Search
Advertisement

July 2017 Issue – Volume 41 • Number 7

Out Now Greg Saunier on Big Walnuts Yonder’s Big Walnuts Yonder On its self-titled debut, released this past May 5, the indie-rock collective Big Walnuts Yonder fuses wild time shifts, explosive punk tones, and unhinged improvisation on ten electrified, cohesive tracks. The veteran group, comprising bassist and vocalist Mike Watt (Minutemen, the Stooges), guitarist Nels Cline (Wilco, Nels Cline Singers), guitarist and vocalist Nick Reinhart (Tera Melos), and drummer Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), spent three days recording in 2014 after extensive discussions. “We’d been planning this meet-up for years,” Saunier explains. “So once we were finally all in the same room, it was just relentless, frantic energy.” The group loaded its debut with heaps of frenetic chops, free-jazz-influenced ventures, and sharp, daring moments, including a jarring yet perfectly executed triplet metric modulation that opens the album. “I think shifting to a tempo related to the triplet can feel so cool and […]
TO READ THE FULL STORY:

Articles in July 2017

The Doors’ John Densmore

Tapping Into Infinity

Story by Adam Budofsky | Photos by Alex Solca
May 31, 2017

Awolnation’s Isaac Carpenter

“When we were rehearsing for the latest album,” says modern pop group Awolnation’s drummer, Isaac Carpenter, “Masters of Maple owner Sahir Hanif brought his bell brass snare, and it seemed like our band sounded twenty-five-percent better. You can hit it…

Sayre Berman
May 31, 2017

1967 Rock Drumming

The seeds were sown in 1966. While jazz had dom-inated the attention of progressive music fans the previous decade, rock ’n’ roll was now the place where the real avant-garde activity was going down. The Beatles’ Revolver, the Beach Boys’…

by Adam Budofsky
May 31, 2017

Steve Smith, Peter Erskine, and Gerry Gibbs take the reins, Def Leppard Live CD/DVD, and more

RECORDINGS Taking the Reins Gerry Gibbs & Thrasher People Weather or Not Whatever the musical source, this drummer unfailingly makes it his own. On his previous disc, Live in Studio, drummer/composer Gerry Gibbs transformed a selection of “elevator music” warhorses…

Modern Drummer
May 31, 2017

Triplet Fills - Swinging Your Phrases

https://vimeo.com/218509663 Younger drummers sometimes struggle with triplet phrases, as there are few styles of popular music today that employ triplets as a basis for the feel. However, we have to be ready for these musical situations when they arise. Older…

Rich Redmond
May 31, 2017
Advertisement

1,000 Ways to Practice a Single Page - Part 5: Challenging Rudimental Approaches

https://vimeo.com/219135230 The longer I play the drums, the more I appreciate and value the time I can spend on only a snare or pad. Let’s dive into a few concepts to improve our overall technique. Here’s the rhythm we’ll be…

Libor Hadrava
May 31, 2017

Deep Purple’s Ian Paice

On More…or Less? You do the job that is necessary for the track in front of you. The more years I have under my belt playing, the more I realize that less is more. If you don’t need to play…

Interview by Mike Haid
May 31, 2017

Drum Center of Portsmouth

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Interview by Patrick Berkery
May 31, 2017

Favorite 1960s Drum Tracks?

As we were taking a look back at some of the most iconic drummers and performances of 1967 for this month’s cover feature, we wanted to find out which tracks our readers and social media followers felt marked the greatest…

Reader Responses
May 31, 2017

UFIP - Class and Vibra Series Cymbals

Centrifuge-cast for the purest B20-bronze tone possible.

Michael Dawson
May 31, 2017

1938-41 Slingerland Hollywood Boulevard Outfit

Most of today’s drumkits include at least one rack tom, a floor tom, a hi-hat, and a ride cymbal. But back in 1938, renowned American drum manufacturer Slingerland’s most popular setup, the Hollywood Boulevard Outfit, came only with a bass…

Harry Cangany
May 31, 2017

Swinging London

THE ZOMBIES and THE MOODY BLUES might have originated in St. Albans and Birmingham, respectively, but few groups more fully captured the urbane and artsy edge of the British Invasion’s London HQ—even if one band was on its way up and the other on its way out.

by Ilya Stemkovsky and Adam Budofsky
May 31, 2017
Advertisement

Swing Interpretations - Modern Groove Applications

There’s an interesting relationship between two-note (binary) and three-note (ternary) subdivisions that can help you develop better vocabulary and feel on the drumset. To understand this relationship, play an 8th-note triplet with your right hand while playing a straight 8th-note…

Stephane Chamberland
May 31, 2017

RTOM - Black Hole Practice System

Snap-on mesh heads that convert an acoustic kit to a low-volume rehearsal set in seconds.

Michael Dawson
May 31, 2017

A New Perspective - Displacing Three-Over-Four Polyrhythms

https://vimeo.com/219138001 A three-over-four polyrhythm is comprised of sets of three equally spaced notes and four equally spaced notes that occupy the same timeframe. Typically both sides of the polyrhythm start together on the same note and utilize the same subdivision.…

Aaron Edgar
May 31, 2017

1967, the Summer of Love

Happy summer, everyone! Putting together this special issue has been a lot of work, but just as much fun. I was ten years old in 1967. Rolling Stone magazine debuted that year, and I’d just gotten my first “real” drumkit.…

Billy Amendola
May 31, 2017

Spaun 20th Anniversary Kit, PDP Daru Jones New Yorker Kit, TRX Cymbals and More!

TRX Special Edition AX Cymbals The new Special Edition AX cymbals feature a bright, powerful sound that is recommended for contemporary rock, pop, Latin, and R&B. Made from handcrafted, hand-hammered B20 bronze, the brighter tone of the new AX models…

Modern Drummer
May 31, 2017

On Ringo Starr

The Shock of the New

by Billy Amendola
May 31, 2017
Advertisement

Remo - Classic Fit and P3 Felt Tone Drumheads

No more struggling to fit skins on oversized vintage snare and tom shells or wrestling with testy felt strips to achieve a classic fluffy/punchy kick tone.

Michael Dawson
May 31, 2017

Advertisement