July 2017 Issue – Volume 41 • Number 7
On 01st Jul 2017
Articles in July 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…
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.
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.…
RTOM - Black Hole Practice System
Snap-on mesh heads that convert an acoustic kit to a low-volume rehearsal set in seconds.
Greg Saunier, Anton Hochheim, Christian Paschall, Shannon Forrest and more!
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…
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…
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…
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…
Yamaha - DTX760K Electronic Drumset
Expanded sounds, more customization, and a responsive, natural feel.
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’…
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…
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….
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…
The Drum Thing
“The most exciting thing,” photographer Deirdre O’Callaghan says, “is to be around passionate people with a drive to master an instrument. It’s truly magical.” That drive and passion come across crystal-clear in the images and words of the ninety-six drummers…
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.
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…
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…
