Arguably one of my most important drumming influences, Stewart Copeland has had a huge influence on my playing over the years. Like just about everybody else in the US, the first time I heard him play was on the Roxanne single. Copeland’s style was so unique and powerful, I went immediately to my tiny Ludwig kit in my basement and tried to learn the song, playing the 45 on my parents’ record player over and over until I could do it.

The thing that has always amazed me about Copeland is his backbeat. Few drummers in the history of rock hit like he does and that backbeat is undeniable the minute you hear it. That particular characteristics has been a part my own style for years and shows no signs of going away. Of course, it helps that I play a Stewart Copeland signature snare from Tama on my all Gretsch kit!

So, to honor one of my drumming idols, I picked this video from what none of us at the time knew would be The Police’s farewell tour:  The Synchronicity tour of 1983-1984. There aren’t a lot of great videos of Copeland playing with The Police online (most of them focus on Sting and, this one in particular, has some annoying shots of audience members dancing around), but I think this one has enough cuts that demonstrate the raw, earthy power of his playing to make it worth watching.

Enjoy watching this remarkable drummer hit some drums really, really hard. Happy Friday!

The astounding Ronald Bruner Jr. will be appearing live on DrumChannel.com on Thursday, June 25th at 8:00 PM CDT. As if that wasn’t enough, Bruner will be chatting with some of his drumming idols:  Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Will Kennedy, Terry Bozzio and his father, Ronald Brunner Sr.

In addition, Brunner will also be performing with The Bruner Brothers during the broadcast.

If you have questions of anyone on the broadcast, be sure to tune into DC Chat during the show.

What last week’s conversation with Neal Peart, Terry Bozzio and Doane Perry was for prog rock drumming, this live event will be for jazz drumming. Be sure to check it out.

I was first introduced to Peter Erskine, like many people, by listening to Weather Report’s self-titled 1982 release. I’ve always admired Erskine as a player, band leader and and teacher (he currently serves as a member of the percussion faculty at the University of Southern California.

So this week’s Friday Drum Launch features Peter playing one of the most tasteful drum solos I’ve ever heard. Recorded at PASIC 2004, this is a shining example of playing a truly interesting solo without it all being about how fast he can play. Certainly he uses his impressive chops in this clip, but only to serve the melodic aspects of what he’s playing. Yeah, I said “melodic.” I think that particular adjective is very suited to Erskine’s playing here.

Enjoy!

This coming Thursday, June 18th, drummers around the world will have the opportunity to see a live interview with three legendary percussionists.

Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio and Doane Perry will give a live interview at 8:00 PM CDT Thursday evening on DrumChannel.com. Details on the broadcast are sketchy at this point, but with a lineup like that, it’s sure to no be boring.

Don’t miss it.

When I was a teenager in the 1980s, I often got depressed listening to the radio. Electronic pop music was at the height of its popularity and was ubiquitous. I listened to the radio looking for great drummers and, with a few notable exceptions, I found mostly drum machines droning in my ears.

So I decided I would step back a decade or two and found a treasure trove of rock drummers to listen to, and one of my favorites was Danny Seraphine, the drummer for the band, Chicago. Of course, at the time, he was on the radio all the time, but it was “You’re the Inspiration” and “Hard Habit to Break.” I’ll never forget the first time I listen to Chicago’s debut album, “Chicago Transit Authority.” I couldn’t believe some of the drumming Danny did on that album. I was really drawn to the way he took his obvious jazz roots and incorporated them into the somewhat psychedelic music the band was making. Danny had a lot in common with Mitch Mitchell, but seemed more in control, maybe more focused on serving the song.

Twenty-five years later, I still have trouble nailing down exactly what it is that makes Danny Seraphine such a great drummer, but ultimately that’s not important. The music is. And so, for today’s Friday Drum Launch, I chose Danny performing with his new band, CTA (California Transit Authority), at the 2006 Modern Drummer Festival. In honor of the impact Chicago’s first album had on me, I picked a song I must have listened to a thousand times because it had a long drum solo in it:  “I’m a Man.”

Enjoy!

As I mentioned in my post last week, the Zildjian on Tour event came into St. Louis yesterday. It was held at Drum Headquarters in Maplewood and Jim Uding and his team did a great job putting it together.

Craigie Zildjian

As I walked in the door of Drum HQ, I was greeted by CEO Craigie Zildjian. I stopped and chatted with her briefly about the how the tour had been going and the previous day’s stop at Explorers Percussion in Kansas City, Missouri.

Craigie joined Zildjian in 1976 and joined her father, Armand, and grandfather, Avedis III, in running the company, the first time in the company’s history when three generations of Zildjian’s were working together. She became Zildjian’s first female CEO in 1999. She sits on the Board of Directors of NAMM and the Board of Advisors for the International Association of Jazz Education.

