Man these feel really really good. - Drum Workshop
Man these feel really really good. - Drum Workshop
Man these feel really really good. - Drum Workshop
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stevie nicks’ jimmy paxson, up close with danny seraphine & studio master jr robinson<br />
m a g a z i n e<br />
The Official PublicaTiOn Of <strong>Drum</strong> WOrkshOP • 8.0<br />
in<br />
abe laboriel jr.<br />
through<br />
theoutdoor<br />
how he landed all the inside gigs<br />
plus dw artists hit europe, Q&a with the drummers of nashville, dw’s latest gear and more!
Introducing the DW Collector’s Series Super Solid, a completely new look at solid shell drums. Why is Super Solid so dramatically different? The<br />
answer is a groundbreaking Molecular Compression Process that produces the most dense solid maple shell ever created. And this is truly a one-piece shell, no glued<br />
reinforcement hoops or plies. We endured years of research and development and expense to do only one thing, bring you our best sounding solid shell drum ever.<br />
©2009 <strong>Drum</strong> <strong>Workshop</strong>, Inc. All Rights Reserved. nowHEARthis<br />
EDGE 8.0<br />
12<br />
06<br />
ARTIST FEATURES<br />
12 <strong>Drum</strong>mers of Nashville<br />
featuring billy mason, travis mcnabb and cactus moser<br />
16 Abe Laboriel Jr<br />
a legacy endured. family, schooling & the beginning of a legend.<br />
EDGE Magazine is a publication of <strong>Drum</strong> <strong>Workshop</strong>, Inc. ©2009 drum workshop, inc. all rights reserved. #prcaedge-v8.0 for promotional use only. NOT FOR SALE.<br />
24<br />
IN EVERY ISSUE<br />
06 time machine: jr robinson<br />
10 up close: danny seraphine<br />
11 road tips with drum tech - robbo<br />
22 road stories: dw artists hit europe<br />
24 Artist Feature: Jimmy Paxson<br />
26 DW drum clinic with denny seiwell<br />
28 new artists<br />
PRODUCT NEWS<br />
02 exo-x project<br />
04 pdp update<br />
08 8000 series pedals & hardware<br />
14 ssc technology<br />
20 3drumsticks<br />
16<br />
22
eco-x project<br />
<strong>Drum</strong>mer-TesTeD, <strong>Drum</strong>mer-aPPrOveD.<br />
By Billy Ward<br />
Here’s my<br />
review of the<br />
Eco-X DW<br />
drum kit. I<br />
have the first<br />
“Eco-X kit”<br />
DW ever<br />
constructed.<br />
It is the very<br />
Billy Ward<br />
first prototype<br />
that John<br />
Good made<br />
and, like most all of his experiments, it<br />
went directly into the showcase room at<br />
the factory to be played with ensuing<br />
opinions to be gathered. John Good and<br />
I discussed this kit by telephone before it<br />
was ever made. JG desperately wanted<br />
to make a kit that was more affordable,<br />
yet with absolutely no sacrifices in<br />
terms of quality and tone. When he<br />
realized it could also be “green” (better<br />
for our environment) his enthusiasm<br />
went ballistic!<br />
The Eco-X experiment began with<br />
my snare drum and its finish is also<br />
experimental - “blue jean” stain and<br />
it <strong>really</strong> looks cool - like blue jeans! So<br />
they made the bass drum and toms in<br />
the same blue jean finish. The only<br />
problem was the toms and bass drum<br />
came out in PURPLE, not blue! End<br />
of the Blue jean color experiment!<br />
Since receiving this kit, I’ve seen the<br />
two beautiful natural finishes that<br />
the production models come in. I’m<br />
partially jealous that I don’t have one of<br />
those beautiful factory finishes, but my<br />
little “ugly ducklings” sound so <strong>good</strong>, I<br />
can’t let them go!<br />
Out of the box, the bass drum is sick.<br />
Un-freaking real-super bottom. JG<br />
says they ALL have this quality and<br />
he doesn’t <strong>really</strong> know why. Well, it is<br />
the best 18x22” bass drum I have ever<br />
heard. I normally abhor the DW pillow,<br />
but as is - this drum is perfect. I have<br />
not touched the heads or the tuning<br />
since it came out of the box. Normally<br />
I immediately put my Evans heads on<br />
my new drums, and someday I will as<br />
this batter head will inevitably get tired,<br />
but why try to improve on “perfect”? I<br />
have to try to remember to bother John<br />
about making some Eco-X woofers!<br />
Next out of my box-o-new-toys were the<br />
toms. They came out of the box tuned<br />
<strong>really</strong> low. Like “Come Together” by<br />
the Beatles <strong>really</strong> low. There’s a nice<br />
“pop” on the stick sound – nice attack.<br />
I played them as is for a while and then<br />
I put the Evans heads on and the toms<br />
were very comfy way down low (my<br />
guess is it’s the X-shell causing this).<br />
The Eco-X 12x14 easily tunes lower than<br />
my Jazz Series 16x16 that I played at the<br />
MD Fest 08!<br />
After <strong>feel</strong>ing like Ringo in the 1970s for<br />
an hour or so, I did my thing and started<br />
randomly moving the pitches around.<br />
I’ve never had toms that are so easy to<br />
tune to where you get a <strong>good</strong> sound no<br />
matter what. Helen Keller could tune<br />
<strong>these</strong> things and I’m not kidding! If<br />
you see a kit in a drum shop, tune the<br />
bottom head evenly – simply “ballpark”<br />
it. There’s no need to be fussy. Then<br />
tune the top head anywhere. Get crazy!<br />
Check out what happens with raising or<br />
lowering just one or two lugs! It’s <strong>really</strong><br />
incredible! I had well-known NYC<br />
drum tech (credits include S. Gadd and<br />
JG desperately<br />
wanted to make a kit<br />
that was more<br />
affordable, yet with<br />
absolutely no<br />
sacrifices in terms of<br />
quality and tone.<br />
When he realized it<br />
could also be<br />
“green” (better for<br />
our environment)<br />
his enthusiasm went<br />
ballistic!<br />
S. Jordan) Artie Smith witnessing this<br />
at my studio (he couldn’t sit back and<br />
listen. He grabbed a drum key and went<br />
at it!). The tuning range on <strong>these</strong> toms<br />
is astounding. Also, even though they<br />
are x-shell (and therefore you would<br />
think they want to be low) <strong>these</strong> guys<br />
LIKE being tuned <strong>really</strong> high, perhaps<br />
not Peter Erskine high (go as high<br />
as possible and then go higher), but<br />
high. This is the first time I have ever<br />
fantasized about taking a drum key and<br />
lowering the floor tom four steps with<br />
the turn of one or two lugs in between<br />
SONGS on a stage!<br />
The snare drum took a while for me to<br />
enjoy and accept, not because it wasn’t<br />
<strong>good</strong>, because it was so flexible. Just<br />
like the toms, this snare drum will do<br />
anything you ask of it. Of course, it<br />
<strong>feel</strong>s as perfect in terms of edges and<br />
hardware as the other Eco-Xs, with all<br />
the hardware being the same as on the<br />
other DW kits. I spent quite some time<br />
trying to get this snare to do something<br />
radical by experimenting with different<br />
heads, die cast hoops, crazy-different<br />
Purecussion snares and what-not, but<br />
the snare drum always complied and<br />
sounded musical. Again, the tuning<br />
range is sick. Right now I have mine<br />
tuned up super high, like a side snare<br />
or reggae snare. It will do anything you<br />
ask it to do.<br />
OK, they are flexible, so what do they<br />
sound like? I think there might have<br />
been some truth to those who once said<br />
there was a “DW sound”, but now we<br />
have many very <strong>good</strong> brands of drum<br />
heads and many drummers look for<br />
more musical options in a drum than<br />
just “loud and proud.” Anyone with<br />
half an ear can distinguish the sound<br />
of DW’s Jazz Series from the various<br />
Collector’s Series, and now with the<br />
bamboo/birch combination of the<br />
Eco-X drums, there is clearly another<br />
sound available. These Eco-Xs offer<br />
great tuning flexibility. The bass drum<br />
is pure gold. Period. The snare is so<br />
flexible, I intend to take it into any<br />
unknown rooms (such as at a night club<br />
or studio that I’ve never played before)<br />
because it will adapt to anything. The<br />
toms sound unique. While, typically for<br />
DW, they get along with each other very<br />
well, they offer uniqueness in tone and<br />
sustain. They <strong>really</strong> speak quickly and<br />
sustain incredibly. In fact, the 12X14<br />
floor tom sustained so long I ended up<br />
leaving my stick bag slung over the side<br />
to cut the sustain a bit, which is nice,<br />
because I enjoy having such easy access<br />
to my stick bag. There is a bit less honk<br />
or lower midrange frequencies in <strong>these</strong><br />
toms, which along with the incredible<br />
sustain makes <strong>these</strong> drums my first<br />
choice if I ever get a gig with Elton John,<br />
Bob Seger or Tom Petty. I’ve already<br />
purchased gig bags for <strong>these</strong> drums<br />
and intend to use them on local gigs<br />
here in New York City. The fact that<br />
<strong>these</strong> drums cost less than the rest of<br />
DWs lineup should be considered John<br />
Good’s present to each of us. After you<br />
get yours and fall in love, send him a<br />
thank you note. I did.<br />
[eDGe 8.0] 3
travis smith_trivium<br />
eric moore_suicidal tendencies<br />
paul bostaph_testament<br />
jon wilkes_red jumpsuit apparatus<br />
PdP’S X7 SerieS goeS maPle<br />
nO OTher value-PriceD 7-Piece kiT cOmes clOse.<br />
Pacific <strong>Drum</strong>s and Percussion has announced a major upgrade to their best-selling<br />
7-piece kits. Shells are now made entirely of maple with absolutely no change in<br />
price. That means drummers can now get pro features such as True Pitch Tuning,<br />
STM (Suspension Tom Mounts), Remo heads and more, combined with a sonically<br />
superior all-maple shell. Offered in a variety of stage-stealing lacquer and<br />
wrapped finishes, X7 kits come in F.A.S.T. sized 7x8, 8x10, 9x12, 12x14 and 14x16”<br />
toms with a matching 5x14 snare drum and 18x22” bass drum. See the upgraded<br />
X7 series now at participating PDP dealers or online a www.pacificdrums.com.<br />
introducing the<br />
all-neW PdP m5 SerieS<br />
an all-maPle, all-lacquer, feature-Packed<br />
5-Piece kiT DesiGneD fOr every sTyle Of music.<br />
Nothing sounds quite like maple. It offers drummers attack,<br />
resonance, warmth and plenty of projection and volume. That’s<br />
why many of the most sought after professional players choose<br />
maple when it comes to touring and recording. It just sounds <strong>good</strong>.<br />
Pacific <strong>Drum</strong>s and Percussion’s David Leon explains, “Traditionally,<br />
maple kits are associated with a high-end price. <strong>Drum</strong>mers would<br />
have to shell out big bucks to get the benefits of boutique-quality<br />
all-maple shells. From the beginning, our mission with PDP was to<br />
offer drummers an exceptional value, by bringing quality drum kits<br />
to the masses. Why should drummers with smaller budgets have to<br />
suffer by playing junky kits that were designed by massive overseas<br />
factories? We <strong>feel</strong> like the new M5 kit is the perfect balance of quality<br />
and value.”<br />
M5 sets come in five stunning burst and fade lacquer<br />
finishes in F.A.S.T. sized 8x10, 9x12, 12x14 toms,<br />
matching 5x14” snare and 18x22” bass drum. 7x8<br />
and 14x16” toms are sold separately and can<br />
be added to expand the 5-piece set up.<br />
Available at PDP retailers today or<br />
check them out on the web at<br />
www.pacificdrums.com.<br />
Platinum SerieS SoundS<br />
as GOOD as iT lOOks.<br />
Launched just two short years ago, <strong>Drum</strong> <strong>Workshop</strong>’s PDP Platinum Series already has a serious list of notable<br />
players taking them PDP’s all-maple Platinum Series features a sleek new patented dual oval tube lug design<br />
with STM (Suspension Tom Mount) standard. It’s also got killer custom-inspired finishes, but what many<br />
drummers many not know is just how <strong>good</strong> they sound. The secret is a straight 8-ply maple shell with a sharp<br />
45 degree Pro Cut bearing edge. The warmth and projection of maple provides a big round tone and a lack<br />
of reinforcement hoops means Platinum drums are big and open. A perfect combination for all hard hitting<br />
players, from Gospel, Hip Hop, R&B to Hard Rock, Punk, Metal and beyond. See PDP’s high-end Platinum<br />
Series drums at your favorite drum shop or online at www.pacificdrums.com.<br />
[eDGe 8.0] 5
TIME MACHINE<br />
John Jr roBinSon:<br />
a career retroSPective<br />
By rich mangicaro<br />
I’ve known John JR Robinson for a while now. Four<br />
years ago, I had the distinct honor of signing him<br />
to his Paiste endorsement agreement. Ironically,<br />
this was one of the last major achievements that<br />
I enjoyed while working with the Swiss cymbal<br />
company, because shortly after that, I moved on<br />
from my career there to pursue my playing and<br />
writing full-time. Now, after all <strong>these</strong> years and<br />
most ironically, I’m once again experiencing an<br />
