Category — Tama Drums

Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner is featured on a new Hudson Music DVD release entitled “What Drives The Beat.” The DVD features over 3 hours of peformance and instructional footage from the two-time grammy nominated, multiple readers poll-winning drummer.

One segment titled “Double-Bass Crash Course” will be a highlight for many drummers.

“The step-by-step method for developing foot control, power, endurance and speed is explained and demonstrated in detail while foot cameras and split-screen shots augment the instructional material. 16th, Triplet, 32nd, Combo, Shuffle, Ruff and Blast Beat patterns are covered with all the examples and exercises included in an exclusive PDF eBook that can be printed and used for lessons and practice.”

Some other segments featured include…

Jason Bittner will preseumably be featured playing on one of his Tama Starclassic drum kits on this DVD, and it’s something well worth picking up if you’re a metal drummer.

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Modern Drummer has a new feature on their website called “Drum Gods” where they re-print older interviews and basically do a profile of the chosen drummer(s). The first installment is on Dave Grohl, they re-visit the first interview they ever conducted with him in 1992. In it, he offers plenty of insightful tips and knowledge on drumming and the way he approaches it.

Some choice excerpts are…

“The drums have to propel everything.” That’s an important element. Whether the drums stand out to people or not isn’t what’s really important. That it sounds like a big bomb going off is.” He also believed that louder is usually better, often hitting two toms or two cymbals at once and focusing his energy on powerful playing with less notes. However, he also understands how to use dynamics and does so very effectively.

Regarding “Bass Drum Technique”

Grohl’s bass drum technique is all about optimum transfer of power: “I don’t put my heel down when I play my kick drum, I kind of pounce on it with the ball of my foot. That way I can hit harder and put more weight into it. Also, by sitting very low—I sit as low as possible—I can put a lot more weight into it because I’m pushing forward.”

These are great tips but I thought the most profound excerpt was this…

Dave believes it’s very important for drummers to think like songwriters, “Composition and songwriting should be just as important to a drummer as they are to a singer,” he went on. “There are hooks in songwriting, those moments that catch you and stick in your brain. Drumming should be the same way.”

Overall a very insightful read. I’ve always been a huge fan of Dave Grohl as you can probably tell by this site, but I’ve never seen this interview before. Also, it doesn’t mention anything about the specifics of his kit at the time, but I know he was a Tama drums and Zildjian Cymbals endorsee and that his Nirvana-era kits were an Artstar Customs.

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One of the most important things to me when considering a place to live is the proximity of the practice space to the neighbors. That’s why I was stoked to find my current place of residence, a small house in Los Angeles that shares no walls with anyone else. I’ve been here for a year now, practicing almost everyday at a level where my ears are ringing even though I’m wearing my super-fancy Ear Love earplugs. Then the other day, a neighbor (who I’ve never met before) walks by and asks if we play music here. He explains that the music is just way too loud and that it’s all he can hear in his living room. I’m thinking this guy either just moved in or is incredibly patient, having waited a year to say anything about the noise factor. Either way I was happy that he was chill and not one of those freaky cat lady types.

So I decided we needed to mute the drums a bit so we can lower the volume for the rest of the instruments. I already had a Sound Off cymbal silencer laying around for the hi-hats, but I needed a way to mute the rest of the kit. So I started digging through the cabinets for old rags. I ended up stuffing a pillow and an old blanket in the bass. Then I stretched a couple of old t-shirts underneath each of the drum heads. The resonant heads are completely covered with fabric and the batter head has a strip going across the inside. And to finish off this super DIY muting project, I hung beer carriers to the crash and ride cymbals.

With a lot of buzz still going strong after the release of the groups new album “Death Magnetic” (which I actually think is pretty good)…It has been announced that the group is being considered for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Billboard reports… “Metallica, Run-D.M.C. and the Stooges lead the list of nine acts up for induction next year into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Five will be chosen in January for enshrinement during an April 4 ceremony at Cleveland’s Public Hall.”

The 2009 ceremony will be the first one open to the public since 1997 and will be held in Cleveland, Ohio the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Metallica has made a lot of missteps over the years, specifically “St. Anger” and the snare drum sound that came with it. Regardless, the band is arguably one of the most important metal bands of all time and also one of the most successful. Also, contrary to what most people say about Lars Ulrich’s drumming, he definitely knows his way around a kit and how to perfectly compliment James Hetfield’s rhythm guitar.

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As has been reported on many sites, Metallica has released the first single from “Death Magnetic” entitled “The Day That Never Comes.” Now the band has made available a new track “My Apocalypse” via Metallica.com.

While a lot of people accused the band of ripping off their earlier material on “The Day That Never Comes” it still is probably better than anything they’ve released since 1991. This new track features more heavy riffing and fast beats as well as some great solos from Kirk Hammett, but for some reason I just can’t get past Hetfield’s vocals. Just not my style at this point, but the song definitely has the feel of classic Metallica.

Lars’ has been using the same Tama kits he usually does from what I’ve seen. He’s either using other snare drums or did something to his signature models. The sound is a lot better than the pongy-ness of the “St. Anger” snare sound.

Metallica has been making headlines everywhere recently, leading up to the release of their new album. This time though, the band has played one of their new songs live at Ozzfest in Dallas, TX. The song, titled “Cyanide” is not their new album’s first single.

A full live performance video of the song can be found over at YouTube. The song definitely harks back to the bands “Ride The Lightning” and “Master of Puppets” classic years. Although I don’t believe it’s on the same level as the bands classic material, its worlds better than “St.Anger” and in my opinion even the bands “Load” and “Re-Load” era output.

Lars has got plenty of tricky drum parts in there, classical guitars and fast, aggressive sections. Check the song out for yourself. The one thing I think is lacking is the vocals, ever since the bands Black Album days, James Hetfield’s voice has never recovered from when he blew it out. Anyway, judge for yourself.