ASETOF0AISTE"LACK !LPHACYMBALSUSEDAND 41&$*"-*446&'0$640/&-&$530/*$4 7). SIGNEDBY*OEY*ORDISON 6ALUED ATOVER &EBRUARY 4HE7ORLDS$RUM-AGAZINE 4(%$25--%23/& 3(!+)2! ,)6).'#/,/52 #()/$/3 -!+%+),,%2 $25-,//03 4HE"LACK%YED0EAS +%)4((!22)3(/7(%2%!#(%$4(%4/0/&4(%0/03$25--).' 02/$5#).' 72)4).' *)--9"2!,/7%2 /-!2(!+)- :!#($!.:)'%2 -!2+'5),)!.! 2/$-/2'%.34%). 2%6)%7%$ -/$%2.$25--%2#/- 4!9%30/4,)'(4+)43428,4$#9-"!,3")'"!.'-)#(/,$%239!-!(!$48++)4$25-45.! EVEN SLEDGEHAMMER SOUND NEEDS PINPOINT PRECISION. NEW SHURE BETA MICROPHONES Optimized for high sound pressure levels, extremely low handling noise and higher gain-before-feedback. Accurate, focused polar patterns. Virtually indestructible. Precision control to practically eliminate bleed. Because whether it’s the boom of a kick or the faintest ghost notes, clarity is king. Clockwise from upper left: New Shure microphone models Beta 181, Beta 98AD/C, Beta 91A, Beta 98AMP www.shure.com © 2011 Shure Incorporated Volume 35, Number 2 • Cover photo by Will Hawkins CONTENTS 40 Hawkins 33 GET GOOD: ELECTRONICS Fusion great Omar Hakim, Living Colour’s Will Calhoun, Will and drum ’n’ bass master KJ Sawka lay out several paths to an electronic, drummer-led musical future. 40 KEITH HARRIS He keeps the party jumping with one of the biggest acts in the world. And when the stage goes dark, he’s still lighting up the industry, produc- ing and writing platinum records and winning multiple Grammys. 52 BRENDAN BUCKLEY Shakira’s longtime drummer is the epitome of the super-contemporary musician: He understands all the intricacies of electronic programming, and he has the chops and groove to squeeze the most out of it. 60 ZACH DANZIGER AND MARK GUILIANA 33 52 Two of the most knowledgeable and accomplished acoustic drummers around have immersed themselves in the world of electronics—with revelatory results. 14 MD READERS POLL A Sneak Peek At This Year’s Nominees 15 UPDATE Broken Social Scene’s JUSTIN PEROFF 18 GIMME 10! DeCoske Electronics Pioneer JIMMY BRALOWER EJ Rahav 80 90 80 PORTRAITS DOSH 90 WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT...? MARVIN “BUGALU” SMITH A SET OF PAISTE BLACK ALPHA CYMBALS SIGNED WIN BY JOEY JORDISON! VALUED AT OVER Wittig Salo , Page 77 Cameron $1500 Peter EDUCATION 22 96 66 In The Studio Making Drum Loops An Insider’s Perspective by Vinnie Zummo 68 Strictly Technique Chops Builders Part 10: Double Paradiddle Accent Shifter by Bill Bachman 72 Electronic Insights Playing With Drum Loops Choosing Tones And Tunings by Donny Gruendler 74 Off The Record Chiodos’s Tanner Wayne Illuminaudio Mattingly by Michael Dawson Rick 76 Taking Care Of Business 95 74 Drummer2Drummer An Online Network Of Service Providers Smith by Mike Haid DEPARTMENTS Cameron 8 An Editor’s Overview Plug Me In And Turn Me On! by Billy Amendola 10 Readers’ Platform 12 Ask A Pro 2011 MD Pro Panelist Rod Morgenstein Passing Auditions 16 It’s Questionable Mind Matters: The Drummer As Performer/Entertainer • Gretsch Round Badge Snare 30 94 84 Showcase 88 Drum Market 92 Critique 94 Backbeats KoSA International Workshop 2010 • Montréal Drum Fest 2010 • Who’s Playing What 95 In Memoriam Louie Appel 96 Kit Of The Month Time Machines Kronberger EQUIPMENT Heinz 22 Product Close-Up 92 • Taye Spotlight Classic And Special Edition Fusion Kits • TRX LTD Series Hi-Hats And Crash-Rides • Big Bang Mic Holders • Drumtuna Flip Digital Tuning Gauge 30 Electronic Review Yamaha DTX950K Electronic Drumkit 78 Gearing Up Tinted Windows/Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos Arrested Development’s David “Fingers” Haynes MD DIGITAL SUBSCRIBERS! When you see this icon, click on a shaded box on the page to open 82 New And Notable the audio player. Note: Shaded boxes appear when you first view a digitally enhanced page, and then they fade; they will reappear when you roll over the area. Sign up online! 89 Collector’s Corner Leedy Shelly Manne Kit In Smokey Pearl Finish AN EDITOR’S OVERVIEW Plug Me In And Turn Me On! FOUNDER MODERN DRUMMER ADVISORY elcome to MD’s electronic- BOARD: Kenny Aronoff, Eddie Bayers, RONALD SPAGNARDI themed issue. Electronics Bill Bruford, Harry Cangany, Dennis W 1943–2003 DeLucia, Les DeMerle, Len DiMuzio, have been a very useful tool in Peter Erskine, Vic Firth, Bob Gatzen, my drumming career and in the Danny Gottlieb, Sonny Igoe, Jim Keltner, Paul Leim, Peter Magadini, George work of many of my favorite PUBLISHER/CEO Marsh, Joe Morello, Rod Morgenstein, drummers. Back in the day ISABEL SPAGNARDI Andy Newmark, Neil Peart, Ed Shaughnessy, Steve Smith, before drum machines really Billy Ward, Dave Weckl, Paul Wertico. became popular, I was experi- SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: menting with triggers, rhythm LORI SPAGNARDI Patrick Berkery, David Ciauro, John boxes, and mixing and matching Emrich, Mike Haid, Dr. Asif Khan, Rick VICE PRESIDENT Mattingly, Ken Micallef, Mark Parsons, acoustic and electronic drums. Martin Patmos, Jeff Potter, Will Romano, (The shot at right is from a 1981 KEVIN W. KEARNS Bernie Schallehn, Ilya Stemkovsky, Stephen Styles, Robin Tolleson, Lauren session.) Fortunately for me, I Vogel Weiss, Paul Wells. ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER took a liking to the process, TRACY A. KEARNS MODERN DRUMMER magazine because it freed up time for me (ISSN 0194-4533) is published to concentrate more on writing monthly by EDITORIAL DIRECTOR MODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc., and producing. While many 12 Old Bridge Road, Cedar Grove, NJ 07009. ADAM J. BUDOFSKY drummers were stubborn about the new technology and afraid it would PERIODICALS MAIL POSTAGE paid at Cedar Grove, NJ 07009 and at additional take over their work, I jumped right into the fire. I’ve been a fan of elec- MANAGING EDITOR mailing offices. Copyright 2011 by tronic drums for thirty-five years now, and although it kind of took me out MODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc. MICHAEL DAWSON All rights reserved. Reproduction without the of the loop of playing acoustic drums for a period of time, these days I permission of the publisher is prohibited. find myself switching between them—just as a guitarist can switch from ASSOCIATE EDITOR EDITORIAL/ADVERTISING/ADMINIS- acoustic to electric guitar. BILLY AMENDOLA TRATIVE OFFICES: MODERN DRUM- In this special jam-packed issue, we enlist the expertise of a number of MER Publications, 12 Old Bridge Road, Cedar Grove, NJ 07009. Tel: (973) top players and programmers, who provide heaps of useful tips and infor- ASSOCIATE EDITOR 239-4140. Fax: (973) 239-7139. mation on working with triggers, drum machines, samplers, software, MICHAEL PARILLO Email: [email protected]. looping devices, and all kinds of electronic drums and percussion. MODERN DRUMMER welcomes manu- Cover artist and Grammy-winning producer, songwriter, and drummer EDITORIAL ASSISTANT scripts and photographic material but can- not assume responsibility for them. Keith Harris of the Black Eyed Peas gives us an inside look at how he went SUZANNE HURRING whole-hog electronic on the band’s world tour at bandleader Will.i.am’s SUBSCRIPTIONS: US and Canada SENIOR ART DIRECTOR $34.97 per year; $56.97, two years. specific request—and how he managed to sneak in some acoustics with- Other international $59.97 per year. out ruffling any feathers. Brendan Buckley checks in from touring with SCOTT G. BIENSTOCK Single copies $5.99. Shakira with seriously detailed descriptions of his electroacoustic arsenal. SUBSCRIPTION CORRESPONDENCE: ART DIRECTOR Zach Danziger takes a break from writing and scoring for TV and movies Modern Drummer, PO Box 274, Oregon, GERALD VITALE IL 61061-9920. Change of address: to chat with fellow electro explorer Mark Guiliana. Omar Hakim, Will Allow at least six weeks for Calhoun, and KJ Sawka give us invaluable direction on how to “Get Good” a change. Please provide both old and ADVERTISING DIRECTOR new address. Call (800) 551-3786 at working with electronic drums in the second installment of our new or (815) 732-5283. Phone hours, BOB BERENSON feature series. “Finger drumming” master David Haynes talks about the 8AM–4:30PM Monday–Friday CST, or visit Subscriber Services at gear he uses to get monster drum performances out of hand-operated ADVERTISING ASSISTANT www.moderndrummer.com. controllers. Multi-instrumentalist Vinnie Zummo gets us closer to making LASHANDA GIBSON MUSIC DEALERS: Modern Drummer our own killer drum loops. And Donny Gruendler offers helpful advice on is distributed by Hal Leonard Corp. playing along to those loops once we’ve created them. (800) 554-0626. [email protected] DIGITAL MEDIA DESIGNER www.halleonard.com/dealers Personally, I was very excited to take advantage of this issue’s theme in EJ DECOSKE order to reconnect with one of my early electronic influences, Jimmy INTERNATIONAL LICENSING REPRESENTATIVE: Robert Abramson Bralower. In the 1980s, Jimmy was renowned for his programming skills & Associates, Inc., Libby Abramson, President, PO Box 740346, Boyton and for mixing electronics with real-feel playing. Records that he con- MODERNMODERN DRUMMERDRUMMER PROPRO PANELPANEL Beach, FL 33474-0346, tributed to—often made at the famed New York City studio the Power MODERN DRUMMER [email protected]. Station—have sold in excess of 250 million copies. MD first profiled Jimmy PRO PANEL 2011 PRO PANEL POSTMASTER: Send address changes in the January 1985 issue, a feature we travel back in time to revisit here, to Modern Drummer, PO Box 274, JASON BITTNER via our Kit Of The Month column, where he details the equipment he used Oregon, IL 61061-9920. WILL CALHOUN on hit after hit by artists like Hall & Oates, Madonna, and Steve Winwood. Canadian Publications Mail Agreement JEFF DAVIS And be sure to check out Jimmy’s Gimme 10! feature, where the maestro No. 41480017 Return undeliverable PETER ERSKINE Canadian addresses to: PO Box 875, shares real-world suggestions for effective and artful electronic music pro- Stn A, Windsor ON N9A 6P2 DANIEL GLASS duction in today’s recording environment.