Big Drum Thump

Drum and Drummer News and Photos

Month: July 2008

  • Abe Cunningham Fills Us In…

    Well, not us specifically, but anyone who peruses The Deftones’s blog. Here’s the straight poop about the band’s upcoming album:

    Hey all, we’re almost finished tracking our record up here at The Spot and we’ll head up to Terry’s studio in Seattle next month to add the final touches and begin mixing. We’re all excited about how this record is taking shape, and can’t wait to share it with all of you! In the meantime, we want to let our friends in the Phoenix area know that we’ll be headlining KUPD’s End of Summer Scorcher Sept 20th in Peoria, AZ with our good friends Alice In Chains. Tickets go on sale this Saturday, AUG 2nd at all local AZ Club Tattoo locations. They’ll also be available online beginning Monday, AUG 4th via Tickets.com. Check it out at KUPD.com.

  • Vadrum vs. Tenacious D

    Aww yeah, a new Vadrum video! And this time it’s doubly freakin’ sweet because Jack Black is in it.

  • Travis Barker Talks X Games

    We promise this isn’t a site devoted solely to his Travness, but dude is constantly in the news lately. He recently spoke with Metromix Los Angeles about the X Games and his future drumming plans. Surprise, surprise: Blink-182 ain’t much in the cards.

    You know, to be honest with you, I haven’t spoken to Tom [DeLonge] in five years. I speak to Mark [Hoppus] every day, he’s one of my greatest friends, so…that’s the status of that. I think everyone would have to be friends, and I think we’d all have to want to do it in order for it to happen.

  • Travis Barker in The Game’s “Dope Boys” Video

    We posted a studio vid of this song a month ago, but now the real deal is out. And, yep, Barker is definitely banging Zildjian’s Pitch Blacks.

  • Muxtape of the Month: August 2008

    It’s not quite August yet, but we couldn’t wait to get up our new Muxtape for your listening pleasure. It includes some of the best drumtastic tunes we’ve been jamming lately, as well as some miscellaneous songs that simply make us want to run naked through laundromats (always the litmus test for aural pleasure, eh?). A Muxtape is FREE to make or listen to, but it’s limited to 12 tracks, so we’ll be changing them throughout the month to feature new music. Here’s what’s playing now:

    August Muxtape

    1. Our favorite new drum song is “If You Fear Dying” from Jon Theodore’s new band, One Day As a Lion.
    2. Stanton Moore’s “(Late Night at the) Maple Leaf”. The groove is ridiculously great, and the drum breaks starting around 3:55 are HOT.
    3. Steve Gadd doing downtempo with Sunlightsquare. Very chill.
    4. “Graveyard Girl” from M83. We love the rawness of the drumming.
    5. “Improv Jam” from Pnuma Trio features great live electronica drumming. Stupid good.
    6. Tower of Power…don’t got to say anything else.
    7. When Buddy Miles played his last paradiddle a few months ago, we were shamefully unfamiliar with his work. That’s no longer the case because Brandi has been playing “Spot on the Wall” nonstop.
    8. This Keller Williams tune doesn’t have a lick of drums, but his guitar playing is wonderfully percussive. Plus the lyrics are funny as fuck.

    Updated Muxtape as of 8/10/08:

    1. Wally Schnalle, “I Hear You”
    2. Josh Dion Band, “Bedroom Eyes”
    3. One Day As a Lion, “If You Fear Dying”
    4. Stanton Moore, “(Late Night at the) Maple Leaf”
    5. Sunlight Square, “From the Cosmos”
    6. M8, “Graveyard Girl”
    7. Pnuma Trio, “Improv Jam”
    8. Tower of Power, “Can’t You See (You Doin’ Me Wrong)”
    9. Buddy Miles Express, “Spot on the Wall”
    10. Keller Williams, “Restraint”

  • Lenny White’s Signature Stick

    Every Tom, Dick, and Travis has a signature stick these days, so it’s about time living-legend Lenny White got one too. With an appropriately white shaft, his Vic Firth signature whacker is 16″ long and has a .580″ diameter, which is somewhere between a 5A and a 5B for those of us who don’t speak metric too well.

