FEATURES

ALEXVAN HALEN

Ain't nothin' like the live thing, andVan Halen has proven it with therelease of the first concert album oftheir fifteen-year history. The lasttime Alex and MD spoke was adecade ago, so we figured the timewas right to get the low-down onthe current situation. Check out allAVH has to say in this specialstory—plus some greatlive shots and a setup,too!

GREGGFIELD

Providing taste and a solid pulse togigs like Count Basie, Ray Charles,and Ella Fitzgerald required all ofGregg Field's ample talents. Thesedays he's laying it down for livinglegend Frank Sinatra. Learn howthis special skinsman appliestoday's skills to timelessmusic.

1993 READERSPOLL RESULTS

VOLUME 17, NUMBER 7

2026

32

by Adam Budofsky

by Robyn Flans

COVER PHOTO BY MICHAEL BLOOM

COLUMNS

Education

48 OFF THERECORDDave Grohl

64 DRUM COUNTRYUnderstandingThe OriginsBY EDDIE BAYERS

66 JAZZDRUMMERS'WORKSHOPOdd Meter PatternsFor Brushes: Part 2BY CLAYTON CAMERON

94 TEACHERS'FORUMMaking House CallsBY STEVEN CRAMER

96 STRICTLYTECHNIQUEProgressiveSingle-StrokeEndurance Exercise:Part 2BY JOE MORELLO

98 THE JOBBINGDRUMMERTaking Direction:The Drummer'sSixth SenseBY PHILIP HOPKINS

102 IN THE STUDIOSession Playing:Becoming An InstantBandmemberBY MICHAEL BLAIR

108 LATINSYMPOSIUMThe Melvin ParkerConnectionBY CHUCK SILVERMAN

36 PRODUCTCLOSE-UPYamaha MapleCustom Drumkit WithYESS SystemBY RICK VAN HORN

38 New Brushes FromCalato And FirthBY RICH MATTINGLY

40 ELECTRONICREVIEWMidi-Cyms CP-16Electronic TriggerSystemBY PAUL M. VAN PATTEN

46 NEW ANDNOTABLEHighlights Of The1993 FrankfurtMusic Fair

72 SHOP TALKA Look AtFalicon DesignBY RICK VAN HORN

4 EDITOR'SOVERVIEW

6 READERS'PLATFORM

12 ASK A PRO

16 IT'SQUESTIONABLE

68 CRITIQUE

112 DRUM MARKET

118 DRUMKIT OFTHE MONTH

News

8 UPDATEMax Weinberg,Bride's JerryMcBroom, Phil Leavittof Dada, and SaigonKick's Phil Varone,plus News

110 INDUSTRYHAPPENINGS

Profiles

88 PORTRAITSEarl YoungBY WOODY THOMSON

Equipment

Departments

Drum Country

No doubt about it, country music becomes morepopular with every passing year. Though unpopularamong some musicians for years—due mostly toits musical simplicity—today's brand of countrymusic has risen above all that and is no longertaken so lightly.

Brought here by the early settlers, country music came to life inthe rural South. It was here where poor farmers sang songs of theirhardships and handed them down from one generation to the next.From these humble beginnings, with the common themes of lostlove and hardship, country music has undergone an incredibletransformation. Once extremely regionalized, country music today isa multi-million dollar industry—and a musical idiom that reportedly60% of Americans listen to on a regular basis.

Over the years we've interviewed many drummers who make theirliving in the Nashville studios. We've also not ignored those drum-ming road warriors who criss-cross the nation each year with bothname and upcoming country artists. Starting with this issue, howev-er, we're going a bit further by introducing a new column depart-ment called Drum Country, geared exclusively for the country drum-ming audience. Obviously, today's country music incorporates amuch wider array of musical styles, and the modern country drum-mer needs to be quite aware of each and every one. We plan to have aseries of prominent country drummers writing articles for this newdepartment, and they'll enlighten us on the techniques, specializedknowledge, and high degree of musical and lyrical sensitivityrequired to be successful on the country music scene.

The first installment of Drum Country was written by EddieBayers, who graced MD's cover in October of '92—and who is one ofthe busiest drummers in Nashville. Those unfamiliar with Eddie'swork should know that he's won Music Row magazine's "DrummerOf The Year" award for three consecutive years, and that he can beheard on hit recordings with everyone from Tanya Tucker and HankWilliams, Jr. to Randy Travis and the Judds. In the first article of thisseries, Eddie takes us back to the origins of country drumming, inthe early '50s, when recording technology was finally equipped tohandle drums.

We're hopeful Drum Country will be welcomed warmly by currentand aspiring country drummers, as well as those MD readers inter-ested in broadening their horizons by learning a bit more aboutdrumming "country style."

EDITOR/PUBLISHER

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

MANAGING EDITOR

FEATURES EDITOR

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

ART DIRECTOR

ART ASSISTANT

ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

ADVERTISING ASSISTANT

MARKETING ANDPUBLIC RELATIONS

Ronald Spagnardi

Isabel Spagnardi

Rick Van Horn

William F. Miller

Adam J. Budofsky

Justin J. Cordes

Scott G. Bienstock

Lori Spagnardi

Tracy A. Kearns

Bob Berenson

Joan C. Stickel

Susanne Losquadro

MODERN DRUMMER ADVISORY BOARD: Henry Adler, KennyAronoff, Louie Bellson, Bill Bruford, Jim Chapin, Alan Dawson, DennisDeLucia, Les DeMerle, Len DiMuzio, Charlie Donnelly, Peter Erskine,Vic Firth, Danny Gottlieb, Sonny Igoe, Jim Keltner, Peter Magadini,George Marsh, Joe Morello, Rod Morgenstein, Andy Newmark, NeilPeart, Charlie Perry, Dave Samuels, John Santos, Ed Shaughnessy, SteveSmith, Ed Thigpen, Dave Weckl.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Robyn Flans, Simon Goodwin, RickMattingly, Ken Micallef, Matt Peiken, Teri Saccone, Robert Santelli.

MODERN DRUMMER magazine (ISSN 0194-4533) is publishedmonthly by MODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc., 870 PomptonAvenue, Cedar Grove, NJ 07009. Second-Class Postage paid at CedarGrove, NJ 07009 and at additional mailing offices. Copyright 1993 byMODERN DRUMMER Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.Reproduction without the permission of the publisher is prohibited.