honor when DW asked me to interview John for<br />
his article in Edge. John and I have become <strong>good</strong><br />
friends over the years and while we’re colleagues<br />
in this business, I never loose sight of who this<br />
man is…and I’m continually humbled.<br />
Very few musicians have achieved what John has.<br />
Since he began his recording career back in the<br />
late 70’s, John Robinson has played on more hit<br />
recordings than just about anyone in the history<br />
of popular music. Just naming a few of them –<br />
“Rock With You”, “We Are The World”, “All<br />
Night Long”, “Back In The High Life”, “Change<br />
The World” – <strong>these</strong> songs are household titles…<br />
without even naming the artists. And the list<br />
goes on…and on. We sat down recently at DW to<br />
have a conversation about his big decision to leave<br />
the drum company that he was with for 28 years,<br />
why he did this and basically try to review his<br />
massive career, all within an hour! Through the<br />
magic of the Internet, you can find that interview<br />
on <strong>Drum</strong>Channel.com, by the way. You may find<br />
some little gems that don’t quite translate here in<br />
print. Don’t worry – we kept it clean!<br />
Rich <strong>Man</strong>gicaro: John, this is a major change for<br />
you and I know, one you thought very carefully<br />
about. When I found out, it seemed to make sense<br />
to me.<br />
John Robinson: I think the natural evolution<br />
of me being with DW is coming full circle<br />
because when I was a kid, I was playing<br />
maple, American drums. It’s great to be<br />
welcomed and made to <strong>feel</strong> like family, right<br />
out of the gate.<br />
RM: And they’re right around the corner from<br />
your house!<br />
JR: It is…I can roll outta the rack and in<br />
twenty minutes, I’m here!<br />
RM: Before we get into your history, I want to<br />
address this change. You had a long association<br />
with your previous drum family and I’m sure<br />
many would like to know how you came to this<br />
decision. I know you’re a very loyal guy and take<br />
your relationships very seriously.<br />
JR: You know, being with one company<br />
for almost 29 years and then leaving, is like<br />
a divorce. You get used to certain ways<br />
things are done and of course, I made a lot<br />
of great records on Yamaha drums. But, as<br />
life progresses and changes, both companies<br />
and artists grow and change and it was time<br />
for me. With DW, the question was how<br />
was my personality and soul going to come<br />
through with <strong>these</strong> drums. I just did a gig<br />
this past Saturday with David Foster for the<br />
Andre Agassi Foundation in Vegas and I had<br />
that Christmas morning anticipation. I got<br />
to sound check an hour early and hardly had<br />
to do anything to them…they just sounded<br />
amazing almost right away. On that gig, I<br />
was playing with Lionel Richie, Macy Gray,<br />
Tim McGraw, Daughtry and Cherise, so there<br />
was this huge variety of styles and everybody<br />
said that I sounded better than ever.<br />
RM: You know, I’ve known both John Good and<br />
Don Lombardi for a long time and have enjoyed<br />
watching their success. You’ve known them as<br />
well for some time, right?<br />
JR: Yes…I’ve known John for a long time<br />
and as you know, when you walk into his<br />
office, it’s filled with beautiful, raw shells<br />
and different exotic woods. I’m a wood guy<br />
so I just love that. We’re the same age, have<br />
similar concepts and we both like football!<br />
Everything translates into <strong>these</strong> drums. It’s<br />
been <strong>really</strong> nice to exchange ideas and then<br />
realize that we’re on the same page.<br />
RM: So you’re originally from Iowa. What was<br />
it like growing up in a small town? Was there<br />
any kind of a music scene?<br />
JR: I was young so the scene was my Dad<br />
would wail on me when I didn’t practice<br />
piano! He was very musical as was my Mom<br />
and both my Grandfathers as well. I also<br />
have cousins that play but I was the one who<br />
was crazy enough to try to make a living<br />
out of it. Mom taught me what Swing was,<br />
the concept of it and pointed out examples<br />
on recordings. What got me though was a<br />
45 I had of “When The Saints Go Marching<br />
In”, from a film about Red Nichols featuring<br />
Danny Kaye. I was 7 and I played that over<br />
and over and wore it out. That led me to my<br />
first drum set when I was 8. It was a 1940’s<br />
Ludwig kit, no Toms, just a snare, bass drum,<br />
hi-hat and old Zildjian cymbal. I wasn’t even<br />
holding the sticks correctly but I played a<br />
swing beat, right away.<br />
RM: Were you in school music programs?<br />
JR: Eventually. When I was 10, I met a guitar<br />
player through my parents and we had a duo<br />
photos by Rob Shanahan<br />
that played and opened for older aged bands.<br />
I studied snare drum and also sang in church,<br />
which I think helped with my drumming.<br />
Then in Jr. High, there were two drummers<br />
ahead of me, a few years older and I finally<br />
got the chance to play. I made a lot of mistakes<br />
reading the chart but the band director, Dick<br />
Bauman thought my <strong>feel</strong> was much better<br />
than the other two guys and I finally got my<br />
reading together. Then during High School,<br />
I played in bands and went to Jazz band<br />
camps during the summers. That’s when I<br />
met Ed Soph. At that time, I was trying to<br />
decide whether to pursue a career in music<br />
or basketball…I had an offer for a basketball<br />
scholarship but finally decided that I wanted<br />
to make a career of music. It was Ed who<br />
inspired me to choose the Berklee College of<br />
Music in Boston.<br />
RM: So, who was else was at Berklee when you<br />
were there?<br />
JR: Whew! In Gary Chaffee’s class was<br />
Steve Smith, Kenwood Dennard and Vinnie<br />
Colaiuta! That class was intense.<br />
RM: Would you say that Gary was your<br />
predominant influence?<br />
JR: Actually, it was Alan Dawson. I was very<br />
fortunate to get 6 months in with Alan. I<br />
think between my Ed Soph education and<br />
Alan’s, it’s all melody-based. With Ed, he<br />
changed me from a toe bass drum player to<br />
a heel-down player. That took a couple of<br />
years to do.<br />
RM: For melodic reading, was it with mallets or<br />
piano?<br />
JR: It was mallets and at that time, I wasn’t<br />
allowed to use piano as my minor instrument<br />
and I was distraught about that. I wanted to<br />
have piano under my belt, but at that time,<br />
mallets were what they viewed as the way<br />
for drummers to learn melodic reading. But I<br />
did end up studying with Dave Samuels and<br />
we became friends and did gigs together as<br />
well.<br />
RM: So you were giggin’ all the time during<br />
Berklee?<br />
JR: Always. Although there weren’t many<br />
gigs at that time, I began playing around<br />
town. Also, there was only one studio at<br />
Berklee at that time and I ended up getting<br />
asked to replace some drum parts on some<br />
music-minus-one stuff and I didn’t even<br />
know what a click was! They pulled up the<br />
track and I played to it. It must have went<br />
well, because they asked me to come back<br />
every week at that time to work with them<br />
and I became the studio drummer. There<br />
were a couple of “famous” drummers at that<br />
time, that will go un-named that I replaced,<br />
who couldn’t play to the<br />
click.<br />
RM: As you know, John<br />
– it’s not something that<br />
every drummer can do<br />
well. Not only to play with<br />
the click, to lock with it, but<br />
also to play musically with<br />
it.<br />
JR: Well that’s it. I think<br />
then, I realized that I<br />
wanted to be a studio<br />
drummer. My plan was<br />
to get through Berklee<br />
and then move to New<br />
York. I was in my 3rd<br />
year and then left to just<br />
focus on working.<br />
RM: Is this when Rufus found you?<br />
JR: I was in a band called “Shelter”, touring<br />
around the Northeast and Midwest and one<br />
time, in Cleveland, Rufus came with Chaka<br />
into the club we were playing. At the end of<br />
the set, they asked if they could sit in with<br />
me. By the end of the night, that entire band<br />
was up on stage with me and we did an<br />
entire set…and it was smokin’! Four weeks<br />
later, I was in Los Angeles and in that band.<br />
RM: So you began touring with them?<br />
JR: They were on an international tour and<br />
my first gig was in Hawaii! That’s were<br />
I met Danny Seraphine! I had always<br />
idolized Danny, with the Midwest connect,<br />
the Chicago records…now we’re golfing<br />
buddies!<br />
RM: So did you record with them right away or<br />
was there touring work first?<br />
JR: We toured for about a month…I finished<br />
out their ’78 tour, before I went in the studio<br />
with them. I ended up doing quite a few<br />
records with them.<br />
RM: Your drum part for “Ain’t Nobody” is<br />
<strong>really</strong> great…I’ve heard you talk about that in<br />
some of your clinics.<br />
JR: <strong>Man</strong>y think it was a programmed part,<br />
but it was me playing that groove. It’s a<br />
very robotic part, which is what we were<br />
going for. It was a big hit for them.<br />
RM: And that was around the time period when<br />
you met Quincy Jones?<br />
JR: I had met him before that, but he then<br />
came in to produce one of our records. Not<br />
long after that, I got the call to work with<br />
Quincy on Michael Jackson’s “Off The Wall”<br />
record.<br />
RM: Did you have any idea of what you were<br />
getting into, at that time?<br />
It seems like that record<br />
was Michael’s transition<br />
between his Jacksons<br />
era and his solo superstardom.<br />
JR: And Quincy is the<br />
great master of that. He<br />
<strong>really</strong> brought Michael<br />
“Working with John<br />
and this company<br />
is so exciting and<br />
when you hear<br />
their drums and see<br />
what goes into it all,<br />
there’s no question<br />
why they’re the<br />
leader. ”<br />
>time machine: Jr roBinSon<br />
to the enormous place. The timing of all<br />
this was amazing. All the players on that<br />
album were stellar including my old band<br />
mates from Rufus and Paulinho Da Costa on<br />
percussion. That record changed history.<br />
RM: It seems that it<br />
changed your career…<br />
you’ve been working<br />
constantly since. Since<br />
space in this article doesn’t<br />
permit to thoroughly cover<br />
your discography, although<br />
what article would, I love<br />
how you’ve organized<br />
your recording credits by<br />
year, on your website. I<br />
recommend our readers to<br />
check that out. It’s quite<br />
incredible.<br />
JR: <strong>Man</strong>, I’m trying to<br />
remember ‘em all. I’m<br />
still trying to organize<br />
and catalog it all. I still<br />
haven’t figured out Asia<br />
or Europe!<br />
RM: One has to wonder whether you ever had a<br />
social life back then. Tell me about a typical day,<br />
when you were recording so much. You were<br />
doing 3 sessions in one day. Was this also when<br />
cartage services began to take affect?<br />
JR: Exactly. I had Rufus’ roadie<br />
helping me. I had heard storied then<br />
about Steve Gadd doing this type of<br />
schedule too. It was typically a 10am,<br />
2pm and a 6pm. Sometimes, we’d<br />
even have an 11pm hit too. Those<br />
were the hay days of recording and<br />
LA was just flowering. That’s why<br />
I loved Jeff (Porcaro) so much…he<br />
was very kind to me when I came to<br />
LA and we found ourselves sharing<br />
the load on many records. Now,<br />
our industry’s changed so much<br />
that there are very few record dates<br />
anymore that feature a rhythm<br />
section, playing live, like back then.<br />
I still get called for that, especially for<br />
film soundtrack sessions, but it’s the<br />
reason why I and many other guys<br />
have built studios in our homes.<br />
RM: John, will<br />
all the great<br />
hit records that<br />
you’ve played on,<br />
do you have any<br />
favorites?<br />
JR: Well, Steve<br />
W i n w o o d ’ s<br />
“Higher Love”<br />
and “Back In The<br />
High Life” were both incredible and they<br />
allowed me to do what I wanted. It’s very<br />
rare that we get to do that and producer<br />
Russ Titelman <strong>really</strong> gave me the freedom to<br />
express. That whole record was great.<br />
RM: John, what would you say to young players<br />
out there, given the current state of our business,<br />
who are trying to get in and make something for<br />
themselves?<br />
JR: I just wrote a curriculum for Berklee<br />
about this. I’ve always had some kind of<br />
home studio so I <strong>feel</strong> it’s always important<br />
for drummers to control their own destiny.<br />
I say always collaborate and co-write with<br />
others. Log your ideas and learn electronics…<br />
not just electronic drums but learn a protools<br />
rig, know your Mac and know how to<br />
mic your drums and learn what mics work<br />
