One-of-a-kind, drum set in excellent condition. Thin, spun-fiberglass shells with carbon fiber reinforcement rings deliver a powerful yet warm tone with great response. Manufactured by Ming (Taiwan). UPS shipping is available in North America.
Read moreDaily Rudiments
Not every drummer is expected to be a rudimental expert but familiarity with all forty rudiments is highly recommended for each of us. And it isn’t as big a chore as you might think.
Read more1940s Slingerland Gene Krupa Deluxe Radio King Ensemble 1-N
This set I'm featuring this month is the 1940s Slingerland Radio King set I bought from Brian Scoggins. It has a lovely white marine pearl finish. I think marine pearl looks so good on these vintage drum sets. Even if the finish "yellows" I still love the way it looks. To me, these drums are yellowed to perfection. One must consider these drums are over 70 years old. The Beavertail lugs, and all the hardware is nickel plated. The badges are beautiful brass clouds. The drum sizes are 24X14 bass drum, 16X16, and 13X9 toms, and a matching 14X5 snare. There are two cymbal mounts on the bass drum shell. The high tom mounts on the bass drum hoop with a clip-on holder. The bass drum spurs fit into a mount on the bass drum shell. The shells are 3 ply mahogany poplar mahogany with large maple re-rings. I opened the 13 tom to peek inside. The smell inside was just heavenly. The workmanship is second to none.
Read moreGoing Back In Time - Buddy Rich - 1932
In 1919 at the age of two, Bernard 'Buddy' Rich was already traveling the country with his parents' vaudeville act. By 1932, Buddy had already been performing for 13 years as 'Traps The Drum Wonder'. At 15, he was already headlining with his own group earning up to a thousand dollars a week. That same year he also received a Slingerland endorsement deal. The accolades began rolling in... The year 1932 was an early indicator of all the great things to come for drummer Buddy Rich.
Read more2021 Music City Drum Show (Nashville) - Part 1 and Part 2 on FB
Thanks to Bob Campbell for covering the Music City Drum Show in Nashville this summer. He has posted a great number of pics on our Facebook page. Great photos, Bob, as always. Click here 2021 Music City Drum Show (Nashville) - Part 1
Read moreFrom the editor
That’s me, sans cataracts, playing at Rum Boogie Cafe on Beale Street in Memphis with the FreeWorld band. I am back playing four nights a week on Beale as of the last week in September 2021. I’m not unhappy, that’s just my “drum face”. :-)
This heart felt note from JD in Australia reminds me of what an emotional and spiritual attachment we drummers have to our instrument and profession. Thanks, JD. “I'm crippled with damaged arthritic hips & end stage emphysema but I still tap along despite puffing after one song!…
Read moreDom Famularo: Remembering Tony Williams
Several months before he passed in October of 1996, we played The Florida Drum Festival to 2,000 drummers. Tony was at the top of his game... Expressive, powerful, creative and you always expected the unexpected. We had the chance to talk for a while before his performance. He had an album coming out, 'Young At Heart' which he was excited about. He talked about wanting to be known as a composer and an individual artist. I told him, you are already there! Tony really appreciated that. He was, and still is such a powerful force in drumming and music.
Read more1936-39 LUDWIG 6.5 x 14 “BUTTERSCOTCH PEARL” (uncatalogued) SUPER-LUDWIG MODEL
This seems to be an uncatalogued finish as it is nowhere to be found -- that I know of -- in any Ludwig literature. I have seen 1 or 2 other Ludwig Butterscotch Pearl snares and I also own a Duplex Spirit of St. Louis in this finish so I personally know that this finish exists. So my best guess is that this is an uncatalogued or special order finish. As always I welcome any other information that may be out there regarding this finish.
Read moreRuffs & Rolls
Mat Marucci's performing credits include jazz greats Jimmy Smith, Kenny Burrell, James Moody, Eddie Harris, Buddy De Franco, Les McCann, Pharoah Sanders, and John Tchicai among others and has numerous critically acclaimed recordings to his credit as both leader and sideman.
Mat is the author of several books on drumming and has written numerous articles on drumming for Modern Drummer and Downbeat magazines. He is an endorser for Zildjian, Vic Firth, Remo and formerly both Gretsch and Mapex.
Mat's latest books with Mel Bay Publications are 'Mastering The Snare Drum' and 'Essential Snare Drum Exercises' (both reviewed on Not So Modern Drummer) and 'Jazz Drumming Essentials....And More.' His music and discography can found at Spotify.com and Reverbnation.com and can be heard on most streaming platforms.
