May 2024 – Volume 48 • Number 05

Out Now May 2024

This month’s Modern Drummer Out Now is special. We are spotlighting some outstanding new and reissue LPs in honor of April’s National Record Store Day 2024. All of you drumming “vinyl heads” pay attention! We are featuring new, reissued, and…

Doc Sweeney FOCUS Series Snares

Future Past….The Clean, Articulate, Sensitive, and the FOCUSED! The Past The 1928 catalogue for the Slingerland Banjo & Drum Company was quite possibly the first “real” catalogue for this “new” drum company. It was chock full of a plethora of…

Duet 8

Ron Spagnardi wrote a terrific book called Snare Drum Duets: 25 Duets for Two Snare Drummers. It offers a selection of 25 challenging duets that range in difficulty from relatively simple to more complex. A wide assortment of time signatures…

Dave Abbruzzese - Gets Back to the Woods

In the critically acclaimed cult television series Twin Peaks, which was based in and around Washington state in the early 90’s, Special Agent Dale Cooper stated, “When two events occur simultaneously pertaining to the same object of inquiry, we must…

The Bass Drum Owners Manual: Mastering the Art of Weight Distribution

Has this ever happened to you? You are listening back to the audio of a track or video you just recorded. You are sure that the performance is clean and exactly what you intended to play. But as you listen,…

SE Electronics SE4100 AND T1 Microphones

Leaner Workhorse Mics at the Right Price Announced in time for NAMM 2024, SE Electronics released their SE4100 and T1 large diaphragm condenser microphones. These new additions to sE’s product line are modeled after the sE4400 and T2 mics and…

Sorry Charlie…

Much like a melodic “ear worm” that works its way into your brain, the running theme of TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube drumming videos has gotten its claws into my consciousness and conscience. The idea of “certainty” is not (for me)…

Getting Started With Open Handed Drumming

You might have seen me play and noticed I do things a little differently. By now, hopefully you know that “different is good,” because there are no rules! The way I play is called open handed drumming, which simply means…

Russ Kunkel - Drumming with The Immediate Family and Lyle Lovett

Russ Kunkel is a true drumming legend. He has spent an entire career drumming for THE most significant singer-songwriters in music history. His drumming on classic recordings like Carole King’s Tapestry, Joni Mitchel’s Blue, James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James, and…

Nic Collins - From Genesis to The Effect

Nic Collins has had quite a start to his drumming career. He began by playing drums in rock bands and performing in clubs around Miami, Florida. Then he landed the gig drumming on Phil Collins’ final tour. He followed that…

Slingerland Radio King Drums - 1938 And 1950 Gene Krupa Super Deluxe Ensembles

The drum set is a little over 100 years old, the modern drum set that we are familiar with today is less than 100 years old.  After the Civil War, the drum set was created out of necessity. Around 1890…

May 2024 – Volume 48 • Number 05

Hayley Brownell’s Olivia Rodrigo Touring Kit

DRUMS: LUDWIG Vistalite Purple Drum set. Main Kit, 14x24 Bass Drum, 9x13 Tom, 16x16 Floor Tom, 16x18 Floor Tom. Along with Ludwig Universal Black Nickel Snare Drum 6.5x14 (Main) and Ludwig Raw Brass 8x14 (Side Snare).  Satellite Kit 14x20 Purple Vistalite Bass Drum…

Rock Locks - Secure Your Tension Rods

Secure Your Tension Rods It’s a common problem that has been plaguing drummers for decades. You’re playing drums and your tension rods dance and micro-spin their way out of tune. It happens to snares and toms alike. If you’re just…

“Under A Glass Moon” Transcription by Marc Atkinson

“Under a Glass Moon” is a progressive metal track by Dream Theater featuring drummer Mike Portnoy. Released in 1992, it’s a standout track from their second studio album, Images and Words. The song highlights Dream Theater’s musical prowess and boasts…

Triplets with Accents

This section of triplets with accents is similar to last month’s lesson of accent studies of eighth notes with accents. Both come from Joe Morello’s outstanding book Master Studies. Again, strive for evenness of sound, paying particular attention to the…

New and Notable May 2024

LP 60th Anniversary Congas, Bongos, Timbales and Cajons, and “Dandy” Rodriguez Bongos Sixty years ago, it began with a simple set of bongos! Martin Cohen, founder of Latin Percussion (LP), fell in love with the infectious nature of Latin-Jazz and…

A Drummers Best Friend, Make the Music Smile

For many years it was said that a drummer’s best friend is the bassist. I will contend that in some musical contexts a drummer’s best friend might (as many other drummers have stated) be the rhythm guitarist. However, let’s not…

Joel Selvin - Drums & Demons, The Tragic Journey of Jim Gordon

Jim Gordon is so much more than the drummer in Eric Clapton’s band, Derek and the Dominos. Jim played drums on the soundtrack to many people’s lives. He had a remarkable studio drumming career that was unfortunately eclipsed by the…

The Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming: 32nd Notes and 32nd Note Triplets

In the new and revised edition of the Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming, Bobby includes nine new double bass drumming chapters. The new and expanded edition covers contemporary techniques such as bass drum double strokes, feet-only exercises, binary and ternary…