EDITORIAL/ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES: MODERNDRUMMER Publications, 870 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, NJ07009. Tel.: (201) 239-4140.

MODERN DRUMMER welcomes manuscripts and photographic mate-rial, however, cannot assume responsibility for them. Such items mustbe accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

MUSIC DEALERS: Modern Drummer is available for resale at bulkrates. Direct correspondence to Modern Drummer, Dealer Service,P.O. Box 389, Mt. Morris, IL 61054. Tel.: (800) 334-DRUM or (815)734-6013.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: $29.95 per year; $51.95, two years. Single copies$3.95.

SUBSCRIPTION CORRESPONDENCE: Modern Drummer, P.O. Box480, Mt. Morris, IL 61054-0480. Change of address: Allow at least sixweeks for a change. Please provide both old and new address. Toll FreeTel: (800) 551-3786.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Modern Drummer, P.O. Box480, Mt. Morris, IL 61054.

Printed inThe United States

A Member Of:

Magazine Publishers of America

I commend Modern Drummer on the trib-utes given to the late Larrie Londin andJeff Porcaro. But I am also a little dis-turbed that talented and witty drummers,who are also great humanitarians, have todie before I get to read about how fabu-lous they were.

I'm sure, if Larrie or Jeff had been aliveto read your glowing articles about them,they would have blushed and said, "Comeon, guys, what's all the fuss about?" Butdeep down inside, I'm sure it would havebrightened their day knowing they wereappreciated and loved by so many. Let'sface it, we all like a little pat on the backonce in a while—especially if we happento be alive and can feel it.

My suggestion to your editorial staff isthis: The next time you are all seatedaround the table discussing upcomingissues of MD, ask yourselves, "If (fill inthe name of the drummer of your choice)died today, what would we say about himor her?" And then make the tribute whilehe or she is still alive to enjoy it.

Audra SuppleeWest Chester PA

Editor's reply: We couldn't agree morethat artists of the caliber of Larrie Londinand Jeff Porcaro should be honored whilethey are alive, and not just after they havepassed away. Had you done a bit ofresearch, you would have noted thatLarrie Londin was the subject of a featurearticle as early as MD's January '78 issue,and appeared again as a cover story inMay of 1984. Jeff Porcaro appeared threetimes in MD over the years: first as a fea-ture story in July of '78, and again as acover story in both the February '83 andNovember '88 issues. While these storieswere not "tributes" in the manner of thosegiven to Larrie and Jeff following theirpassing, we feel that a feature covering thecurrent activities, individual aspects, andpersonal outlook of a given drummer "hon-ors" that drummer just as much as does a"tribute" full of commentary from his orher peers—and provides our readers withthe kind of information that promotes their

respect and admiration for that drummerduring his or her active career.

I just finished reading the March '93 issue,and I want to comment on Mark Zonder'sarticle "Hitting The Road On A Budget."My thanks to Mark for putting togethersuch a practical piece, and my thanks toMD for presenting it. I've been playing thedrums for just over a year, and I'm open toreceiving as many tips as possible fromthose drummers who have been through itall, as Mark obviously has. In addition tothe rich content of his article, Mark's writ-ing style is also a blessing. He writes withan air of authority that exudes confidenceand a desire to pass along his experience.(I remember also enjoying Mark's inter-view in the July '92 issue.)

Another aspect of MD that I appreciateis the eclecticism of its editorial content.I'm primarily a fan of rock 'n' roll, but Ican't escape the fact that reading aboutdrummers who play other genres of musicis a good education for me. It is a constantstruggle to remain open-minded, and MDhelps me in this area.

Scott HausrathPasadena CA

Thanks so much for the Stephen Perkinsinterview in your March issue. I was fortu-nate enough to see Jane's Addiction ontheir last tour in '91. Now I'm anxiouslyawaiting the release of the Porno ForPyros project.

I'd also like to thank you for the greatmagazine. Since moving to Alaska threeyears ago, my ability to see concerts andshows has been quite limited. Fortunately,I can still find my favorite players in yourpages. Keep up the cutting-edge coverage!

Charlie McReeKetchikan AK

Here's a picture I snapped at the 1993NAMM show in Anaheim, California, andthat I thought your readers might enjoy.It shows Kenny Aronoff "borrowing"Jonathan Mover's hair. Why go to a hairclinic when you have friends like this?

Craig AllenMgr. - The Drum Shop

Struthers OH

I'm a young drummer from easternEurope. I love jazz, funk, and fusionmusic, and my idols are Mssrs. Husband,Colaiuta, Chambers, Weckl, Porcaro,Bissonette—and many more. But here inthis land there is a lack of any informationabout them. A month ago I wrote to GaryHusband in care of MD, and today Ireceived a beautiful letter from him. Iwant to thank you very much, and say thatit's great that MD, placed as you are onthe other side of the globe, would help meto find a new inspiration and the power tocarry on and practice.

I would like any interested drummersfrom the USA (or elsewhere) to corre-spond with me. I'm 21, and I would love toexchange information, tapes, videos,charts, etc. with drummers from aroundthe world.

Pecha VladimirOkrajova 41

Havirov-Poduesi736 01 Czech Republic

Europe

ON LARRIE AND JEFF

HITTING THE ROADON A BUDGET

STEPHEN PERKINS

KENNY HAIR-ENOUGH?

HELLO FROMTHE NEW EUROPE

You would think that winning a Dove award for best single andhaving your new album hailed as the best rock/metal album toever come out of Christian music would fill you with confidence.But Jerry McBroom, drummer with Bride, is somewhat over-whelmed by the band's success. "It's flipping me out," headmits. "None of us thought we had much chance of winning theDove, because we were up against Stryper and King's X. I grewup listening to Christian rock, and I would read magazine arti-cles about the bands and think they were on another level. Nowwe're having stuff like that written about us, but I still thinkthose other guys must be above me, because I'm just a regularguy who's struggling to pay the bills."

But as Bride's albums Kinetic Faith and Snakes In ThePlayground attest, McBroom is a solid drummer who mixes thepower of John Bonham with the finesse of Steve Smith. "Bonhamand Smith were two of my biggest influences," McBroom says. "Iespecially like the way Steve made Journey sound like it was onfire, even when he wasn't playing much in terms of number ofnotes. My goal is to make the song feel good and propel the band.