best for what drum. I also wanted to say<br />
something about my new association with<br />
DW. My new drum set is extraordinary.<br />
Working with John and this company is so<br />
exciting and when you hear their drums and<br />
see what goes into it all, there’s no question<br />
why they’re the leader.<br />
Selected diScograPhy:<br />
2009 Barbra Streisand: The Concerts<br />
2004 Peter Cetera: You’re the Inspiration: A Collection<br />
2002 Quincy Jones: Ultimate Collection<br />
2002 Celine Dion: Unison / Celine Dion / Colour Of My Love<br />
2001 Bonnie Raitt: Nine Lives-Remastered<br />
2000 Mariah Carey: Rainbow (Bonus Track)<br />
2000 Babyface: Collection of His Greatest Hits<br />
1999 Dave Koz: Dance<br />
1999 Clint Black: D’Lectrified<br />
1999 Chris Botti: Slowing Down the World<br />
1998 David Foster: Touch of David Foster<br />
1998 Randy Newman: Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman<br />
1998 Luis Miguel: Todos Los Romances<br />
1998 Joe Cocker: Greatest Hits [EMI]<br />
1998 Steve Perry: When You’re in Love (For the First Time)<br />
1998 Bette Midler: Bathouse Betty<br />
1997 Stanley Clarke: Bass-ic Collection<br />
1997 Ladysmith Black Mambazo: Heavenly<br />
1997 Joe Cocker: Across from Midnight<br />
1997 Boz Scaggs: My Time The Anthology (1969-1997)<br />
1997 Vonda Shepard: Vonda Shepard<br />
1996 Karen Carpenter: Karen Carpenter<br />
1996 Neil Diamond: In My Lifetime<br />
1996 Disney: Music from the Park<br />
1996 Rufus & Chaka Khan: Very Best of Rufus Ftg Chaka Khan<br />
1995 Peter Frampton: Frampton Comes Alive II<br />
1994 The Temptations: Emperors of the Soul<br />
1993 Elton John: Duets<br />
1992 Wilson Phillips: Shadows & Light<br />
1992 <strong>Man</strong>hattan Transfer: Anthology: Down in Birdland<br />
1992 Kenny G: Breathless<br />
1992 Mike Oldfield: Tubular Bells II<br />
1991 Rod Stewart: Vagabond Heart<br />
1991 Jeff Lorber: Worth Waiting For<br />
1991 Patti LaBelle: Burnin’<br />
1991 Robbie Robertson: Storyville<br />
1991 Tom Scott: Keep This Love Alive<br />
1989 Aretha Franklin: Through the Storm<br />
1988 Rubén Blades: Nothing But the Truth<br />
1988 Glen Fry: Soul Searchin’<br />
1987 Michael Jackson: Bad<br />
1986 Steve Winwood: Back in the High Life<br />
1986 Bob Seger: Like a Rock<br />
1985 David Lee Roth: Crazy from the Heat<br />
1984 Laura Branigan: Self Control<br />
1984 Fee Waybill: Read My Lips<br />
1984 Peabo Bryson: Straight From the Heart<br />
1981 Herb Alpert: Magic <strong>Man</strong><br />
1979 Rufus: Numbers<br />
[eDGe 8.0] 7
HARDWARE NEWS<br />
8000 series ulTra heavy-DuTy<br />
PedalS & hardWare<br />
Roy Mayorga - Stone Sour<br />
<strong>Drum</strong> <strong>Workshop</strong> is known for designing<br />
and building some of the world’s most<br />
reliable, heavy-duty, road-tested pedals<br />
and hardware. Rock’s elite swears by<br />
DW 9000 series pedals and stands,<br />
but what about the <strong>really</strong> hard hitters,<br />
the guys who play massive cymbals<br />
and even bigger drums? Until now,<br />
heavy-alloy 22” crash cymbals, highflying<br />
china cymbals, floor tom-sized<br />
rack toms and larger-than-average kick<br />
drums have been a drum tech’s worst<br />
nightmare. Those days are over.<br />
Recently, DW launched its largest scale<br />
hardware to date. The ultra heavyduty<br />
line includes two types of hybrid<br />
pedals, the chromed-out 8000 and<br />
8000B Black Diamond Power Footboard<br />
models. Both include a 5000-like fixedcam<br />
hex shaft for maximum throw, with<br />
the versatility of a 9000 adjustable cam.<br />
All-metal construction and a diamond<br />
steel base plate means <strong>these</strong> pedals<br />
were designed to survive the toughest<br />
beatings and the 8000B’s extended<br />
footboard provides optimum leverage<br />
to push lots of air. Matching hi-hat<br />
stands are available for both models in<br />
2-leg versions for double bass drum and<br />
double pedal players. “We wanted to<br />
create the ultimate chain drive pedals<br />
for Metal drummers”, comments DW’s<br />
R&D Specialist, Rich Sikra. “There are<br />
some direct-drive, boutique pedals out<br />
there that cater to a heavier style of<br />
play, but we wanted drummers to have<br />
the option of a fast, yet powerful chain<br />
drive pedal”, continues Sikra. “Then we<br />
decided to do a heavier line of stands to<br />
compliment the series.”<br />
DW 8000 stands feature Mega-Tripod<br />
bases for a wider footprint and largergauge<br />
steel tubing to avoid sway<br />
and flex. Oversized tube joints and<br />
memory locks were tooled-up to keep<br />
stands planted in place, and removable<br />
counter weights and T-Ball tom arms<br />
come standard. “DW Chairman and<br />
R&D Chief Don Lombardi explains,<br />
“We have a retro-styled 6000 Series<br />
for Vintage and Jazz players, a 7000<br />
Series single-braced line for gigging<br />
drummers and 9000 Series hardware<br />
for just about everyone else, but what<br />
we didn’t have was an over-sized stand<br />
for heavy rock guys.” The 8000 Series<br />
includes a straight/boom 8700 cymbals<br />
stand, 8300 snare stand, 8999 double<br />
tom stand with three cymbal arms, 8500<br />
& 8500B hi-ht sands and 8100 & 8120<br />
4-leg thrones with included backrest.<br />
Lombardi concludes, “This stuff is for<br />
monster drummers, guys who hit hard<br />
and play big drums and cymbals. We<br />
dare you to break this stuff.”<br />
Product (L to R) 8300 Snare Stand, 8700 Cymbal Stand, 8500TB Hi-Hat, 8500T Hi-Hat, 8120B Throne, 8002 Double Pedal,<br />
8000 Single Pedal, 8799 Triple Cymbal/Double Tom Stand, 8002B Double Pedal and 8000B Single Pedal.<br />
We Believe that a pedal<br />
should be built like a tank,<br />
but never play like one.<br />
The 8000 pedal, a hybrid design that combines key features from its 9000 and 5000 Series<br />
cousins. A road-ready workhorse that provides drummers with the unmatched versatility of an<br />
infinite adjustable cam and the power of a time-tested, chain-driven hex shaft. The best of both<br />
worlds atop a sturdy piece of steel diamond plate. Sure, the 8000 is built to last, but its<br />
smooth, responsive playability is what drummers <strong>really</strong> love.<br />
8000 Artists (L to R) Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour), Paul Bostaph (Testament) and Travis McNabb (Sugarland).<br />
Product (Clockwise) 8500T Hi-Hat, 8500TB Hi-Hat, 8002 Double Pedal, 8000B Single Pedal.<br />
The complete line of 8000 Series pedals and hi-hats, see them at<br />
www.dwdrums.com<br />
©2009 <strong>Drum</strong> <strong>Workshop</strong>, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
UP CLOSE<br />
danny SeraPhine: cta<br />
By Rich <strong>Man</strong>gicaro<br />
Photos by Rick Malkin<br />
d o n ’ t c a l l i t a c o m e B a c k<br />
leGenDary <strong>Drum</strong>mer Danny seraPhine reTurns TO The sPOTliGhT. >>><br />
Danny Seraphine was put on this earth to<br />
play drums. He’ll tell you it’s what he does best.<br />
And as many of us know, he’s been incredibly<br />
successful at it. As a founding member of the<br />
multi-platinum, Grammy-winning band Chicago,<br />
Danny has carved his place in music history as<br />
one of music’s most influential drummers. Any of<br />
us who play drums have, at one time in our lives,<br />
spent time learning the grooves for such enormous<br />
hits as “25 Or 6 To 4”, “Make Me Smile” (that<br />
drum solo at the end!), “Beginnings”, “Saturday<br />
In The Park”…the list goes on and on. How many<br />
of us have played in cover bands, playing <strong>these</strong><br />
songs…playing his parts. All of us! Being one of<br />
the few bands in history to fuse Jazz and Rock the<br />
way they did, Danny’s playing provided a new level<br />
of drumming in popular music and to this day,<br />
continues to inspire generations.<br />
In this issue’s Up Close, we wanted to know what<br />
Danny’s up to lately. We found some exciting<br />
things to check out, to listen to and to look forward<br />
to.<br />
Rich <strong>Man</strong>gicaro: Danny, your band California<br />
Transit Authority-C.T.A. is great. Tell us about<br />
this project. You formed the band in 2006, right?<br />
Danny Seraphine: Yes. Peter Fish, a friend and<br />
keyboardist/composer told me that he wanted<br />
to play in a band with me. At that time, I<br />
was jamming with Gregg Bissonette, who<br />
introduced me to guitarist Marc Bonilla. We<br />
had met with Don Lombardi, DW’s Founder<br />
and he suggested we put a band together to<br />
play for photographer Lissa Wales’ benefit<br />
concert in Arizona. So we did some rehearsing<br />
in LA, brought in Ed Roth on keyboards and<br />
Mick Mahan on bass and it sounded <strong>really</strong><br />
<strong>good</strong>. When we got to Arizona, we still<br />
needed a singer and Larry Braggs, who flew<br />
in with David Garibaldi and Tower Of Power,<br />
volunteered. Well, Larry brought it to a whole<br />
other level and, in front of my eyes, I’m seeing<br />
this band blossom. It was like Chicago on<br />
steroids…like the original C.T.A. I realized<br />
then that this was the band I’d been waiting<br />
for. After our 3 songs, the ovation was pretty<br />
overwhelming and I looked at Peter and said,<br />
“Hey, we got somethin’ here.”<br />
RM: How was the experience when you guys played<br />
Modern <strong>Drum</strong>mer’s festival? I saw the video of it,<br />
which was fantastic.<br />
DS: Thank you. <strong>Man</strong>, that was a <strong>really</strong> great<br />
thing. The reception from the crowd was so<br />
warm and enthusiastic. I was humbled by it<br />
and you know, it had been a long time since I’ve<br />
played those songs in front of a large crowd, so<br />
it was <strong>really</strong> great to <strong>feel</strong> the appreciation from<br />
everyone. It was an emotional night for me.<br />
RM: I know Rick Van Horn is a huge fan of your<br />
playing, so I’m sure it was a dream-come-true for<br />
him to do the introductions!<br />
DS: Rick was great…everyone at the magazine<br />
was.<br />
RM: Was it sort of a launching pad show for you<br />
and the band?<br />
DS: We began playing shows around the<br />
country, yes. However, we still haven’t found<br />
representation for the band yet. You would<br />
think with <strong>these</strong> members and what they each<br />
bring to the table, we’d have some interest, but<br />
we’re still trying to find that match. I think it’s<br />
a bit political that we don’t have an agent yet.<br />
RM: That and what’s happened to our industry in<br />
the past 8 years. That’s what is so wonderful the<br />
drum community – we’re all here to support each<br />
other and I’ve experienced this love and support, no<br />
matter what level of player, no matter what region<br />
of the world. <strong>Drum</strong>mers just like to hang and share<br />
ideas. What DW and <strong>Drum</strong>Channel.com are doing<br />
is just that – extending this exchange and support,<br />
worldwide.<br />
DS: That’s right. I’ve been<br />
with them for a long time<br />
and love what they’re all<br />
about. And Don Lombardi<br />
was instrumental in the<br />
inspiration for this band.<br />
RM: So what do we have to<br />
look forward to with you and<br />
also C.T.A.?<br />
DS: I executive-produced a movie called<br />
“Lonely Street” and produced the soundtrack.<br />
The story is about an older Elvis, played by<br />
Robert Patrick, who fakes his own death<br />
because he hated what he had become…and<br />
then plans his own comeback. The film is<br />
available to rent now and the soundtrack will<br />
be available soon…I’m just finishing it up. I’ve<br />
also produced a couple of Broadway plays<br />
and I’m doing a series of clinics now, which all<br />
my companies are graciously behind. I love<br />
doing them and meeting other drummers.<br />
Regarding the band, C.T.A. we’ll be in the<br />
studio soon to do our next record, which I’m<br />
<strong>really</strong> excited about. We’re planning on doing<br />
mostly original material and a few Chicago<br />
tunes. There are a few Chicago songs I cowrote<br />
that, although not quite as well known<br />
as the bigger hits, were <strong>really</strong> cool tunes and<br />
will be fun for us to do in this band, our own<br />
way. I’ve also thought about doing some bigband<br />
arrangements of the tunes…I’d love to<br />
do that. Otherwise, we have some shows this<br />
month back east and in San Diego.<br />
RM: Thank you Danny. It’s been an honor and I’m<br />
looking forward to seeing the band soon!<br />
The main kick is tuned to be as BIG as<br />
possible – it is a 20x24” and has a loose<br />
Remo Ambassador bass clear head. We<br />
have a 6” hole cut at 4 o’clock in the<br />
front head, which is also as loose as<br />
possible without wrinkling. There is a<br />
double pedal on this kick.<br />
The second kick is tuned as high as<br />
possible on both front and back heads.<br />
There is no dampening at all in here.<br />
The idea is to use this as an FX kick.<br />
We put distortion and reverb on it and<br />
Christian uses it in a couple of songs<br />
almost like a gated snare! (Never Let<br />
