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”.

I call it a “Monday Morning at the Office” drum because the scroll pattern is in every panel but there is no “Ludwig Chicago” engraving that would normally be just left of the strainer.

Chicago based drummer, John Perrin assumed the NRBQ drum chair full-time in 2015. He had to memorize over 500 songs since the band never uses a set list.

This snare drum is a rare 1950s Leedy & Ludwig White Marine Pearl 5” x14”, Broadway model with a solid 1-ply maple shell.

Woolworth’s did sell drums for many years, but unlike the other big department stores, they were not a catalog company by which we could document what and when they sold drums. So all we have are the drums themselves to tell the story.

 This is the long lost twin of a personal pair of these custom made snares for Elvins 75th birthday celebration and were never available to the public. At 5” x 10” it is little piece of dynamite.

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

Haynes’ remarkable career spanned much of the history of jazz, from the swing era through bebop, avant-garde, modal jazz, fusion, and beyond. His contributions to jazz were profound, playing with some of the genre’s most iconic figures, including Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Sarah Vaughan, Chick Corea, and Pat Metheny, to name just a few

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.

The Porto-Pak is a very special snare drum.  Punchy and articulate, this 5.5 x 13 1948 – 52 WFL Classic Porto-Pak snare drum is difficult to find these days.  This drum was born out of the need for gigging musicians, be bop and club players to get their drums into the taxi cabs and onto smaller band stands and still hit the spot. 

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.

Another sticking challenge from that rascal sage, Joel Rothman

Most companies will guarantee a newly purchased cymbal against certain types of breakage, but it ends there. If a player breaks a replacement cymbal, all love is lost and the cymbal will not be replaced. The rational is that the owner/player must be doing something wrong or just plain abusing their bronze.

I'm So Confused
And so you should be. Options you may hear about bearing edges include: round-over, 30 degree, 45 degree, dual-45, reverse 45,  45 with round-over, bull-nose, baseball bat, vintage round-over. There are also different theories, applications, claims, boasts, and myths. 

Many of us share the introduction into the drumming world with that first snare drum, or if you are one of the fortunate ones, the “Snare Drum Outfit”!

On August 23, 2024, James Gadson released a solo EP, Dance On Through [High Rise Sound]. The five-song, self-penned release finds the eternally youthful 85-year-old badass going deep with crisp funk beats and a buoyant and soulful voice.

I got this rare drum from Bill Wanser of Olympic Drums & Percussion. Bill also pointed out a Ludwig Drummer magazine article that places Rose Pearl at 1929, this aligns perfectly as the Standard-Sensitive model was first seen in 1929. Bill agrees that this was an uncatalogued finish, L & L obviously had the material but it was never seen in a catalog, only in a Ludwig Drummer Magazine article.

“I first noticed the incredible wood-burning that had been done on two of the Woods Custom snare drums at the Music City Drum Show.  The level of detail and artistry was truly impressive.  She subsequently engraved a (Woods) snare drum and hoops for me and an additional set of hoops for another drum.  I gave her just a little bit of input and let her run with it.  She truly hit it out of the park.  So talented and such a pleasure to work with.”

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.

Tony influenced me with the open flams, his loose high-hat rhythms, and the amazing sound of his snare drum and tom toms.

If any of the Japanese drums of the 60’s and 70’s stand out it’s the early Yamaha drums. They projected a professional quality in all of their drums, staying away from the appearance of beginner or entry-level and also avoiding the copycat mentality. This particular snare drum is from the late 60’s to early 70’s and has that flash to it that really stands out.

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.

The coiled-steel snare wire is a wonderful invention, and a huge improvement over, uh, animal parts. But making it happen required the simultaneous invention of the snare End Plate and its introduction opened a can of worms.

"The Broadcaster was evidently a forerunner of the Radio King, the strainer is a very early Radio King style strainer and the lugs do not have inserts. (The tension rods thread directly into the lugs.) The muffler was the single-pad style Harold R. Dodd muffler."