October 2020 Issue – Volume 44 • Number 10
Articles in October 2020
Chad Smith’s Three Basic Beats to Infuse with Your Own Thing
You can get ten different people playing on a basic drumset, playing a basic rock beat, and they will all sound different. We each have a signature, and that’s a beautiful thing. It’s not “my way or the highway”—it’s about…
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…
“Getting the Sound”
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,…
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…
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…
Philly Joe Jones
Miles Davis was the only group I gave up New York to go out with. That was in ’54, and it was my greatest experience in the music business.I don’t think I’ll ever be associated with four people like Miles,…
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…
13th Floor Elevators: A Visual History
A deserving tribute to one of rock’s most iconic groups provides an opportunity to delve into the work of two under-considered sticksmen. Few bands have influenced rock ’n’ roll as deeply as the 13th Floor Elevators. They are the kind…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
John Herndon
The drummer and cofounder of the influential Chicago band Tortoise details the gear and methods he used to get “jagged and weird” on his new solo album. John Herndon is best known as a drummer/percussionist in Chicago’s Tortoise, the instrumental…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