I ordinarily don’t get too excited about meeting executives from hardware manufacturers, but this was actually an extremely cool opportunity. I’ve been playing Zildjian cymbals since I started playing in 1978. In fact, I still have a 16” crash cymbal on my kit that I bought from a graduating senior in high school in 1984 – it still sounds as good today as it did back then and is one of the reasons I still play only Zildjian cymbals. Meeting Craigie gave me not only the opportunity to share my great experience with her, but to also learn about some of the many prototypes that were on display at the event.

Steve Gorman

Standing near the front table with Craigie was Steve Gorman, drummer for The Black Crows. I’ve been listening to this cat’s playing for years and it was very cool to get the chance to meet him and talk drumming for a little while. Steve is a very cool and personable guy and I really enjoyed having the opportunity to talk with him in such an informal milieu.

Cymbal Prototypes

Zildjian brought about a dozen or so cymbal prototypes with them that were on display throughout Drum HQ for attendees to try out. The prototypes ran the gambit of styles and sizes and there were some pretty exciting innovations.

My favorite was a 24” thin ride cymbal. It was very dry, but had great overtones and wash. The most compelling feature of this cymbal was the pre-set rivets every couple inches around the circumference of the cymbal. This gave it a sound very reminiscent of Elvin Jones. This wouldn’t be the right cymbal for playing with Lake 32, but if I had a steady jazz gig, I would definitely be investing in this cymbal. There were also some outstanding heavy crash cymbals on display as well. I’m looking forward to seeing the final shipping versions of these cymbals!

What I Bought

Once the conversations were had and the pictures were taken, it was time for me to look around as all the Zildjian cymbals in the place were on sale. I’ve been wanting to purchase a Zil-Bel bell chime to use in a couple of Lake 32 songs. I’ve also wanted to add a heavier crash cymbal to my current kit. I’m currently playing a set of 16” crashes, including an A Custom Fast Crash and a K Custom Dark Crash. These are more appropriate for a classic rock kind of sound, but Lake 32’s sound is evolving into a heavier, modern sound and I need a crash that can double as a ride during the louder choruses.

I was considering the 18” A Custom Projection Crash when I was approached by one of the Zildjian reps working at the event. I told him what I was looking for and he suggested I try one of the A Custom Rezo Crashes. I hadn’t heard of this brand before and learned it’s the newest of the sub-brands under the A Custom series. We setup the 18” version of both the Projection and the Rezo on some stands and I hit both. The difference was subtle, but definitive. While the Projection Crash had solid, metallic sound, the Rezo displayed all the power of the Projection Crash but had a much better high end and a beautiful wash. And at just $200, it didn’t take long to make the buying decision on that.

I also purchased a 6” Zil-Bel, one of the only effects cymbals I have on my kit, and again, I got a great event price for it as well.

This was a great event and a hell of a way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon in St. Louis. Thanks and a big shout-out to Jim and the crew at Drum Headquarters for continuing to bring quality drumming events to our part of the country.

The thing that originally attracted me to the music of John Mellencamp was his growly vocals or down home guitar licks. It was the drumming, executed by one of the most dynamic, exciting and hard-working drummers in rock today, Kenny Aronoff.

Kenny is no longer with Mellencamp, but makes an excellent living as a hired gun playing with some of rocks biggest artists, including The Smashing Pumpkins, John Fogerty, Melissa Etheridge, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Alanis Morrissette, The Rolling Stones, Puddle of Mudd, Avril Levigne and many, many more.

While perusing the internets earlier this week, I happened up upon this video of Kenny apparently at a clinic playing along to Philip Sayce’s tune, Powerful Thing (the title on the video is mistaken). I think this video captures Kenny’s innate sense of groove and features some startlingly complex fills that also work very well in the context of the song.

So here you go. Enjoy Mr. Kenny Aronoff and Happy Friday to you all!

My day job as a technical evangelist for Microsoft keeps me right on the bleeding edge of technology all the time. I spend a good portion of my time talking to software developers all over the country about how technology can help them do their jobs better and more efficiently and improve their lives overall. I’m about as “in the thick of it” as you can get.

And yet, I often find myself humbled by just how interconnected the world is these days. This revelation usually comes from the most unlikely of places.

This week, I was contacted through DrummBlog by a young drummer from the UK named Seamus who has a relatively new drum blog called Beatgeek. He found DrummBlog and wanted to get some input from me on blogging about drums. As this was a refreshing change of pace from the seemingly endless litany of spam I get, I gladly replied and told him that being a successful blogger about any topic is about knowing why you’re writing in the first place.

