Not So Modern Drummer- Since 1988 we have been the source for vintage and custom drums!

Update: Black Swamp w Craviotto shells!

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Category: Current News

Published on Sunday, 11 September 2011 21:47

Written by George Lawrence

Black Swamp Percussion announces an update to their existing Craviotto solid shell snare drums.

This orchestral snare drum line now features Craviotto's solid maple shells with distinct diamond inlay. Craviotto solid shells are known for superior craftsmanship conbined with exceptional warmth, response and consistency. Shells are available in 5.5 " and 6.5" sizes with die cast hoops, arch tube lugsn and either the Multisonic or SoundArt strainer. Lst prices range from $1372.00 to $1686.00.

pictured is model MS5514CRVMD: 5.5" x 14" with Multisonic strainer


Tim Church
Black Swamp Percussion
www.blackswamp.com
800.557.0988 x102

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Twin Cities Drum Shells and Percussion introduces new custom drum shells

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Category: Current News

Published on Sunday, 11 September 2011 21:26

Written by George Lawrence

New Player emerges in the Custom Drum Shell Industry.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., August 29- Twin Cities Drum Shells and Percussion is ready to take the custom drum shell market by storm. A new company based in Minnesota, Twin Cities Drum Shells and Percussion is able to produce what many companies cannot, whatever the customer desires!

New to the custom shell market, but not the drum industry, Twin Cities Drum Shells and Percussion saw the need for a manufacturer of custom drum shells who wasn’t complacent with what has always been done and was willing to try something new!

Check out www.tcdrumshells.com for an introductory video about Twin Cities Drum Shells and Percussion products. For sales inquiries, contact Pat at 763-221-7476 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Twin Cities Drum Shells and Percussion offers a full line of standard and stave shells, wood hoops and made to order shells.

Started by Patrick Budnick, Kris Anderson and Keith Anderson in July of 2010, Twin Cities Drum Shells and Percussion has the perfect blend of talent. These men know drums, woodworking and machines. This combination will make Twin Cities Drum Shells and Percussion a powerful force in the custom drum shell industry.

What is George's List?

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Category: Current News

Published on Saturday, 27 August 2011 12:09

Written by George Lawrence

Well, the simple answer is that it's the short text only simple little newsletter that we send out every so often - but it's not that simple.

Not so Modern Drummer was started in 1988 as a simple newsletter, hammered out on a typewriter, copied on a xerox machine and sent out through the U.S. mail. It was THE marketplace for vintage drum collectors, traders, buyers, sellers, builders, players and enthusiasts. Subscribers paid a very small fee to receive the newsletter and to place free ads in its pages. They would send in letters to the editor, John Aldridge, that were helpful hints, recommended products, criticisms, announcements of drum events, and the general brouhaha that collectors of our ilk tend to brou and haha about. It was the Ebay of its day; the watering hole, the coffee machine, the gathering place of those who are excited by old shiny round objects of percussion like so many crows drawn to jewelry. It grew over the next twenty years to become a full color legitimate magazine known round the world.

Things have changed drastically since that humble beginning. Along came the internet and Ebay and wireless internet and smart phones. The whole landscape of vintage drums and drum building looked much different in the 2000s, with millions more drummers becoming involved. Not So Modern Drummer did not keep up with this evolution of communication until recently. Yes, there was a website in the nineties, but it was little more than a bill board. Ebay alone seemed to capture the whole market in vintage drums. Bill Ludwig III bought the business from Aldridge in 2005, ran it for three years with the help of David Anfuso, and then offered to sell it to me in late 2008. At the time I was running my music store, George's Drum Shop in Akron Ohio, and playing a lot of tour gigs with Poco. I was too busy to give all my attention to Not So Modern Drummer, but I bought it anyway because I wanted to see it continue and because I had been looking for a brand name in the drumming world to own. It also fit in with my proclivity for writing and for communicating with drummers. My dad was a newspaper editor too.

The magazine needed a drastic overhaul, It needed modernizing and I knew it would take some time for me to figure out how to bring a vintage drum magazine in line with the changing communications needs of drummers. I spent two and a half years improving the quality of the print magazine, experimenting with different distribution ideas, building a new website, etc. But it wasn't until 2011 after I closed George's Drum Shop and Poco had slowed down that I started working full time on Not So Modern Drummer and get serious about changing the modus operandi.