Me Down).<br />
The main snare (5.5x14”) sounds so<br />
naturally <strong>good</strong> at most tensions that<br />
it is tuned almost entirely for stick<br />
response. At the required tension it<br />
has natural lows, but still has plenty of<br />
high-end crack on rim-shots.<br />
Snare 2 is deeper (7x14”) and is tuned<br />
as low as possible and with the snares<br />
looser – it too, is used with reverb as<br />
>TECH TIPS<br />
Building chriStian’S kit<br />
By iain “roBBo” roBertSon<br />
drummer: c h r i S t i a n e i g n e r<br />
Band: dePeche mode<br />
tech: roBBo<br />
a big snare sound. (Enjoy the Silence).<br />
There are 2 piccolo toms (4x8” & 4x10”)<br />
mounted on the left of the kit above<br />
Snare 2 – <strong>these</strong> are double headed<br />
piccolo toms - both tuned as high as<br />
possible on top.<br />
Tom 1 is also 10” but a slightly deeper<br />
shell (5”) – again it is tuned as high as<br />
possible - as if it was piccolo 3, but its<br />
positioned to the right of the main hat<br />
to fit with required tom fills. (In Your<br />
Room).<br />
Racks 2 and 3 (6x12” & 6x13”) and<br />
Floor 1 and 2 (14x16” and 16x18”) are<br />
more traditional toms. Tuning starts<br />
with the 18” floor, trying to get it as low<br />
as possible without too much flapping<br />
(Personal Jesus) and then tuning up<br />
roughly in 4ths, as I usually do on<br />
Simon Phillips’ kit.<br />
We have been amazed at how<br />
deep and rich a sound we<br />
can get from the 12” and 13”<br />
toms considering their shallow shells–<br />
they sound like others’ regular depth<br />
13” and 14” toms respectively.<br />
In fact, Christian started by spec’ing<br />
deeper shells on rack 2 and 3, but he<br />
likes his rack toms almost flat and with<br />
24” kicks we had to angle them to get<br />
them at the correct playing height. By<br />
knocking an inch off the depth of <strong>these</strong><br />
shells we are now able to get them as<br />
flat as he wants and still achieve the<br />
desired deep, rich tom sound.<br />
Finally, can I just say how much<br />
Christian and I enjoyed building this<br />
kit with the DW Rack system? This is<br />
a big kit with a lot fit into a confined<br />
space – often with no more than 1/8”<br />
between items. With other rack systems,<br />
you invariably find that the position<br />
you want is in between 2 cogs on an<br />
angle bracket, and it usually involves<br />
compromises. With this DW Rack, you<br />
can adjust things to exactly where you<br />
want them to go and then, lock them<br />
off!<br />
chriStian’S<br />
dePeche mode rig<br />
ColleCtor’s series<br />
ssC Maple in ClassiC Marine finishpy <br />
20x24” KiCK DruM, 20x24” KiCK DruM<br />
5.5x14” snare, 7x14” snare<br />
4x8” piCColo, 4x10” piCColo<br />
5x10” raCK toM<br />
6x12” raCK toM<br />
6x13” raCK toM<br />
14x16” floor toM, 16x18” floor toM<br />
DW 5000 & 9000 series peDals<br />
DW raCK systeM harDWare<br />
[eDGe 8.0] 11
4 QUESTIONS:<br />
1 legendary music city, 3 in-demand players<br />
The Nashville music scene is always<br />
evolving. With the demise of a<br />
traditional music industry, Music Row<br />
has been whittled down to a select few<br />
major labels and studios are going out<br />
of business faster than you can say,<br />
“Pro Tools”. Nowhere are <strong>these</strong> global<br />
music biz changes more prevalent, than<br />
in a music-centric city like Nashville.<br />
It’s a city that synonymous with<br />
American music, musicians and music<br />
fans. So what’s a drummer to do when<br />
record sales are declining, local gigs<br />
are fleeting and it’s getting harder and<br />
harder to make ends meet as a session<br />
cat? Answer: you hit the road.<br />
We posed the identical four questions<br />
to Sugarland’s Travis McNabb, Tim<br />
McGraw’s Billy Mason and Julianne<br />
Hough’s Cactus Moser to see what we’d<br />
come up with and the answers are both<br />
interesting and enlightening. It seems<br />
there are many ways to reach Nashville’s<br />
lofty heights, but only a select few will<br />
actually make the climb.<br />
Travis McNabb • cacTus Moser • billy MasoN<br />
1. There are so many talented<br />
players in Nashville, how do<br />
you manage to land big gigs on<br />
a consistent basis?<br />
Cactus: For me it’s been interesting. I<br />
had my own band, Highway 101, for<br />
many years and that of course has the<br />
upside of being your own boss. So, I<br />
only had to kiss my own butt to get the<br />
gig...no wait did I say that out loud?<br />
What I mean is you only have to worry<br />
about making hit records in order to<br />
keep yourself employed. Granted,<br />
that’s a daunting task some of the time.<br />
It’s great to know why you’re working.<br />
I <strong>feel</strong> that a big part of being successful<br />
in this business, is knowing why<br />
some players are able to get and keep<br />
themselves employed! I have worked<br />
with other artists , at the same time<br />
as being in Highway. I just am always<br />
looking for situations that will let me<br />
do what it is that I love to do, and that is<br />
play! Studio work here in<br />
Nashville is as tough to<br />
get as it is in any music<br />
city. So, I always try to<br />
make sure people are<br />
very aware that I am here<br />
and not on the road all<br />
the time so they will call<br />
and give me the chance to<br />
say yes or no to working<br />
opportunities. I <strong>feel</strong> like<br />
producing and finding<br />
ways to create music, such<br />
as writing, <strong>really</strong> are great<br />
ways to stay employed.<br />
Billy: I landed my gig because<br />
I was willing to play any gig<br />
Photos by Gregg Roth<br />
in town for 50 bucks a night, or even<br />
for tips. You’ve got to be humble and<br />
willing to do whatever it takes. Then,<br />
you’ll meet more players and get in the<br />
circle.<br />
Travis: It goes<br />
w i t h o u t<br />
saying that<br />
y o u ’ r e<br />
e x p e c t e d<br />
to ‘bring it’<br />
musically.<br />
One thing<br />
some guys<br />
o v e r l o o k<br />
is the fact<br />
that A-list<br />
artists can<br />
afford to<br />
surround<br />
t h e m s e l v e s<br />
with people that not only can play<br />
at the quality level they need, but that<br />
are people they actually WANT to be<br />
around. If you couldn’t make the music<br />
<strong>feel</strong> <strong>good</strong>, you wouldn’t even get a shot.<br />
But on TOP of that, being a positive force<br />
and being easy to deal with personally<br />
makes it <strong>feel</strong> <strong>good</strong> on other levels, and<br />
that goes a long way.<br />
2. What’s the Nashville studio<br />
scene like <strong>these</strong> days?<br />
Travis: I’m relatively new to the<br />
Nashville studio scene. The bulk of my<br />
session work has been in Los Angeles<br />
until recently. I will say that there is a<br />
lot in addition to Country happening<br />
in Nashville, and so far folks have been<br />
very kind and welcoming.<br />
Billy: The studio scene is tough here.<br />
There’s so much music downloading<br />
going on. Now, people are recording<br />
at small studios and putting it out on<br />
YouTube themselves.<br />
Cactus: It’s still healthy, yet with the<br />
recording world becoming something<br />
we all do in our homes, it’s changed a<br />
great deal. When I first came here from<br />
Los Angeles there were drummers<br />
working all day and every day, making<br />
demos for song writers. Now many of<br />
those demos are being done on Garage<br />
Band or Pro Tools rigs in writers’ homes,<br />
so there’s a lot more players trying to get<br />
the same gigs. You have the guys that<br />
were only doing master sessions, now<br />
doing demos and the demo mill guys<br />
doing live touring gigs. It’s still a “be<br />
ready and be professional when you get<br />
there world.” Maybe more personal PR<br />
is required to keep you in the mix than<br />
it use to be. Just talking to people opens<br />
many doors.<br />
3. Who are your Nashville<br />
drumming heroes?<br />
Billy: Lonnie Wilson, Paul Liem, Eddie<br />
Bayers.<br />
Cactus: Larry London is a guy that was<br />
as creative a player and as diverse, as<br />
any of those that have come from this<br />
town. I came to Nashville from Los<br />
Angeles and Larry was one of the<br />
players that I had heard on Elvis, or<br />
on Conway records, or even on a Steve<br />
Perry record. Greg Morrow is a guy that<br />
has a very similar playing style, being<br />
able to play with root <strong>feel</strong> and chops<br />
that match. Eddie Bayers basically<br />
defined the session drummer of the last<br />
20 years. He has played on so many<br />
records, it <strong>really</strong> is amazing! Doing<br />
that many master session dates in one<br />
career…priceless!<br />
Travis: More so than any particular<br />
drummers, I think so much of my<br />
musical voice was formed by my<br />
surroundings. My dad played in<br />
a Rock band in the 60s and his dad<br />
played Bluegrass music in the 40s,<br />
so I <strong>feel</strong> like so much of what I do<br />
comes straight down the line from<br />
those guys. I grew up with a healthy<br />
exposure to so much different music,<br />
which is reflected in my career, and<br />
by my work in the Rock and Country<br />
worlds.<br />
4. What advice do you have for<br />
young, up and coming players<br />
that want a career in Nashville?<br />
Cactus: Be as professional as you can<br />
in your attitude and in your playing<br />
ability. You have to look at yourself as a<br />
product. Ask yourself, how can I present<br />
my product in the best light possible?<br />
Your playing has to be solid, you have<br />
to be able to play with the click, and<br />
be creative. Finally, know when and<br />
how to interact with the people you<br />
are working for and with! It’s not brain<br />
surgery, just be polite and smart. That’ll<br />
go a long way to having a great and long<br />
career doing something that’s not a job,<br />
but something you honor doing!<br />
Travis: Character in one’s playing<br />
matters. Machine-like ‘perfection’ is<br />
BORING! Get your time together, get<br />
your chops together, get your <strong>feel</strong><br />
together, and then play with PASSION.<br />
Embrace your natural tendencies, let<br />
them become your own musical voice,<br />
and play like a human!<br />
Billy: Young players need to work hard<br />
to play every style of music out there.<br />
Take as many gigs as you can, anything<br />
that comes along. You’ll learn so much<br />
playing with different players. That’s<br />
what I did, and I guess it worked.<br />
[edge 8.0] 13
TALKING DRUMS<br />
ssc specialized shell coNfiguraTioN<br />
Neil pearT & JohN <strong>good</strong><br />
d i s c u s s T h e f i N e r p o i N T s o f d w ’ s<br />
laTesT shell TechNology<br />
Neil: Hello. Neil Peart here. I’m with<br />
Professor John Good and he is going to<br />
explain to us a very complicated subject.<br />
I’m just going to be the chief device for<br />
exposition. I’m the student, as I always<br />
like to say here at <strong>Drum</strong> <strong>Workshop</strong>. I’m<br />
the student and resident, always glad to<br />
learn from all of the great drummers that<br />
come through and John about the nuances<br />
of drum construction. He’s going to tell us<br />
today about something called “Specialized<br />
Shell Construction” and everything that<br />
covers and as we’ve applied it between the<br />
two of us in instruments and as John is<br />
going to make available to all drummers,<br />
a truly individual choice in each shell and<br />
its note and response that you can combine<br />
together as you wish, <strong>really</strong>, in the creation<br />
of your own custom DW drum set. Over to<br />
Professor Good.<br />
John: Thank you. Thank you very<br />
much. Now Neal, essentially we’ve<br />
been doing this for a number of years,<br />
you and I. And I think it started with<br />
your R30 kit.<br />
Neil: Yeah, you started to get some glimmers<br />
of inspiration back then.<br />
John: Yes, I did because you were, I<br />
remember you landed your kit, the red<br />
kit, in my showroom and you said, “Look<br />
at it. Live with it for a couple weeks and<br />
look at the way I’ve got it tuned”. And<br />
before that I was just giving stock pretty<br />
much, shells that I was making and you<br />
were tuning them in ranges that maybe<br />
they wanted to go.<br />
Neil: Or that pleased me, yeah. There are<br />
various needs that you have and from my<br />
upper to lower toms is a perfect example of<br />
that chromatic spread that the upper ones,<br />
I actually like to be very bright and tonal<br />
and tune them <strong>really</strong> tight and then a lot<br />
of times use percussive dynamics, so that<br />
when I <strong>really</strong> hit them full-out rimshot<br />
across the head, that head stretches and<br />
detunes slightly, so that becomes a part of<br />
the throaty quality that I want the high<br />
toms to add, but as I move down into the<br />
lower ones, tonality is everything. I’ve done<br />
a demonstration before with my DW drums<br />
