Table of contents for Issue 300 in Rhythm

Practising along to your favourite songs sounds like a great idea, but, if we’re honest, it can be a total nightmare. First, you have to turn the track up to deafening levels to hear it over your own playing. Then, your kit sounds completely alien alongside the original track. And trying to nail that insane fill in the second chorus first time at full speed? Forget it. Well, that may all be a thing of the past thanks to Time To Play, a brand-new app from Drum-Ed, the company cofounded by Embrace drummer Mike Heaton. The app, which is available as a free download on Apple’s App Store, allows players to practise along to their own music and, even better, slow down the tempos to help you nail it from…

March 20th marked a singular occasion: the 100th birthday of Joe Calato. And while anyone turning 100 is a remarkable achievement in itself, it’s all the more so because of who Joe is: an innovator who can rightly stand as the last of the genuine pioneers of the percussion industry. Some drummers may not recognise Joe’s name, but it’s very likely that they’re familiar with his accomplishments. For it was this quiet, unassuming man – himself a lifelong drummer – who revolutionised drumstick design by inventing the nylon tip. And while he was at it, Joe also established the independent drumstick industry. In the Beginning Joe Calato grew up in Niagara Falls, New York, and took up the drums at the age of eight. When he was 13, the American…

Duke Ellington gave us the throwaway line, “There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind”. You could say the same for groove: music either grooves, or it doesn’t. Of course, in both instances the verdict is subjective. And yet more often than not there is a consensus, there’s something about the beat that makes you want to “get up offa that thing,” as James Brown so unsubtly put it. In this issue of Rhythm, top drummers offer their advice on how to improve your groove. So by way of introduction, let’s touch on some of the terms often associated with the notion of groove. Far and Wide In any discussion of groove, words like ‘feel’, ‘pocket’, ‘swing’ and ‘funk’ crop up. A good groove is said…

Karl Brazil: “You are one of a select few session drummers that have managed to nail both the live arena and the studio, and it’s very inspiring for people to see you doing both things so successfully. Under the umbrella of groove, what would you say are the fundamental elements of your drumming when on stage or recording?” Mickey Curry: “I think simplicity first and foremost and a big, solid backbeat – always making sure that the kick drum lands where it needs to be on the downbeat. It can be a little on top or a little behind, depending on the song, but with the right combination of those two things you can set a groove. Some drummers are brilliant at playing on top and pushing, which creates a…

Karl Brazil: “It’s great to have you involved in this, Alex, and I’m going to kick things off by asking if you think that you have a natural ability for feel?” Alex Torjussen: “I’ve spoken to a lot of people about this, actually. Some people say you can teach feel, but I think there is a natural element to it.” K: “So do I, and Steve Lukather puts it well when he says that some people are pitch perfect, some people can dance in time and some people can’t sing in tune... I think some of us are born with more of it than others, but you can work on it. “When it comes to groove, not many young dudes are playing for the song in the way you do.…

During and after his time on this planet, Jeff Porcaro has been known by every moniker containing the word groove: Groove Master, the Man with the Golden Groove, the groovemeister... The reason is because in the large, wonderful pool of drummers, there really is no one who made a song feel the way Porcaro did. Groove was probably the most used word in my recent book, It's About Time: Jeff Porcaro, The Man And His Music, and was uttered by so many people I interviewed. In addition to his Grammy-winning band Toto, Jeff was sought after by the pinnacle of pop and rock artists throughout the ’80s and early ’90s for his incredible sound and what he could bring to the song. Nearly 30 years after his untimely passing, Jeff’s…

TOM BRADLEY With an unquenchable thirst for new drum gear, Tom is perfectly placed to be Rhythm’s reviews editor. He’s not only a longstanding member of our review team but also a lecturer at BIMM and a busy performing drummer. You may recognise Tom as the man behind the kit in many of the online gear videos on our YouTube channel. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE GROOVE? “For me, the opening to Deftones’s ‘Digital Bath’ is just absolute groove perfection.” MARK WHITLAM Mark is a freelance musician who has played for varied artists, from Mercury Prize-nominee Eliza Carthy through to jazz and funk legend Pee Wee Ellis. He is currently one-quarter of ECM recording artist Iain Ballamy’s new band, featuring pianist Jason Rebello. Mark is a senior lecturer at BIMM Institute…