We all know the standard short rolls included in the “Standard 26 American Drum Rudiments” and the Percussive Arts Society’s “40 International Rudiments” which are the 5-Stroke Roll, 7-Stroke Roll, 9-Stroke Roll, 10-Stroke Roll, 11-Stroke Roll, 13-Stroke Roll, 15-Stroke Roll and 17-Stroke Roll. But what happened to the others that are missing: 8-Stroke, 12-Stroke, 14-Stroke and 16-Stroke Rolls?
Read moreNew book about the History of the Kent Drum Company by Dennis "Mouse" Brown
Kent occupies a small but interesting corner of the vintage drum world. The drums were manufactured from 1946 to 1977 in Buffalo, NY. Bill Kent said, “The inspiration and the purpose of Kent Drums was to give the youth the opportunity to be able to have an affordable drum outfit which was known as a starter set.”
Read moreShould We Bring Back The Internal Tone Control?
“After the rock heyday of the ‘60s, internal tone controls began to fade away and are now rather hard to find. (A lot of the vintage drums I’ve seen have had them removed -- and too often lost. Contending with ring is always an issue for many drummers, so let's examine the field of available 'damping'* options.”
Read moreMike Clark: Words of Wisdom - Chapter 26
"I love the hi-hat…Since childhood it’s had me in its clutches!"
Richard Katz's Vintage Ludwigs on exhibit at the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix
This past Spring Rich Katz hired me to do an appraisal of his drum set and collection that he donated to the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. It is currently on display there. I do appraisals of drums/cymbals/percussion instruments for tax and insurance purposes, as well as for determining resale value. I charge between $100 and $500 for appraisals depending on the number of instruments and the amount of documentation and notarizing desired. For insurance and tax appraisals I base values not on current market value or collector value, but on replacement value which tends to run higher. For resale appraisals, I base the value on current market prices. I thank Rich for bearing with me in getting his appraisal finished and for letting me show his instruments in this article. Nice pictures, Rich!
Read moreEric Roy - The Power Of Inspiration
Recently, Eric was the subject of a podcast where he discusses ALS. He explains how the disease is common in his family, and how it attacks the body. Eric also mentions recent medical trials which have shown some promising results... But more research and funding is required. During these challenging times, Eric and his family need our support and have started a GoFundMe page. Funds collected will provide additional medical care, and medications not covered by insurance. Any donation would be greatly appreciated.
Read moreGretsch is looking for a home for an inventory of vintage 70s' Slingerland Timpani parts and pieces
The Gretsch company, which is headquartered in Pooler, GA, published a Request for Proposal to find a home for an inventory of vintage 70s' Slingerland Timpani parts and pieces
Read moreHomage to Charlie
I never met Charlie or any other of the Rolling Stones but I feel fortunate as I was able to indirectly help put a rare WFL drum Charlie owned back to original shape. Charlie acquired a late 30’s WFL twin snare drum that had off-set lugs and the type of strainers that often broke at the tip. Charlie’s drum had one broken strainer and his tech, Don McAulay was looking to find a replacement strainer
Read moreWood and Weather Drum Shop
Joe's new address is a large two story building housing an enormous array of vintage snares, sets, and cymbals literally stacked up from floor to ceiling... It reminded me of the first time I walked into Charley Donnelly’s Newington, CT Drum Center in the mid - 1970’s -- Only on a much larger scale.
Read moreRichie Morales: Remembering Tony Williams
…the tricky syncopation and meter change in the seventh bar, the minor blues form and the improvisation of the piece still blow my mind to this day and served to open my young ears to form and melody in Jazz. Tony’s cymbal sound of the period is so organic it doesn’t even sound like stick on metal to me. His orchestration of phrases across the whole set, the use of the bass drum as an extra tom voice, the shift of the primary time keeping to stepped 1/8th notes on the hi hat, splashes of colorful cymbal work, all new to my ears, and everybody else’s too. Like so many other musicians I fell under the influence of Anthony Tillman Williams.
Read moreReproduction of the "Elvis Set' on display at Memphis Drum Shop
Just in time for Elvis Week in the middle of August. From the Jim Pettit collection. Refurbishing by Aaron Mlasko.
Read moreDirect Mail Advertising from Not So Modern Drummer
NSMD has a mailing list of thousands of active, vintage and contemporary, drum and accessory buyers and, over the summer, they created highly successful campaigns for companies such as Drum Channel, Hudson Music, Cympad, Famous Drums, TRX Cymbals and several others.
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