tapping that floor tom with a finger and<br />
ooooh, it just produces a pure resonant note<br />
with incredible sustain and I love that in<br />
the lower toms for them to have that great<br />
note recognition and quality, so that became<br />
a part of the shell design. It started with<br />
the lower toms, I think, and with the bass<br />
drum, John applying his ideas in creating<br />
tonality by combining the wood grains in<br />
different directions.<br />
John: Well, having said that, I, in the<br />
earlier years of drum shell construction<br />
and making, I always thought it was<br />
the thicker the shell, the higher the<br />
pitch, thinner the shell, lower the pitch<br />
and that’s it.<br />
Neil: Huh…OK, I didn’t even know that.<br />
John: Oh yeah. Well, like cymbals. The<br />
thicker ones have a higher pitch and<br />
the thinner ones have a darker, washier<br />
pitch. So, today we’re going to mess<br />
with that theory entirely.<br />
Neil: I mean investigate that science.<br />
John: And the way we want to start<br />
doing that is I brought three pieces of<br />
veneer here and I’ve drawn some lines<br />
so you can actually see…<br />
Neil: They didn’t grow that way.<br />
John: They didn’t grow this way. It’d<br />
be pretty cool to find a tree that does<br />
that.<br />
Neil: Ha ha ha…But we’re looking.<br />
John: So, I’ve drawn an arrow on the<br />
direction of the grain…to understand<br />
<strong>really</strong> what we’re talking about here,<br />
you <strong>really</strong> need to understand veneer<br />
first and so, I will use you as my<br />
student.<br />
Neil: Hmm.<br />
John: OK, here we have<br />
a piece of 1/36”<br />
veneer and this is very, very thin<br />
obviously, but the grain is running in<br />
the direction. If you hold your hand<br />
out, you will see that it holds itself very<br />
well.<br />
Neil: It keeps its shape.<br />
John: And the grain is running this<br />
direction. Now, every piece of wood<br />
has a musical note value and you’ll<br />
be able to hear this. Tell me if you can<br />
hear it.<br />
Neil: Yeah.<br />
John: There’s a note in there. Ok now,<br />
see the way I’m tapping this, I’m gonna<br />
hold it and I want you to tap it for me.<br />
Neil: Listen...Remarkable.<br />
John: So the pitch went up, right? And<br />
the pitch went up with tension. Now,<br />
<strong>feel</strong> this tension here. That’s a fair<br />
amount of tension.<br />
Neil: It wants to straighten out.<br />
John: It absolutely does. So that’s what<br />
we’re going to call “horizontal grain”.<br />
Then we have another piece here that<br />
is a similar size. If you hold your hand<br />
out, and you notice the grain is going<br />
the opposite direction, it’s going “short<br />
grain”. Hold your hand out, you’ll see<br />
how it just falls.<br />
Neil: Like a piece of wallpaper.<br />
John: Ha ha, basically yes. And it has<br />
a note value as well, but I wouldn’t be<br />
able to change that because I can’t put<br />
any tension on this, so we’re going<br />
to call that “vertical<br />
grain”. Then I<br />
have<br />
this wacky, wild diagonal cut piece of<br />
grain here and if you hold your hand<br />
out, you’ll notice that it twists like this.<br />
Neil: It wants to spiral.<br />
John: Now, if you tap the side while<br />
I try to straighten it out, look what<br />
happens. Tap the side.<br />
Neil: Tap tap tap tap tap tap…it seems<br />
to me an even exaggerated raising of the<br />
pitch.<br />
John: It’s raising the pitch, but it’s<br />
getting its tension from a whole<br />
different place, so we’re going to call<br />
that “diagonal grain”, right? What<br />
does all this mean? Ah…<br />
Neil: Ha ha ha. How can we use it?<br />
John: How can we use it?<br />
Neil: When we hit things with a stick.<br />
John: Which we’ll get into later and is<br />
a very interesting concept. How can<br />
we us it? I have 5 drum shells here and<br />
the first shell is the typical ….the shells<br />
that I love….many years…olive grain<br />
on the outside…on the inside, crosslaminated<br />
in between. It’s a 7-ply shell<br />
with 3-ply reinforcing hoops…one goes<br />
this way, the one behind it goes that<br />
way and then this way…and you have<br />
to have….So that’s a 7+3, 3-ply hoop....<br />
and more at www.dwdrums.com/ssc<br />
[edge 8.0] 15
in through the outdoor<br />
He’s a got a personality as big as His football player<br />
pHysique and a <strong>feel</strong> and pocket tHat won’t quit. a<br />
dynamic stage performer and studio ace tHat was<br />
once was an outsider like tHe rest of us, and now<br />
Has music’s elite on His speed dial.<br />
photos by Rob Shanahan<br />
abe LaborieL Jr.<br />
It’s hard to imagine<br />
our world of<br />
contemporary music<br />
without the name<br />
Laboriel attached to<br />
it. Performing on over<br />
4,000 recordings and<br />
soundtracks, Abe’s<br />
father Abraham Sr., has<br />
inspired generations<br />
Rich <strong>Man</strong>gicaro<br />
of musicians. Abe<br />
Jr.’s destiny was<br />
inevitable…he had, of course very natural abilities on<br />
whatever he picked up. His father impressed upon<br />
him the importance of the <strong>feel</strong> and flow of music<br />
and how to be musical, regardless of style or tempo,<br />
complexity or simplicity. The key was always to play<br />
for the song.<br />
I first met Abe Jr. during his high school years, at the<br />
NAMM show in Anaheim, California. That year, I<br />
had booked Jeff Porcaro with a band he assembled<br />
to perform in our booth at Paiste and Jeff came to<br />
me and said, “Rich, meet Abe Laboriel’s son, Abe Jr.<br />
He’s gonna sit in and wait till you hear his samba!”<br />
The <strong>feel</strong> and groove coming from this 17 year old<br />
was so deep, something you could <strong>feel</strong> inside of you.<br />
Something you could tell was coming from an old<br />
soul.<br />
Rich: I remember that day so well at the NAMM show,<br />
when Jeff introduced us.<br />
Abe: Yeah, it’s amazing…we’ve known each other for<br />
22 years! You signed me to my Paiste Endorsement<br />
and you were the first one to take a chance on me…<br />
so thank you, man.<br />
RM: Well, I’m honored. It’s great to have our long<br />
friendship and to see where you’ve taken it. I admit that<br />
I have some pride attached to it. You know, I’m sure in<br />
all your interviews, you’ve been asked how it all started…<br />
especially growing up with your Dad, who’s such a legend<br />
in music. But, tell me – how do you remember it all<br />
starting for you?<br />
AL: Really, quite literally with pots and pans, 18<br />
months old, wooden spoons, with headphones<br />
on and just banging away. I got my first drum set<br />
when I was 4 years old, which was a gift from Jamey<br />
Haddad.<br />
RM: Jamey is amazing…I didn’t know you had that<br />
early history with him. Tell me about your other early<br />
influences.<br />
AL: My Dad plays a little drums and would show<br />
me some things to play. He has an amazing <strong>feel</strong> and<br />
would show me a simple beat and stress the pulse<br />
and <strong>feel</strong>. I would play it and he would jam with me. I<br />
would also listen to records and try to emulate what<br />
I heard. We moved to LA when I was 5 and by the<br />
time I turned 10, I told my Dad that I wanted to be<br />
a professional musician, seriously. I would go to<br />
sessions with him and watch him play with Gadd or<br />
Jeff and many others. So then, Dad asked Alex Acuña<br />
whom I should study with and Alex said, “I’ll teach<br />
him.” Alex <strong>really</strong> gave me the freedom to explore<br />
and learn improvisation.<br />
RM: Was there reading involved?<br />
[edge 8.0] 17
AL: A little bit. You know, we had the<br />
“Syncopation” book but that wasn’t what attracted<br />
me to the instrument. I think the freedom that I<br />
had to explore with Alex kept me interested and<br />
it wasn’t until later, when I was 16, that I began<br />
studying with Peter Donald, from the Dick Grove<br />
School and had some theory and reading lessons.<br />
RM: How early was it that you began hanging with<br />
Jeff Porcaro?<br />
AL: I was about 15 when Jeff would call my Dad<br />
and ask if he could take me to some sessions. He<br />
would come pick me up and I got to watch him<br />
record or rehearse. What was great about the<br />
hangs with Jeff was that it was not just about the<br />
drums but more about the interaction. When I<br />
would geek out and ask him how to play a fill,<br />
he would say, “Ah, you don’t wanna know that.”<br />
But, he would eventually show me. With Jeff, I<br />
learned about interacting with others and about<br />
having a well-rounded life.<br />
RM: What about Carlos Vega?<br />
AL: With Carlos and Vinnie (Colaiuta) and J.R.,<br />
it was more just hangin’ at sessions, coming with<br />
my Dad. I’d ask them what sticks they used and<br />
how they tuned the drums. Vinnie was the first<br />
guy that I saw using coated Ambassadors, top and<br />
bottom, which, at that time most guys were using<br />
clears on the bottom. That helped me understand<br />
that you can break “rules” and use different<br />
combinations. Also, I would learn from them how<br />
they would interpret a song, either from listening<br />
or from a chart.<br />
RM: Were you giggin’ around town at that time?<br />
AL: Not <strong>really</strong>. My first real gig with my Dad<br />
wasn’t until I was just about to leave LA for<br />
Berklee. It was at the Baked Potato with Larry<br />
Carlton and Greg Mathieson.<br />
RM: Remember that day at the Paiste booth, when you<br />
came and sat in? Had you ever played with them before<br />
that day?<br />
AL: No. Jeff just asked me to sit in and I was<br />
foolishly confident enough to do it.<br />
RM: Did your father ever sit with you and teach?<br />
AL: Yes…the two things he would enforce were<br />
groove and time. When we would jam together,<br />
he would make sure I kept that focus. My Dad’s<br />
understanding of syncopation is heavy. When<br />
playing Jazz, he would make sure I kept the<br />
melody in mind while playing time. He would<br />
have me play the melody on the drum kit. This<br />
was invaluable to me and when we play together<br />
now, we know exactly where we are in the song.<br />
There’s this unspoken language that we have<br />
from our history of jamming so much. My father<br />
has taught me practically everything I know.<br />
RM: Tell me about your first recording experience?<br />
AL: The first one was a Justo Almario record, with<br />
my Dad and Alex Acuña on percussion. They<br />
actually hired me to play drums on the record!<br />
I wanted to be <strong>really</strong> prepared so I brought a<br />
drum machine with all the clicks programmed<br />
with different sounds and upbeats, so I was able<br />
to control what we played to rather than try to<br />
communicate that with the engineer. I had my<br />
drums tuned just right and hired Ross Garfield to<br />
see to that. It was so much fun and Dad was just<br />
so proud. We were there 3 or 4 days.<br />
RM: Were you gaining studio experience at Berklee?<br />
AL: A little bit, but it hadn’t quite picked up there<br />
yet. I went through a couple of teachers at Berklee<br />
before landing with Ian Froman the instructor<br />
who I <strong>really</strong> connected with. He opened my head<br />
SO much and pushed me to think outside the box<br />
and beyond the downbeat…in a more free-form<br />
way. I learned from him how to trust the other<br />
players more. Ian’s approach was a continuation<br />
of what my Dad and Alex taught me, but he put it<br />
in a different context that resonated with me.<br />
“There’s this<br />
unspoken language<br />
that we have from our<br />
history of jamming so<br />
much. My father has<br />
taught me practically<br />
everything I know.”<br />
RM: Did you finish school?<br />
AL: Yes, although whilst there, I got an offer to<br />
tour with Barry <strong>Man</strong>ilow and I considered it<br />
pretty seriously. At first, I wasn’t finding my niche<br />
at Berklee. What I did get into was working with<br />
Phil Wilson, the ensemble leader. He <strong>really</strong> took<br />
me under his wing and pushed me to improve my<br />
reading. The first time I showed up outside his<br />
office, with my kit on my back…I figured out how<br />
to carry an entire kit on my back…(laughs). When<br />
he saw me, he laughed and I said, “What – am I<br />
early?” I then looked in his office and he had the<br />
smallest office! He said, “No man, all you need is<br />
your snare!” He <strong>really</strong> opened my eyes to the fact<br />
that I hadn’t <strong>really</strong> explored just one of the pieces<br />
of my instrument, let alone all of it. I left the rest<br />
of the kit out in the hall and, with Phil, I realized<br />
all of the different tones and sounds you can get<br />
out of just one instrument. Using sticks, brushes,<br />
hands, snares off, hitting the side of the drum, or<br />
any combination therein. This was another lifechanging<br />
experience for me. I think this is why<br />
I’ve never felt the need to have a bunch of toms or<br />
a large kit and to explore as much as you can with<br />
