July 2017 Issue – Volume 41 • Number 7
Articles in July 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.…
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.
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.
Playing Melodically - Part 2: Freddie Hubbard’s Solo on “Make It Good”
https://vimeo.com/214234350 Last month we took a jazz melody, Charlie Parker’s “Billie’s Bounce,” and implied its melodic rhythm on the snare. This month we’ll phrase trumpet great Freddie Hubbard’s solo on “Make It Good” from the 1967 Duke Pearson album The…
RTOM - Black Hole Practice System
Snap-on mesh heads that convert an acoustic kit to a low-volume rehearsal set in seconds.
Yuval Lion
Enjoying a long run at New York’s Public Theater, the rock opera Joan of Arc: Into the Fire features a striking young actress/vocalist adorned in chain mail, sixteen male dancer/singers, and a rock band that pumps out David Byrne’s original…
Sounds and Setups
1967 was a year when wild was in. And of the rock bands commanding the world’s attention that year, it didn’t get much wilder than the Who, Cream, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. The same could be said for the drummers who made them go—and the kits on which they did it.
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…
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…
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.…
Vanilla Fudge’s Carmine Appice
If any drummer in the history of classic rock can say he’s seen it all, it’s him. From defining the role of star journeyman player in the ’70s, penning a classic method book, and pioneering the rock-drumming clinic to setting the bar for rock-star excess that’s still referenced today, the drummer known to many simply as “Carmine” has made a career out of standing out from the crowd. It all started fifty years ago, when he powered an explosive young group that grabbed TV audiences by the throat and promptly skyrocketed up the charts….
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’…
Yamaha - DTX760K Electronic Drumset
Expanded sounds, more customization, and a responsive, natural feel.
UFIP - Class and Vibra Series Cymbals
Centrifuge-cast for the purest B20-bronze tone possible.
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…
Pride and Joy
This gorgeously kept example of 1970s drum history comes to us from Orange County, California, drummer Thomas Smith, who originally purchased the Rogers Block-finish setup as a nine-piece kit. “I was very busy in cover bands, traveling throughout California,” Smith…