His reply named the following three reasons (paraphrased):

• The drumming world can be a very expensive place to young players
• Needed to find inexpensive yet good quality drums and accessories
• Get tips from experienced players about good prices for quality gear

Reading this reply from Seamus got me thinking about my early years as a player. My primary source of information for anything related to drumming was Modern Drummer magazine. While highly informative, a magazine is a static piece of content, locked for all time the minute it gets spit out by the printer and shipped to the news stand. If I had questions, I could always write a letter to the editorial board of the magazine, but it was highly unlikely I would ever get a worthwhile response (I did try on several occasions). This was not the fault of the editorial board. It was simply that the medium itself didn’t encourage interactivity. It was a loudspeaker for broadcasting the news and information that the folks at Modern Drummer thought their audience wanted to know.

Think about that for a minute and contrast it with today. Online, right now, there are thousands of drummers, myself and Seamus being a couple of them, publishing content about their favorite drummers, tips for playing better, reviews of hardware and publicizing events that might have easily been missed before. Yes, this wellspring of information is almost common sense in our everyday lives in this era, but when you compare it to the way drummers of my generation and the generations before obtained the same information, it kind of blows your mind.

I remember being a kid constantly scouring the TV Guide trying to find out if any of my favorite drummers were going to be on the tube any time soon. Hell, the old Friday Night Videos was good for at least one Van Halen video where I could watch Alex pound away on Jump or Hot For Teacher or something. Today, if I’m listening to a Tool album and want to check out Danny Carey laying down the final part of Lateralis, all I need to do is visit YouTube and voila, there it is.

The point is, the Internet is chock full of vital information for drummers of all ages, but especially for young drummers. Obviously, the accuracy of information found online must always be evaluated, but honestly, I’ve found little in the drumming sites I’ve visited that would make me think that anyone was trying to mislead or misinformation through their sites. Granted, it’s not always presented in the most polished or professional format, but that’s actually cool as well. It gives the information a realism that you don’t always get from “official” sources.

Drummers have always had a tight-knit community. Maybe its from being the target of the ubiquitous jokes about having a sub-par intellect or not being able to keep consistent time that brings us together. But whatever it is, we can leverage the reach of the Internet to bring us all together in ways that simply didn’t exist before, no matter where we are, and share ideas, information and wisdom.

So go visit Beatgeek. See what Seamus has to say and send him your opinions. Because at the end of the day, we’re all here to learn from each other and make ourselves better drummers. Take full advantage of the incredible resources we have right under our fingertips to make it happen!

Technorati Tags: Beatgeek,Drumming,Percussion,Danny Carey,Lateralis,Alex Van Halen,Hot For Teacher,Jump,Friday Night Videos

Jim Uding and the crew from Drum Headquarters in St. Louis will be hosting Zildjian on Tour this coming Sunday, June 7th from noon until 5:00 PM. This will be a phenomenal opportunity for your to:

• Meet company CEO Craigie Zildjian and other factory experts
• Play and buy one-of-a-kind Zildjian Sound Lab prototypes (these will be available only on the day of the event)
• Enjoy great prices on Zildjian cymbals, drums sticks and other accessories
• Get a free pair of sticks and a classic black t-shirt with the purchase of a Zildjian cymbal
• Register to win other great Zildjian prizes, including the nationwide grand prize:  A trip to the Zildjian factory
• Local rock station KSHE will be broadcasting live from the event from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

As if that wasn’t enough, you’ll have the opportunity to meet and chat with Zildjian artist Steve Gorman, drummer for the Black Crows who will be there from 12:30 to 3:30.

All in all, this will be a great afternoon. You get the chance to meet the people who make Zildjian cymbals, meet a famous drummer who plays them and even get the chance to walk away with some new hardware and a great price. Not doing anything on Sunday afternoon. I can think of worse ways to spend it.

And, just to wet your appetite, here’s a quick video of Steve Gorman in action. Check out these groove chops and tell me you don’t want to meet this guy.

The Drum Channel recently announced that the memorial concert held last year for the late great Buddy Rich is now available for purchase on DVD with over five hours of content. This was a historical concert held in late 2008 which featured the likes of Neil Peart, Chad Smith, Tommy Igoe, John Blackwell, Terry Bozzio, Efrain Toro, Nick Rich, Peter Erskine and Will Lee.

I caught the concert during Drum Channel’s live simulcast last year. It was awesome. The disc costs $39.95, which sounds like a lot of a DVD, but based on the amount of additional content, including an interview with Buddy’s daughter, Cathy Rich, and rehearsal, pre-show and backstage footage, in addition to the cornucopia of live performance drumming talent, it’s not a bad price at all.

If you want to order yourself a copy, you can get in the Drum Channel Store.