I did a lot of research on the internet, read a lot of magazines about publishing, and talked to a lot of people in the magazine business and learned about the revolution going on in print media. The magazine and newspaper industry had turned into the "information delivery" industry almost overnight. There was a noticeable decline in the sales of news magazines and print that started around 2005. In the music retail industry the sales of drum and music magazines slowed to a crawl. I quit carrying drum magazines in my drum shop in 2007 around the same time that smart phones were really starting to become popular. People were starting to get their news online, not "on paper". But at the same time, some content rich magazines that were not based on news were actually growing and thriving. By 2011 I knew what I needed to do for Not So Modern Drummer to recapture its audience:

1. Deliver news and other time sensitive information digitally, not in the print magazine

2. Deliver the kind of high quality photography and deep, rich content that was more satisfying to see and read in print.

3. Become a newsletter once again, resuming NSMD's original purpose of serving the vintage and drum building community in a person to person manner.

This newsletter, George's List, is that newsletter. You'll notice that it is all text and does not have images. This is the influence of Bob Lefsetz, who sends out an almost daily email newsletter with his no holds barred analysis of the music industry. it's very popular. Each email has one subject and one article; that's it. Some of the text is links to relevant sites and articles but it is not a magazine, which too many newsletters try to be. I recommend you subscribe to his newsletter at Lefsetz.com . It is also the influence of the original NSMD newsletter, which was all text with a few hand drawn pictures. It was fun to read.

My part in this is listing the latest drums and gear for sale in the website classified section along with a few of my musings about drums, drumming and life in general. Any subscriber is welcome to send in emails, letters, articles, helpful hints about collecting and building, observations, news, events, births, deaths, marriages, recommendations, hangings....., whatever. It's a newsletter for the drumming community. Almost all drummers are interested in vintage, rare and used drums and many of us are interested in the building of drums. It's a big community - worldwide in fact - but the brotherhood of drumming has historically been a very close and accepting one. All it take is to say "Are you a drummer?" and you've made a new friend.

If it isn't already up you will see a subscribe box on the home page of this website. Please sign up and try my simple little newsletter.

thanks,

George Lawrence

Publisher, Editor and chief bottle washer of Not So Modern Drummer
Drummer for Poco

Kings of Leon chooses Zildjian

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Category: Current News

Published on Thursday, 25 August 2011 14:15

Written by George Lawrence

Norwell, MA:

Zildjian welcomes Kings of Leon drummer, Nathan Followill, to its worldwide family of artists.

Currently touring on the heels of the release of its new album, Come Around Sundown, Kings of Leon is one of the most successful bands in the world.  Originally formed in 1999, the band hails from Tennessee and features Nathan, brothers Caleb and Jared, and their cousin, Matthew. Kings of Leon has enjoyed great success over the course of its career with five album releases on RCA, record digital sales, rankings in the Top 10 in over 10 countries, as well as Grammy Award nominations.
Raised in the South, Nathan and his brothers spent their childhood traveling from one Pentecostal church to the next. Nathan and Caleb moved to Nashville to pursue music careers and Kings of Leon was formed after younger brother Jared and cousin Matthew joined the band in 1999.
In 2002 the band signed with RCA Records and has since released five albums; Youth and Young Manhood (August 2003), Aha Shake Heartbreak (February 2005), Because of the Times (April 2007), Only by the Night (September 2008), and Come around Sundown (October 2010).
“We’re thrilled to welcome Nathan to the Zildjian Family,” commented Sarah Malaney, Artist Relations Manager. “He’s already made an indelible mark on the drumming community and we’re excited he’s playing Zildjian”.
Nathan's new Zildjian setup includes: 
15" A Zildjian New Beat HiHats 
8" A Custom Splash
20" Crash of Doom
20" K Light Flat Ride 
24" A Zildjian Medium Ride 
24" K Light Ride

For more information about Nathan Followill, go to http://zildjian.com/Artists/F/Nathan-Followill

Vater announces new endorsing artists

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Category: Current News

Published on Tuesday, 23 August 2011 17:13

Written by George Lawrence

Vater Welcomes New Artists:

Chris Fehn (Slipknot)

Chris Mora (Black Veil Brides)

David Lovering (The Pixies)

Shannon Leto (Thirty Seconds to Mars)

Jake Massucco (Four Year Strong)

Nate Onstott (Mikeschair)

Richie Barshay (Esperanza Spalding)

Mike Phillips (Janelle Monae)

Adam Coldhouse (Gold Motel)

Andy Reilly (Celtic Woman Tour)

Andrew Oliver (I See Stars)

Mike Kennedy (The Wonder Years)