Linear drumming, with its idea of avoiding two sounds falling simultaneously, means the bass drum or stepped hi-hats can be combined with the hands to create an interesting alternative to single strokes or time playing where the right hand plays a steady rhythm. It’s probably worth not being overly concerned about two limbs potentially falling together, as in fact it’s the combination of the two approaches that can make linear playing so useful in creating fills and grooves. One of the most frequently encountered combinations in linear drumming is the three-note grouping of right/left/foot, or R L K. The following examples here utilise this and its related combination of K L R to create a selection of ideas. You may recognise these figures from more familiar hand/foot triplet combinations, however…

“WHEN WE TALK ABOUT SOMEONE’S FEEL, IT’S ALMOST LIKE WE ARE USING ONE SMALL WORD TO ENCAPSULATE THE TOTALITY OF THEIR PLAYING.” The vernacular of a musician is sometimes a bit mysterious, weird, comedic or just generally inaccessible to the ‘layman’. On the one hand, there are terms like ‘accelerando’ or many others that are part of a widely accepted musical lexicon that have clear, textbook definitions. But there are other words or phrases that are less conventional and open to an element of interpretation, even amongst hipsters in the music community. With this in mind, I would like to take on a challenge that makes solving the debacle of Brexit seem lightweight in comparison – that is, to look at the frequently used terms of ‘groove’, ‘pocket’ and ‘feel’…

Vinnie Colaiuta. Bernard Purdie (pictured). Simon Phillips. Steve Gadd... All A-list drummers for sure, but also only a handful of incredible alumni from the ever-growing Drum Hangs livestream. The brainchild of drum industry veteran Russ Gleason and session supremo Neal Wilkinson, Drum Hangs is a Zoom-based series of livestreams with the great and good of the drum world. Like many such streams, its origin lays in lockdown. “About a month into the pandemic, the idea came to me,” Russ explains. “I was talking to my great friend and top session drummer Neal Wilkinson regularly, and one day we decided to chat on Zoom. We would be by our drums and play ideas as we both weren’t really doing much practice at the time – we had the ‘Pandemic Blues’ if…

In 1940 the UK’s Premier Drum Company was bombed out of London and relocated north to Leicester in order to continue its vital war work. This work required a step up in engineering precision and expertise in die-casting, that in turn enabled Premier to emerge by the ’50s as arguably the most advanced drum company in the world. A bold claim perhaps, but just look at this 70-year-old kit with its thickly chromed die-cast hardware, which includes the rims/hoops, the defining art deco lugs and flush base stands. We have owner Will Keel-Stocker once more to thank for preserving and cherishing this outstanding kit. He explains how it was produced in a time of continual improvements, but also during an austere period in our history when nothing was wasted. And…

CLAYTON CAMERON (Sammy Davis Jr., Tony Bennett, brush specialist) “Joe Calato is all about the love of playing drums. When I visited the Calato factory to talk about creating a new brush model, Joe’s love for the design process – and what he could do for drummers – was so impressive. That love is infectious, and it makes anyone around him want to play drums!” WALFREDO REYES, JR. (Chicago, Steve Winwood) “I’d like to offer Joe huge happy birthday wishes! As one of drumming’s innovators, he is drum history. “When I was growing up, every great drummer I saw had a pair of Regal Tip nylon-tip drumsticks and Regal Tip brushes. Many years later, when I joined the Regal Tip family as an endorser, I was honored to visit Joe…

Karl Brazil: “Which drummers were influencing you when you first started playing?” Ben Thatcher: “For me, it was the rock and metal guys – Dave Grohl, Brad Wilk, Jon Theodore, Chad Smith – but I guess Chad was the person I looked up to most. He made drumming look so fun, and his groove was heavy with that funk element. I was literally addicted to his video Red Hot Rhythm Method, with him and Flea playing through tracks from Blood Sugar Sex Magik. I watched it over and over…” K: “Do you think that you were born with a natural groove?” B: “I started playing very young and had my first proper kit by the age of six, so I do think that there is a seed you are born…