K-Rock program director MarkChernoff asked Weinberg if his otherband, Killer Joe, would play the benefit.Weinberg told Chernoff that wasn'tpossible, but getting the core of the EStreet Band to play—Weinberg, saxo-phonist Clarence Clemmons, bassplayer Garry Tallent, and keyboardplayer Danny Federici—might.

"We had just finished workingwith Little Steven [Van Zandt] onthe Home Alone 2 soundtrack,"Weinberg explains. "Since itwent so well, I thought there was achance the guys would be interested indoing the show. As it turned out, theywere."

That the benefit sold out in just a cou-ple of days and was so warmly received bythe media has made Weinberg wonder ifthere is enough of a demand for the EStreet Revue to take their show on theroad and perhaps even make an album."Working with Danny, Garry, and

Clarence has alwaysbeen a lot of fun for me," says Weinberg."I think we have to take some time andevaluate just how everything sounded andhow everyone felt playing together againon stage. At this point it would be foolishto rule anything out. We'll just have to seewhat happens."

With Bride, it's really cool to not have any restrictions on the wayI play."

He is also happy to be with a band that delivers a positive mes-sage. "There's so much negative stuff in the rock/metal genre,"he says. "We like that style of music, but want to do somethingmore positive. We don't condemn anyone or preach, we just tryto be an alternative and let people know there's another way."

But it's still rock 'n' roll. "We were playing this big, outdoorfestival called Cornerstone," McBroom recalls. "At the end ofour set, our bass player pulled my drums off the riser and thenhe did a stage dive into the audience. Since my drums were in apile in front of me, I decided that I would stage dive too. It wasthe first time I'd ever tried anything like that, but I got caught upin the moment. So I ran across the stage and dived into the audi-ence, and it was like Moses parting the Red Sea. All the peopleseparated in front of me, and I landed flat on the ground. Thenext day, I was black and blue all over. So from now on, I'm stick-ing with drumming."

Robert Santelli

Rick Mattingly

Jerry McBroom

Max WeinbergWhen drummer Max Weinberg decided toput together an E Street Revue, his inten-tion was not to re-create the band that fornearly two decades backed up BruceSpringsteen. His goal was to bring back tolife the "E Street style" of rock 'n' roll andcouple it with the classic format of the oldpop package shows of the 1950s and early'60s.

Made up of former E Street Band musi-cians and assorted Sidemen, the E StreetRevue made its debut performance at theCount Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NewJersey late last year. The show, which fea-tured the legendary voices of RonnieSpector, Darlene Love, Percy Sledge,Johnny Rivers, and Chuck Jackson, was abenefit for New York radio stationWXRK-FM (a.k.a. K-Rock) and its annualHungerthon drive to help eradicate worldhunger.

According to Weinberg, the idea tobring together members of the E StreetBand in a revue style was hatched when

Phil Leavitt"During crab season, this rowdy bunch ofcoast guards, cannery workers, andinsane fishermen would go out and risklife and limb—and if they came backalive, they would be loaded with cash andhave nowhere to go but the bar. Andthey'd just go crazy. We'd play six sets anight, six nights a week to these guys. Itwas colorful...good for the chops." Sorecalls drummer Phil Leavitt of the bandDada, whose debut album, Puzzle, ispricking up quite a few ears these days.

Leavitt's recollections are of the Alaskaport town of Kodiak, where a cover band

he was in was "stationed" for twomonths. Fortunately for Phil, Dada'srecent success had made such gruelingplaying circumstances a thing of the past,at least for the time being. Puzzle's firstsingle, "Diz Knee Land," prominentlyfeatures Phil's playing during a simplebut effective tom fill that mimics MichaelGurley's guitar hook. "I feel really goodabout that moment on the record," saysPhil proudly. "It's pretty gratifying whenyou come up with something that reallyhelps a song along."

Phil's influence can also be heard on a

well-placed, past-the-bar-line fill, whichadds tension to the track. "I'll occasional-ly do that," Leavitt says, "and it justseemed to work at that moment. Atrehearsal, the other guys thought it was amistake, but I said, 'No, it'll be cool if wejust stay on this 16th-note thing and jamit home.' And people seem to like it."

That's not all people seem to like. Aswe speak, Dada is on the road spreadingthe word. With any luck, Leavitt will beable to steer clear of the coast guard, can-neries, and crabs for a long while.

Phil VaroneEven though their first hit single, "Love Will Find A Way," isnot a song that boasts much drumming, Phil Varone of SaigonKick is definitely one happy guy. The band recently held the topspot on MTV's Most Requested Video chart for their follow-upsingle "All I Want," which is outselling "Love Will Find A Way,"and they recently opened for Extreme on an American tour.With their strange moniker and a ballad for their first big sin-gle, Saigon Kick are getting real big, real quickly within metaland pop circles alike.

'"Love Will Find A Way' has little drumming on it," admitsVarone from his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, whereSaigon Kick is based. However, any question of Varone's abili-ties are put to rest upon listening to the band's more rhythm-

News...Tony Braunagel on an al-bum by Otis Rush.

Stephen Klong has beentouring with InfectiousGrooves. He can also be heardon records by Mari Hamada,Don Cicone, and such jinglesas Mattel, Pabst, and Miller.

Josh Freese is on Infec-tious Grooves' current re-lease. He can also be heard onrecords by School Of Fish andPaul Westerberg, and can beseen on tour with Xtra Large.

Vinny Pagano is on JohnPagano's MCA debut release.

John Wackerman is work-ing with Lindsay Buckinghamwith a record due in the fall.

In addition to tour drummerRon Pangborn, Ric Menck,Fred Maher, Mick Fleet-wood, and Pete Thomas allplay on Matthew Sweet's up-coming release.

Brad Dutz on new recordsby Ricki Lee Jones and GrantGeissman, and the new TVshow Sirens.

Gary Novak is now work-ing with Chick Corea.

Bruce Cox toured with

conscious tracks on their latest album, Lizard. It's clear thatPhil knows how to use his playing to get maximum effect out ofthe music. "Our first single was the lightest thing we play," saysPhil. "When we play live, people get an hour and twenty-fiveminutes of heavy stuff, and that one ballad. But I still don't putus into any one category because we play a whole spectrum ofstyles within the 'heaviness.' Plus we have alternative fans, aswell as a mosh pit and stage divers."

Although he wrote only one song ("Bodybag") on Lizard,Varone already has ten songs written for the recording of thenext album. "The songs are ready to go and are in the demopit," he says. "We'll see what happens with them." A new albumis planned for the end of this year.

