February 2020 Issue – Volume 44 • Number 2
Articles in February 2020
The Drummers of David Byrne's American Utopia
Percussionist Mauro Refosco has toured regularly with David Byrne since 1994, so he was well accustomed to expecting the unexpected from the iconic rock/pop experimenter. But this time, Byrne’s phone call was different. “At first I literally didn’t understand what…
Steve Gorman’s Hard to Handle
Just three of the Black Crowes’ dozen-plus members lasted with the band from beginning to end, and two of them were brothers Chris and Rich Robinson. The third, drummer Steve Gorman, nearly didn’t survive the sessions for the Crowes’ 1990…
Sabian HHX Complex Series
Dark and rich cymbals for fast, explosive attack and short, sweet sustain. The HH series is Canadian manufacturer Sabian’s original recipe for the classic hand-hammered Turkish cymbal sound, which the company has a direct connection to via founder Robert Zildjian.…
Rhythmic Design with Your Eyes
How to Discover New Ideas via Written Notation, Part 1 We’ve all felt stuck in a creative rut at one time or another. One of my favorite ways to break away from my usual playing habits is to take whatever…
Ilan Rubin on The New Regime’s Heart
The bandleader and freelancer to the stars drops his new album in four stages. As usual, Ilan Rubin plays every instrument on the latest release by his longtime New Regime project. Heart is the first of four EPs that will…
Robin Tolleson
For forty years, the MD writer epitomized the role of drum journalist The drumming world lost one of its finest writers this past June 24, when Robin Tolleson passed away suddenly in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Tolleson, who had been a…
Grace Potter’s Jordan West
Photo by Alex Solca The multitalented musician puts several of her well-honed skills to work on the road with the soulful rock artist. Since leaving her native Fort Wayne, Indiana, for Los Angeles, California, Jordan West has drummed with the…
Improvising with Flams
Three Ways to Develop a Creative Flow with Basic Rudiments Improvising is a spontaneous compositional process. As drummers, we can rely on conceptual techniques like theme and variation to change and develop what we play in the moment. Presented in…
Joel Taylor
His résumé reads like a drummer-fantasy list: Allan Holdsworth, Al Di Meola, Joe Sample and the Crusaders, Banned from Utopia, David Foster, Brian Bromberg, Gloria Estefan, Stu Hamm, Jon Faddis, David Sánchez, Oz Noy, Hendrik Meurkens, movie soundtracks, solo recordings,…
Carter McLean’s Drumset Concepts & Creativity
The Broadway mainstay has written a method book that he refers to as a “multivitamin for your ears, hands, and concentration.” Keith Carne, MD contributor and drummer with the band We Are Scientists, finds an immediate place for the program…
Idles’ Jon Beavis
Photo by Esmé Bones While on a recent tour opening up for the scorching British punk band, A Place to Bury Strangers’ Lia Braswell got to experience the awesome power of the drummer on a nightly basis. Here she reports…
Acoustic vs. Electronic Drums Plus Other Topics
Acoustic vs. Electronic Drums Do you agree with Danny? The raw drum sound is what makes them human. What makes our music human. The tone and touch of the drum is so important! Even in a metal context the drummer’s…
Why Do You Do It?
Among my responsibilities each month at Modern Drummer is writing un-bylined parts of the magazine—captions, feature deks, cover heads, that sort of thing. This month, as I was putting together the contents page, I noticed something interesting: there were no…
New Releases by Bright Dog Red, Leprous, Gold Dime, and More
RECORDINGS Bright Dog Red How’s by You? Jazz that draws on psychedelic, electronic soundscapes, improvised hip-hop, funk, and more. On their second album, the Albany, New York, collective Bright Dog Red presents a seamless blend of seemingly disparate influences, creating…
New Gear From Mair, Bitmi, TRX, Future Sonic, Slug, and More.
Mair Drums Vantage Series Snare Made from carbon fiber, Vantage series snares are available in a Black 3K finish as well as a variety of other colors and textures. Features include a 1.8 mm shell, die-cast hoops, and a Dunnett…
Hawthorne Drum Shop, McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
Of all the drum retailers we’ve profiled, Chris Hawthorne is the first proprietor to volunteer that his store is “kinda dirty.” He’s not inaccurate. Hawthorne’s warehouse spot, located in a nondescript building just across the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, is…
ddrum Dios Maple and Bamboo Snares
Ultra-affordable yet high-quality plant-based options for everyday use. The Dios series was originally ddrum’s maple-only offering. The line has since expanded a bit to include a shell pack and snare with a gorgeous zebrawood veneer and snares made from…
The Power of Silence
The Tasteful Drummer’s Secret Weapon As drummers, we spend so much time developing technique, expanding our musical vocabulary, and obsessing over the components of our drumset. All of that is important and essential for playing the instrument well. But it’s…
Eric Harland — Jazz Swinger, Drum Prophet
The Texas native has played on hundreds of albums, recorded multiple soundtracks, performed with jazz royalty, and led his own incendiary projects. He’s accomplished all of this by hyper-analyzing the most basic of musical ideas, and applying what he’s learned…