The best products we have found for cleaning and polishing Vistalite drums and mylar wrapped drums are made by Meguiars Mirror Glaze.
Read moreReview of Canopus Back Beat 30 Snare Wires
The Canopus Black Brass drum that I tested these 30 strand wires on had the perfect width bed for these wires to lie in and respond correctly. It’s nice to see a drum company that understands how this is supposed to work. It was a pleasure to play this drum and hear that big, rich and snappy snare sound coming from underneath. The snares sounded very full and there was minimal snare buzz from other instruments
Read moreReview and announcement of new Canopus Yaiba snare models and finishes
Canopus has added some new models and colors to the current Yaiba Maple and Birch snare series. Until last month the models were only available with the Yaiba kits I reviewed earlier this year. They are now available as individual drums in the Canopus snare line up. They are not up on the Canopus website yet so this is kind of a sneak peek.
Read moreReview of the new Canopus Nickel Black Brass Snare Drum
I hate to use the obvious comparison, but it does sound very much like the heavy brass Ludwig Black Beauty drums that were made in the seventies, which are sought after. And I think that’s what Canopus was going for since they mentioned it on their website.
Read moreReflections on Shelly Manne: Chapter 3
“Anyone can learn to play a jazz ride cymbal beat. The problem is making it swing. Shelly Manne's mentor was Davey Tough and to go back to listen to the early recordings of Woody Herman's ‘First Herd’ with Davey Tough playing drums, says it all. It's all about swing”.
Read morePlease choose which you like better: Jeff Porcaro or a drum machine!
Researchers played music for groups of subjects and then asked them how much they ‘liked’ the rhythm. In one group, the drum part was played by a drummer (Jeff Porcaro unbeknowst to the participants): in another test group, the same rhythm was played by a drum machine. Although subjects could not quantify their answers, they somewhat preferred the 'real' drummer.
Read more1920s George B.Stone & Son, Inc. 5x14 Blonde (maple) Master Model Snare
This drum was sold to me and documented to be in Near Mint Condition, I’d call it Excellent-Plus condition, no big deal either way. I’m told that the Blonde, solid maple shell is pretty rare as most of the Master Models are Black Lacquer. Noted collector, Bill Wanser told me that he has never seen a Blonde MM. I’m told that Stone Master Models are highly sought after by symphony and orchestral percussionists.
Read moreWhat I did on my summer vacation
I finally realized one of my biggest dreams to have my picture giving Ringo a snare drum just like my Father did in the mid 60's when he presented Ringo with his gold plated Ludwig as a thank you for playing Ludwig ...what an honor and emotional event for me. I will never forget it......Thank you Ringo.!!
Read moreBill Ludwig's WFL III Drums Kickstarter Fund Raising Campaign Ending Soon
Hello everyone!! As most of you know, I have been working on WFL III Drums for about a year now and over the weekend we officially launched our Kickstarter campaign to help us launch this company to new heights. Check it out:
Read moreWelcome back, Mr. Ludwig!
It's great to welcome Bill Ludwig III back to the NSMD writing staff. Of course, most drummers know that "B3" is the grandson of Ludwig Drum Company founder, Wm. F. Ludwig Senior. He was the artist relations person for the company during the late seventies and eighties. His dad sold that company to Conn Selmer during the eighties. Bill was also the owner and publisher of Not So Modern Drummer during the 2000s. I have been after him for years to write a column and now was a good time for him to start.
Read moreBuying Custom: Are custom drums right for you?
I’m not here to say that everyone should have custom drums. It’s a very personal choice and it really depends largely on your priorities and expectations. If you’re considering going the custom route – now or at some time in the future – check off the pros and cons as they relate to you personally.
Read moreLudwig & Ludwig 1930s bass drum w painted scene head.
.....he wrapped it in cardboard and put a few pounds of tape around it and put it on the Greyhound bus bound for a nearby town that still had a bus station. So the drum rode the Greyhound all the way to Georgia.