“Mickey Curry is a drummer who set my heart on fire when I first saw him play live. I was blown away by his consistency, his feel, his choice of fills and that incredible left hand of his – he’s impeccable! He’s a very musical drummer, with such a tasteful groove and great pocket, and whatever the gig – be it Bryan Adams, Hall & Oates, or The Cult – his creativity shines through every time. For me, he’s an unsung hero; just go and check out his discography and prepare to be amazed…”…

DRUMS: A MIX OF GRETSCH, LUDWIG & YAMAHA 22"x14" bass drum 12"x8" rack tom, 16"x16" floor tom and 14"x5½" Ludwig Black Beauty snare “My first kit was a red Gretsch Blackhawk, and with Niall I’m using a Broadkaster. The shells are quite thin and give you that really nice low-end sound from the kick and the toms, which is great for the bigger rooms we are playing. I don’t actually have a drum endorsement, and I like the freedom and flexibility that that gives me.” CYMBALS: ZILDJIAN 14" Avedis hi-hats, 18" and 19" K Dark crashes, 22" K Light ride “Such an iconic brand of cymbals and such a recognisable logo. I saved up and bought my first professional set when I was 18, and it was a special day…

“Jeff Porcaro is the first drummer I ever heard, and to this day he is still my favourite drummer on record and quite possibly the best ‘song’ drummer ever in my opinion... His passion, creativity and personality on the instrument shine through, and his choice of what to play on a track was always so tasteful. Jeff’s feel, backbeat, groove and pocket were impeccable and, when I listen to him play, I’m always aware of how perfectly that snare drum is landing. Jeff is still a constant source of inspiration for me – he really could embrace any style and was the ultimate session guy…”…

VINNIE COLAIUTA “When I first met Jeff at a studio in Santa Monica, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The feel and depth of musicality was amazing. Then he walked out and I saw him outside. He said, ‘Man, I can’t play today’, and I thought, ‘What? Are you joking? That was awesome!’ We became friends and he was an incredible human being. He was way above competition, he transcended it. Instead he embraced cooperation. We should all learn from that. What made him so good was his heart – he played music so well. Or, the music played him…” MICKEY CURRY “When I saw Jeff play with Steely Dan it truly changed my life – I was in total awe and found him so inspiring. What made him…

The RHYTHM RECOMMENDED award is given to those products that score seven or eight out of ten. These are products that, although not quite scoring top marks, are strong products in their field. The RHYTHM STAR BUY is awarded to those products that score nine or even ten out of ten for design, construction, function and value. Rhythm Ratings Here’s what our ratings represent: Poor: Sub-standard product 1 - 2 Average: Acceptable but uninspiring 3 - 4 Good: Above average 5 - 6 Excellent: Superior product 7 - 8 Outstanding: Impossible to fault 9 - 10…

PRICE: £145.00 Let’s get this out the way from the get-go: a set of drum mics costing around the same price as one industry standard bass drum mic is not going to be appealing to drummers and engineers expecting audiophile results. What CAD have presented, however, is a highly inexpensive solution for the budget-conscious player who may be starting to record themselves at home or in live situations (let’s be optimistic) when pub and local club gigs come back on the radar. Similarly, this set may be a neat solution for schools who are looking to mic up their drumset in lessons. This particular set is intended for a one-up, one-down tom configuration with a dedicated snare and bass drum mic. CAD also make a Stage 7 set that includes…

Getting used to playing in a linear style fluently takes time, as does utilising rudiments in fills. Once you’ve mastered these skills, the task of creating something original and musical presents another challenge, so in this lesson, we’re going to combat this by combining concepts! The following three examples all feature various rudimentary sticking patterns combined with linear phrases that I have ‘shaped’ to create some musical fills. They’re all preceded by the same groove and are, of course, designed with the four-piece setup in mind. After three bars of half-time grooving, Ex 1 shows a 16th-note fill that starts with the makings of an inverted six-stroke roll but is interrupted by a kick double. A powerful right-left follows on the floor tom and snare, and the fill is finished…

