Big Drum Thump

Drum and Drummer News and Photos

  • 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.

  • Zildjian Rezo Crash Video

    Boston Drum Center has posted a little clip of a 17″ Zildjian Rezo in action. Fast-forward to the 0:12 mark.

  • Rikki Rockett Bitch Slaps Joe Elliott…

    Verbally bitch slaps, that is.

    It seems that all is not well in the Land of Old Rocker Dudes. During a June 6 press conference at the Sweden Rock Festival, Def Lep vocalist Joe Elliott made a kinda snippy comment about ’80s glam bands:

    …[W]e were never driven to do the mascara thing or whatever these bands did. They didn’t have any substance musically, I don’t think, in comparison to us, so we didn’t feel we needed to do it. Bands that do that are doing it to cover up the fact that there is no substance in their music. The only band—and I’m not saying it because we’re here—the only band that did pull it off was [Finland’s] Hanoi Rocks. I thought Hanoi Rocks were a good band, and they looked….Michael Monroe [Hanoi’s vocalist] was one of the best….I would have shagged him. [Laughs] I like Michael, I think he’s sexy, and I’m not gay. And I think Andy McCoy [Hanoi’s guitarist] does the best kind of Keith Richards…so much better than Motley Crue or Poison or any of those bands. They [Hanoi Rocks] were real: the rest of the guys, it was all a bit fake for me.”

    Poison frontman Bret Michaels politely responded the next day by essentially saying, “Look who the fuck is talking,” and Rikki Rockett, fresh from his exoneration megafete, added this on his MySpace page yesterday:

    I know, it’s kinda old news at this point, but I must say a few words about Joe Elliot (Def Leppard) talkin’ some smack about Poison and Motley. Mainly because he is continuing to talk smack in other interviews as well.
    Now, I’m sure Motley can defend themselves, so I’ll leave that alone and Bret did cover it rather well. However, I was talkin’ with some friends last night and we were shaking our heads wondering when Joe became a rock historian. Well, Joe, when did ya? Do you think saying bad things about another band makes people like your band more? Oh, no. Can’t be it. Let me guess, “You were JUST being honest.” Look, I have always enjoyed Def Leppard. But, as of late that pre-programmed, Mutt Lang live record you guys are doing out there on tour is anything but “substance”. JUST being honest.

    Joe! I’d be hurt if this were coming from John Lennon. Listen up, you are not quite that important there fella! Ya know, just like you I put my pants on one leg at a time, but when I put mine on Joe, they are cooler than yours! But, does it really matter? So it takes about 1 minute and 45 seconds to put on eyeliner. I suppose during that same time you were writing the next “Imagine”. In the words of the great Aerosmith, “Get a grip!” Oh, and by the way, just to add to your royal information pool of rock history, Sir Joe, in the 70’s it was “Glitter Rock”, in the 80’s it was Glam Rock.

    We shall await Joe’s retort, which will probably at least sound clever because he’s got that awesome English accent.

  • Zildjian K Custom Dry Complex II Rides

    Man, Zildjian is seriously busting out with the new gear lately. First Pitch Blacks, then Rezos, and now Dry Complex II rides in the K Custom line. They were designed in consultation with jazz guru Bill Stewart and feature a wider bell design with a lower profile that helps to control metallic overtones, hence the “dry” in the cymbals’ moniker. Three sizes are available: 20″, 22″, and a big old 24″.

    Check out the promo vid, again not capable of being embedded, here.
    Sigh.

    [Update 2022: the promo vid is down of course, but we’ve embedded a demo vid from our fav cymbal-demo-channel, Memphis Drum Shop.]

  • Rainn Wilson Talks Drums…

    And some other stuff in this interview about The Rocker, but it’s really only the drums that matter, of course. He says:

    How tough was it to learn drumming? I took drum lessons with this guy named Stuart Johnson who’s been in a lot of bands and we got to work for a couple of weeks before I went up to Toronto and really, he was just playing me like Zeppelin and White Stripes and a lot of real basic drum beats. So we worked on a lot of basic drumming, but then he also really coached me on the specifics of heavy metal drumming which is a whole art form to itself.

    Cool. Almost cool enough that we can overlook the misspelling of Neil Peart’s name:

    Yeah, we went to see Rush. There weren’t any really metal bands playing at the time when we were shooting in Toronto. We certainly didn’t have time. We were shooting 6 days a week, but we went to play with Rush and got to hang out with Neil Pierce and got to actually play his drum set. That was a pretty rare privilege.

  • Rockstar Mayhem Tour Dates

    Here are 25 opportunities to see Joey Jordison and Brann Dailor live. What you waitin’ for, maggots?

    7/16      San Diego, CA (Coors Amphitheatre)
    7/18      Phoenix, AZ (Cricket Wireless Pavilion)
    7/19      Albuquerque, NM (Journal Pavilion)
    7/20     Denver, CO (Coors Amphitheatre at Fiddler’s Green)
    7/22     Kansas City, MO (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
    7/23     St. Louis, MO (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)
    7/25     Dallas, TX (Smirnoff Music Centre)
    7/26     San Antonio, TX (Verizon Wireless Amphitheater)
    7/27     Houston, TX (Sam Houston Race Park)
    7/29     Tampa, FL  (Ford Amphitheatre)
    7/30     West Palm Beach, FL  (Cruzan Amphitheater)
    8/1       Virginia Beach, VA  (Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater)
    8/2       Pittsburgh, PA (Post-Gazette Pavilion)
    8/3       Scranton, PA (Toyota Pavilion)
    8/5       Boston, MA  (Tweeter Center for Performing Arts)
    8/6       Uniondale, NY (Nassau Coliseum)
    8/8       Toronto, ON (Downsview Park)
    8/9       Detroit, MI (DTE Energy Music Theatre)
    8/10     Chicacgo, IL  (First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre)
    8/12     Atlanta, GA (Lakewood Amphitheatre)
    8/13     Indianapolis, IN (Verizon Wireless Music Center Indianapolis)
    8/15     Camden, NJ (Tweeter Center At The Waterfront)
    8/16     Hartford, CT (New England Dodge Music Center)
    8/17     Washington, DC (Nissan Pavilion)
    8/19     Buffalo, NY (Darien Lake Performing Arts Center)

  • Zildjian’s Pitch Black Promo Vid

    Today is the day that Zildjian officially unveils its Pitch Black line (even though pics and prices and actual purchasable product leaked weeks ago). The promo vid, irritatingly unembeddable, is available here on the Zildjian site and features Diecast drummer Dennis Pavia bashing the new cymbals.

    Surprisingly, they don’t seem completely horrible…but there ain’t no way we’re trading in our A Customs. Sound quality, after all, is still the new black.

    [Update 2022: the official promo video is no longer available, but there is a different version in French below as well as some other vid tidbits.]