May 2023 – Volume 47 • Number 5

Mike Portnoy The Winery Dogs and the Power of III

Mike Portnoy must be the busiest drummer in the business. He is an active touring and recording member of no less than ten different bands, and he does some sideman work. In the 12 years since he left Dream Theater…

Sigtryggur Baldursson: Sugarcube Drumming, Innovative Dialog

Some drummers don’t need an introduction, and some might. Let me introduce everyone to Sigtryggur Baldursson. In the late 70s, 80s and into the early 90s there was some extremely creative pop music being made. Bands like Jellyfish, XTC, Siouxsie…

The Big Drum-Off

The name Rodger Fox may not ring a bell for some readers outside of New Zealand or Los Angeles, but he is very well known by just about everyone in the Land of the Long White Cloud (“Aotearoa,” the Maori…

DW Launches the Alex Gonzalez DW ICON™ Snare

Drum Workshop, Inc. is proud to present the Alex Gonzalez DW ICON™ Snare; a tribute to the legendary drummer of Latin pop icons Maná. Alex Gonzalez and his band, Maná, are one of the biggest pop/rock bands in the world.…

OUT NOW! May 2023 – Volume 47 • Number 5

Modern Drummer is spotlighting certain new recordings that have the drums at the center of their sound. These recordings might be drummer-led, or just include a high-quality, special, or unique drumming and musical performance from the drummer and/or musicians in…

Going Above and Beyond

In Robert Girouard’s excellent interview this month with Ed Sheeran’s drummer Mark Pusey, they talk about “having more skills than you need for the job.” I was extremely happy to see Mark mention this, as it is something that I…

Latin Percussion Launches Tito Puente Signature Timbale and Cowbell Sets

Latin Percussion is proud to launch the limited-edition Tito Puente Signature Timbale and Cowbell sets to mark the centennial of the birth of ‘El Rey del Timbal’. Famed composer, band leader, and percussionist, Tito Puente, had a career that spanned…

Mark Pusey Ed Sheeran’s Rhythmic Conscience

If there was a singular word that could describe Mark Pusey it would be “hungry.” His appetite for drums and those who play them is nothing short of immense. Moreover, his ability to articulate the aspects of contemporary drumming in…

Art Blakey’s Gretsch 1960s Custom Moon Glow Flame kit

Art Blakey was an individualist in every way, including the look of his drum kit. The Gretsch kit shown here features a 14x20 bass drum, 8x12 and 9x13 rack toms, a 16x16 floor tom, and a 5x14 metal snare. The…

Your Sonic Universe Awaits with Evans Hybrid and Sensory Percussion

EVANS Drumheads, maker of the most technologically advanced drumheads on Earth, is thrilled to announce a new partnership with Sunhouse Technologies Inc. Building upon Sunhouse’s foundational Sensory Percussion technology, the joint venture features completely redesigned versions of both the hardware…

The 4 Practice Pockets: #4. Celebrate the Wins

“Each day, and the living of it, has to be a conscious creation in which discipline and order are relieved with some play and pure foolishness.”-May Sarton CELEBRATE, THE FUN PRACTICE To celebrate is to refill your well of enthusiasm,…

Inside Scorpion Percussion

Modern Drummer had a chance to sit down and talk about Scorpion Immortal Series sticks with owner Doug “Smitty” Smith and one of Scorpion’s endorsers Pepe Magaña of the LA-based metal band, Kyng. We talked about the stick business and…

Sonor and Paiste Beauty from the UK

For this month’s Kit of the Month, Modern Drummer brings you London, England’s Arnaldo “Arnie” Rogano’s drum set that he uses with his band Madre Sun. His drums are Sonor, his cymbals are Paiste Rude’s, his heads are Remo, his…

1930-39 Leedy Butterfly Girl Trap Kit with Rolling Console

The year is 1930, the place is Bridgeport, Conn. Composer and drummer Oscar F. Knablin plays this set of drums at the Fox-Poli Theater. How do we know this? Oscar was kind enough to write this information on the inside…

Exercises in African-American Funk “Mangambe”

In our ongoing introduction to Jonathan Joseph’s book Exercises in African American Funk: Mangambe, Bikutsi, and the Shuffle published by Modern Drummer we will include Jonathan’s explanation of a unique African groove, Mangambe. Today we introduce our first African element:…

May 2023 - Volume 47 • Number 5

The Bass Drum Owners Manual: Applying the Moeller Technique to the Bass Drum

This month Modern Drummer will begin to include excerpts from Michael Packer’s essential book on bass drum control and technique The Bass Drum Owners Manual: Applying the Moeller Technique to the Bass Drum. As you will see, this is a…

Flam Studies

In all of our learning, we (hopefully) concentrate of the creative use (and sound) of flams. However, in our desire to play the “perfect” open and fat flam sound, we often ignore the (also unique) sound of “flat flams.” These…

Warren Huart Home Studio Recording, The Complete Guide

Drummers are musicians, and today more musicians are also engineers and producers. But that isn’t always a natural progression. Learning about music production and engineering can be very confusing. There are many different ways to record and mix music, and…

PDP Concept Metal Snare Drums Brushed Aluminum, Copper, and Brass Shells

Pacific Drums and Percussion (PDP) was formed by Drum Workshop (DW) in 1999 to provide a more affordable premium quality brand of drums, pedals, and hardware. PDP features “boutique-inspired, player friendly features, and best-in-class build-quality to more drummers around the…