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July 2018 Issue – Volume 42 • Number 7

“I’m an orchestrator,” Ndugu Chancler told me when we spoke for his first Modern Drummer feature, in 1983. “The drums are just the instrument I use to orchestrate and paint the picture.” Chancler, who passed away on February 3 at the age of sixty-five, “orchestrated” not only the music of top jazz artists, he backed pop stars, country legends, funksters, and rock icons alike. He was a man of many hyphens: a producer-composer-arranger-drummer-percussionist-vocalist. He studied the business side of the industry, and started a production company. He raised his cymbals high to set himself apart visually. He played drums on the biggest-selling album of all time. And he spent the last twenty-three years sharing his knowledge in the Popular Music program at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music.
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Articles in July 2018

Tempest - 8x14 Bell Bronze Snare

A massive German-made beast with a big, beefy voice to match.

by Michael Dawson
May 30, 2018

Seether’s John Humphrey

To translate the heavy, hard-hitting drum sounds on modern-rock band Seether’s seventh studio album, Poison the Parish, to the stage, longtime drummer John Humphrey has returned to the brand that he started with as a child. “My first drumset was…

Interview and photos by Sayre Berman
May 30, 2018

Jeff Hamilton live date, Gavin Harrison with Gleb Kolyadin, Kevin Haskins' Bauhaus coffee-table book, and more

RECORDINGS Photo by John Dankwardt Dan Pugach Nonet Plus One Playful throwback jazz nudged beyond nostalgia by its drummer/leader. The primary factor that seems to separate the Dan Pugach Nonet (“nonet” in this context refers to a nine-piece collective) from…

Modern Drummer
May 30, 2018

Soundbrenner - Pulse Metronome

A wearable, vibrating device designed to eliminate the distractions of an audible click.

by Nick Amoroso
May 30, 2018
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Four-Foot Fiend

Mike Eaton, the drummer for the Colorado-based Christian rock band Renewed, assembled this month’s featured set with the goal of minimizing his touring kit’s overall footprint onstage. “I’d always imagined mounting several cymbals and drums using a very minimal amount…

Modern Drummer
May 30, 2018

John McEntire on the Sea and Cake’s Any Day

The multi-instrumentalist and Tortoise drummer ably anchors this Chicago indie-rock group’s outstanding new release.

Article by Ben Meyer | Photo by Andrew Paynter
May 30, 2018

Developing the Weaker Hand

Exercises to Balance Your Technique, Part 1

by Albe Bonacci
May 30, 2018

A Perfect Circle’s Jeff Friedl

Watching and listening to Jeff Friedl play drums is like studying a veteran chess grandmaster. All the moves are deliberate, nothing is about speed or rushing to execute ideas, and there’s a thought-out intelligence to every decision. As the drummer…

Interview by Ilya Stemkovsky | Photos by Melinda Oswandel
May 30, 2018

Adam Levin with X Ambassadors

The group’s founding drummer embraces hybrid roles in the studio and on the road with the alternative pop/rock stars.

Article by Willie Rose | Photo by Graham Fielder
May 30, 2018

Five-Note Bop Groupings

Developing Independence with Odd Phrases

by Joe Bergamini
May 30, 2018

DW - Contemporary Classic Drumset

Deep, dark tones with a boost of modern fidelity.

Article by David Ciauro | Video by Michael Dawson
May 30, 2018
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Drum Wisdom: Susie Ibarra

The highly regarded player/educator, who as usual has a number of fascinating new projects coming to fruition, shares her priorities on and off the bandstand.

Interview by Ken Micallef | Photo by Tony Cenicola
May 30, 2018

The Boys Are Back in Town!

Hi, everyone. It feels as though I was just wishing you a happy New Year and we were all freezing in the cold—especially here in the northeast—and now I’m saying, “Happy summer!” Since we last spoke, I’ve been finishing up…

by Billy Amendola
May 30, 2018

Nashville Drummers Jam 11

Music City’s Finest Pay Tribute to Mr. Big’s Pat Torpey

Story and photos by Sayre Berman
May 30, 2018

Revival Drum Shop

Portland, Oregon

Interview by Patrick Berkery | Photos by Jason Quigley
May 30, 2018

Home Studio Drum Recording with Blair Sinta at ProMixAcademy.com

If you want a dose of reality, answer this question: When was the last time you recorded in a big-time studio with a generous budget and the freedom to experiment with drum sounds to your heart’s desire? The sad truth…

Article by Ilya Stemkovsky | Photos by Kirk Wheeler
May 30, 2018

Ben Koller on the Armed’s Only Love

The constantly engaged metal-drumming madman gets conned into recording one of the year’s most brutally raw albums— with a few surprises.

Article by Willie Rose | Photo by David Robinson
May 30, 2018

Stanley Clarke’s Mike Mitchell

Never Lose That Feeling

Story by Ken Micallef | Photos by Paul La Raia
May 30, 2018
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Drumset Ergonomics - Part 1: An Introduction

Hello, Modern Drummer readers. My name is Brandon Green, and I’m the owner of a muscle system health and fitness studio in Newmarket, Ontario, called Strata Internal Performance. I’m also a drummer. My mission is to help people move better…

by Brandon Green
May 30, 2018

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