September 2020 Issue – Volume 44 • Number 9
Articles in September 2020
Roland - TD-27KV V-Drums
A top-quality mid-level kit with next-level components. This year Roland introduced two new configurations of electronic drumsets. One is the Acoustic Design, which features full-size wood shells, wrap finishes, and enhanced response for a more authentic playing experience. We’ll cover…
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,…
Kentville Drums
Australia’s Preeminent Instrument Restorer and Kangaroo-Hide Drumhead Producer Vintage drums are revered by drummers, producers, and studio owners all over the world, providing time-tested tones that are often preferred over the sound of modern kits in nearly any musical setting.…
John Dolmayan
The System of a Down drummer and successful comic book publisher has released an album of diverse, reimagined covers as well as an exciting new original comic book with an epic story line. Before the coronavirus lockdown, John Dolmayan was…
Beats and Fills
A Smattering of Favorites from a Few Top Pros This month we’ve gathered a collection of favorite beats and fills from some of the top drummers in the world.Each of these transcriptions was pulled from a Modern Drummer exclusive video…
Mike Johnston
Mike Johnston is a trailblazer in online education, having seen the immense potential within the platform when YouTube first launched in 2005. Today his aesthetic and educational delivery is seen as the benchmark. MD: How long have you been involved…
The Charleston
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…
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…
Odd Groupings on the Offbeats
Alternative Rhythmic Placements for More Adventurous Options If you’ve been working through my articles over the past few years, you’ve been exposed to a good number of odd subdivisions, particularly quintuplets. We almost exclusively start those advanced rhythms on the…
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,…
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…
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…
Dave Weckl
Dave Weckl is one of the most accomplished drummers of his or any generation, having toured and recorded with everyone from Chick Corea to Paul Simon. Inducted in the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2000 and named one of…
Online Education
Online music instruction existed long before the coronavirus came along, but there’s no denying that the pandemic has had a huge effect on the life of the average working musician, who almost overnight saw live playing opportunities nearly evaporate. Hopefully…
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.…
Russ Miller
Russ Miller has been a staple of the Los Angeles studio scene for many years, and he’s recorded with everyone from Ray Charles to the Psychedelic Furs and appeared in house bands for television shows. Miller has created his instructional…
ddrum - Dominion Birch with Ash Veneer Drumset
A gorgeous mid-priced lacquer-finish kit with high-quality features and pro-level tones. Earlier this year, ddrum reintroduced the Dominion series, which is the company’s birch-shell counterpart to the all-maple Dios line. These drums are designed to provide professional-grade sounds and performance…
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…
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…
