Search
Advertisement

September 2020 Issue – Volume 44 • Number 9

The Root Rhythm of Jazz and Beyond The Charleston was a popular dance rhythm during the 1920s that got its name from the popular composition of the same name by pianist/composer James P. Johnson. The syncopated Charleston rhythm is one of the most fundamental figures that makes up the DNA of jazz, as well as many different types of music from around the world. All of the great jazz drummers throughout history utilize the Charleston. Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Billy Higgins, and Elvin Jones, to name just a few, applied it in all sorts of interesting and creative ways. Elvin often phrased this rhythm in 3/4 over a 4/4 meter. In this article on the Charleston rhythm, we explore ways to create interesting comping patterns by shifting the figure to begin on different 8th-note positions within 4/4. I divided the variations into two sets. The first contains the four […]
TO READ THE FULL STORY:

Articles in September 2020

Arturia - AudioFuse 8Pre

A simple, sleek, and super clean-sounding audio interface with enough channels for eight mics. As if becoming a proficient drummer wasn’t hard enough, in today’s technological landscape being able to record yourself well is arguably of equal importance. Objectively speaking,…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020

In the Studio With Brothers Osborne’s Adam Box

Adam Box moved from Meridian, Mississippi, to Nashville in 2010. He has a musical background, having grown up playing drums at church and in his dad’s band. Box is also adept enough on other instruments to mix, arrange, and produce.…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020

Stick Technique Revisited

Part 3: Downstrokes, Taps, and Upstrokes If we used only free strokes, our playing would become pretty dull, since every note would be played at the same stick height and dynamic level. In order to add accents and dynamic contour…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020

Bill Bachman

Bill Bachman is a world-renowned educator with twenty-five years of teaching experience, including more than fourteen years in online education. He specializes in hand technique and rudimental drumming. MD: What came first, providing online content or offering online lessons?  Bill:…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020

18 Drummers to Follow on Instagram

Worldwide pandemic or not, we’re all spending more time online nowadays, and there’s plenty of drumming action happening on the social media platform Instagram, which allows users to upload photos and videos. With a video length restriction of sixty seconds,…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020
Advertisement

Jojo Mayer Style and Analysis Part 1

The iconic drummer Jojo Mayer and his band Nerve are an anomaly within a sea of artists in the electronic dance music scene. However, their collective influences run much deeper than the genre might suggest. With a pedigree in jazz…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020

Paiste - Formula 602

New Additions to a Classic Line In 1959, Paiste debuted the Formula 602 series as its first high-end cymbal line. These models ushered in a level of sonic consistency that has since become a signature of the Swiss company’s engineering.…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020

Inspired Instruction

Five Drum Students Celebrate the Teachers that Mentor Them Our online education issue features interviews with several of the top educators working in online drum instruction today. We thought it would be equally interesting to turn the tables and ask…

Modern Drummer
Aug 28, 2020

What Was Your First Favorite Drum Record?

Vivid by Living Colour. Will Calhoun plays masterfully and with tons of power. It was perfect: playable but loaded with nuance.Scott Sparks Manu Katché on Peter Gabriel’s Secret World Live. I was around five, and it just blew my mind.…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020

Don Lombardi

Drum Workshop founder Don Lombardi launched Drum Channel in 2008, and since then it’s been one of the premier sources of drum education on the Internet. Drum Channel boasts content from some of the top names in drumming history, including…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020

Avenues to Excellence

15 MD Cover Artists Reveal the Big Ideas That Put Them on the Road to Success The abundance of educational material online, as well as great teachers to mold your passion and enthusiasm into technique and musicality, are massively beneficial…

Modern Drummer
Aug 28, 2020

Wood and Weather Drum Shop

Indian Orchard, Massachusetts Joe Barthelette is proof that you don’t need to be in or near a major city to have a successful vintage drum business. Enticed by a drool-inducing Instagram feed and website showcasing the various crown-jewel kits, snares,…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020
Advertisement

The Classic Recordings of Ginger Baker, Part 2: Tilt-a-Whirl

Like the amusement park ride—whose name was pinched for a song by Masters of Reality, one of the many unique projects Ginger Baker involved himself in the post–classic rock era—the variety and exuberance of Ginger’s later output could make your…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020

Istanbul Mehmet, Latin Percussion, Gruv Gear, and more

Istanbul Mehmet Bossa and Crystal Ride Cymbals The Bossa ride has an unlathed top and a fully lathed bottom and is said to have a dark, washy sound and offer clear stick definition. The JB 15" Crystal ride, designed in…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020

5 Fun Lessons to Get Today’s Youth into Drumming

If your child is banging his or her dinner utensils around and smacking pillows with plastic lightsabers, it’s likely time to transition your budding rhythmatist to some drum lessons. The challenge is how to maintain the entertainment factor of bashing…

Modern Drummer
Aug 28, 2020

Remembering Neil Peart

Part 1: “Malignant Narcissism” When it comes to breaking down the drum parts on the instrumental song “Malignant Narcissism” from Rush’s 2007 studio album, Snakes & Arrows, there’s no better place to go than the man who played it, Neil…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020

Jay Rudolph

MD contributor Lia Braswell catches up with her old friend, who recently toured with the much-admired folk-rock act Weyes Blood. Weyes Blood, the alias of singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Natalie Mering, has been soaring through the music scene with her…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020

Bill Rieflin (1960–2020)

Bill Rieflin did more than just adapt his drumming skills to fit musical settings as vastly different as the Revolting Cocks and Robyn Hitchcock. He used those skills to make significant contributions live and in the studio to three incredibly…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020
Advertisement

On the Road to Rockford

This month we present Joseph Ciucci’s Ludwig Mod Orange Club Date set and Acrolite snare. Both were manufactured in December of 1967 and purchased from famed Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, who is a well-known vintage drum enthusiast. “On…

Modern Drummer
Aug 1, 2020

Advertisement