October 2016 Issue – Volume 40 • Number 10

Toto's Shannon Forrest

  Story by Michael Dawson Photos by Chad Crawford The twenty-five-year Nashville session vet has spent his entire professional life in pursuit of total excellence. So when he was offered the chance to man the throne with the pop/rock icons…

Product Close-Up - Index Drums

Product Close-Up Index Drums Forest King Series Wooden Drumheads by Nick Amoroso Earthy percussive sounds for your everyday drumset.   If you’re looking for new percussive sounds for low-volume gigs, then you might appreciate what the Forest King line of…

Great ’80s Drum Performances, Part 1

Great ’80s Drum Performances Part 1: New-Wavers and Classic Rockers by Adam Budofsky The era known as the ’80s, roughly the period between the dawn of punk and rap in the late ’70s and the rise of indie rock and…

Charles Haynes

Charles Haynes Story by Ken Micallef Photos by Paul La Raia   The secrets to this multi-threat’s success? Do the work, and know your worth.   Charles Haynes is a true drumming multi-talent. The forty-year-old Boston resident has toured the…

Product Close-Up - Roland TD-25KV and V-Drums Kits

Product Close-Up Roland TD-25KV and V-Drums Kits Miguel Monroy Exceptional sounds and functions plus more tactile adjustability.   Roland recently made some changes to its V-Drums lineup, including discontinuing the TD-15 series and adding two mid-level kits with the TD-25…

Product Close-Up - Bosphorus 20th Anniversary Series Cymbals

Product Close-Up Bosphorus 20th Anniversary Series Cymbals by Michael Dawson A throwback to the ’60s, with musicality and expressiveness at its core.   Bosphorus, one of the leading cymbal manufacturers in Turkey, is commemorating two decades of operation with the…

Catching Up With…Will Kennedy

Catching Up With... Will Kennedy by Ilya Stemkovsky Feeling good to be right back in the Yellowjackets’ swing of things.   The future was a mystery for Will Kennedy at the turn of the millennium, after he announced that he’d…

Setting Sights: Navene Koperweis

Navene Koperweis by Ben Meyer After taking time away from doing the band thing to focus on his solo electronic project, Navene K, the multi-instrumentalist is relishing the struggle of leading a group again.   Navene Koperweis is used to…

Strictly Technique - Swiss Rudiments

Strictly Technique Swiss Rudiments Part 1: Basel Drumming Basics by Claus Hessler Welcome to the first of a four-part series on Swiss rudiments and Basel drumming. In this lesson I’ll focus on some specialties of the Basel style that aren’t…

Steven Wolf

Steven Wolf Story by Billy Amendola Photos by Paul La Raia The modern-day hit-making machine has all the chops you’d want, grooves like a feel-good metronome, and programs drum parts that make you think, Are those real drums…or is it…

October 2016 Issue – Volume 40 • Number 10

Product Close-Up – Turkish JC Soundscape Series Cymbals

Product Close-Up Turkish JC Soundscape Series Cymbals by Micheal Dawson Esoteric and worldly tones for those exploring the unknown.   The Soundscape series is a collaborative collection designed by U.S.-born/Europe-based drummer/percussionist Jarrod Cagwin and the Turkish cymbal company out of…

Teacher's Forum - Education Through a Different Lens

Drumming Is More Than Doubles and Paradiddles by Martin Urbach As music educators, we have the duty of teaching our students all the technical and rudimentary things that pertain to our particular instruments. But as artists, we have the gift…

Product Close-Up - Cask Drum Craft

Product Close-Up Cask Drum Craft Block- and Segment-Shell Snares by Nick Amoroso Dense, gorgeous drums that sound as good as they look.   The Cask Drum Company is a boutique manufacturer out of Post Falls, Idaho, owned and operated by…

Concepts - It's Time To Retool!

by Russ Miller I came to the realization a few years ago that to maintain success, I have to constantly adjust, retool, forecast, and create new business plans.This is true in any business. People in other industries do it all…

Rock Perspectives - The Notes We Don't Play

Incorporating Rests Into Odd Subdivisions by Aaron Edgar Adding rests to complicated subdivisions can be an intimidating endeavor. But just like when you’re learning how to play a 16th-note rest on beat 1, or an accent on the middle partial…