Read moreCirca 1930 Ludwig 4x14 brass "mystery" silver flake snare drum
In the end, I did not find a rare silver Stipelgold Ludwig snare drum. Indeed, what I received was an even rarer gift, a beautiful circa 1930 brass Ludwig drum that was passionately played by a war hero and kind friend to many.
Read moreWho had this pedal at the 2013 Chicago Drum Show?
Reader looking for this pedal that was at the Chicago Drum Show
Read moreBlown Glass Drum Heads? Beautiful drum lamps by Vancouver artist
My brother , Darrell Cadieux (above) who is an accomplished jazz drummer and art collector should be floored by this piece I had made for him by a world class glass blower. The heads are hand blown glass in the artist's famous tortoise shell design. An LED light was mounted inside and gives the piece a beautiful radiance. The piece was made by Jeff Burnette of Vancouver B.C.
Read moreBill Ludwig kicks off funding campaign for WFL III Drums
What is this?
What is this?!
Read moreCaptain's Log; 10/15 Old dog learning new tricks
This blog is taking the place of the old editorial column that was in the print magazines and the email newsletters. There won't be an editorial in the newsletter anymore. The monthly periodical format isn't working for NSMD so I'm going to post whatever is on my mind whenever it's on my mind! Here! Personal, business, gigs, music, past articles on a variety of subjects, fleeting thoughts and floating molecules, whatever, I'm going to be writing it here.
What's going on? I just finished two months submersed in the bowels of this new website and new newsletter. I have never built a website before or composed a digital newsletter. Thank the Great Pumpkin for Squarespace.com, a web building and hosting site, and the Constant Contact email service which have it all dumbed down to where even I can do it. You may have noticed there was no September 2015 issue of the newsletter. That was due to delays in building the new site and delays in switching over from the old site to the new site.
I bought Not So Modern Drummer magazine in 2008 with the intent of "modernizing" it. Well, three websites, two newsletters, three webmasters, and three business overhauls later, I'm flying solo and I'm on a mission to come up with my "final answer". I put everything on hold this year (2015): the Nashville Drum Show, the Snare Drum Olympics, while I figured out the new direction for Not So Modern Drummer. (Yeah, yeah, you've done this before, yawn). Well not to this extent. I realized this year that in order for Not So Modern Drummer to best serve the drumming community, I needed to immerse myself 24/7 in the process of running it, building it, promoting it, growing it, etc. And I've done just that!
I've been in hyper focus mode for weeks on end, many hours a day, just figuring out what NSMD is so a new direction and mission could be defined for it. NSMD is not a magazine anymore, obviously. We quit printing the paper magazine in 2012. It's not the email newsletter which replaced the paper magazine. It's not this website either. The old periodical format is not effective for it anymore. I finally figured out that NSMD is the 27 years of content that has been contributed to it, and the people who contributed it. So, I started a new mission to make that evident to everyone: To store/document/publish all the content since 1988 on this site and make it available to all for free. Long term project, I know, but it's off and running. I'm daily adding old content from the first typed newsletters, the old print magazines, and the three different websites and newsletter formats we've had.
The other part of the mission for 2016 is to re institute the buying and selling of vintage, custom, used and new gear by its readers that was the bread and butter of the original Not So Modern Drummer. It was originally a classified ad rag for drummers! Well Ebay did that in, but I've seen the need for a more vetted venue where buyers and sellers must use their real names and establish trust. So I've added a new forum that has a classifieds section in it. I thought that forums were passe since Facebook took over, but I think people are growing weary of Facebook. It's too much to keep up with and no one really owns their pages or groups. It could blow up at any day now when the next new online thing comes along. Forums can be more focused and niched, ..... and owned! I've noticed since I launched the new site that the page with the biggest number of hits is the Classifieds, so that's a good sign. If you have gear to sell, or or looking for specific items, please help me get this Classified forum jump started by posting there.
Captain logging off.
1960s E.W. Kent set
My latest drum set acquisition is a beautiful Black Diamond Pearl 1960s E.W. Kent kit. Many young drummers received a set of Kent drums for their first set.
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