We wrote about Alesis’s new Surge cymbals way back in March, and now it looks they’re finally shipping….with a DM5 Pro no less. Or maybe it’s the other way around….
Whatever the case, Alesis’s flagship electronic kit comes outfitted with the venerable DM5 sound module, which features more than 500 studio-grade sounds and 21 programmable drum sets recorded at 48kHz in stereo with ambient effects.
800 bucks also gets you a dual-zone snare pad, three tom pads, and a kick pad with 8″ mylar, tension-adjustable drumheads and 2.3mm triple-flanged counterhoops. Surge cymbals are made of brass cymbal alloy and feature built-in triggers; a 12″ hi-hat, 13″ crash, and a 16″ dual-zone ride are included. Pretty damn sweet.
Couldn’t make it to Germany for the Meinl Drum Festival that starts tomorrow? No, we couldn’t either, but thankfully the fine folks at Meinl have set up four webcams that snap a live picture every minute (no vid stream, alas). The drummer lineup includes Benny Greb (yes!) and Johnny Rabb.
The drums that started it all for Taye now come outfitted in a new Brushed Copper finish…but they don’t just look hot. RockPros feature premium birch-basswood shells and are available in a wide range of configurations that won’t bust your bank account. A 5-piece kit with hardware starts at an MSRP of $1,249.
Who is Minco De Bruin? Beats the hell out of us, but he just won a $10,000 scholarship from Mapex, Paiste, and Drummer magazine to attend the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance. Lucky bastard. Here’s the press release:
The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance was recently the proud host to the 2008 drum scholarship finals, with the standard of performances the best that ICMP has ever seen!
The eight drum finalists were competing for one full and one partial scholarship (worth £4,950 and £2,500 respectively) onto the Institute’s world renowned Higher Diploma. The Higher Diploma is a specialist one-year full-time course, developed by the Institute to train and develop students of guitar, bass, drums and vocals for a career in the music industry. It was the first full-time course of its kind ever developed in the UK and achieving a place on the course continues to be an aspirational goal for young musicians. Institute alumni can be found throughout today’s music industry, working with artists of the calibre of Babyshambles, Lemar, Radiohead, Eric Clapton, Keane and KT Tunstall. Each finalist underwent a short interview before taking to the stage to give a performance in front of a panel of specially invited judges, including Mapex’s Pete Harvard and senior ICMP tutors. The standard of all of the finalists was extremely high, so after some very difficult deliberations the panel awarded the full drum scholarship, sponsored by Mapex/Paiste and Drummer Magazine, to Minco De Bruin, and the partial scholarship to Justin Shaw.
Every year the Institute and our industry partners provide Scholarships worth in excess of £30,000, representing a fantastic opportunity for deserving students to access world class training and tuition at one of the world’s leading schools of contemporary music. Watch out for news of the 2009 Scholarships and for your chance to join us!
First off, a confession: I suck at building stuff. I can’t turn on a power tool without soiling my shorts (the fear of puncturing or outright severing a limb is really quite the bowel loosener), and frankly I can’t even hang a poster without bruising a finger. So even though I love the hell out of drums and have long been fascinated with the art of drum building, I didn’t think there was any way I could customize a kit on my own.
Until now. John Dutra’s Guerilla Drum Making demystifies the process of customizing drums and—most important of all—gives you the knowledge and confidence to do it yourself. While watching the DVD, you’ll soon be thinking, “I really can do this.”
The Lowdown
Just to be clear, though, this DVD doesn’t show you how to build actual drum shells. If you have a hankering to carve out a kit from that big birch tree in your backyard, Guerrilla Drum Making won’t help you. What the DVD does instead is expertly guide you through DIY methods for customizing the look of shells.
Like all good teachers, Dutra starts with the basics and clearly defines his terms: what’s a unibit? Or a straight-edge square? Or tailors tape? The DVD’s first chapter shows the viewer what those and other recommended tools actually look like and how to use them, along with a few time-saving tips. For any tooltards out there like me, it’s a greatly appreciated intro.
The rest of the 86-minute vid is divided into 6 more chapters that demonstrate how to work with and apply a variety of finishes—from stains to wraps to veneers to acrylics. Looking for a cool-ass collage kit? Chapter 2 takes you through each step to a perfectly finished and unique drum. Want a striped laminate for your bass drum? Check out Chapter 6. As each chapter progresses, you’ll also learn how to mark and drill a shell for proper lug placement, whether the lugs are in-line or offset.
Throughout the DVD, the vid quality is top-notch, the camera work is slick, and Dutra’s voice-over explanations are professional and easy to follow. Even the background music, which ranges from downtempo to metal, is good.
Who Should Watch
If you’ve always been interested in customizing drums but didn’t know how to get started, then Guerrilla Drum Making is essential viewing. Stop whatever you’re doing and go buy it now.
If you have some experience with drum building or are even a seasoned pro, then Guerrilla Drum Making is highly recommended viewing. You’ll pick up some great tips that will make your drum-building life easier. And at the very least, you’ll see the instructional quality you need to aspire to in case you ever decide to turn teacher and make your own video.
If you have no desire to ever take a drill or piece of sandpaper to your drums, you’ll still get a lot out of watching this DVD. Dutra’s clearly a guy who is passionate about the craft, and he imparts his knowledge well. You’ll appreciate drums even more after seeing the skill that goes into making them. In this case, learning some of the tricks doesn’t at all spoil the magic.
So is Gil Sharone really leaving Dillinger Escape Plan? Um, maybe. DEP guitarist Ben Weinman said today:
He didn’t leave and we didn’t kick him out. He will be busy though working with his other band [Stolen Babies] a lot over the next year so I am talking to other dudes both for Dillinger possibilities and just for me to play with on other creative projects. We still may be touring and writing with Gil though. Kinda in the air. No big drama though or anything.
