Pearl Sponsors a Special Edition of The Nashville Drummers Lunch featuring Ray Luzier of Korn

September 3, 2016 George Lawrence

"Nashville, TN – Giving 100+ drummers a chance to test high-end drums, mingle with marquis artists, and enjoy great food in the heart of America’s most active live music scene, Pearl Corporation recently hosted members of the Nashville Drummer’s Facebook group at the Hard Rock Café’s Reverb Room in Nashville, TN. This unique event showcased six distinct Pearl kits, including their Nashville-assembled Music City Custom drums, as well as a variety of premium snares and hardware to players in attendance.

Slingerland Studio King drum set - Conway Arkansas cloud badge

August 2, 2016 George Lawrence

I'm pretty sure I now have one of the last Slingerland kits ever made, and it's a good one, and I didn't have to pay Slingerland's ridiculous exorbitant prices for it.

Video: Jake Winebrenner, the Cymbal Whisperer -Repairing cymbals with micro fusion welding

March 11, 2016 George Lawrence

Read about Jake Winebrenner's new high tech method of welding broken cymbals back to health.

Mystery: What drum shop does Frank Zappa's "Drum Shop" art collage depict?

December 6, 2015 George Lawrence

An episode of the series "History Detectives" featuring Cal Schenkel, Bobby and Gail Zappa investigating whether a Collage painting is or isn't by Frank Zappa. Original broadcast hosted on video.pbs.org/video/2253617192

In addition to being the musical genius and political dissident that we all know, Frank was also an artist (and a drummer). One particular piece he created was lost then found and an investigation by PBS turned up some surprising ties to the drum shop world.

Canopus introduces reproduction of the vintage Ludwig baseball bat muffler

December 6, 2015 George Lawrence

Canopus Drums has been very innovative in new designs of instruments, hardware and parts. Now their newest offering is a much needed improvement on an old classic- the CIM-20 baseball bat internal muffler. It is an exact copy of the baseball bat but with new features. Not So Modern Drummer carries all Canopus products.

A first hand account of Ringo's auction of drums and personal items that fetched over 9 million dollars

December 6, 2015 Gary Astridge

I was prized when Ringo picked up the sticks and started playing the kit. I was standing a few feet in front of him with an astonished look on my face. He began playing the beginning of Come Together and Ringo laughed when he saw me smiling and said “You caught that.” to which I said “Yes I did.” The last time Ringo played that kit as a Beatle was 51 years and nine months ago, truly a magical and historical moment.

Throw Off vs. Strainer - which is it?

November 25, 2015 George Lawrence

"I've heard a throw off referred to as a strainer? Why? Ahem.....from one who has spent way too much time studying and being baffled the antiquities of membranophones..... In my opinion, a strainer and a throw off are two different terms describing two different things, but are used interchangeably to describe the throw off mechanism.

Custom Drum of the Month - Woods Custom Drums

September 7, 2015 George Lawrence

My latest build commissioned by Ryan Van Poederooyen (Devin Townsend) . It's a handmade Woods Custom 13" x 8"- 16 ply birch shell with walnut interior. The reinforcement rings are 8 ply birch with a birds eye maple veneer ply.

John Bonham’s Vistalite B&W Candy Stripe Kit

August 9, 2015 George Lawrence

John Bonham’s Ludwig Vistalite Black & White Candy Stripe swirl drum kit used during his time with Led Zeppelin was originally given to music critic Chris Welch by Bonzo himself. It is one of the only kits outside of the Bonham estate.

CUSH Pads for Cymbals

May 11, 2015 George Lawrence

This is one of those reviews that is easy to write because the product is so simple that it either works or it doesn't. It either does what the manufacturer says it does or it doesn't. This one works! CUSH pads are an alternative to the felts you use on your cymbal stand. They are made of a proprietary elastomer material, and are designed to allow the cymbals to ring longer and truer without muffling the sound or overtones. They don't collapse or take shape and always return to the original shape.

2x4 Famous Snare Drum

February 17, 2015 The NSMD Staff

Famous Drums' "2x4" Custom Snare Drum

Put the Drums in the Organ, Please...

February 17, 2015 The NSMD Staff

The 2014 Snare Drum Olympics

November 18, 2014 George Lawrence

The Art of snare drum building is thriving. There were 22 drum badges from the largest manufacturers, established independent builders, and the builders new to the scene. The art and science of custom drum building has become big business over the past few years so there was some stiff competition.

