January 2018 Issue – Volume 42 • Number 1
Articles in January 2018
SJC - Paramount Series Shell Pack
A professional-quality, affordably priced kit designed to exceed nearly any working drummer’s needs.
Drum Design Knowledge, Part 3: The Snare Bed
We need to be experts at our jobs, and knowing our tools is a part of that. I always put together my rig for tours or gigs, and then take suggestions from my tech on how to make the setup…
Chris Cohen
Chris Cohen describes himself as a member of the Portastudio generation. It’s a classification he’s coined to describe musicians, now in their late thirties and early forties, who cut their teeth in production with Tascam’s legendary Porta One tape machine.…
Ibeyi
These dynamic siblings derive much inspiration from their ancestry. But the direction of their art is undeniably full speed ahead.
Malachi DeLorenzo on Langhorne Slim’s Lost at Last, Vol. 1
A drummer and producer talks about the subtle, refined, and contemplated figures and tones that bedeck an indie/folk singer-songwriter’s latest release.
Jon Epcar
Jon Epcar’s master plan didn’t involve drumming on Broadway. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Epcar went to a high school with a strong music program that included graduates like saxophonist Kamasi Washington. So the drummer got the bug and…
“A Little Better All the Time”
This month’s featured kit comes to us from Edward McCarthy of West Springfield, Massachusetts, who recently purchased this vintage 1970s Ludwig set. McCarthy explains that the drums, which were originally covered in a wine-red wrap, had seen better days. But…
The Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins
As any recording artist will tell you, part of the fun of heading into a project with a new producer is not knowing exactly what sonic pathways you’re going to find yourself exploring, or just what the final result is…
Rhythmic Conversions, Part 6: Funk Grooves and the Half-Note Triplet
In this lesson we’ll superimpose a new tempo over an existing pulse using a half-note triplet, and we’ll manipulate the subdivision to create funk grooves in the implied pulse. Be sure to practice these patterns with a metronome and work…
Chad Sexton
Everything about 311 seems epic: their longstanding lineup, their semi-annual concert/celebration, their throngs of dedicated fans—not to mention the grooves of their founding drummer.
Matt Wilson, Stanton Moore, and Brad Dutz Take the Reins
RECORDINGS Entheos Dark Future Embracing a trend that’s become more popular lately, NAVENE KOPERWEIS chose to forgo sample enhancement and heavy quantization on his band’s second full-length release in as many years. Ravenously awaited by Entheos’s quickly expanding fan base,…
Get Good: Listening
As a teenager in high school, I practiced classical piano for two hours a day. I could play really difficult music—as long as it was notated. I ran into trouble when it came to playing music with other people, because…
Hi-Hat Accents - Adding Melody to Your Grooves
https://vimeo.com/243360989 In this lesson we’ll embellish 16th-note grooves with hi-hat accents. In Exercises 1–4, accents are placed on the main hi-hat in the first measure, and in the second measure the right-handed accents are moved to the ride or an…