a simpler setup.<br />
RM: That’s a great compliment to Phil as you’re kind<br />
of known for that. So, what happened with that offer<br />
from Barry <strong>Man</strong>ilow?<br />
AL: It was a hard decision, but I decided to stay in<br />
school. I changed majors…I felt I had gotten all I<br />
could out of the drum department and switched<br />
to Music Synthesis. I still studied with Ian, but I<br />
wanted to work in a field that would <strong>really</strong> have<br />
merit in the future of recorded music. So I worked<br />
a lot with synthesizers, sequencing, programming<br />
and some production techniques. Sampling<br />
was <strong>really</strong> at the vanguard then and that <strong>really</strong><br />
interested me. So, I did that for the last 2 years of<br />
school, while still playing in bands around town.<br />
RM: You know, the first time I saw you with<br />
McCartney, you were singing background vocals and<br />
I thought, what an amazing experience to be singing<br />
those vocal parts with him! Recently, I saw a video<br />
clip of you singing lead for a French artist…what was<br />
her name?<br />
AL: Mylene Farmer. Yeah, that was in Paris and<br />
we did 13 shows in a row in an arena that held<br />
18,000 plus.<br />
RM: How did that gig come about?<br />
AL: In 1996, I had worked with Steve Vai, Seal<br />
and also Jonathan Brooke, doing theater gigs in<br />
the States. I then got a call to play with this French<br />
Pop star. That was Mylene. When I got there, we<br />
walked into this arena, 20,000 seats and I had no<br />
idea that she was that big. We rehearsed there for<br />
2 weeks and then, the first night of the tour, I was<br />
shocked by the crowd. It was like a Beatles crowd!<br />
I had never heard that before…they were so loud<br />
and intense. That was my first experience playing<br />
to a crowd like that.<br />
RM: That spawned a few other French artists, right?<br />
AL: Yeah…I toured with her for about 6 months of<br />
that year and then worked for about a year with<br />
Johnny Hallyday. My first night with him was in<br />
Paris, in front of 85,000 people and I was again<br />
blown away by the intensity of that situation. So,<br />
by the time I toured with Sting and Paul, I was<br />
comfortable playing those types of venues and all<br />
that comes with it.<br />
RM: So how did Paul McCartney find you?<br />
AL: I received a random call from a friend named<br />
David Kahne, who was a producer and A&R guy<br />
for Warner Brothers. We would run into each<br />
other from time but had never worked together.<br />
Paul hired David to assemble the musicians and<br />
produce his “Driving Rain” CD. I remember<br />
getting the call from David, asking me, “How do<br />
you <strong>feel</strong> about making the next Paul McCartney<br />
record?” I almost dropped the phone. The night<br />
before I met Paul, I didn’t sleep much. When<br />
I got to the studio, within 5 minutes of shaking<br />
Paul’s hand, we were listening to a demo and<br />
recording.<br />
RM: Is that when the big diameter thing came into play<br />
for you?<br />
AL: When I was juggling between playing softer<br />
volume gigs with artists like k.d. to playing very<br />
hard with Steve Vai and Seal and I was finding<br />
out that I was choking out drums. I found that<br />
the smaller diameter drums were maxing out<br />
from the way I played and not giving me what I<br />
wanted. So I went to a 26” bass drum and loved<br />
the range…the way I could hit it soft and the note<br />
would be a darker tone, but then I could hit hard<br />
and it would punch and follow me, dynamically.<br />
i remember getting tHe call from david, asking<br />
me, “How do you <strong>feel</strong> about making tHe next paul<br />
mccartney record?” i almost dropped tHe pHone..<br />
So I asked D.W. to make me a kit with 12”, 15” and<br />
18” toms and the 26” bass drum. Since then, I’ve<br />
never gone back to smaller sizes.<br />
RM: So for Paul, you began working immediately?<br />
AL: Yeah – we were at Henson Studios, which<br />
used to be A&M. My drums were there; Paul’s<br />
drums were there. Paul was in the tracking room<br />
with us, myself, Rusty Anderson and pianist Gabe<br />
Dickson. Paul was very open to our ideas, during<br />
the creative process.<br />
RM: How long did you record?<br />
AL: We recorded for 2 weeks, took a break for<br />
a couple of months and then came back and<br />
recorded for another 2 weeks. It was just a<br />
beautiful experience. He was so open to exploring<br />
things with us. I was into a more organic type of<br />
programming and rather than getting a computer<br />
out, I was using guitar effect pedals and loop<br />
pedals and also using the Roland Handsonic,<br />
which I love. I would create the loops on the<br />
guitar gear, which enabled me to be all about the<br />
live <strong>feel</strong>, then triggering it where I felt it should<br />
be. I would then run all <strong>these</strong>s things through<br />
flangers, delays and various effect pedals and<br />
all through guitar amps, which further gave that<br />
organic sound that Paul loved.<br />
RM: That was 2001?<br />
AL: Yeah, we finished the record in June and he<br />
was considering touring but had not finalized<br />
plans when a few months later, September 11th<br />
happened. Two weeks later, I was in New York,<br />
playing with k.d. Lang and got the call from<br />
Sting. He had some dates to finish and <strong>Man</strong>u<br />
Katche wasn’t available. Two days before Sting’s<br />
rehearsals were to start, Paul’s “Concert For<br />
New York” benefit was to be my first big show<br />
with him. During that weekend, I did that show<br />
with Paul and also began rehearsals with Sting.<br />
I finished out Sting’s dates and while I was on<br />
the road with him, I got a call from Paul’s camp,<br />
letting me know he wanted to begin doing some<br />
shows, but I had to say no, which was one of the<br />
scariest things I’ve ever had to do. Luckily, he<br />
understood my commitment to Sting and waited<br />
‘till I was done, to do his tour.<br />
RM: Wow, what a position to be in. Abe, of all the dates<br />
you’ve done with Paul, I’m particularly interested in<br />
the trip to Russia. I have the “In Red Square” DVD,<br />
which I highly recommend to everyone.<br />
AL: That was just an incredible experience. Paul<br />
had never been to Russia…even with The Beatles.<br />
Back in the day, popular music from the West<br />
was banned there, so that was his first trip and<br />
he was completely moved by the whole thing. I<br />
was so honored to have been a part of that. Not<br />
to mention playing “Back In The U.S.S.R.” in Red<br />
Square!<br />
RM: Yes – it must have been amazing. That DVD<br />
<strong>really</strong> captures the emotion of the event. You know,<br />
after all your work with such amazing artists, have you<br />
worked on your own material?<br />
AL: Yeah, I’ve been working on some songs and<br />
probably have enough for a record, at this point.<br />
It’s just been about finding the time to record them<br />
and probably, now is the time. I enjoy writing,<br />
even just for the sake of exercising that muscle.<br />
RM: Do your song ideas begin more melodically or<br />
with a groove concept?<br />
AL: It’s melodic with harmony and a lot of leading<br />
tone stuff. Eventually the melody forms and lyrics<br />
come, hopefully. There’s a bunch of songs that I<br />
want to record and I’m not sure what I’ll do with<br />
them yet…maybe I’ll set up a website. We’ll see.<br />
I’m just having fun with the creation process.<br />
RM: What is coming up for you in the near future?<br />
AL: This year, I toured with Eric Clapton and<br />
Steve Winwood. It is sort of a Blind Faith reunion.<br />
It is an incredible experience to learn about<br />
American-influenced British Rock from the very<br />
pioneers of it. I’ve been approaching this tour<br />
with more of a tribal mindset. As a tip of the hat<br />
to Ginger Baker I’ve added some more toms to my<br />
kit. My set from left to right is 14”, 12”, 13” rack<br />
toms and 15”, 16” floor toms. I also have more<br />
shows scheduled with Paul too.<br />
…At this point, Abe picked up an acoustic guitar<br />
and played a song. It was moody, in a minor key,<br />
almost Spanish in flavor…reminded me a bit of<br />
Sting. The song’s lyrics were about someone<br />
realizing a love that’s right in front of them<br />
and the struggle to get out of their own way to<br />
appreciate it.<br />
Abe is honored to have the influences he had as<br />
a young, up and coming player and is thankful<br />
every single day. Unlike most of us, he had the<br />
amazing fortune, not only to have great studio<br />
legends take him under their wing but also to<br />
have a father guide him in a way most of us can<br />
only imagine. Even with his inherited talent and<br />
natural ability, he learned very young the value<br />
of hard work, the importance of mutual respect<br />
and the invaluable tool of listening. Listening to<br />
everything…to the words spoken around him, to<br />
the subtle lessons between peers, to every style<br />
of music, to his mentors and finally to himself.<br />
Abraham Laboriel Jr. was destined to endure a<br />
legacy…a legacy that still thrives today.<br />
[edge 8.0] 19
”<br />
<strong>Man</strong><br />
<strong>these</strong> <strong>feel</strong><br />
<strong>really</strong><br />
<strong>really</strong> <strong>good</strong>. ”<br />
Sure, 3 drumsticks are made at<br />
<strong>Drum</strong> <strong>Workshop</strong>’s own factory<br />
from the finest hickory. And<br />
yes, they’re quality-matched<br />
to exacting standards, but it’s<br />
their <strong>feel</strong> that has drummers<br />
talking. Just about everyone<br />
who tries them says, “<strong>Man</strong>,<br />
<strong>these</strong> sticks <strong>feel</strong> <strong>really</strong>,<br />
<strong>really</strong> <strong>good</strong>.” But don’t<br />
take our word for it, try them<br />
for yourself. We’re certain<br />
you’ll end up saying the exact<br />
same thing.<br />
To see the full line of professional<br />
quality, all-hickory 3<strong>Drum</strong>sticks visit:<br />
www.3drumsticks.com<br />
©2009 <strong>Drum</strong> <strong>Workshop</strong>, Inc.<br />
The 3 logo is a trademark of <strong>Drum</strong> <strong>Workshop</strong>, Inc. All Rights Reserved.<br />
,<br />
>GEAR GUIDE<br />
3druMsTicks xl Models<br />
3xl...soMe of 3’s MosT popular sizes<br />
are Now offered iN exTra large.<br />
By now, everyone knows that 3 <strong>Drum</strong>sticks are made from premium hickory and are<br />
quality-checked like no other sticks on the market. Superior wood and unsurpassed<br />
consistency makes for a pretty player-friendly drumstick. No rolling to find the<br />
bananas or weeding mismatched weights to find the “right pair”. This means you<br />
don’t have to worry about quality control when you buy your sticks, or worse, when<br />
you get home. You just get to play.<br />
Now, both of 3 <strong>Drum</strong>sticks biggest sellers are available in a longer, more beefed-up<br />
version. The 5AXL and 5BXL feature the same high-quality hickory as their standard<br />
length cousins, but offer a slightly longer profile with a wider shoulder , more suited<br />
for heavy hitters. DW VP of Sales and stick expert, Jim DeStefano elaborates, “Guys<br />
seem to <strong>really</strong> like the <strong>feel</strong> and playability of our sticks and they’re always asking<br />
us for very specific sizes. That’s not <strong>really</strong> our thing. We don’t do signature sticks<br />
and we don’t make the ‘way out there’ stuff that other stick companies make. We<br />
concentrate on the most popular sizes, the ones that drummers always have in<br />
their stick bags”. DeStefano continues, “So when we decided to come out with XL<br />
versions of our 5A and 5B, it was a big deal. As always, we decided to keep things<br />
simple, both are only available in a beefier Acorn-style tip. So far, the response has<br />
been amazing. <strong>Drum</strong>mers <strong>really</strong> like the longer sizes.”<br />
®<br />
®<br />
3 <strong>Drum</strong>sticks newest XL sizes are available at authorized dealers or to learn more,<br />
visit www.3drumsticks.com<br />
5AXL ACORN<br />
5BXL ACORN<br />
®<br />
www.pacificdrums.com<br />
Platinum SerieS<br />
travis smith_trivium<br />
The answer is yes, <strong>these</strong> guys <strong>really</strong> do tour with their Platinum Series<br />
drums. They proudly rock their PDPs on some of the world’s most highprofile<br />
stages because there’s no doubt in their mind that the drums look<br />
and sound high-end. They even get to design their Platinum drums just<br />
like they would with much pricier custom kits. Guess what, it’s not just<br />
reserved for the pros, you can do it too. Besides, you have more in common<br />
with your drum heroes than you think, you both live and breathe drums.<br />
pacific drums and percussion _live and breathe drums.<br />
©2009 Pacific <strong>Drum</strong>s and Percussion. All Rights Reserved. The PDP logo is a registered trademark of <strong>Drum</strong> <strong>Workshop</strong>, Inc.