Marc St.Sauvuer (Fang Island)

Jamie Perkins (The Pretty Reckless)

Jon Epcar (Carney/Spiderman: Turn off The Dark on Broadway)

Jen Lowe (Independent)

Mike Ambrose (Set Your Goals)

James Ulrich (Runner Runner)

Evan Stone (Independent)

Jesse Wood (The Naked and Famous)

Steven Adler (Adler's Appetite)

Steven Kopacz (Go Radio)

Rob Perkins (Michael Buble)

Grant McFarland (This of the Apocalypse)

Dennis Wilson (Every Avenue)

Mitch Moulton (Bucky Covington)

Rob Hammersmith (Skid Row)

Press Release: New Tune-Bot Electronic Drum Tuner

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Category: Current News

Published on Monday, 22 August 2011 15:11

Written by George Lawrence

For Immediate Release

Overtone Labs

Andover, MA

August 23, 2011

For additional product information contact: Dave Ribner (Overtone Labs), This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Tune-Bot Electronic Drum Tuner

Tune Musically, Not Mechanically

Buddy Rich once famously said, “You don’t tune a drum…you tension it.” And up to now that’s been true. Every drum-tuning device on the market has actually focused on mechanical forces—either the torque of tension rods against the threads of lug receivers, or the surface tension of drumhead film.

But mechanical tuning is now a thing of the past, thanks to the Tune-Bot electronic drum tuner from Overtone Labs. This revolutionary yet user-friendly device measures actual sonic frequencies, giving a true indication of a drum’s pitch. It’s the first tuning aid that allows the drummer to tune musically instead of mechanically.

The Tune-Bot offers a wide a variety of tuning options. You can use it to get a drum “in tune with itself,” tune any drum to a specific desired pitch, even get an entire drumkit in tune using specific intervals. And once the “perfect” tuning of a kit has been achieved, the Tune-Bot can memorize the setting for each drum, so that that same tuning can be recalled and re-established the next time the kit is played. This is an especially cool feature when it comes time for drumhead changes.

The Tune-Bot can be used with drums on or off the kit—with specific functional features tailored to each situation. The unit is compact and lightweight enough to fit in any stick bag, and it comes fitted with a simple clamp system that makes it easy to use.

With the Tune-Bot, drummers can now achieve the same musical accuracy that guitarists have enjoyed for years. Finally, drum tuning has entered the digital age.For more information visit www.Tune-Bot.com.

High-resolution photo attached. Caption:

The Tune-Bot electronic drum tuner from Overtone Labs lets drummers tune musically, not mechanically.

New forum category

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Category: Current News

Published on Sunday, 21 August 2011 00:03

Written by Bill Ray

Not So Modern Drummer has added a new forum category called "The Mixed Bag". It's a place to let one's hair down and also to keep the vintage drum forum focused more upon that specific subject. Go have fun!

ZILDJIAN INTRODUCES NEW DAVE GROHL DRUMSTICK

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Category: Current News

Published on Thursday, 11 August 2011 12:10

Written by George Lawrence

ZILDJIAN INTRODUCES NEW DAVE GROHL DRUMSTICK FEATURING ARTWORK INSPIRED BY THE DRUMMER’S TATTOOS

Norwell, MA:  The Avedis Zildjian Company announced the introduction of the Dave Grohl Artist Series Drumstick model which prominently features metallic, two-color artwork of Grohl’s famous tattoos on both of his arms.  The new Grohl drumstick is scheduled for introduction in September 2011 to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the release of Nirvana’s ground-breaking album, “Nevermind.”  One of the world’s most influential drummers, Grohl has played with Nirvana, Queens of the Stone Age, Probot, Them Crooked Vultures and others.  On occasion, Grohl can be seen sitting behind the drum kit with the Foo Fighters.

The new Dave Grohl Artist Series Drumstick model also features large dimensions, a length of 16 3/4” and diameter of .0600”, for extra power and reach as well as an acorn-shaped tip for sound clarity.  Crafted from 100% U.S. Select Hickory, the preferred wood for drum set sticks, its overall design is especially well suited for Rock applications where power, rebound, and durability are critical.  According to John Sorenson, Zildjian’s Director of Sales Planning and Drumsticks, “Dave blends his own powerful technique with the styles of the influential drummers of the past to push the limits of music.  He truly embodies what it means to be a great drummer.”

Visit www.zildjian.com for more information about the Dave Grohl Artist Series Drumstick and other products by Zildjian.

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