November 2020 Issue – Volume 44 • Number 11
Articles in November 2020
Gruv Gear - Stadium and QUIVR Gig Bags
Supreme quality and contemporary design with a multitude of features for the modern touring musician. Many of today’s drummers are not only required to bring acoustic drums, cymbals, hardware, and sticks to the gig, but they also have to cart…
Kevin Parker’s Approach to Tame Impala’s Drum Production
In the new age of music, very few artists, producers, or performers can truly stand out and make an impact with what they do and the emotions they divulge. Packing a powerful psychedelic space-pop sound, Tame Impala has united and…
March 1983
I was with Keith Moon the night before he died. We went to the premiere of a Buddy Holly film. There was a reception and we were talking with Paul McCartney and he said, “I’ve got this idea and I…
Critique
RECORDINGS Theraphosa Transcendence Yet another debut from an international heavy-rock band that slays. A product of Paris’s ever-more-prolific metal scene, Theraphosa named themselves after one of the most “metal” inspirations we’ve seen recently: the largest genus of spider in the…
Maximal Sounds from Minimal Sources
Drummer Ben Bigelow had two of his musical passions in mind when he designed this ultra-modern hybrid setup. “I’m a big fan of jazz and ambient music,” says drummer Ben Bigelow, “and this kit is an attempt to blend the…
Resurrection Drums
Hollywood, Florida Resurrection Drums was founded in 1982. Originally located in a warehouse by the Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Broward County, Florida, the company literally focused on resurrecting quality used drums. In 1983 Resurrection moved to a location in…
Jimmy Cobb 1929–2020
“It just sounded good,” Jimmy Cobb told MD in a 1979 interview. “And it just seemed to get better as it got older.” This is a colossal understatement. The “good” album the humble drummer is referring to is Kind of…
Remembering Neil Peart
Part 3: The Professor’s Improvised Warm-Up Routine When Neil Peart came up with a series of topics to cover for his course on DrumChannel.com, he said he wanted to include his warm-up routine. I expected it to be a series…
Joe Wong
The multimedia renaissance man accesses all the experiences he’s had for his solo debut. MD readers who have seen the name Joe Wong in the credits of Netflix shows like Russian Doll or Master of None may have wondered, is…
Nick D’Virgilio - An Invisible Touch
The prog-drumming vet may have recently scored a sweet new corporate gig, but he hasn’t stopped making music by any means—in fact, he’s cleverly put the two aspects of his life together, in the process making his career troubles disappear.…
Stick Technique Revisited
Part 5: The Moeller Whip Stroke The Moeller whip stroke is named after Sanford “Gus” Moeller, a famous teacher from the early 1900s who became known for teaching a whipping motion used by Civil War drummers. In recent years, “Moeller”…
Identity Crisis…Embraced
“What do you do?” That’s such a common question, and one that’s often asked innocuously whenever I meet someone for the first time. But more and more, I’m having trouble answering as simply as I should. Am I a drummer?…
9 Reasons to Love Narada Michael Walden
One of the most successful record producers of the recent past is also among classic fusion’s most blazing drummers. Parallel with his ’70s career as successful producer and solo R&B artist, Narada Michael Walden was arguably the most emotional fusion…
Zigaboo Modeliste on “Cissy Strut”
The Meters’ Funk Master Shares the Essence to Nailing This Timeless Two-Hand Hi-Hat Groove “‘Cissy Strut’ is a song that was written by Leo Nocentelli, and he was very good at writing rhythms,” said Zigaboo Modeliste in an online course…
Tony Allen
A Tribute to the King of Afrobeat Drumming Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen’s contribution to modern music runs as deep as his groove. As the creator of an entirely new drumming style, his contributions are profound, and his influence has reached…
The Earth Is a Drum
A Grammy-winning, world-traveling producer makes the case for looking beyond technology and academia for rhythmic and musical inspiration. A sage, veteran live-sound engineer in San Francisco used to joke that he could already tell how much a drummer was going…
Barrett Deems
The Self-Proclaimed “World’s Fastest Drummer” This month I’d like to talk about the great Barrett Deems. Barrett wasn’t as much of a household name in the big band world as Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, or Louie Bellson, but he was…
Zildjian, Atlantic Technology, LP, Vidami, Tama and more
Zildjian Planet Z Cymbals Crafted from brass, Planet Z cymbals are said to be bright and cutting, with a more controlled and focused sound. They are available in a 10" splash, a 16" crash, an 18" crash ride, a 20"…
Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker
Though Kevin Parker has handled pretty much every task on Tame Impala’s recordings since the earliest days, he’s always considered himself a drummer first. And getting the drums just so has always been Parker’s main objective even as his processes…