Playing drums is not just about playing drums, it’s playing together with friends,” says Luka van de Poel. “It’s a social instrument.” The drummer formed DeWolff with his guitarist brother, Pablo, and Robin Piso on organ when he was just 12. When their 2020 tour was abruptly halted by the pandemic, the trio regrouped at home in Utrecht to write new music, resulting in their latest outpouring of funky blues rock, Wolffpack. Where did you record Wolffpack? “In our own Electrosaurus Studio. It’s a 13th-century cellar. We have a 24-track tape recorder here – we try to record most things analogue. It has to breathe and live and be organic. When you record to tape, it has this depth and warmth. You can put everything into the red and then…

Osaka’s SCANDAL was born out of a vocal and dance school where the members met in 2006. The quartet didn’t play instruments at the time, so RINA bought herself a drumming book, set about copying her favourite tracks and began writing lyrics for their own songs. Now on their ninth recording, the band have launched a record label in time for their latest album, Kiss From The Darkness, packed with their signature blend of high energy J-pop and pop-rock. What has changed with having your own label? “By launching our own label, the thing that has changed the most is our mentality. We have been able to make songs with more freedom than ever before, and it feels like we’re now also able to think about lots of different things…

RALPH PETERSON RIP Ralph Peterson has passed away at the age of 58 after a six-year battle with cancer. The jazz titan died at his US home on March 1st. Peterson came to the attention of many in 1983 when he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. He became a band leader in 1998 and remained actively recording right up until last year’s Onward And Upward. FLOYD AT KNEBWORTH If you’re topping a bill that includes Paul McCartney, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page and Genesis, you’d better put on one hell of a show. That’s exactly what Pink Floyd did at Knebworth in 1990, and now you can hear this stunning set for yourself with a new release. It certainly gets Nick Mason’s seal of approval: “There is something special about…

POST-WAR PREMIER Premier’s revolutionary look after 1946 was a complete change from the ’30s with the richly chromed die-cast hardware leading the world in quality. RED PREMIER BADGES The first version of the famous ‘Red P’ block logo enamelled badge seen here was replaced in 1952 with the short-lived (and highly collectable) script badge. WILL KEEL-STOCKER Will has several projects on the go, playing his superb collection of UK vintage drums. See some of them here: www.vintagedrummer.co.uk…

“For as long as I can remember John JR Robinson has played on the biggest songs and records, and as one of the most recorded drummers of his generation, to this day he is still the number one call for the studio. When I was a young drummer, it was JR who opened my ears to how tasteful a simple groove could be, and how good that groove could feel to both the listener and the musician playing it. His drumming and his approach to recording songs has always been a huge influence on me, and I’ll never forget the first time I got to see him play live at Zildjian Day at The Forum in London in 1995. His performance of Rufus and Chaka Khan’s ‘Ain’t Nobody’ epitomised everything…

DRUMS: GRETSCH BROADKASTER KIT 22"x14" kick drum 12"x7" side snare 8"x7", 10"x7", 12"x8" rack toms 14"x14" and 16"x16" floor toms 14"x6½" Gretsch USA Black Copper snare 14"x 6½" Ludwig Black Beauty snare 14"x7" Morgan Davies Black Mamba snare (hybrid of birch/walnut/smoked eucalyptus) CYMBALS: ZILDJIAN 15" K Light hi-hats 19" K Custom Special Dry FX crash 19" Kerope crash 20" Oriental Crash of Doom 21" K Custom Special Dry FX crash 22" K Medium ride 40" Gong PLUS: DW 9000 kick pedal, Pro-Mark 5B Fire Grain sticks, Remo and Evans drumheads, Porter & Davies drum throne, Roland bar triggers…

In this, the 300th issue of our beloved Rhythm magazine, we bring you everything you need to know about Roland’s recently announced VAD706 e-kit. The surprise release of its latest flagship offering has caused quite a stir in the e-drumming community due to its full-size drum shells, upgraded module and, of course, the long-awaited digital hi-hats. Elsewhere in the tech world, we’re taking a look at Ableton’s latest Live 11 software – putting the new ‘tempo follow’ function to the test and exploring ways that we as drummers can use the software to our advantage on stage or in the practice room. And finally, if you’re looking to record on a budget, then the Stage 4 Mic Pack from CAD Audio might be just what the doctor ordered. This set…