    Vic Firth has also posted some really interesting vids of Lenny jawing about drums and drumming here. There’s even a classic live clip of Return to Forever from 1976.

    [Update 2022: Damn it, the vids are no longer active on Vic Firth’s site.]

  • Elvin Jones and Mike Portnoy at Hudson

    Elvin and Mike aren’t actually hanging out together (primarily because the great Jones has already given up the ghost), but the two do feature in recent postings from Hudson Music.

    A good, though fairly staid, bio vid of Elvin is available here. Even if you already know everything there is to know about the jazz drumming legend, check it out for some great performance clips (yes, we know those same clips are available on YouTube, but the sound quality is better in the Hudson podcast).

    Portnoy spends five or so minutes chatting here about his drumming, what’s in his iPod, and who his favorite movie directors are. It’s not the most essential reading on the Net this evening, but if you’re a die-hard Portnoyte and have already combed through all your favorite porn sites today, you should click on over.

    [Update 2022: Alas, alack, and goddamn it. These videos have been removed.]

  • New Ludwig Gear

    Not about to let Gretsch get all the drum thunder, Ludwig too has recently announced some new bangables.

    First up is a modernized version of the company’s legendary Black Beauty snares. Featuring the same nickel-plated brass shells as their big bros, the new Black Magic snare drums are outfitted with matching die-cast hoops for increased volume and tube-style lugs for maximum shell resonance. They’ll be available in three sizes—14″ x 5″, 14″ x 6.5″, and 13″ x 7″—and they’ll be priced to move, starting at $489.99.

    Then Ludwig really takes off the gloves with its Centennial series of affordable maple shell packs. The drums boast Ludwig’s new Classic Micro-Lug, Vibra-band mounting system on toms, and 2.3mm drum hoops. The finish options include transparent high-gloss and as well as the new 2mm SuperFlake sparkle lacquers. MSRP starts at “less than $1,400,” which we presume means $1,399. We can’t do the math on what the cock-rock double-kick kit in the second pic below will cost, but we’re certain it’s totally worth it.

  • Neil Peart Sucks at Rock Band

    Wow, so much for the theory that diligent Rock Band practice can make you a superstar drum stud. Here’s a vid of Neil and the boys butchering “Tom Sawyer” on expert level. It was caught on camera before their appearance on the Colbert Report last week.

  • New Looks for Modern Drummer and Music Radar

    It’s been a busy few days around the drumming interwebospheres.

    Along with news of an upcoming digital edition (sound all too familiar?), Modern Drummer has updated the look of its site from dark and choppy to white and middlebrow Mondrian—a definite improvement but nothing that will get your sticks super hard. Luckily, MD‘s photo gallery is now up and running as well, and it includes some great drummer pics…even though they are embedded as Flash files, which means we can’t steal them easily.

    U.K.-based Music Radar also ditched its black background for bright white, and of the two spruced up sites, it definitely looks the more swank.

    What can you do? Brits have always had better style.

  • Gretsch Gear Out the Poop Shoot

    That is to say, there’s a bunch of new Gretsch stuff on the way.

    First up is a high-end bubinga beauty in the Renown Purewood series. It’s a limited-edition shell pack (“limited” as in only 110 available worldwide), and it features six drums: a 22″ x 18″ kick, 10″ x 8″ and 12″ x 9″ toms, 14″ x 14″ and 16″ x 16″ floors, and a 14″ x 6″ snare. The shells themselves are 9-ply, 100% bubinga with a clear gloss finish. The damage: $3,850 retail.

    More appealing to the cash-strapped among us is the latest in the Catalina Club Mod line. Featuring an exclusive G-Tube finish, the 4-piece shell pack comes with a 22″ x 20″ bass drum, 12″ x 8″ tom, 16″ x 14″ floor tom, and a 14″ x 6.5″ snare. The drums are made of mahogany, and that’s reflected in the price: $1,075 MSRP.