Fred Wesley, and is about to goout with Maceo Parker.

We can all start callingKenny Aronoff ProfessorAronoff: He'll be teachingundergraduate and graduatepercussion classes at IndianaUniversity. The I.U. alumnuswill teach when his very busyschedule permits. (A newMellencamp record is in theworks, and Kenny's newvideos, Power Workout: Parts 1and 2, have recently beenreleased by D.C.I.)

Glen Sobel recorded Tony

MacAlpine's new record, enti-tled Madness. Glen will be onthe upcoming MacAlpine tour.

Percussionist BashiriJohnson, currently a memberof the Whitney Houston band,has just recorded a projectcalled the Percussion BeatLibrary, to be released as athree-CD set on Grand Streetrecords. It covers percussiongrooves ranging from tradi-tional to contemporary, andfeatures Luis Conte, KimataDinizulu, Hinton Battle, andCyro Baptista.

Adam Budofsky

Teri Saccone

Hey, "Hot Rod," I can't tell youhow much I like the Bring 'Em

Back Alive album. Will there be a BEBAII? Your drums sounded great! I'd like toknow which Premier series they were.Also, what drums are you going to use onthe next Winger tour and LP?

Taylor RussoHouston TX

Thanks for writing. The drumson the Dixie Dregs live recording

are the new Premier Signia line: 22" bassdrums, 9x10, 10x12, and 11x13 rack toms,16x16 and 16x18 floor toms, and a 61/2xl4snare. The heads on the snare and tomsare my new Signature heads, also fromPremier. I plan to use the same setup forthe new Winger recording, plus addition-

al experimentation with 24" bass drumsand various snare drums and Sabian cym-bals.

A studio Dregs album—all new materi-al—is also in the works. Replacing Dr.Allen Sloan (who recently began his med-ical practice) on electric violin will beJerry Goodman (of the Flock andMahavishnu Orchestra fame).

Your style is a joy to listen to.When I need some inspiration,

"True Gravity" is first-call on the cas-sette player. In the summer of '92, Ihad the pleasure of seeing the Allmansin Phoenix. The band was absolutelysuperb. Your full cymbal sound hasalways caught my ear, and I was won-dering if you could share the make andmodel of cymbals you use live. Thanksfor all the years of great drumming.

Jeff BrydleTucson AZ

Thanks for your letter and thecompliments. I love playing

"True Gravity" and all of its sistertunes like "Elizabeth Reid," "Whippin"Post," and all of the songs we can reallystretch out on. The title of "TrueGravity" is taken from Golf In TheKingdom, by Michael Murphy. DickeyBetts and I play a lot of golf while onthe road, and Golf In The Kingdom is

First, I'd like to say that you'remy favorite drummer. There are

so many questions that I'd like to ask, butlet me weed all the possibilities down tothis one: On the song "If You Want MyLove," during the two breaks when thereare no vocals, you do a set of "choppyfills" (for want of a better term). Try as I

might, I can't seem to do them. Theyseem simple, but when I try to play them,I fall apart and can never get back in time.Could you please tell me the secret todoing them? Thanks for all the greatdrumming with Cheap Trick.

Steven MallasPeabody MA

quite a remarkable book that Dickeyturned me on to some time ago.Your "True Gravity" refers to thestate of mind and body you achievewhen you are totally in harmony withyourself and nature. It's that placewe can occasionally reach when theband and audience are really insync—and it's the element of playingwith the Allman Brothers Band that Icherish.

On the more mundane level ofequipment, I am a Zildjian man. Iuse a 22" A medium ride, two 18" Amedium-thin crashes, a 16" K darkcrash, and a pair of 15" New Beat hi-hats. I've spent years putting togeth-er a drumset that I think soundsgood and plays well. But when I'mplaying, I do all I can to forget abouthow they sound and play, andinstead concentrate on finding my"True Gravity."

Steve, thanks for the letter. The"choppy fills" in "If You Want My

Love" were played left-handed on a right-handed drumset. So, try starting withyour left hand, instead of your right, whenyou play the "licks." All the fills are singlestrokes, by the way. Good luck!

Rod Morgenstein

Butch Trucks

Bun E. Carlos

The January '93 issue of ModernDrummer featured Dr. Charles

Resnick's informative article on carpaltunnel syndrome (CTS). He mentions"conditioning exercises" that may helpprevent CTS by strengthening musclesand tendons. What specific exercises arerecommended by Dr. Resnick and othertherapists? Also, can a prior injury or acondition like tendinitis make a drum-mer prone to future injuries or condi-tions such as CTS?

Chris BerraBallwin MO

Dr. Resnick replies, "Condition-ing exercises, including stretch-

ing exercises, can aid in relaxing tightmuscles in the forearm. Doing so mayreduce swelling of the tenosynovium, anatural coating that lubricates the ten-dons found in the carpal tunnel (wristarea). The following exercises should beperformed prior to (and intermittentlywhile) playing:

1. Place your palms together with yourelbows at the sides and hold that positionfor five seconds. Then reverse the posi-tion and place the back sides of yourhands together with your elbows at yoursides and hold for another five seconds.

2. With your elbows flexed to 90° andyour palms facing up, rotate your wristsslowly and completely—then repeat theprocess with your palms facing down.

3. Slowly flex and extend your wrists upand down as far as possible.

4. Slowly make a fist, then extend yourfingers as far as you can. Hold each posi-tion for five to ten seconds. (Gripstrength is not a requirement.)

5. Roll your shoulders front to back,then back to front.

6. Stretch your cervical spine andupper back.

"If you engage in weight training on aregular basis, you may want to incorpo-rate a light wrist workout into your regi-men. Simply flex and extend your wrists,

using light weights. (Heavy lifting is notnecessary, and in fact can be dangerous.)Perform two to four sets of ten to twentyrepetitions each.

"If these tips do not prove helpful orrealistic, and a systemic disease has beeneliminated as the cause of CTS (such asdiabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, orrheumatoid arthritis), then splinting andusing oral non-steroidal anti-inflammato-ry medication may be necessary. Failureof these conservative approaches to alle-viate symptoms of pain or numbness mayindicate the need for surgical interven-tion. Endoscopic Carpal Tunnel Releaseis the newest surgical procedure availableand appears to be very effective.

