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October 2020 Issue – Volume 44 • Number 10

Detailed tutorials for recreating classic recordings from a drumming, engineering, and mixing perspective. We first checked in with Hoboken, New Jersey–based session drummer/engineer/online educator Dylan Wissing back in November 2013, when he had just gotten his studio, Triple Colossal Studio, up and running. Over the years, Wissing has recorded drums at his space for independent artists, national commercials, and major labels, including chart-toppers by Drake (“Lord Knows”), Kanye West (“On Sight”), and Eminem (“Arose,” “Detroit Vs. Everybody”). For many of those sessions, Dylan was tasked to deliver spot-on recreations of legendary drum breaks often sampled in hip-hop. Doing so successfully requires not only deft playing skills, but also a keen ear for gear selection, tuning, mic placement, and mixing. Wissing also spent several years producing educational content for top producer/songwriter Ken Lewis’s website audioschoolonline.com. (Dylan has worked with Lewis on many sessions, including drumming on Alicia Keys’ mega-hit single “Girl […]
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Articles in October 2020

What Song Are You Working on Now?

“Metropolis—Part I” by Dream Theater .@ptrlcc “Chemical Warfare” by Slayer .@nickkcuevas “Hemispheres” by Rush . The first section is so tough on the hi-hat.@mconrad332 “Around the World” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers .@_rywill22 “Just like Heaven” by the Cure…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

Gretsch, 64 Audio, Istanbul Mehmet, Latin Percussion, Promuco Percussion, DW

Gretsch Heritage Build Setups USA Custom and Broadkaster drums are now available with a Heritage Build option. This vintage-style look is available in any drum finish and features center-mount, double-ended lugs and extended tension rods of different lengths to suit…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

Nektar’s Ron Howden

The progressive-rock elder statesman has survived life-threatening medical issues to celebrate his iconic band’s fiftieth anniversary with a fine new album. Throughout its five-decades-long lifespan, Nektar has generated a cult following, sending music listeners on mind-bending conceptual sojourns. Likewise, the…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

RECORDINGS

Haken Virus The U.K. prog-rock sextet’s latest album may adhere to a lyrical narrative, but according to drummer RAY HEARNE, they’re still dedicated to evolving their sound. Embracing the mystery of their curious Cockroach King character, Haken’s new release, Virus…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

Remembering Neil Peart

Part 2: “De Slagwerker” Drum Solo Neil and I often talked about improvisation. He told me why his solo in “De Slagwerker” was so important to him. What follows are some of Neil’s own words, taken from his Drum Channel…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020
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Rudy Royston

His new solo album, PaNOptic, gives listeners—especially drummers—the opportunity to commune with the mind, heart, and soul of Rudy Royston, perhaps more fully than ever before. Modern Drummer has often praised the marvelous first-call jazz drummer Rudy Royston for meeting…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

Meat ’n’ Potatoes—With Some Spice

This month’s KOTM is a hybrid rig that the owner uses on semi-acoustic shows with his rock band Floater. The “groovy meat ’n’ potatoes” of Portland, Oregon–based drummer Mark Powers’ set consists of a vintage Yamaha bass drum, a new…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

Bill Stewart

Striving for Clarity His appearance on the new John Scofield album marks thirty years of one of modern jazz’s great partnerships. But of course that’s only part of what he’s been up to lately. When Bill Stewart made his first…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

Noble & Cooley

6x14 Copper and 4.75x14 Painted Alloy Classic Snares Premium metal drums that provide maximum impact withoutsacrificing versatility or sensitivity. The Massachusetts-based Noble & Cooley drum company has lineage that goes back as far as 1854, when Silas Noble and James…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

Sugar Percussion Snare Workshop

Transforming Raw Planks to “Perfect” Circles It all started with a few innocuous text messages: “How would you like to attend one of my snare classes and maybe write a little article about it?” asked Jefferson Shallenberger, founder and master…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

Stick Technique Revisited

Part 4: Alley-Oop The alley-oop technique is what I call a wrist/finger combination used for playing double strokes (diddles) and triple strokes. While it can be likened to the push/pull technique, which is a wrist stroke followed by a finger…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

Covet’s Forrest Rice

The drummer, who’s honed his skills with a number of math-rock groups, brings ever more sophistication and fire on the new Covet record, Technicolor. MD interviews him and also chats with the band’s compelling guitarist, Yvette Young, to learn about…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020
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Zildjian - I Family Cymbals

A modernized approach to entry-level bronze. Released earlier this year, Zildjian’s new I Family of cymbals was designed to provide bright and expressive sounds at ultra-affordable prices. These traditionally finished B8 bronze additions replace the discontinued ZBT series and comprise…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

Amy Aileen Wood

The drummer played an outsized part in bringing one of the most anticipated and well-received albums of the year to fruition. Amy Aileen Wood is a comfortable conversationalist, modest and engaging even when she downplays her immense skill as a…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

Samba Funk

Modern Fusion Beats Based on Traditional Brazilian Rhythms Hi, everybody! It’s a pleasure to be back writing for Modern Drummer and sharing some of my Brazilian culture with you. This time I am talking about my application of samba funk…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

Beat Displacements

Exercises for Internalizing 16th-Note Permutations Displacement is a beat-editing tool that can make a groove sound glitchy. This is achieved by shifting the groove in such a way that what was originally played on beat 1 is now landing somewhere…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

Deep Purple’s Ian Paice

Of all the remarkable rock drummers to have originated in the late 1960s/early 1970s, none was more astonishing than Ian Paice. If John Bonham was the zeppelin, Carl Palmer the tank, and Nick Mason the perpetual clock, Ian Paice was…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

The Next Best Thing

In his cover story this month, Chad Smith says, “It’s great to play in a room and record yourself. But…to me, to truly be playing music you have to be playing with other people. That’s the fun part, the human…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

The Great Jazz Drummers

Sidney “Big Sid” Catlett Though Sidney “Big Sid” Catlett came out of the swing era, he is best remembered for a drumming style that had a marked influence on the bop drummers of the 1940s. Catlett bridged the gap between…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020
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Iúri Oliveira

The Portuguese percussionist has made an art out of creating unique hybrid sets for each act he supports—but sometimes a lone shaker is all he really needs. During a recent phone conversation, Portuguese percussionist and drummer Iúri Oliveira was a…

Modern Drummer
Sep 1, 2020

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