May 2020 Issue – Volume 44 • Number 5

Doc Sweeney Classic Collection Snares

Era-accurate reproductions of legendary solid-wood drums from the early 20th century. Doc Sweeney is one of only a few companies that specializes in steam-bending snares and kits out of premium domestic and exotic wood. We’ve reviewed some of their more…

May 2020 Issue – Volume 44 • Number 5

A Life Changed Forever

Modern Drummer readers immediately shared their heartfelt feelings with us when they heard about the passing of drumming icon Neil Peart. One particular letter stood out for us. We think it speaks for a great many of his fans. Have…

Joshua Humlie of We Three

The drummer’s musical skills are outweighed only by his ambitions, which include exploring a real-time multi-instrumental approach. Anyone familiar with the popular television show America’s Got Talent understands the immense pressure on the contestants. They must perform flawlessly for the…

August—September 1979 Billy Cobham

In high school, I decided to really study my rudiments. I was very weak there. I tried to get a foundation together. Most of the cats I heard didn’t have their chops together. They were playing, swinging, looking pretty, and…

New Releases by Mareike Wiening, Penna, Jerome Jennings, and More

TAKING THE REINS Mareike Wiening Metropolis Paradise Photo by Thomas Kader A very promising start to this German-born drummer’s career as a leader. Mareike Wiening serves as bandleader and composer on record for the first time on Metropolis Paradise, an…

In The Studio with Drummer/Producer Elton Charles

Elton Charles was attending Berklee when, in 2012, he had an opportunity to start working with a top touring act from Nashville. “I can always go back to school,” Charles reasoned, “but the opportunity to tour with a high-level country…

Neil Peart: The Evolution of a Live Rig

Neil Peart played a number of different kits during his forty years of touring with Rush. Here we discuss the major evolutionary changes his kit went through by focusing on the setups he sported during the first three, classic Rush…

Peter Anderson with the Ocean Blue

Drummer and MD contributor Jeff Ryan chats with his recent drumming tour mate, who for the past twenty years has powered one of the most beloved and long-running bands of the alt-pop era.   As the ’80s drew to a…

WFL III Drums

Three-Piece Drumset and Matching Snare Upholding decades-old family traditions while exceeding the tighter tolerances of the modern age. For drummers seeking classic, vintage-style sounds, WFLIII is here to help. More than six decades ago, William F. Ludwig Sr. developed a…

Neil Peart On Record

Rush came to prominence in the mid 1970s and quickly rewrote the rock music rulebook. Marrying the expansive concepts of the great British progressive-rock bands to a decidedly North American hard-rock aesthetic, Rush initially focused on complex song structures and…

Sabian AAX Brilliant Cymbals

AAX Brilliant Thin Crashes and Ride and 14" Medium Hi-Hats Clean, clear, bright, and expressive. Sabian’s AAX series was created especially for drummers playing in modern or mainstream music, in styles ranging from pop to heavy metal. They’re made from…

Remembering Neil

To truly have your own voice on an instrument is one of the greatest achievements a musician can have, and Neil Peart had just that. He also had his own voice as an author and lyricist who was a master…

Gibraltar GSSVR Stealth Side V Rack

Ditch the tripods without caging yourself in. Gibraltar is revered for its extensive catalog of professional-quality and competitively priced pedals, stands, and rack systems. As aesthetic trends have shifted away from extravagant cages, the company has developed more discreet options…

Neil Peart, Writer

It would make sense that Neil Peart’s forays into prose writing would be of a remarkably high standard, not only because he was such a brilliant lyricist, but because he was such an able craftsman. Like his meticulously constructed drum…

Neil Peart on “Malignant Narcissism”

The Professor shares the backstory of how the Snakes & Arrows instrumental cut came to be.   “The opening drum pattern of ‘Malignant Narcissism’ came about in some interesting ways,” said Peart during a 2009 video lesson for Drumchannel.com. “As we…

Neil Peart: The Deep Cuts

Neil Peart has left behind a gigantic body of work that ensures his legacy will live on in perpetuity. In the following pages, we’ll dig into some of the deeper cuts from Neil’s illustrious catalog with Rush.   “Cygnus X-1,”…

In His Image

Role models are a tricky thing. If we’re to make our way through life successfully, it’s immensely helpful to identify people who have figured it all out. But when you reach a certain age, you realize that “figuring it all…

Patrick Hallahan on Vanessa Carlton's Love Is an Art

Photo by Edmund Carlton Patrick Hallahan’s fantastic work on Vanessa Carlton’s latest album, Love Is an Art, isn’t just another entry in an impressive and ever-expanding list of credits outside of his man gig with My Morning Jacket. It’s the…

New Gear From Yamaha, Tama, Promark, Gio, Cympad, and More

Yamaha Steve Gadd Signature Snare Limited to only 200 to be sold in the US, this 5.5x14 drum’s 1.2 mm steel shell exterior and aluminum die-cast hoops are set in black nickel. Additional features include a Steve Gadd signature badge,…