"In answer to your second question,tendinitis does not make one prone todeveloping CTS. An inflammatory condi-tion affecting the tendons, tendinitis ischaracterized by wrist pain that does notradiate into the finger or arm. CTS, onthe other hand, is caused by swelling ofthe tissues around the tendons of thewrist area. Pain and/or numbnessextends into the fingers and occasionallyinto the upper arm, shoulder, and neck. Acommon condition that can cause CTS,however, involves prior fractures or dislo-cations of the wrist."

I own a six-piece Ludwig SuperClassic kit, and would like to

obtain a rack system for it. I've checkedinto racks, and the Pearl rack impressesme the most. Is there some way for me touse this rack—with Pearl tom mountsand cymbal mounts as well—with myexisting Ludwig toms? (The reason forusing the Pearl tom mounts, as opposedto my Ludwig Modular mounts, is thatPearl's tom arms are considerably longer,allowing more flexibility in my setup.) Afriend of mine suggested usingPureCussion's RIMS mounts. Is thispossible?

Mike DavidsonColumbus GA

Ludwig's Modular systememploys 1" tubing, while Pearl's

tom mounting arms use 7/8" tubing. So itwould not be possible to simply mountyour toms on the Pearl rack using Pearlarms. You still have several options, how-ever. You can simply mount the toms onthe rack using the Ludwig Modular hard-ware you have now, and deal with anypositioning limitations this may pose.(Pearl's rack clamps are designed to fit7/8" tubes exactly, but will open upenough to accommodate 1" tubingsecurely.) Or, you certainly can employRIMS mounts on the drums. This wouldallow you to use either Ludwig or Pearlarms, since you can get RIMS fittings toaccommodate either brand. This mightbe the most flexible way to go, and wouldgive you the added acoustic benefits thatsuspended mounting provides.

I am interested in Swiss Army andBasler style drumming, and would

like some information about the Swissrudimental system. Can you suggest anysources?

Robert FerraroLarchmont NY

You might want to check outDetails Of The Swiss Basle Style

Of Drumming, by Allen C. Benson, whichis a good introductory text and costsaround $10. For real depth, however, youcan try F. R. Berger's major work, DasBasler Trommeln. It's a history of, andcomplete method book covering, theBasle style. It has text in English and inGerman, and includes eighty solos. Butit's also quite expensive, at around $60.Check with your local drumshop to see iftheir method-book catalog includes thesetitles. If not, you can obtain them throughDrums Unlimited, 4928 St. Elmo Ave.,Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 654-2719.

SWISS STYLE DRUMMING BOOKS

RACK-MOUNTING LUDWIG DRUMS

PREVENTING CARPALTUNNEL SYNDROME

Finally.Fifteen years after they blasted onto

the scene, Van Halen have at long lastcome out with a live album. Sure, theirrecords always satisfied the world'sappetite for that VH sound—and drumfans continued to eat up Alex VanHalen's powerful studio drum perfor-mances. But those who saw Alex, Eddie& Co. live knew that this was where thereal Van Halen emerged.

Well, the wait is over, for not only haveVan Halen dedicated their new RightHere, Right Now CD to their live show,they've also released a live video featur-ing performances from their last tour.So what better time to catch up withAlex Van Halen?

Actually, it's been an entire decadesince MD and Alex last sat down, and a

lot has gone down since. They changedsingers. They built their own studio,5150, where they've recorded four con-secutive number-one albums. Theirmusic—including Alex's drumming—evolved and expanded.

Part of that evolution is due to VanHalen's last studio record, For UnlawfulCarnal Knowledge, as well as RightHere Right Now, being produced by thelegendary Andy Johns. This is the manresponsible for bringing out the muscleand grace of Ginger Baker and JohnBonham. When Andy's name comes upin conversation, it becomes obvious thatAlex is still jazzed that he gets to workwith him—not just because Alex is ahuge fan of those who came before, butbecause Johns has helped capture

Alex's sound so well.When we spoke with

Alex at 5150 studios ear-lier this year, torrentialrains had been poundingdown for three weeksstraight on normallysunny southern Califor-nia. Homes completelyunused to such weatherwere literally sliding intoLaurel Canyon. The safe-ty and quiet inside 5150was comforting. A littlewhile later Alex popped ina copy of the VH livevideo—and the thunderand lightning startedright up again....

AB: Since this new album is live, let'stalk a little about the concert situation.AVH: We feel a special bond with theaudience. A lot of people just seem tothink of it in terms of "Well, let's fill thisbuilding and make a lot of money." But Iam as much a fan of the music as I am aplayer. Omar Hakim told a story onceabout a gig he played along with a lot ofbig drummers, and some of them werereally concerned about outplaying theother guys. But Omar just had this realfriendly vibe and said, "Hey man, I'mgoing to the gig as a fan, too. I'm justgonna enjoy it, and whatever happenshappens." That says it all. You take it asit comes—which is basically how we didthis live record.AB: The album includes stuff from thepast few tours. How did you choosewhich songs were included?AVH: We picked whatever we fe l tkicked our butt. But we didn't look forperfection. We just wanted the vibe. Ifwe went into the studio and fixed things,it wouldn't be a live record anymore. Ifyou start patching and pasting, what'sthe point? And see, we couldn't do itbecause there were these video cameras.[laughs]AB: So you didn't have to deal with that

"You do kind of hope that you're going to be the proudest of your mostrecent records," Alex Van Halen chuckles. And Alex is especially happywith Right Here, Right Now, Van Halen's new live album. But for thoseinterested in checking out more of his playing, you need look no furtherthan your local record shop—all of the band's albums are still availableand still popular. Following is a list of the albums and artists that Alexsays knocked him out when he was young—and continue to today.

ArtistDave Clark Five

The Beatles3 Dog Night

CreamBlind Faith

CactusJethro Tull

Led ZeppelinDeep PurpleBill BrufordThe Who

Album Title"Glad All Over"

any, especially early stuffany

Fresh Cream, Wheels Of FireBlind FaithRestrictionsStand Up

Led Zeppelin I-IVMachine HeadMaster StrokesLive At Leeds

DrummerDave ClarkRingo StarrFloyd SneedGinger BakerGinger Baker

Carmine AppiceClive Bunker

John BonhamIan Paice

Bill BrufordKeith Moon

Plus anything with Terry Bozzio, Dennis Chambers, Phil Collins, LouieBellson, Vinnie Colaiuta, Jeff Porcaro, or Jim Keltner.

