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Not a lot of articles this month. I suspect some of the writers are still shoveling snow off their driveways, BUT, there are some great ones. Especially Ed Tucker’s review of the first snare drums released by the new Slingerland company! An exclusive for NSMD.

Here’s the playlist of the eight videos that are on YouTube so far. I have eight more in the can that will be uploaded soon. Enjoy!

I hope you all had a good holiday and didn’t get switches and ashes in your stockings! There are some great articles in this issue. Jim

I am also finished with my book I’ve been writing for at least a year – “ The Missing Rudiments – Expanding the American rudiment system with missing and long forgotten fundamental snare drum rudiments, plus the new drum set unison rudiments”.

The Samba Train beat. video episode #5 in “5 minute lessons with George Lawrence”

Episode #3 of 5 minute lessons with George Lawrence. This is a linear groove that Steve Klink taught me when I was teaching at Fork’s Drum Closet in the nineties; The Garibaldi Seven.

I’ve started a video series in conjunction with Memphis Drum Shop; “Five Minute Lessons with George Lawrence”. Each video is a five minute or so lesson on how to play a groove, a fill, a rudiment, a pattern, etc. The concept came from drummers asking me “How did you play that”, referring to some short lick I played, and how I showed it to them.

Here is the second video in the series "5 minute Drum Lessons w George Lawrence" shot at Memphis Drum Shop . We are publishing once a week on Saturdays. Hopefully there will be many more to come.

Here is the first of 8 videos in the series "5 minute Drum Lessons w George Lawrence" shot at Memphis Drum Shop . We are publishing once a week on Saturdays. Hopefully there will be many more to come. This can also be found on MemphisDrumShop.com. Just scroll down the front page.

George Lawrence talking and playing with Chris Pat Brown at Memphis Drum Shop.

a bass player I know dropped off a couple items that he no longer wanted. One being a brass snare shell made by the Advanced Drum Co.

The creation of a Transnare drum involves a combination of traditional luthier techniques and modern equipment, such as CNC machines. The entire process, from initial design to the final product, takes several months to complete. In many cases, I build custom jigs and fixtures to perform specific tasks during the drum’s construction.

I’m featuring a great album by a bassist this month, Tom Kennedy, not just because he is a great bassist and a musician, but also because one of my favorite drummers, Dave Weckl, is playing on the album. Weckl

I got a call from producer Bobby Colomby, former drummer for Blood Sweat and Tears, to play on this recording by the band Pages in L.A. in 1979.

Drummers! You must hear this music. Besides Shrieve’s incredible drumming, the sound of his drums is SOOOO good and big on this recording. The ambience and depth of the soundscape is hypnotic, entrancing. Captivating heavy grooves that defy categorization. You will want to listen to this masterpiece on a very high end stereo system or studio quality headphones.

How to make a professional quality snare drum out of Popsicle sticks, tongue depressors, and craft sticks (sticks that at least look kind of like popsicle sticks anyway), including the drum shell, drum lugs, snare strainer/throw mechanism, and butt plate. by hand, the drum is constructed, finished in violin spirit varnish.

This one has me stumped. I’m not an authority on DW even though I was a dealer since 1985 and bought one of the first kits made. I’m thinking this is one of the first, if not the first, badge of kits made in the Fender plant in Encenada Mexico.

My philosophy on snare drum tone and tuning is that the snare drum heads should be tuned as tight as possible, top and bottom. The shell will provide the most responsive and optimal tone with the heads tuned “tight as a drum”. Buddy Rich said,  "I don't tune them, I tension them. There's a great difference” and, of course, he had the archetypical snare drum sound, especially after the advent of plastic heads.

My friend and fellow drummer, Lucas Jacobson, died on March 21st at the age of 66.

I have wanted this drum for a long time but they became increasingly hard to find after they were discontinued.

Then Mose turned to me and said, “Here’s the drum rap. No hi hat on two and four, no sidestick, and when you solo just play as long as you want to and you can either stop and I’ll start the rest of the song or you can try to cue us in.” OK, I’m thinking let me unlearn, in one night, everything I know about playing jazz drumming that I learned at North Texas State University .

To win your pair of the Excelsior Drum Sticks, or your choice of any of John Crocken’s stick models, send an email to John at jc@mybrandbuilders.com with ‘EXCELSIOR Stick Contest Entry’ in the subject line and your mailing address, phone number and email in the body

When I saw that this drum had been listed on DrumSellers, it was so striking and beautiful that I requested one for review.

Black Friday thru New Year’s Sale

Richard Best, who is one of our NSMD columnists, has invented a nifty little drummer’s helper device that is designed to loosen or tighten wing nuts. I keep one in my stick bag now