Dave is out of town this week so Carter “Son of Whipping Boy” Baldwin is running the show! Today we’re talking about odd time signatures. Drummer of the week is Vinnie Coluaita, Rudiment of the Week is the 6-stroke roll, plus we’ve got Mike with drumming news, and Ask Dave (Carter). Show Notes

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Ever since I watched Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer I’ve started to appreciate the differences in the different lengths of sticks. I’m particularly fond of short sticks nowadays and I recommend you all should try some if you haven’t before. I realize that “short” is a subjective term so here’s my stick length definitions. I define a stick as short if it’s less than 16 inches long; it’s a medium stick if it’s 16-16.5 inches long; and it’s a long stick at above 16.5 inches long. (more…)

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Hudson Music has recently added a lot of new videos to their YouTube channel. Most of the clips are sneak peeks at DVD released, but they are all worth a watch.

In case you didn’t know, Hudson Music has produced several of the top tier instructional DVDs out on the market today. They are AMAZINGLY well produced and feature A-list players strutting all their goods. Best of all, the DVDs are PACKED with content and resonably priced considering the amount of material you get. (For example, Thomas Lang’s Creative Control DVD clocks in at just over 5 hours, includes 2 Discs with charts, audio files, and more!)

I think these guys are at the top of the game right now and they are leading the DVD generation in instructional videos. Click more for some cool clips. (more…)

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Source: NY Times

Buddy Miles, the drummer in Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys and a hitmaker under his own name with the song “Them Changes,” died on at his home in Austin, Tex. He was 60.

Mr. Miles suffered from congestive heat failure, his publicist, Duane Lee, said, according to Reuters. Mr. Lee said he did not know the official cause of death.

Mr. Miles played with a brisk, assertive, deeply funky attack that made him an apt partner for Hendrix. With his luxuriant Afro and his American-flag shirts, he was a prime mover in the psychedelic blues-rock of the late 1960’s, not only with Hendrix but also as a founder, drummer and occasional lead singer for the Electric Flag. During the 1980’s, he was widely heard as the lead voice of the California Raisins in television commercials. (more…)

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Source: Harmony Central

Hammerax™ announces the release of Whipcrash™ brand cymbals. Whipcrash™ cymbals feature an S-shaped array of hammered microcups which can be stick-raked hard or softly to create one hand crescendos and decrescendos. These microcups are not attached jingles- they are formed directly into the cymbal bronze through hammering. The 10 microcups also add complexity to the sound.

(more…)

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Thomas Lang is BACH! … I mean back, he’s back, back again with his second instructional DVD from Hudson Music. This time he’s the Thomas Lang that we think of when someone says “wacky Austrian drummer.” He’s much more personable in this DVD and he’s quite funny, unlike his last DVD that where he earned his reputation for being robot like.

The focus of this DVD is advanced foot PATTERNS and the coordination matrix that he recently developed. I capitalized “patterns” in the last sentence because the DVD says that it’s advanced foot technique. It’s not. Foot technique is the physical movements we make with our hips, legs, and feet to operate the pedals at our feet. There is very little talk of actual foot technique in this dvd. Much like his previous work he gives tons of exercises to increase your chops, coordination, and independence equally between your feet. (more…)

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Source: Hudsonmusic.com

Hudson Music is proud to announce the introduction its new “Master Series”. This ongoing series of drum DVDs will feature recognized master drummers as well as contemporary players who have made a major impact on music in live, master class settings. Unlike traditional drum clinics, the master class is a more intimate educational environment that allows a deeper level of interaction between a drummer and his audience and often leads to spontaneous, inspired and inspiring results. (more…)

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Falling somewhere in between Gibraltar’s round rack system and Pearl’s square rack system, Yamaha announced an hexagonal rack system at the Winter NAMM 2008. Yamaha claims the design provides “superior strength,” and “delivers a reliable, strong, easy-to-use and visually stunning rack in one innovative package.” A few NAMM pics are floating around the internet.

The model numbers are also popping up on music retail sites. Here are all the details from the Yammy press release:

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Every now and again, a new product begs the question, “Why didn’t anyone think of that before?” With the introduction of the new Hex Rack System™ at Winter NAMM 2008, Yamaha Drums will undoubtedly be hearing that query frequently. (more…)

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How many times have I gotten that video in my email of Tony Royster, Jr. when he was 12? Well, he’s grown up now, and takes on the reigning champion of drum chops, Jojo Mayer. This video is taken from Singapore Drumfest 2007.

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Vater has recently released a slem of new sticks and accessories for 2008. My fav is the über death-core-metal-thrash accessory, the Skull Slick Nut – for those who need gore and goth to top every last inch of their setup. I’m so HXC I fart darkness!!

Man, you’d think they could find a cleaner cymbal for the photo. Anyway, I really like Slick Nuts, but be sure you get one that fits your hardware – metric, or US – because thy actually thread onto stands. (more…)

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One of the things that is so attractive about music and being a musician is the freedom. You create without fear of being told “that’s wrong.” Music is subjective, it isn’t right or wrong it just is what it is. Depending on what choices you make your music might be praised or reviled but those are just the opinions of other people. So many times when someone tries to make a comment, constructive criticism or a flat out admonishment… we get defensive. This is why internet flame wars between fans of different bands get so out of control. There is no right or wrong, there is just a bunch of people clubbing each-other over the head with their opinions. (more…)

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I made this tutorial quite a while back, but I thought I’d dig it up and front page it yet again. Enjoy!

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Here’s my guide to making your very own multi-rods.

It’s very easy and will only set you back about $5/pair (instead of $15-$20 from the big boys.) Your cost may vary depending on the quality of your materials (like wood glue).

Plan on the project taking about an hour from start to finish. These materials will make a total of two pairs of multi-rods (a pair for you and a pair for your buddy that helped!) (more…)

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Are you a drummer with a Nintendo DS and wish could drum while waiting in the popcorn line while going to catch High School Musical IX: This time We’re Gonna Sing about the Debate Team at the $2 movie. Gots da 1337 h4ck3r skillzz?? Well, thanks to the guys over at Pocketgamer.co.uk, you can hack your pocket gaming system into a virtual drumkit – complete with your own virtual Yamaha electronic drums! Sure, it voids your warranty and can potentially be leaked back to big N that you’ve distributed “Warez,” but why, oh why, didn’t they put an actual drum kit on the screen?! Who wants to tap around a virtual synthetic kit when you could have a huge monster rock kit alá Mike Portnoy? Ah well … enjoy, and let us know how it is!

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Here’s a video of Buddy Rich and “Eddie” Shaughnessy duking it out on the Tonight Show circa 1978. Dig the splitscreen at the end! Man that band is hot!

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Thomas Lang’s original work Creative Control was my first introduction into the druminator. I remember I was looking for a video on stick tricks and stumbled across a clip from Hudson Music promoting Mr. Lang’s DVD. I was all like “that was too cool!!!” so I rushed out and bought it as soon as it came out. I re-watched it recently for this review and while I’m still blown away by his skill, I’m definitely in a different place in my walk as a musician then I was when I first purchased it. Looking back on this dvd I think that it would have been better marketed as the drummer’s equivalent to those Jane Fonda work-out videos. The exercises and patterns are great for working your independence and your fluidity around the kit but they are so busy that you’d be hard pressed to be able to fit it into most music. That being said, Thomas grew up with electronic music which typically has allot going on… so it’s not surprising that his playing style has so much going on. (more…)

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