    Still too many digits for your bank account? Maybe just settle, then, for one of these new Renown Purewood Rosewood snares. They are, as you astutely guessed, made of 100% rosewood, which we are going to assume sounds way bitchin’. The drums will be available in three sizes—14″ x 5.5″, 14″ x 6.5″, and 14″ x 8″—and will come outfitted with 30-degree bearing edges, die-cast hoops, 10 lugs (20 lugs for the 8-incher), and 20-strand snares. Respective prices are as follows: $770, $845, and $925.

    Now to the drum porn:

  • Dixon’s “Drum Your Way to Hollywood” Contest

    Check this out, thumpers. Dixon drums has all growd up with a swank new website, three new series of drum sets (including the Demon), and an awesome new contest you’ll want to be a part of. Here’s the scoop:

    Dixon Drums is giving one Grand Prize winner a trip to Hollywood, CA to perform at Westlake Studios and be filmed performing and discussing drumming and music with top A&R executives. The feature will be broadcast on The A&R Channel on television! Five additional talented, inspiring drummers will get free gear from Dixon! Here’s how it works:

    1. Visit your local Dixon retailer.

    2. Have a friend film you playing the DEMON kit while you play your best 2-minute drum solo.

    3. Upload it to
    http://youtube.com/user/DixonDrums
    and share your link with friends who will vote for you!

    Dixon will pick the top 6 entries to be submitted to an A&R panel in Hollywood who will declare a Grand Prize winner. The Grand Prize winner will win a 3-day/2-night trip for two to Hollywood, CA and perform with studio musicians live in front of an A&R panel at a major recording studio!!

    The performance will be filmed and featured on the A&R Channel on television!

    In addition, Dixon will present the Grand Prize winner with a
    Dixon Outlaw Series 7-piece drum set and a full complement of hardware (ARV: Grand Prize $10,000). The five runner-ups will each receive a Dixon snare drum (ARV: $300). Be sure to check out the full contest rules so your video is submitted properly and gets posted for voting.

    All entries must be completed and submitted by 11:59:59 p.m. ET on September 27, 2008, to be eligible for public voting and the final judging.

    Now stop reading, and go whack a Demon.

  • Drummers Are Completely Awesome

    We learned a few months ago that drummers were smarter than most people, and now there’s scientific evidence that drummers (rock drummers anyway) are probably more physically fit too. Blondie basher Clem Burke participated in a study showing that 90 minutes of drumming could raise his heart rate to 190 beats a minute—a level on par with soccer players and other top athletes. Drumming at that rate could burn 400 to 600 calories an hour. One of the doctors involved in the study goes on to say:

    Footballers [“soccer players” to us Yanks] can normally expect to play 40 to 50 games a year—but in one 12 month period, Clem played 90-minute sets at 100 concerts….It is clear that their fitness levels need to be outstanding—through monitoring Clem’s performance in controlled conditions, we have been able to map the extraordinary stamina required by professional drummers.

  • Lionel Hampton Library Collection

    After jazz drummer, vibraphonist, and all-around-legend Lionel Hampton died in 2002, many of his papers and scores went to the good folks at the University of Idaho, who later established the International Jazz Collections. Lucky for all of us jazz-historian thumpers, the collection devoted to Hampton is now available online…for free. The site includes pics, videos, and a searchable database with over 100 pages of scores, photos, and other coolness that lifelong students of the instrument will definitely want to check out. Why? See for yourself. Here’s Hampton dueling it out with Gene Krupa and Chico Hamilton.

    And you didn’t really think that John Blackwell invented stick twirling, did you?

  • Gene Hoglan Interview at Sick Drummer

    The mighty Gene Hoglan spoke with Sick Drummer recently about drums, Dethklok, and the untimely, unfortunate death of Michelle Meldrum. As always, Hoglan manages to be affable, cheeky, wise, and passionate all at the same time—and all in about 1,700 words. Give the interview a read posthaste, and then check out the vid below of Hoglan playing a Meldrum tune.