June 2023 – Volume 47 • Number 6

The Groove of Sarah Jones

For Sarah Jones, playing drums and grooving is a lifelong commitment. Her most recent gig has her rubbing shoulders with music royalty — whether it’s working out vocal parts with Stevie Nicks for a special version of “The Chain,” grooving…

beyerdynamic Reimagines its Classic M Series Microphones

beyerdynamic - the preferred audio brand for live music and studio professionals globally - is unveiling a redesign of its storied M Series mics at NAMM 2023. The iconic M Series, which has recorded Jimi Hendrix’s explosive guitar riffs and…

Stop Skipping Steps!

Many people never realize their life through rhythm by unknowingly skipping steps. I get it, this is how I started too! I was eager to get right to bashing out the joyful roar I was hearing from my drumming heroes.…

Understanding the Language of Music Key Signatures and Scales

Modern Drummer founder Ron Spagnardi wrote a very educational book called Understanding the Language of Music, a Drummer’s Guide to Theory and Harmony. This book presents the basics of theory and harmony in a very organized and easy to understand…

Latin Percussion Launch Panderos De Plena Folkloric Puerto Rican Drums

Latin Percussion is pleased to present its new Panderos De Plena, a collection of handheld drums to honor the rhythmic heritage and culture Puerto Rico. This further expands the brands extensive range of professional world and ethnic percussion instruments. Latin…

Tone Wings Add Some Focus to Your Drum Tone

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I first saw Tone Wings by Liquid Sound technologies. It’s not your every-day drum product. At first glance, you might think they fell off a piece of expensive furniture. However, garnering my…

Taurus Lovely’s “Crown of Thorns” kit

Taurus Lovely is the touring drummer for the Tina Turner Broadway show entitled Tina. For Modern Drummer’s Kit of the Month, Taurus has brought us his Treehouse custom “Crown of Thorns” drum kit. It is an all-Maple shell kit with…

OUT NOW! New Recordings in the June 2023 Issue

Modern Drummer is spotlighting certain new recordings that have the drums at the center of their sound. These recordings might be drummer-led, or just include a high-quality, special, or unique drumming and musical performance from the drummer and/or musicians in…

Outlaw Drums Sound Control Technology Snare A Clean Sounding, Extremely Stable, Stave Constructed Snare Drum

Outlaw Drums are known as high quality stave construction drums that are built from centuries-old wood. They ooze with history. For anyone who owns one of these drums, they know how great they sound. Yet, in some circumstances and environments,…

Christian McBride

We all know the old saying, “Drummers don’t hire drummers, other musicians hire drummers.” So it makes sense to listen to other musician’s opinions of drummers. It doesn’t take much to get bassist Christian McBride to discuss drummers. As a…

June 2023 – Volume 47 • Number 6

Clem Burke: Drummer, Band Member, Session Man, Medical Researcher

Finding a drummer that has led several cool bands and recorded several high-quality rock records with those bands might not be that hard. Finding a drummer that has done dozens of sessions with people like Pete Townsend, Iggy Pop, Nancy…

Tucker Rule: Bringing the songs of L.S. Dunes to Life

These days everyone wants to put music in a box, everything has to be compartmentalized, and then along comes a group like L. S. Dunes, and their new record Past Lives. Originally put together by the drummer from the band…

The Bass Drum Owners Manual: The Leg Stroke

This month Modern Drummer will continue to include excerpts from Michael Packer’s essential book on bass drum control and technique The Bass Drum Owners Manual: Applying the Moeller Technique to the Bass Drum. As you will see, this is a…

Exercises in African-American Funk “Mangambe” Part Two

In Modern Drummer’s ongoing introduction to Jonathan Joseph’s book Exercises in African American Funk: Mangambe, Bikutsi, and the Shuffle; This month we will continue with Jonathan’s explanation of a unique African groove, Mangambe. We will continue to explore some interesting…

The Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming Feet Only

In the new and revised edition of the Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming, Bobby includes nine new double bass drumming chapters. The new and expanded edition covers contemporary techniques such as bass drum double strokes, feet-only exercises, binary and ternary…

Steve Smith’s 1980 Sonor Phonic Kit

In early 1980 Journey was preparing to hit the road to support their album Departure which included the hit single “Any Way You Want It.” By that time, the band was a headline act playing arenas across North America and…

Evans Hybrid Sensory Percussion Sound System An Open Canvas for Sonic Expression

As a product that began as a successful Kickstarter campaign by Sunhouse Technologies, Sensory Percussion™ has matured and evolved thanks to a partnership with EVANS drumheads. The joint venture has created the new EVANS Hybrid Sensory Percussion Sound System. This…

Rufus “Speedy” Jones’ Slingerland White Marine Pearl double bass kit

Rufus “Speedy” Jones earned his nickname while playing for the big bands of Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Rufus was never an overly subtle player; he could always be counted on to light a fire under other players. Rufus used…

Knowing When to Say Goodbye

A life-long commitment to any job or ideal is noble. But sometimes it’s just time to pack up your things, say “thanks, bye,” and hit the road. While folding the cards and getting up from the table might seem like…