Back Then...Right Now

sticky ethical stuff.AVH: Yeah, right. But really, what would be the point? Thiswas a step out for us as much as it was for the audience.AB: How come so long for a live album? You guys have beenrecording for fifteen years.AVH: Well, in '86, when Sammy joined the band, we didn'tfeel that doing a lot of material prior to that would have beenan accurate representation of the band. The reason we neverhad a live record out before '86 was because the vocals justweren't there. Not to be judgmental, but it just wasn't hap-pening. So we waited until we felt the time was right. Resides,we wanted to get the studio stuff out first. When we'reinspired and think the music we come up with is worth listen-ing to, we want to get it out. If you put out a live record, it'sgonna get in the way, schcduling-wise, of whatever studio stuffyou do. but now we felt that the material was there, and every-thing just fell into place.AB: How do you keep motivated after touring for so long?Even before the band got signed you were playing out a lot.AVH: It was actually tougher then, because that was five hours

a night—and it wasn't even our own material.AB: So how do you stay so into it for so long? Is it purely theenergy off the audience or what?AVH: It's a combination of things. I think you're born a musi-cian. It's not something you pick up because you saw it onMTV. It's in your blood. Buddy Rich played until the day hedied, more or less. I know a lot of guys who play out maybeonce a month, hoping that the record companies will comethat particular night and give them a deal. Musicians makemusic and they go out and play. If you can't handle travelingaround the world and living out of a suitcase, then maybe it'snot the right thing.AB: How about early on, when you were doing five-hournights?AVH: I think everybody has a dream, and dreams can be morepowerful than anything. It gives you something to aim andfocus at, and it makes everything else—the pain, if there isany—it just makes that go away. Playing gives you so much joy,you know, you almost feel guilty. "How come I like what I'mdoing so much?"

Drumset: LudwigA. 8 x 14 snare drumB. 8 x 10 tomC. 8 x 12 tomD. 16 x 16 floor tomE. 16 x 18 floor tomF. 22 x 20 bass drumG. 22 x 20 bass drum

Cymbals: Paiste1. 15" hi-hat2. 20" crash3. 20" crash4. 20" crash5. 22" ride6. 20" China7. 20" crash8. 20" crash9. cowbell10. Simmons pad

Alex's SetupEdward only has five arms, and some of therecorded stuff has keyboards and guitar.Sammy thinks that, to maintain the integri-ty of the song, it's better if Ed plays it. Soevery three days or so, Ed plays the key-board parts during soundcheck while I 'mplaying, and it goes into a sequencer. But ithas all the inconsistencies of him playing;it's not like a track from the record. So itmay speed up and slow down or whatever.All I've got to do is hopefully be in the sameframe of mind and listen to the inconsis-tencies. The only thing that bothered me inthe beginning was the possibility that, Godforbid, the headphones blow up, or some-thing whacko happens—then I can't hearanything. And then we're all up the creekwithout a paddle. If I'm playing with Edwhile he's playing and something goesaskew, hey, we'll improvise.AB: Not only is the new album live, butyou've also released a live video.AVH: I think the video is probably the mostaccurate representation of the band. Liveplaying is just the embodiment of whatwe're all about. And we take the playingaspect of it very seriously. If somebody isn'tplaying up to par, they're going to hearabout it. On the other side of the coin, thekind of music we make is not exactly quan-

tum theory.AB: Sometimes that makes mistakes moreobvious.AVH: It sure does. I'm glad you mentionedthat, because people say, "Yeah, this guyjust does 2/4 shit, what is this crap?" Ir emembe r in one i s sue of ModernDrummer, Mickey Curry was talking abouthis involvement with certain songs, andthat sometimes the simpler it seemed, themore complex and diff icul t it really was,because things stick out much more thanwhen there's a lot of shit going on.

AB: How has the live thing changed over the years? See, I never really sat down in the beginning with aAVH: There arc so many things going on live as far as what metronome and did your traditional practicing. What we didassaults your senses. There's not only the playing, but the was we played, and you learn as much, if not more, by playingaudience is going nuts. For good or bad we are one of the with other musicians. Because in music there arc just so manyloudest bands—on stage anyway. Out front we are legally lim- more things than just being able to play your instrument,ited to 110 or 120 dBs, so we're very careful with that. As far as AB: The old jazz guys say things like, "We never had to prac-equipment, a monitor is a monitor—until you get a guy who tice because we were always out playing...."tweaks the wrong frequencies and your ears go, which does AVH: That's right. I actually started out playing jazz. I washappen. We've been fortunate, though, on the last tour in par- thirteen years old on my first paying gig. One of the things Iticular. We had some great guys. was most impressed by was playing with these guys in theirAB: How about headphones? You wear them on a couple of forties. It wasn't a casual, it was a step above that. These guyssongs to hear a sequencer. Does that present any special prob- made records, and I just happened to luck into this kind oflems? thing because the drummer couldn't make it at the lastAVH: As far as this whole concept of having sequenced music: minute.

Hardware: All Ludwig, exceptfor two Yamaha 850 modelbass drum pedals, and a cus-tom rack designed by GreggVoelker, Alex, and drum techRob Kern. May internal miking

system used on all drums.

Heads: Ludwig Silver Dots onsnare, 10" and 12" toms, andbass drums, with Remo Pin-stripes on floor toms (clearAmbassadors on bottoms of alltoms)

Sticks: Calato Regal Tip AlexVan Halen signature sticks(with double butt end)

Note: Alex recently went back to usingtwo bass drums, as opposed to a doublepedal.

regg Field's resume includes work with some of the giants of Americanmusic's past—Harry James, Ray Charles, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald.But this is one drummer who insists his focus is on the here and now.

Not that Field discounts his previous gigs as passe—in fact, he insists thathis current gig with Frank Sinatra is the most fun he's ever had playing music.It's just that, because of the trend in the music industry to typecast players,many people don't geta chance to learn thatField is very much apart of the currentscene.

For instance, Greggprides himself on hisfunk, R&B, and popdrumming abilities.He's also taken thedecidedly modernapproach of making astatement on bothsides of the controlbooth glass: He'sbeen involved in pro-ducing since the early '80s (his latest effort is keyboardist Billy Mitchel'salbum), and in fact has his own recording studio.

Gregg is certainly aware that his work with musical icons has amounted toan auspicious career. But, as he says, "I tried to create situations for myselfthat have change built into them." That sense of change keeps Gregg Fieldlooking forward to the future and his next musical adventure.

