Modern Drummer Magazine

We have all seen the lists on the internet: Underappreciated Drummers, Underrated Drummers, Unsung Drumming Heroes, Drumming Talents Deserving Wider Recognition… Why do so many drummers go under the radar? What does a drummer have to do to get some attention? This month Modern Drummer is talking to Chris Johnson. Chris has “only” been playing with just about every major pop star for the last 20 years, including the last five years with Lady Gaga. Jamie Wollam has “only” been playing for Tears For Fears for the last 12 years. Tears For Fears “only” has a long string of huge hits and has recorded one of the most influential pop records in history. Drummer/author Pete Magadini has “only” authored two of the leading books on the subject of polyrhythms, released…

Every Modern Drummer Kit of the Month doesn’t have to be a huge monster kit. Sometimes there’s nothing cooler than a classic four-piece kit. This month’s Kit of the Month comes to us from Jim Chronopoulos of Whitby Ontario, Canada. Jim has submitted his beautiful Ludwig Classic Maple kit with a Ludwig Supraphonic snare drum. The color of this classic drum kit is called Sable Lacquer. The drum sizes are classic as well: 14 x 22 bass drum, 9 x 13 rack tom, 16 x 16 floor tom, and a 6.5 x 14 snare drum. Jim’s cymbals are all A Zildjian’s. Jim’s cymbal sizes and models are as classic as his drums: 14” New Beat hi hats, 20” Ping ride, 16” and 18” Medium Thin crashes. Jim modelled this kit…

It’s been a good month. More precisely, it’s been one heck of a week. First, my wife returned home from being nanny and granny to our grandson in Italy while our daughter is busy filming a new show there. Much of the reason for her return (aside from my missing her so much,) was to accompany me to Indianapolis for the Percussive Arts Society International Conference (PASIC,) where I was to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. This was bigger than a nice week, as it represented a culmination of many years of involvement and service to the Society in addition to recognizing my work these past fifty years. There were five honorees this year (two of them awarded posthumously to Roland Kohloff and Bernard Woma). Congratulations to the…

You’ll never forget your first drum kit. Experiencing your own look, your own sound, your own instrument for the first time means taking care of all the components, putting together cymbals and hardware, and possibly also being disappointed with the setup and sound for the first time. Gretsch, the traditional American company, offers a solution with the ENERGY series! An all-round carefree package, which is delivered completely ready to play; only sticks need to be provided. The chrome-plated, double-braced Gretsch hardware is stable, light and includes everything needed for a successful start: tom holder with memory lock, bass drum pedal, hi-hat stand, one or two cymbal stands depending on the model, and a stable stool as well. All five shells are made of seven-ply poplar wood and have the typical…

The Cardiam D-142k is an boutique vst plugin equalizer inspired by classic American coil and vacuum tube equalizers from the 50s and 60s. It is characterized by a soft “passive style” sound in the middle, highs and transients. Liquid and warm tones. During its development, we used advanced methods of emulating individual circuits / blocks as well as sampling analog hardware. The problem with many digital emulations of analog equalizers is usually that, when boosted they often start to sound harsh, sharp, digital, especially in the middle and high frequencies + transients that can be heard especially when the recording is mastered at high volume (increased volume will bring out errors and problems in the mix / magnifies them like a magnifying glass). You can hear it especially on high-quality…

Roland, a leading manufacturer and distributor of electronic musical instruments and software products, introduces its Drum Machine Collection, which includes five of the brand’s most revered rhythm machines from the ‘80s as recreated modern plugins. These plug-ins are enhanced with new sound-shaping options and advanced sequencing capabilities, as well as Analog Circuit Behavior (ABC) technology—all for one low price. Within this single, value-priced collection, users will gain access to authentic recreations of Roland’s TR-808, TR-606, TR-909, TR-707 and TR-727. These five drum machines have served as backbones to numerous tracks over the past 40 years, and these recreations sound and behave just like the vintage hardware, with the addition of advanced programming features and controls fit for modern production. Additional specifics include: Detailed resizable interfaces give the feel of working…