oad StorieS:<br />
dw artists Hit europe<br />
photos by Dave Phillips<br />
Brooks Wackerman Tenacious D,<br />
Reading August 2008<br />
Scott Travis Judas Priest,<br />
Birmingham NEC, Feb 09<br />
Joey Castillo Queens of the Stone Age, Reading August 2008<br />
Daniel Adair Nickelback,<br />
Birmingham NIA, May 09<br />
Cora Coleman <strong>Drum</strong>mer Live, London June 2009<br />
Jack Bruno Tina Turner, Birmingham NIA, April 09<br />
De’Mar Hamilton<br />
Plain White T’s, Reading August 2008<br />
Ian Matthews Kasabian,<br />
Leicester De Monfort Hall, May 09<br />
Steve Morrison The View,<br />
Wulfrun Hall,<br />
Wolverhampton, Feb 09<br />
Johnny Quinn Snow Patrol,<br />
Birmingham NEC, March 09<br />
Neil Peart Rush,<br />
Birmingham NEC, October 2007<br />
Roger Taylor Queen, Birmingham NEC, October 2008<br />
Paul Bostaph Testament,<br />
Birmingham NEC, Feb 09<br />
[edge 8.0] 23
Jimmy paxSon<br />
under the radar<br />
no more<br />
stevie nicks’ stickman isn’t a newcomer and He’s<br />
not an overnigHt success. He’s an l.a. drummer<br />
wHo got tHe gig because He’s just tHat <strong>good</strong>.<br />
By Rich <strong>Man</strong>gicaro. Photo by Rob Shanahan.<br />
The underdog. We love rooting for them.<br />
But when we look further into their<br />
history, we find <strong>these</strong> ‘overnight success<br />
stories’ have already accumulated<br />
credits, have spent years schlepping on<br />
the road and have paid their dues – ten<br />
times over. Thus is the case with Jimmy<br />
Paxson. When I first met him, I had<br />
heard of his mother, Jazz keyboardist<br />
Sunnie Paxson. When I dug further, I<br />
found an astounding lineage of talent.<br />
Rich <strong>Man</strong>gicaro: Jimmy, I was intrigued<br />
when I learned about your musical family.<br />
What was it like to grow up in such a<br />
creative environment?<br />
Jimmy Paxson: My dad was always<br />
blazing on the drums and I watched him<br />
play all the time. He never sat me down<br />
and said “Well son, this is how you…”<br />
It was more through observation. He<br />
would have me play along to all <strong>these</strong><br />
great Jazz records while my Mom<br />
would have me listening and playing<br />
to Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock and<br />
whatnot. She is <strong>really</strong> artsy and helped<br />
me get in touch with the emotional side<br />
of drumming.<br />
RM: What was it like when you first got to LA?<br />
JP: Well, first thing I did was called a<br />
few drummers that I hoped to study<br />
with, finding their numbers through the<br />
Musicians’ Union. I left messages for<br />
Vinnie, Jeff Porcaro, Gregg Bissonette<br />
and some other cats. Gregg was teaching<br />
at the time, so I studied a bit with him,<br />
which was great. Later, I met Joey<br />
Heredia and he hipped me to Murray<br />
Spivack, who ended up reworking my<br />
entire approach.<br />
RM: Let’s talk about Murray. I think there<br />
are many drummers who don’t even know<br />
about him. Seems to be more of a West coast<br />
thing…<br />
JP: Studying with Murray was the greatest<br />
thing I ever did for my drumming. In<br />
the beginning, he said to me “Play like<br />
you play and practice like I show you.<br />
What I teach you will creep into your<br />
playing and the change will take care of<br />
itself.” It was a whole different way of<br />
holding and controlling a stick. Lot’s of<br />
emphasis on up-strokes, down-strokes<br />
and things like the mechanics of a flam.<br />
Learning the up-stroke itself was the<br />
biggest breakthrough and it is the one<br />
thing I see missing from players that are<br />
struggling with technique.<br />
RM: Jimmy, explain a bit more about the<br />
‘up-stroke’?<br />
JP: The up-stroke is a delicate release<br />
where the hand naturally drops,<br />
putting the wrist into motion and a<br />
stroke happens on the way up. For<br />
example, the leading hand of a 5-stroke<br />
roll would play the first 2 strokes on an<br />
up-stroke and the 5th would be a down-<br />
stroke…three strokes from one up &<br />
down motion. It’s just a more efficient<br />
way of playing.<br />
RM: Makes complete sense. While you were<br />
studying with Murray, what was going<br />
with you professionally?<br />
JP: There was a jam session at a LA club<br />
and I met Chris Chaney there. Chris<br />
later introduced me Gary Novak and<br />
honestly, a lot of what I’ve accomplished<br />
as a drummer stems from their early<br />
support. Later I ended up subbing for<br />
Gary with Robben Ford. It was my<br />
first actual tour… and a serious crashcourse.<br />
From there, I went on to work<br />
Ronnie Montrose, which turned into a<br />
gig that lasted, on and off for years.<br />
RM: What was the gig like with Ronnie?<br />
JP: It was great…all instrumental<br />
music. The hard part was that I knew<br />
I needed to establish myself in more of<br />
the mainstream music world. Strangely<br />
enough, it was around that time in ‘99<br />
when I got an unexpected call from<br />
Alanis Morissette’s tour manager<br />
asking me if I could leave for Venezuela-<br />
immediately. At first, I thought it was<br />
someone playing a joke on me but<br />
actually Gary was leaving the tour with<br />
short notice and Chaney recommended<br />
me to take over. It was an interesting<br />
position to suddenly be in, to say the<br />
least. Alanis was one of the warmest<br />
individuals I’d ever met and I’m happy<br />
to have been there.<br />
RM: Jim, being thrown into such a situation,<br />
how do you learn to nail it, on-the-fly like<br />
that?<br />
JP: I follow <strong>these</strong> five steps: 1) Listen to<br />
the tune. 2) Make a chart. 3) Play to the<br />
tune, with the chart. 4) Play to the chart,<br />
without the tune. 5) Play the tune,<br />
without the chart or the recording. My<br />
goal is that when it comes time to play, I<br />
don’t need to reference anything.<br />
RM: So, how did Stevie Nicks find you?<br />
JP: On a break from touring, I came home<br />
and my cartage guy, Ross Garfieldowner<br />
of <strong>Drum</strong> Doctors, had heard that<br />
Waddy Wachtel, Stevie’s bandleader,<br />
was looking for a drummer for her.<br />
Ross recommended me, for which I’m<br />
eternally thankful.<br />
RM: Along with learning all the songs, I<br />
know that you’re great at focusing on the<br />
right drum sound for the gig. How did you<br />
apply that to the Stevie audition?<br />
JP: I am a firm believer that bringing the<br />
right sound for any situation is key. I<br />
knew from learning Stevie’s music that<br />
I wanted the snare tuned way down into<br />
that Mick Fleetwood/Russ Kunkel/Stan<br />
Lynch zone. Ross has an old 7x14 Tama<br />
bell brass snare that I rented a few times<br />
and we both agreed it would deliver. At<br />
the audition, I hit it once and everyone<br />
noticed. That IS the sound for Stevie’s<br />
music and she heard it right away. To<br />
achieve this now, I use a DW 8”x14”<br />
Edge snare that just sounds unreal.<br />
RM: When did you find out you had the gig?<br />
JP: I was on the road with Edgar Winter<br />
and I didn’t hear anything from them<br />
for 3 or 4 days. In an airport, I noticed<br />
a missed call from Waddy. His message<br />
said: “Ah, Jim, it’s Waddy Wachtel.<br />
Listen, I don’t know what to tell ya…<br />
but, you got the gig. Welcome to the<br />
family. Hope you’re not doing anything<br />
for the next year or so!” That was about<br />
5 years ago.<br />
RM: Wow! How did it <strong>feel</strong>, getting that call?<br />
JP: Incredible. I’ve had other big gigs<br />
but that call was life changing. I had<br />
about 3 weeks of back-to-back work in<br />
Europe with both Sophie B. Hawkins<br />
and Edgar so I had no choice but to<br />
learn all the songs in hotel rooms and<br />
actually got home only the night before<br />
the first rehearsal.<br />
RM: So, without the kit to learn the tunes,<br />
how did you prepare so you felt ready?<br />
JP: I transcribed pretty much note for<br />
note what Mick, Russ Kunkel and<br />
Stan Lynch played and pretty much<br />
slept with headphones on. I had some<br />
pads in my room…that, with a lot of<br />
determination, I got through it. When<br />
I got home, I entered what I call “Camp<br />
Waddy!”<br />
RM: How is it playing with Lenny Castro?<br />
“My goal is that when<br />
it comes time to<br />
play, I don’t need to<br />
reference anything.”<br />
JP: Playing with Lenny is effortless…<br />
he’s simply the deadliest percussionist<br />
there is - period. His <strong>feel</strong> and choices are<br />
second to none and we quickly became<br />
real close, both on stage and off. I thank<br />
God for every moment with him and<br />
on top of playing all those great songs,<br />
Stevie gives us a big solo every night.<br />
With Lenny, you never know which<br />
direction it’s gonna go. For example,<br />
one night he may play his entire solo<br />
on his gong bass drum and a cowbell…<br />
other nights, he may use his entire rig.<br />
We both look at our solos as a place to<br />
be spontaneous. We have a set ending<br />
worked out, but other than that, it’s<br />
wide open.<br />
RM: Who were your influences that helped<br />
you learn to construct a <strong>good</strong> solo?<br />
JP: Tony Williams’ Lifetime “Believe It”<br />
record is THE drum bible. Also, there’s<br />
a live solo with Steve Gadd and Ralph<br />
McDonald on a Grover Washington<br />
Jr. video, which blows my mind. Any<br />
Dennis Chambers or Simon Phillips<br />
open solo and finally, John Bonham on<br />
Led Zeppelin’s “How The West Was<br />
Won”. These are all huge for me.<br />
RM: Jimmy, working for such diverse female<br />
singers, how do you adjust your playing to<br />
fit their varied styles?<br />
JP: I try to get acclimated to where<br />
they lay the cadence of their vocals, in<br />
relation to the beat - their way of <strong>feel</strong>ing<br />
the groove. Then, I connect with what<br />
they’re saying, lyrically and emotionally<br />
and convey dynamically what’s needed<br />
from there. It’s all about the subtleties.<br />
RM: That’s so true. So, what’s happening<br />
currently for you?<br />
JP: For a while, I was working with<br />
Giorgia Todrani, who is one of Italy’s<br />
most iconic singers. Recently, I’ve<br />
been doing some one-offs with Johnny<br />
Rivers, who hits include “Memphis”<br />
and “Secret Agent <strong>Man</strong>”. Other recent<br />
projects include CDs with A Fine<br />
Frenzy, Sharon Little, The Casualties<br />
Of Jazz, Julian Coryell and I recently<br />
did an eclectic tour opening for Louden<br />
Wainwright III, with my girlfriend,<br />
singer/songwriter Jenni Alpert.<br />
RM: Jimmie, your drum collection is <strong>really</strong><br />
a drummer’s playground!<br />
JP: I’m a bit of a collector. DW has <strong>really</strong><br />
raised the bar over the years on drum<br />
quality. I have quite a few of their kits,<br />
including Stevie’s favorite, a VLT Gold<br />
Glass finish set. I am also a junkie for<br />
old classic American drums, as well as<br />
import mahogany drums from Taiwan<br />
and Japan.<br />
Regarding cymbals, everyone at Paiste is<br />
like family to me and I use a combination<br />
of their lines. For drumheads, I use<br />
Evans and my sticks are Vic Firth.<br />
RM: Talk about your studio a bit?<br />
JP: My room is a recording/rehearsal<br />
space…I operate both Pro Tools and<br />
Logic. The room is about 20’ x 40’ with<br />
a 16’ ceiling and I do a lot of sessions<br />
there. I have an extensive drum<br />
collection, including some cool, vintage<br />
kits and tons of percussion stuff, so it’s<br />
a one-stop shop.<br />
RM: Jimmy, what would you say to players<br />
who are trying to make something happen<br />
for themselves, especially given our tough<br />
economic situation?<br />
JP: WORK ON YOUR TIME AND BE<br />
PREPARED!! With the Internet and all<br />
the available resources, the knowledge<br />
is out there to be absorbed 24/7. Like<br />
they say, ‘practice at home’. Once you<br />
get on a gig, if you’re lucky enough to<br />
have people to lean on, know that they’ll<br />
only carry you so far before you’re<br />
expected to stand on your own. Always<br />
support the music first and know the<br />
boundaries…then know when and how<br />
to step out without being musically<br />
distracting. The pressure is immense,<br />
but if you love music and you play<br />
for the song, that’s what it’s all about.<br />
You never know when the call is going<br />
to come in so just keep growing…and<br />
keep going.<br />
[edge 8.0] 25
DRUM CLINIC<br />
9 fuNdaMeNTal rudiMeNTs<br />
by deNNy seiwell<br />
photo by Alex Solca<br />
Denny Seiwell<br />
I n<br />
My years of playing and teaching drums, I<br />