2014 Snare Drum Olympics Results

November 18, 2014 The NSMD Staff

The results of the 2014 Snare Drum Olympics are posted at www.snaredrumolympics.com along with corresponding videos, info and click-to-buy links for select snare drums entered in the event.

The Snare Drum Olympics event was started by Not So Modern Drummer founder John Aldridge in 1998 as “basically an excuse to get a bunch of really cool drums into one room at the same time.” It has evolved into an international showcase for some of the best snare drums in the world. It is a huge publicity event that has been heavily promoted by the drum manufacturers, the major drum magazines, and online drum sites and forums. YouTube. Facebook, Twitter and other social media have added another big layer of publicity over the past couple of years. The new SnareDrumOlympics.com website was recently launched this year. Each drum has its own page with videos, info and an optional click-to-buy link.

The 2014 judges were Jim Riley, drummer for Rascal Flatts, Ben Sesar, drummer for Brad Paisley, Keio Stroud drummer for Big and Rich, Beth Gottlieb, percussionist for the Gary Sinise and Lt. Dan Band, and Scott Radock, pro NYC drummer. The judging was held at Jim Riley’s Drum Dojo in Nashville TN on October 16.

The snare drums were categorized by shell composition and judged in two events; objective/blind and subjective/hands on. The results are reported as the top three scores in each shell category in each event, as the top three accumulative scores of the two events, and as the top three scores of all the drums. Also reported are the results from the public judging at the 2014 Nashville Drum Show this past September.

Brands participating this year were:

David Lee Drums Chicago Drum Infinity Drumworks DTS Custom Snare Drums Taye Drums Hayward Custom Drums Hogchain Custom Drums Klemm Drums Rasch Drums Guru Drums Holloman Custom Drums Artisan Drum Works Swindoll Custom Drums Goodman Drum Company Castle Drum Company Laudo Drums Outlaw Drums Gretsch Drums Pearl Drums Eccentric Systems Drums Bello Drums Furcinitti Custom Drums RotodruM

For more information, visit www.snaredrumolympics.com.

Nashville Drum Show 2014 Follow-Up

October 15, 2014 George Lawrence

Thanks to all of you who attended and/or exhibited at the Nashville Drum Show in September. For those of you who missed it we have a great pictorial article with photos from Rick Malkin and Bob Campbell. The show was a great success. There were three times as many exhibitor and vendor booths as the prior show and double the attendance. We hit a tipping point with the show this year and I think we may have to move to a hotel/convention center next year. Also, the drum industry gave a lot of credence to the event this year with many unveilings of new products including Gretsch’s new made in the USA Broadkaster kit that was introduced by Fred Gretsch and the guy who builds the Gretsch drums, Paul Cooper. Mothertone/Sleishman’s inverted bass drum set was demonstrated by Roy Wooten along with the Wooten Brothers Band.

July 2014 - Red Headed Step Children

July 11, 2014 George Lawrence

But what about all the vintage and rare drums that have been modified with extra holes, unoriginal parts etc.? What about those red headed bastard stepchildren?

It is my theory that they will become more and more desirable as the herd is thinned over the coming decades. What made me realize this was one particular seller at the Chicago Drum Show who asked me if there were going to be a lot of “hipsters” at my Nashville Drum Show. He said that in Austin, where there are hundreds and hundreds of working drummers in that busy music scene, they are buying “player" vintage kits and snares, not the collector level drums. They are buying them for the sound, not the collectability. It made me realize just how much the vintage drum world has grown and how the less than perfect old drums need to be preserved too.

Cymbal Lacquer for Paiste Cymbals

January 23, 2014 The NSMD Staff

I was reading some posts online & George mentioned that you folks found a lacquer that was hard enough to topcoat cymbals. Could you tell me what that lacquer is or can I buy some from you folks for my Paiste Signature Series fast crash? - Stan

Silver Badge Supraphonic prototype controversy?

January 2, 2014 George Lawrence

"The Ludwig engineering group used the silver hand scribed badges whenever they were prototyping a new design, or were interested in tracking a particular drum. I personally saw an all aluminum Acrolyte set which used the silver hand scribed badges which never made it to the production line and was never offered for sale. It had an Acrolyte snare with a silver hand scribed badge.