Marketing Magic to a Thumping Beat.

It frankly amazes me the number of drummers who have trouble tuning and the amount who have just given up! Go talk to your local club sound guy, he will confirm this universal problem. Many sound engineers don't even ask drummers to tune their kits any more. They just begin their drum mix by working the mixers EQ section looking to kill the ridiculous overtones and tighten up those drum sounds. If that doesn’t work, I have seem them replace the sound with one on their laptop, use the microphone to trigger the replacement sound and use only that.  Drummers who do this enough times find they have been replaced by a keyboard player, his laptop and a cheap keypad. Don't let this happen to you! Guys tuning is easy…now carefully come down off the ledge of that tall building… and let me help you find your righteous tone. Tuning, a Guide to Sonic Bliss Start with your smallest tom. It will have the fewest lugs and tuning rods and thus simplifies the process. First re...

The history of drum stick sizing is surprisingly interesting.  Do you wonder who came up with the odd 2B, 5A, 5B and 7A stick size designation and why they needed to be to add the extra A and B sizes to confuse us even more? Where did the 7B and 2A sizes go?  Back in the 1930’s, there were many stick sizes from size 2 to size 9 and the number represented the diameter or thickness of the stick. The letters designated the musical application the stick was to be used for. A thin “Acoustic” stick or “A” size, was meant for playing with small groups of un-amplified musicians, a medium sized “Band” or “B” sized stick was for playing with Big Band Jazz bands and a large “Street” or “S” size for playing with marching street bands full of brass. Back in the day, every small town had a local marching band that would march in local parades or play the open air band shell at the town park on a sunny Sunday afternoon. So, a 7, 8 or 9 diameter stick was too small to be used with a Big...

Shopping for a new kit can be exciting.  Choosing a brand, the colour, the number of drums, your hardware, pedals, cymbals... the selection and options seem endless. I have helped hundreds of drummers with their purchase over the years, but not one has ever asked me about bearing edges. I find this interesting because the type of bearing edge on your new kit has a huge impact on the sound of the drums.  Pearl and Yamaha in the last few years have begun to cut different bearing edges onto drums of different sizes. A rack tom under 14 inches will have sharp 45 degree bearing edges, while floor toms and kicks receive 30 degree bearing edges that have been well rounded. Other makers stay with the tried and true like Gretsch who have cut 30 degree bearing edges into all their lines for decades.  What impact do these different styles of bearing edges have on the sound of your drums? There are four basic types of bearing edges.  1. 45 degree angle - cut into ...

It can be overwhelming when you stand in front of a wall of drumheads from Remo, Aquarian or Evans and try to work out their mysterious names, codes, sizes, and material thicknesses. Which should you choose and what will make your kit sound awesome! No worries, I got your back, I will walk you through everything you need to know. First, let’s look at what each company has in common: Clear Heads - These heads are just as advertised, clear single or double drum heads of mylar of varying thicknesses. Clear heads are crisp, clean with a long sustain. Clear heads are great on rack toms, floor toms, and kick drums. Usually not used on snare drum batter heads. Coated Heads - These are clear heads that have been over-sprayed with a white coating that has a bit of “Tooth” or roughness to the coating. These heads where developed to give drummers something feeling more like calf skin and allowed drummers to use brushes to get that sweeping sound. Coated heads add warmth and a bit of damp...

On April 1st 1978, to the driving beat of Deep Purple’s “Highway Star”, radio in Winnipeg changed forever as a young upstart rock FM station called CITI FM tried to blow the collective minds of a cities youth. CITI FM was the first hard-rock station on the FM band in the “Peg” and they were determined to make their mark. But no one could have predicted the impact it would have on a cold, isolated, prairie town full of teens itching for something new, fresh and relevant to their generation. Winnipeg had a reputation as a hard rockin’ town and new bands like Streetheart, Mood Ja Ja, Harlequin, and the Pumps had begun to pack clubs in River City building on a previous generation of trail blazers like the Squires, Guess Who, Sugar and Spice, Mongrels, the Fifth and Brother that had come before. Hotel bars like The Norlander, the St. Vital, and the Zoo shook with the Winnipeg sound. Line-ups around the block in 40 below weather where common and at times out drew the touring acts foolish...

There are rare discs that you know you’re going to love seconds into the first track and Brotherhood is just such a disc. These guys have been playing forever at the Bamboo Club on Queen Street in Toronto and the confidence and smoothness of their delivery can’t be underestimated. Brotherhood is less funk and more blues but it still smolders and burns with wicked B3 organ work and silky vocals by Duane Blackwood. Brothers Cody (drums) and Brooke (guitar) and childhood buddy Mark Ayee (bass) complete the lineup. Fever, The Thrill is Gone and Movin’ are all stand out tracks. Gimme more!

Lush harmonies, deceptively simple melodies and subtle arrangements make this debut from Nic Thornburn (Unicorns and Islands) and Jim Guthrie a keeper. Looking like 60’s troubadours in buckskin, plaid and denim with Sir Lancelot and early Ringo Star haircuts the boys open with a compressed and flattened electric guitar strumming and a muffled 70’s drum kit on “The Sound”. Their harmonies are perfect as they dip and weave around a tale of searching for the ever-elusive “sound”. Their harmony soaked, laid back style hints at early Simon and Garfunkel, Peter and Gordon, or Everly Brothers. The whole project has a sepia tone varnish of melancholy sweetness that gets more tart with each lick. There are no duds here each song contributes to the overall concept. It feels simply constructed, as all good art does, but that belies both the depth and detail that awaits repeated listens.