A lot of rock drummers probably aren’t that familiar with Omar Hakim. Being a drummer and a drumming fan, I knew his name but I really hadn’t really been exposed to his work.

Recently, I took the opportunity to sit down and listen to a sampling of recording’s he’s played on. This guy is a monster talent and can’t really be pinned down to one genre. His work with Weather Report was nothing short of amazing. Although his playing in Weather Report relied heavily on jazz techniques he managed to attract the attention of Sting and Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler as fans, which would lead to future work with both.

His playing on David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” also stands out as being incredibly solid and continued to expose him to numerous other artists. In the 80’s when drum machines and drum programming just started to come into fashion, instead of feeling defeated Hakim went out and learned how to program drum machines and electronics, becoming extremely proficient. He was also one of the first drummers to heavily incorporate an electronic drum set roland built for him, and continues to do endorse Roland electronic drums to this day.

Omar Hakim’s page at Drummerworld.com also has a great qoute from the man himself…

“Sometimes, if people know you from rock, they think of you as a rock drummer and don’t expect you to play anything else. Or, if they know you in jazz, then they typecast you as a jazz drummer,” explains Hakim. “I was conscious of the fact that I didn’t want people to know me as a rock drummer or a jazz drummer, but as a total musician. So I always made sure I let people know that I was about music.”

Source.

Pearl Drums is introducing a new drum kit, with new maple shells.

“Our Masters Series MCX 6-ply Maple shell has set the standard for great sound and craftsmanship for years and can be heard on countless recordings by the world’s most legendary drummers.”

“NEW for 2008, MCX 4-piece shell packs can be purchased at an average street price of just $1,500 dollars ($2,499.00 List) in your choice of 5 NEW configurations.”

“The heart and soul of MCX is the 6-ply 7.5mm shell, made from hand-selected choice Maple using our Superior Shell Technology. This offers the smooth round tone you would expect from Maple with even highs and mid range frequencies, coupled with pronounced low-end punch. The 7.5mm shell thickness provides a super wide tuning range; increased resonance and projection all of which allows your sound to be felt as much as heard.”

This drum set looks like a great intermediary step between Pearl’s lower budget models and their higher-end professional kits.  It is great that matching Pearl MCX snare drums are available as well. The tuning range of this kit is also a major plus, in my opinion, for drummers who like to experiment and/or tune to specific pitches.

Source.

I wanted to post this video, because I found it not too long ago and I think Igor Cavalera (formerly of Sepultura), is completely sick (in a good way). Igor Cavalera is pretty underrated especially when you think of the influence he has had on heavy drummers and heavy music in general.

Check it out. This is from a Pearl Drums TV commercial run in Brazil…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91K-WxSFYUg