July 2021 – Volume 45 • Number 7
On 20th Jul 2021
While the pre-vaccination era of COVID annihilated any chance for musicians to earn revenue from live shows, it also boosted collaborative, home-recording projects by insane degrees. Everyone was quarantined for a time, so anyone with an idea for a tune could trade digital tracks back-and-forth with the entire world. Non-stars with a bit of moxie could even interest big names to contribute to home recordings that, in a pre-COVID world, these renowned players would have never considered. In fact, megastars were often forced to make records at home, too. Large studios were not an option as they were shut down, and most everyone had to depend on doing the best they could without gigantic mixing boards, a collection of expensive microphones, and the expertise of engineering professionals.
In other words, for possibly the first time ever, the “little peeps” had access to much the same level of recording power as the big boys and girls. Crazy!
The downside was you sometimes got tracks to work with that were, um, crap. Not every home-recording musician possesses stellar engineering chops, and for the sake of courtesy and empathy, I won’t share details of some of the abominations I was asked to mix during the long months of lockdown.
Articles in July 2021
Multisensory Perception and Drummers
We have been taught the five basic senses are sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and skin. Anything perceived as outside of these basic receptors has been considered “extra sensory”—falling under E.S.P. or psychic guidelines of…
The Appice Brothers Take to the Airwaves
In one of those sci-fi-esque synergies of parallel dimensions, interviewing Carmine and Vinny Appice about their Hangin’ & Bangin’ livestream show is practically like being in an episode. Carmine’s enthusiastic rat-a-tat delivery is often gleefully interrupted with punctuations and elaborations…
Roland | V-Drums Roundup
Roland knows a thing or two about electronic drums. In the late-’90s, the company’s TD-10 V-Drums were powered by its COSM modeling technology, and, in 2012, their TD-30KV V-Drums featured SuperNATURAL sounds, Behavior Modeling, and upgraded sensing technology. So, it’s…
Flams
Excerpted from Rudimental Jazz The traditional flam is a principal note played from a high position preceded by a grace note played from a low position. The sound of a flam is a thick one ranging from “fa-lam” at the…
The Fine Art Of “Faking”
We all, at some time in our careers, have had to perform in front of an audience without the benefit of a rehearsal or a written part. This can happen for a variety of reasons. You might be asked to…
Introduction to Jazz
Here are a couple of exercises from my Drum Channel course, Introduction to Jazz. There are many different ways to play jazz, just as there are for playing rock, Dixieland, songo, samba, or reggae. One of the things I built…
Jimmy Paxson
The Soul of a Side Musician Point Jimmy Paxson in the direction of a gig, and he’s there taking care of business. Paxson is a fearless player with mega chops who is not afraid to take on any kind of…
Crowded House
Markus Gerhard Branches Out Lake Ridge, Virginia-based drummer Markus Gerhard plays with the band Given Eye, which just dropped its first release, “Soops Hoots,” in May 2021. The band sounds a bit like a ‘90s-indie-rock recast of 10cc—which is pretty…
Jules Radino
Grooving with Blue Öyster Cult Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Jules Radino grew up taking lessons and hanging out at the Long Island Drum Center. I remember it was owned by the Ricci brothers—Dennis and…
NEW GEAR - July 2021
ddrum Studio Class Isolation Headphones Conventional studio headphones aren’t specifically designed to save a drummer’s ears from furious cymbal crashes and hours of snare pounding. While many closed-earcup headphones provide some ear protection, it typically isn’t enough to combat fatigue…
Donn Bennett’s Drum Vault
Remembrances of Neil Peart At some point, every drummer has probably engaged in a debate over “Who is the best drummer of all time?” I ran a drum store for almost 20 years, and I heard it countless times. In…
Harvey Mason
Modern Drummer, July 1981 “Artists generally give me creative freedom. Sometimes, I feel that people are intimidated, and they don’t want to tell me what to play—which is too bad. I want everything. I want it both ways. I want…
Louie Bellson
October-November 1980 At the root of Louie Bellson’s talent lies a wealth of knowledge, perseverance and the hunger for constant improvement. His consistent quest to remain abreast of the times and changes is rewarding to him and his audiences all…
Celebrating Drummers and the MD Community
This month’s issue represents another milestone in Modern Drummer’s storied history: Sheila E. is the Modern Drummer Readers Poll 2021 Hall Of Fame inductee! It’s hard to believe that Sheila is the first woman to be recognized by our readers…
7 Cymbals for Ringing In the Sounds of the Summer
Many years ago, the jazz-guitar teacher who had the misfortune of trying to teach me there was more to the art of guitar than Marc Bolan and Mick Ronson dragged me to a local drum shop to hear his drummer…
Rock/Funk Patterns with Single Paradiddles
Excerpted from Paradiddle Power The following exercises are a study in the use of single paradiddles as rock or funk patterns. Note that the right hand is played on closed hi-hat, while the left hand moves from the hi-hat to…
Sheila E.
Our Newest Hall of Fame Member Defines Purpose and Passion Sheila Escovedo’s journey from growing up in a legendary family of percussionists, to seeing Karen Carpenter playing drums when she was just eight or nine, to performing with her dad…
Gretsch | Keith Carlock and Gergo Borlai Signature Snare Drums
The Gretsch “New for 2021” series currently includes two amazing signature snares from two incredible drummers. The extremely versatile Keith Carlock has played with Toto, Steely Dan, Sting, John Mayer, James Taylor, and others, and after winning the 2008 Modern…
Linn 9000, March 1985
Was it annoyingly cheeky, a boon for open-minded early adopters, or just plain wrong to place an ad for a Linn drum machine—the digital device that was “taking” gigs away from drummers in the ‘80s—in a magazine for drummers? Ultimately,…
