April 2017 Issue – Volume 41 • Number 4

Tama - Star Single Tom Stand and Classic Stand

Product Close-Up Tama Star Single Tom Stand and Classic Stand Ditch the snare basket and streamline your setup. Tama is not only one of the world’s premier drum makers, but it also offers some of the most stable, durable, and…

Tycoon - Hex-Jam Shakers, Udukere, and Small Fiberglass Shekere

Product Close-Up Tycoon Hex-Jam Shakers, Udukere, and Small Fiberglass Shekere Handheld gems from the world’s sole percussion-only manufacturer. Bangkok-based Tycoon has been making top-notch percussion instruments since 1983. Everything it produces is manufactured in its own factory, which allows the…

What Do You Know About...Mel Brown?

Brown in the '70s What Do You Know About...? Mel Brown Portland, Oregon, gave a young child the gift of music. The kid took that gift with him to Detroit, and proceeded to elevate the music of some of the…

Provenance - 6x14 Jaguar XJS Snare

https://vimeo.com/155026333 Product Close-Up Provenance 6x14 Jaguar XJS Snare A one-of-a-kind drum cast from the inlet manifolds of a 1975 racecar. English company Provenance has carved a unique niche in the collectors market, offering high-quality snare drums built out of reclaimed…

Bebop Syncopation - Part 1: Max Roach and Art Blakey

Jazz Drummer's Workshop Bebop Syncopation Part 1: Max Roach and Art Blakey by Mike Alfieri Ted Reed’s Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer is considered a timeless book by many leading drummers and educators. One page alone can…

Dale Crover

Features Dale Crover The latest project from the drummer and his Melvins partner, Buzz Osborne, is hot enough to earn its own band name: Crystal Fairy. When the Melvins toured with Le Butcherettes in 2015, they’d invite the group’s vocalist,…

Stickings That Rock - Part2: Exploring an Additional Hand Pattern

https://vimeo.com/204011142 Basics Stickings That Rock Part2: Exploring an Additional Hand Pattern by Rich Redmond In this lesson we’ll focus on another sticking that I acquired while working through George Lawrence Stone’s classic book Stick Control. The rhythm in the right…

Matt Chamberlain

Features Matt Chamberlain “Content” is not a word that exists in this perennial MD favorite’s lexicon, who balances his day job as a top studio drummer with chasing the muse with creative artists like Brian Haas and Bill Frisell, as…

Kit of the Month - The Dream Police Kit

Kit of the Month The Dream Police Kit This vintage gold sparkle kit comes to us from Minnetonka, Minnesota, reader Rob Gilboe, who explains that the set was custom-built by drum tech Paul Jamieson and manufacturer Patrick Foley for former…

Dave Matthews Band's Carter Beauford

https://vimeo.com/180758621   Interview, Photos and Video by Miguel Monroy “I tried to assemble a kit that would fit with what we were doing musically,” says Carter Beauford. “Everyone in the Dave Matthews Band comes from a different musical background, and…

Istanbul Mehmet - X-Ray Series Cymbals

https://vimeo.com/204013448 Product Close-Up Istanbul Mehmet X-Ray Series Cymbals Dirty, trashy sounds from one of Turkey’s finest. The Istanbul Mehmet brand is the brainchild of Mehmet Tamdeger, a legend in the cymbal-making industry who honed his craft in the 1950s while…

Billy Thomas - The Time Jumper

Features Billy Thomas The Time Jumper Seeing as he’s got a recording and touring résumé as long as your arm, you’d think the longtime Vince Gill sidekick would have done pretty much everything there is to do as a first-call…

BØRNS’ Kristen Gleeson-Prata

Features Kristen Gleeson-Prata With so many different paths that might lead to a full-time drumming gig today, it could seem daunting for aspiring professional players to choose the best road to take. The drummer for the indie/psychedelic pop songwriter BØRNS…

April 2017 Issue – Volume 41 • Number 4

"The Brain Dance" - Matt Garstka's Quintuplet Groove

https://vimeo.com/204011799 Style and Analysis by Austin Burcham Few drummers generate the sheer amount of excitement and enthusiasm within the drum community as Matt Garstka. Whether it’s through his incredible display of solo chops or his mind-bending compositions with Animals as…

An Editor's Overview - Follow Your Heart

by Adam Budofsky There are multiple reasons we go down particular paths of drumming education. Our first teacher introduces us to Stick Control, and we start getting our hands together. We hear “Achilles Last Stand,” and John Bonham’s right foot…

Dixon - Little Roomer Drumset

https://vimeo.com/207188802 Product Close-Up Dixon Little Roomer Drumset A portable, on-the-go option for gigs and at-home practice. Dixon is a full-line drum and hardware brand offering a range of affordable- to professional-grade drumsets, classic and modern snares, and innovative and reliable…

Groove Construction - Part 11: Perceiving the Click as Triplets

https://vimeo.com/207833962 Rock 'N' Jazz Clinic Groove Construction Part 11: Perceiving the Click as Triplets by Jost Nickel In this ear-training workshop, we’ll work on hearing a metronome on different partials of 8th-note triplets. Working on these exercises will improve your…

Sean Noonan

Features Sean Noonan Independence might be the ruling concept of this drummer/leader’s career. It defines a common relationship not only among his hands, feet, and voice, but between his art and almost everything else in drumland. In performance at Joe’s…

Matt Garstka

The Soul Machine