always wanted to simplify the 26 rudiments into<br />
the strokes necessary to actually play the drums.<br />
By trial and error, I have been using this concept on<br />
beginning students to professional drummers. If either<br />
the pros or the students spend 10 minutes working on<br />
<strong>these</strong> exercises, it will greatly improve their drumming<br />
overall. It employs all of the necessary strokes that<br />
must be mastered in a fun and easy way.<br />
Lesson#1<br />
First we should learn how to hold the sticks. There<br />
are two types of grips used for playing drums. The<br />
traditional grip, which was developed due to the<br />
fact that originally the drum was hung around the<br />
neck with a strap, and therefore sat at an angle.<br />
This is not how drums set players today need to<br />
adjust to hit their drums. The traditional grip is<br />
wonderful and will be explained and taught at a<br />
later lesson. However, the other grip… the match<br />
grip is more in use today and simpler to get<br />
started. So we will start with this grip.<br />
Think of the grip, with holding hands palm<br />
down and waving <strong>good</strong>bye. In this way, the wrist<br />
hinges most easily, and goes up and down very<br />
effortlessly. Next, we place the stick between the<br />
tip of the thumb and the first joint of the index<br />
finger lightly closing the hand around the stick.<br />
Do not squeeze! It should be held as if holding a<br />
bird in the hand. The only pressure will come from<br />
fulcrum, which is the thumb and index finger. This<br />
is also light but firm for control’s sake. Next, we<br />
start by “waving <strong>good</strong>bye” with the stick in each<br />
hand which produces the first stroke; the single<br />
stroke roll. Slowly, we make the same stick path<br />
raising the sticks approximately 8 inches above<br />
the drum and down as we “wave <strong>good</strong>bye” with<br />
both sticks. If you are right-handed, your left stick<br />
might not cooperate. Don’t worry about this, it<br />
will improve with <strong>these</strong> exercises. Start to increase<br />
speed of the single strokes RLRLRL accelerating<br />
slowly but trying not to tense up the arms or<br />
hands. Best results come when you play as fast<br />
as you can until tension appears, and then stop<br />
and start over again. Try to make the same sound<br />
with each stick. Again, if you are right-handed<br />
the left stick might sound different than the right.<br />
This exercise is the very first thing we must learn<br />
in order to start getting control over the bouncing<br />
of the stick.<br />
Lesson #2<br />
Now that we have a grip and a stick path, the<br />
ability to stroke from the wrist, not the whole<br />
arm, we must learn how to bounce the sticks and<br />
stop and control the bounce. We now learn the<br />
“two stroke roll”. This was taught as “mamma<br />
dada”. We start by dropping the right stick and<br />
making a second sound with the bouncing stroke,<br />
but only one stroke. The right stick strokes and<br />
bounces one time and then must be stopped after<br />
the second note is heard, “mamma”. RR. Next, we<br />
do the same stroke with the left hand. Stroke and<br />
bounce stopped after the second note, “dada”.<br />
This is the hardest part of playing drums and<br />
when this is mastered all drumming becomes so<br />
much easier. It is the bounce stroke that will allow<br />
speed and ease of play. In this exercise we shall<br />
learn how to bounce and control the sticks. We<br />
start the same as the single stroke roll, by making<br />
the same stick path 8 to 12 inches from the head<br />
or playing surface if you are using a practice pad.<br />
Starting with the right-hand, we make the initial<br />
stroke with the right-hand, and follow it by a<br />
bounce stroke. Do not make two strokes of the<br />
wrist. It is a matter of dropping the stick lightly<br />
and allowing it to bounce one time only. RR.<br />
Next, we do the same with the left stick, which<br />
may be a little harder to do . Don’t worry, this will<br />
improve in time. Then we start hand-to-hand by<br />
making the stroke and the bounce from RR to LL<br />
and accelerate slowly, trying to make both notes<br />
(RR) (LL) the same volume and sound. As we get<br />
aster the bounce becomes easier, but try to keep<br />
the same space between the two notes and the<br />
same stick path up and down. You are now on<br />
your way.<br />
Lesson #3<br />
We now learn how to incorporate the fingers<br />
into the stroke, since we have the wrist and the<br />
hands working properly. When we practiced the<br />
bounce stroke, we automatically used he fingers<br />
to help stop our stroke. Now we will take that<br />
a step further by making a “3 stroke roll”. We<br />
start with the right hand making the stroke, the<br />
bounce and another bounce... ONE STROKE only<br />
with the wrist, and the bounce comes from the<br />
weight of the stick being dropped and allowed<br />
to bounce. ONLY two bounces though. Here<br />
comes the control part. (RRR) (LLL) etc. Again,<br />
we start slowly and pick up speed as it becomes<br />
more comfortable. Without having to think...we<br />
are using the middle fingers to stop the bounce<br />
stroke. This will also help us with our “2 Stroke<br />
Roll”. RRR, LLL RRR LLL. Trying to maintain the<br />
same stick path and sound of each stroke. This<br />
exercise will make your hands work with the<br />
proper pressure of the stick grip.<br />
Lesson #4<br />
We now move on to the “4 Stroke Roll”. This<br />
allows us to use more fingers in our stroke, which<br />
provides more control and power. We start by<br />
making a stroke, followed by “three” bounces<br />
of equal volume and space if possible. This<br />
exercise will not have to be played as quickly<br />
due to the degree of difficulty. (RRRR) (LLLL) etc.<br />
starting slowly and gradually picking up speed.<br />
Remember, DO NOT stroke from the arm, but<br />
from the wrist and fingers. One down stroke from<br />
the wrist and the bounces from the fingers. Again,<br />
we will use the middle fingers to help produce the<br />
bounce strokes, as well as to stop it. This exercise<br />
will enable the student to <strong>really</strong> learn to control<br />
the bounce stroke.<br />
Lesson #5<br />
We have now learned several of the 26 Rudiments,<br />
which I have boiled down to 5 basic rudiments<br />
that must be learned to enjoy playing the drums.<br />
.Next we learn the first of the hand-to-hand rolls<br />
beginning with the 5 Stroke Roll. We start this by<br />
a stroke and a bounce stroke with the right hand.<br />
Repeat this with the left hand, and add a single<br />
stroke at the end... producing the 5 stroke roll.<br />
RRLLR---LLRRL etc. again speeding up gradually<br />
and using the same stick path and sound of each<br />
note. This short roll will be followed by many<br />
measured rolls of various lengths. When this roll<br />
is played correctly, the last note of the 5 strokes<br />
will be accented slightly. Sometimes this roll is<br />
counted easily by the strokes 2- 4- 5, since they<br />
are played fairly quick. A bounce stroke with each<br />
hand, and a stroke with an accent at the end. The<br />
5 Stroke Roll. When playing <strong>these</strong> hand-to-hand<br />
ie. RRLLR LLRRL RRLLR LLRRL becomes easy,<br />
you are more than on your way to being able to<br />
execute just about anything on the drums.<br />
There... If you can remember to count to five, you can<br />
play the drums. As we now count backwards from<br />
five... we are going to learn a few more disciplines and<br />
rudiments of drumming... yes It Is That Simple !!!<br />
On the way back down from 5 to 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 again,<br />
we will cover all the main ingredients that are found in<br />
the original 26 rudiments of drumming.<br />
Lesson 6<br />
Upon reaching the completion of the first five<br />
exercise, we now count backwards with an<br />
exercise for the number 4,3,2 and finally 1. Here<br />
we go!!!!<br />
Having been at #5 we move on to #4 which is<br />
called the “4 Stroke Ruff”. A ruff is a series of<br />
notes played in rapid succession and in musical<br />
terms is made up of grace notes (softer notes<br />
than the original stroke).... so... we are going to<br />
play 4 notes rapidly starting with the right hand.<br />
RLRL. The last note (L in this case) is louder<br />
than the first 3 notes. It should sound like “dig<br />
ida bop” if you said the phrase quickly. With the<br />
accent or louder note being the “bop”. Once you<br />
have played this evenly, try to start the ruff using<br />
the other hand. LRLR, it is played faster than you<br />
can say 1234, hence the dig ida bop phrase....this<br />
is a way cool rudiment!!!<br />
Lesson 7<br />
Coming back down the count of exercises<br />
1,2,3,4,5,4 we are now at 3 again. This is an<br />
exercise very similar to the last one using the<br />
ruff. However this is only 3 strokes long...hence<br />
#3. We start this rudiment by playing two soft<br />
grace notes with the left hand, and a regular<br />
stroke with the right....llR....rrL....llR....rrL.<br />
The grace notes are played softer and spaced<br />
evenly like the 4 stroke ruff, but shorter. In<br />
the demonstration of sticking you will notice<br />
small letters for the grace note, and caps for the<br />
finishing stroke. llR....rrL....etc. going hand-tohand<br />
or starting each time with your other hand<br />
makes this rudiment very fluid to play when the<br />
motion is felt. The grace notes are played very<br />
close to the drum head, and the stroke uses the<br />
stick path used in all other rudiments so far.<br />
Lesson 8<br />
This brings us to the Flam, a rudiment which is<br />
basically 2 notes. A soft one, and a louder note<br />
played almost together. However, the grace note<br />
or 1st note is soft and the second note is louder.<br />
Again, the grace note is played much closer to<br />
the head or playing surface, and the main note<br />
is the same stroke used in all the other exercises.<br />
When you can play this rudiment going from<br />
hand to hand, you will notice a definite pattern<br />
and motion of the hands. This challenges the<br />
student into playing a loud and soft note almost<br />
together, and at the same time.<br />
Lesson 9<br />
This brings us back down from exercises<br />
1,2,3,4,5,--4,3,2 and 1 again. This time we perform<br />
the same single stroke roll that we performed<br />
in exercise #1. This time though, after having<br />
done the prior exercises, we can now hopefully<br />
perform this roll with more agility and speed.<br />
So there you have it, in a nutshell, if you can<br />
remember the exercise connected tot the number<br />
1 through 5 and back down to 1 again you have<br />
an entry level understanding of the 26 rudiments<br />
of drumming. At least enough to move forward<br />
with a few illustrations and exercises designed<br />
to get you behind the drum set and play a few<br />
simple patterns. The next section will give you a<br />
very basic tutoring in drum music as it is written,<br />
so we can help you find your way around the<br />
drum set enough to play a few simple beats.<br />
Congratulations! Who said drummers have no<br />
attention span?<br />
[edge 8.0] 27
NEW ARTISTS<br />
[22]<br />
[25]<br />
[13]<br />
[7]<br />
[17]<br />
[24]<br />
d = drums, pedals and Hardware<br />
p= pedals<br />
pH= pedals & Hardware<br />
[3]<br />
[14]<br />
[1]<br />
[12]<br />
[4]<br />
[5]<br />
[19]<br />
[21]<br />
[9]<br />
[2]<br />
[10]<br />
[23]<br />
[11]<br />
[20]<br />
[6]<br />
[1] scoTT phillips – creed d<br />
[2] daNiel adair – Nickelback d<br />
[3] scoTT Travis – Judas priesT d<br />
[4] Travis sMiTh – TriviuM d<br />
[5] eric gardNer - sTreeT sweeper social<br />
club/gnarls barkley d<br />
[6] roger Taylor – QueeN d<br />
[7] fioNa daNiel – The whip d<br />
*[8] Joe beck – The spill caNvas d<br />
[9] Joe pluMMer – ModesT Mouse ph<br />
[10] JereMiah greeN – ModesT Mouse ph<br />
[11] JeNNifer ledger – skilleT d<br />
[12] rylaNd sTeeN – reel big fish d<br />
[13] Taku hiraNo – beTTe Midler ph<br />
[14] Michael alaN berkowiTz – liza MiNNelli d<br />
*[15] JoNaThoN Mover – iNdepeNdeNT ph<br />
*[16] daN greco – sTudio d<br />
*[17] daNiel heTherToN – ellioTT MiNor d<br />
*[18] warreN oakes – agaiNsT Me! d<br />
[19] JaMal Moore – backsTreeT boys<br />
pdp druMs & dw hardware<br />
[20] adaM aaroNsoN – we are scieNTisTs ph<br />
[21] JasoN biTTNer – shadows fall p<br />
[22] MaTT leTley - sTaTus Quo ph<br />
[23] adaM Marcello – kaTy perry ph<br />
[24] dave grohl - sTudio d<br />
[25] doMiNic howard - The Muse d<br />
*arTisTs NoT showN<br />
[edge 8.0] 29
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