By Robyn Flans Photos by Aldo Mauro

G

RF: What do you think prepared youfor the list of legends with whom you'veworked?GF: My parents loved jazz, and when Iwas a kid, they would take my brotherand me to see people like SammyDavis, Basie, Ella. I went to Disneylandand heard Basie's band for the firsttime when I was about ten. I rememberbeing so overwhelmed by what I heardthat I convinced my parents to buy allthe Basie records they could find. Iwould go home and practice to themevery day. I had some of Sonny Payne'sand Harold Jones' cymbal patternsmemorized! Harold Jones is such anamazing drummer. He's been one ofmy favorites since I heard the Basieband. He has a unique feel that createssuch a strong rhythmic sense. I'venever heard anybody get it to that level,and he does it effortlessly.RF: Did you have any formal lessons?

GF: I played for about a year and thenstarted to study with a real popularteacher in Oakland named BillNawrocki. I would take a half-hour les-son a week, and we worked on a lot offundamental stuff. His forte was beingable to handle playing in large ensem-bles, small groups, and shows. Hewouldn't be the guy who would teachyou to play in Miles Davis's band, buthe could teach you how to handle ashow. I studied with him for five or sixyears. Also, my elementary school had aconcert band that met a couple of daysa week. And my junior high school hada concert band and a jazz band that metevery day.RF: So the focus was on jazz.GF: It was on jazz, but I found that Iwas just as interested in R&B music,particularly what was coming out ofChicago at the time, like the stuff onChess Records. I loved the way the

drummers sounded. RememberMaurice White as a drummer? Iremember when he used to play in theRamsey Lewis trio. He had a way ofplacing the backbeat. Harold Jones isfrom Chicago also. Chicago may or maynot have anything to do with it, butthere's a calmness and a controlled firethat I hear in both of their drumming.The way Maurice would play a backbeatwas so perfect.RF: What was your goal becoming byhigh school?GF: I always wanted to play withBasie's band. That was music thatinspired me more than anything else.This is a great story: I got in the bandby an amazing bit of synchronicity. Theband was playing in San Francisco. Iwas in high school at the time, and Ihad gone to hear them on a Saturdaynight at a place called the Circle Star.Basie was standing backstage, and I had

just been introduced to him. The wholeband was on stage except Sonny Payne,who didn't realize that this particularshow started an hour earlier than it hadthe rest of the week. Basie said, "Didn'tI hear that you were a drummer?""Yes," I said. "Do you want to play?""Yes." So I actually went out and playedthe set. Basie made it real easy. Hedidn't play anything that would tax metoo much, and I knew all the tunes Iwas playing, so I did okay.RF: You must have been in heaven.GF: I was on cloud nine. You couldn'ttalk to me for weeks. It was incredible.And when I went back to my highschool band the next Monday, nobodybelieved I did it. Actually, one of thetrumpet players had been there.

Sonny left about a year after that, andthen they went through a few drum-mers. Butch Miles came out for sixyears, and then Duffy Jackson came outfor about six months.RF: What was your first big gig?GF: I was hired to play with theTommy Dorsey Orchestra when I wasnineteen. I had just enrolled in college,and I got this call. It was too tempting,so I went on the road and did about ayear with that band. It introduced me totouring and got me playing with bettermusicians than I had been playing with.I had no experience at all, though; I wasa terrible drummer.RF: Why do you say that?GF: I just didn't have enough experi-ence. I don't know too many nineteen-year-olds who can go out and do that.RF: So what was the lesson? How didyou learn?GF: By hearing the band work, seeingplaces where it didn't sound right tome and not knowing what to do aboutit.RF: Was anybody saying anything?GF: Oh, yeah. I was getting a hard timefrom the lead trumpet player, and itwas, "Do this and do that." I was a kid.These were guys who were out havingto work every night, and they didn'twant to train some kid who was out ofhigh school. But they hung in and Ihung in and it got better. It was hard,though.RF: So what did you do to learn thethings you needed to learn?

Gregg's Setup(as used with Sinatra)

Drumset: Yamaha Maple Custom inebony finishA. 5 1/2 x 14 aluminum snare drumB. 10 x 12 tomC. 13 x 15 tomD. 14 x 16 tomE. 16 x 22 bass drum

Cymbals: Zildjian1. 13" K/Z hi-hat2. 17" Brilliant K crash3. 20" A crash with three rivets4. 20" A mini-cup ride5. 18" K thin crash6. 22" A Custom China

Hardware: Yamaha 900 series,including hi-hat stand, double pedal(with felt beaters), and stand-mount-ed toms (as floor toms)

Heads: Remo Legacy on snare andfront of bass drum, coated Ambas-sadors on tops of toms with clearAmbassadors on bottoms, Power-stroke 3 on bass drum batter

Sticks: Vic Firth SD-4 maple withwood tip

Electronics: Alesis D-4, Roland R8,Roland Octapad, Mackie 1604mixer, Yamaha DMP7 mixer,Lexicon LXP-1 and LXP-5

GF: I wasn't willing to accept the limi-tations that I had. In other words, Ithought I should be farther along. Youwant to be doing it all. At nineteen, Iwanted to be playing as well as whoevermy favorite drummer was at that time,but their experiences were differentthan mine. I learned this lesson a fewtimes: Find out what your limitationsare, and be willing to work on them—rather than burying your head in thesand like an ostrich, hoping they'll goaway.

In learning where I was falling short,I had to take the bull by the horns andpractice and get the experience I need-ed. It seems like every job I was hiredon would be a job that would alwayschallenge me. I would have just enoughability to get the gig, and then it would

be quantum-leap growth every time I'dget it, because the guys would bepulling me along, saying, "Do this anddo that...."RF: Can you give an example?GF: I joined the Ray Charles band in1977.RF: Is he as hard to work with as manysay?GF: He's tough. I really love Ray. He'spretty misunderstood, but he can bebrutal on rhythm section players, and Iwas no exception. It's funny. He wouldbe brutal on the bandstand, and you'dfreeze. Then the manager would comeup and say, "Mr. Charles would like totalk to you." You'd be nervous as hell asyou'd walk into the dressing room, buthe'd be the sweetest guy in the world.He was very articulate about what he

wanted. That was the big challenge ofthat job. Ray knew exactly what hewanted to hear.RF: Meaning?GF: Specific fills. He would play yourcymbals and tell you which cymbal he'dlike to hear behind which things, andhe'd expect you to write it in and play it.One of the most challenging things forme—something that prepared me forwork later—was that I had to playthings the same way every night forhim. At that age, I thought, "I have tocreate my style; I have to be me and putmy stamp on it." What kind of stampare you going to have at twenty-one?Through intimidation and a bunch ofother things, he really pulled metogether. In that way, it helped a lot.

