Features (General)

Young drummer of the year 2023

The 2023 Young drummer of the year competition was held on the 19th February at a fantastic new venue,  The Lighthouse, Poole. The 10 finalists played in front of a live audience and our judges Geoff Dugmore, Simon Hanson, Eddy Thrower, Cherisse Osei, Reto Wild (from Paiste Switzerland) and Nico Neverman (Gewa Germany), this was

By | 2023-03-02T10:36:59+00:00 March 2nd, 2023|Categories: Features|Comments Off on Young drummer of the year 2023

Young drummer of the year 2022 final

Sunday 6th February was the 20th Young drummer of the year final and this year 16 year old Jeremie Animan was the winner (video performance can be seen here) All entrants are normally under 16 but this year the age was raised to 17 due to the event not being able to happen in 2021. Each

By | 2022-02-17T20:20:25+00:00 February 17th, 2022|Categories: Features|Comments Off on Young drummer of the year 2022 final

Snare Drum Of The Month – Tama John Tempesta Model

I first heard John Tempesta’s name in the late 1980s when he was Charlie Benante’s (of Anthrax) drum tech. I next heard he was playing with thrash metal band Exodus, and then I kept hearing his name and seeing his photo everywhere. Fast forward many years and I saw John Tempesta has his own signature

By | 2021-08-01T00:27:02+00:00 August 1st, 2021|Categories: Features|Comments Off on Snare Drum Of The Month – Tama John Tempesta Model

Snare Drum Of The Month – Brady 12×7” Jarrah Ply

Brady, a classic name in drums and drumming. I still vaguely remember buying this drum from eBay UK. I had it for, I think, the better part of 20 years before I recently sold it on to a very nice man in the US.  The 12x7” shell is made from the Jarrah wood that Brady

By | 2021-07-01T00:48:44+00:00 July 1st, 2021|Categories: Features|Comments Off on Snare Drum Of The Month – Brady 12×7” Jarrah Ply

Snare Drum Of The Month – Tama Lars Ulrich Signature Snare

Yep, I bet I can guess what you’re thinking after seeing the title; Lars… St. Anger… Horrible ring… But, I really think this snare drum actually has more to it than that, especially for someone looking for a good, rugged gigging drum. So first off, the St Anger snare sound was a Ludwig Vistalite, not

By | 2021-03-14T23:26:57+00:00 March 14th, 2021|Categories: Features|Comments Off on Snare Drum Of The Month – Tama Lars Ulrich Signature Snare

Snare Drum of the Month – Gretsch Brooklyn 14×6.5”

I’ve been doing reviews on this website for nearly 20 years now and over that period I’ve reviewed a lot of Gretsch drums, mostly kits, and I don’t recall really ever having a bad experience with them. After all, they’re one of the classic American brands and have been around longer than most. With that

By | 2021-02-14T23:48:26+00:00 February 14th, 2021|Categories: Features|Comments Off on Snare Drum of the Month – Gretsch Brooklyn 14×6.5”

Snare Drum of the Month – Canopus Zelkova 14×6.5″

About ten years ago, Mike arranged for me to review some drums from Canopus; these were a kit - I cant remember what model - and two Zelkovas, a 14x5.5” and a 14x6.5”. It was the first time I’d tried anything from the company. I can’t recall if I’d heard of the Zelkova snare drum

By | 2021-01-14T21:10:45+00:00 January 15th, 2021|Categories: Features|Comments Off on Snare Drum of the Month – Canopus Zelkova 14×6.5″

Snare Drum of the Month – December 2020 – Pearl 14×5″ Hybrid Exotic Vectorcast

I’m guilty of having a few snare drums. I’m also guilty of sometimes getting a new drum, playing it for a week or two in my studio and then swapping it out on the kit for something else. That’s what happened with this drum. Now, this occurs for many reasons and it’s quite often because

By | 2020-12-15T09:25:47+00:00 December 14th, 2020|Categories: Features|Comments Off on Snare Drum of the Month – December 2020 – Pearl 14×5″ Hybrid Exotic Vectorcast

Snare Drum of the Month – Pearl 14×6.5″ Aluminium

I’ve said to many people over the years that I think this drum is a bit of a sleeper. And, funnily enough, I also said the same about another aluminium Pearl drum about a year ago, on that occasion, the Tico Torres model.  Someone asked me recently what my favourite snare drum shell material was

By | 2020-11-14T12:03:10+00:00 November 15th, 2020|Categories: Features|Comments Off on Snare Drum of the Month – Pearl 14×6.5″ Aluminium

Snare Drum of the Month – Provenance 14×5.25″ 1944 RR Merlin XX Snare Drum

I may have said before that I love a drum with a history or a story, and that’s the whole premise of Provenance Drums; the shell material is made from something that has already had a previous life; in this instance, the material was part of a 1944 Rolls Royce Merlin XX V12 engine. Now,

By | 2020-10-15T12:09:32+00:00 October 14th, 2020|Categories: Features|Comments Off on Snare Drum of the Month – Provenance 14×5.25″ 1944 RR Merlin XX Snare Drum
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