination Builder

12 Independence Exercises Based on Chick Corea’s “Sicily” by Daniel Bédard I remember first hearing Chick Corea’s 1978 recording Friends at my music teacher’s house. This was when my ears got hooked on jazz. I was coming from a background…