In another way, though, my year withRay almost did me more harm thangood. If you've seen Ray, you know thathe rocks from left to right. They set thedrummer up so he can see Ray's leftfoot, and depending on how Ray dropsthat foot, that indicates the beats you'resupposed to play. Rather than developyour own sense of rhythmic pulse, youend up slaving to Ray's pulse, andsometimes he'll feel like speeding it upor slowing it down. If I had been theretoo long, it would have been damaging,I think. But I guess I got what I neededto get from that genre, and I moved on.RF: So having to play the same thingwas good discipline. How did that help?GF: I stopped hearing just the drumsand started to hear the band as a whole.I became aware of the impact that thedrums were having on the whole band'ssound. That's one thing that was aproblem for me. I was so concernedwith trying to get my own soundtogether—trying to be an excitingdrummer and play something that wasinteresting—that I was really not awareof the impact I was having on the over-all picture. By my having to play thesame thing every night, I began to seehow it worked—simplicity.

I came back to L.A. and I wanted todo sessions. I fell a little away from thejazz focus because I was starting tohave success doing some sessions. I didDonald Byrd, the Emotions, theWhispers, and people like that. I had tolearn to work with a click track, so it

"I was somewhat of a Sinatra fan whenI got the gig, but I've become a muchbigger fan since I've been with him.

His time is impeccable."

was another case of my having justenough ability to get by. I didn't knowhow to tune the drums for the studio,and I was afraid to ask.RF: What did you do?GF: I got replaced on my first session,that's what I did. It was terrible. But itwas a great experience when I look backon it; I'm glad it happened. It was a ses-sion with Gregg Phillanganes, EddieWatkins, Wah-Wah Watson, and me. Ihad never worked with a click track,and I had never had my drums in a stu-dio. I was twenty-two years old, andhere were these big session musicians,so I didn't want to ask somebody toshow me how to tune the drums. Weplayed about two minutes and I sawheads looking at each other. I wasthinking, "Oh man, I know where this

is going." Fortunately, Eddie Watkinsand Wah-Wah worked with me andtaught me how to play with a clicktrack. They had actually called me forthe sessions, and I remember one timeEddie said, "Why don't you get there acouple of hours early, and I'll work withyou." It was invaluable.RF: Why did he do that?GF: I hadn't seen Eddie in ten years,but recently we hooked up again, and Iasked him why he did that. He said hethought I had talent and that he couldhelp. When I look back on it, that wasreally a selfless thing to do. Then Italked to other drummers about tuning,and bit by bit, I became less afraid toask somebody. There were no drummachines then, so when anybody want-ed to do a demo, they needed a live

Field TripHere are the albums Gregg Field says best represent his drumming...

ArtistHerbie HancockSarah Vaughan

Diana RossHerbie Hancock

Luther VandrossCount Basie

Woody HermanFrank Sinatra

Album TitleHeadhunters

Send In The ClownsLady Sings The Blues

Herbie Hancock QuartetLive In Tokyo

Best OfCompact Jazz Series

Giant StepsSinatra—Basie

DrummerHarvey MasonHarold JonesEarl Palmer

Tony Williams

Yogi HortonSonny Payne

Ed SophSonny Payne

...and here are the albums he says he listens to most for inspiration.

ArtistFrank Wess/Sweets Edison

Frank SinatraCount BasieRay CharlesCount BasieCount Basie

Album TitleDear Mr. Basie

The Reprise Collection, Vol. IllWarm Breeze

Ain't It SoThe Best Of The Count Basie Big Band

Farmers Market Barbecue

drummer, and there was a lot ofrecording work being done. Then in'78, Harry James called and I did abouta year and a half with him.RF: Any valuable lessons on that gig?GF: Yes, but not drumming-wise.Harry was sort of an unhappy guy. Hedidn't have much communication withhis band at all. I always felt that if I wasgoing to work with somebody, I shouldbe friends with them. Little did I know.Ray Charles was a very nice man, butyou don't hang out with Ray. Harrykept to himself and he would neversuggest what to play. He'd justlook at you disgruntled if he didn'tlike what you did. He was anunhappy guy who had had all thissuccess, and I found that intrigu-ing. What I was learning at thetime was that because he wasn'tcommunicating with his orchestra,there was no sense of camaraderieor musical group playing on theband. It was like a band...with thisguy standing in front playing. Itwas separate.

Basie's band was an entirely dif-ferent matter. That's when I reallysaw the contrast with Harry.Basie's band was like a family.Everybody was close. Basie was themost interesting man I've evermet. He had that feeling of beingan old soul. He was a very calmman; during the three years Ispent with him on the road, noth-ing ruffled his feathers. There wasno feeling of, "I'm the star," eventhough he was this giant. I remem-ber President Reagan coming upto him, timidly tapping him on theshoulder, and being real polite. Isaw Sinatra and Leonard Bern-stein both do the same thing, andhe treated everybody the same. Inthat band I learned as much aboutbeing a human being as I didabout playing. He was really a spe-cial man. I miss him a lot.RF: You've told me before thatthere was a certain way to play aBasie tune.GF: There's a style that's charac-teristic of Basie. It's a sense of avery definite four-beat pulse. It'salmost as though the four-beat

pulse is like a river that flows. Leavesdrop and flow with the river at the samespeed, but they don't impede the flowof the river. It's not like a stone drop-ping and the water rippling. The riverflows with a very even sense of power.That's the rhythm section. Then thebrass or reeds that play on top of it, thesoloists, are in rhythmic accordancewith the pulse that the band is playing.The art of doing that band correctly, inmy opinion—which was also what

Harold Jones did—was creating astrong sense of this 4/4 rhythmic pulse.It's the same kind of thing that you'redoing when you're playing R&B androck 'n' roll, where there is this strongrhythmic pulse. It's allowing thatmomentous force to happen, and thenhaving things build on top of that.RF: What did you learn on the Basie

gig?GF: When you're in high school andcollege, and you're playing drums in a

MD's Honor Roll consists of those drummers whose talent, musical achievements, and lasting popularity placed them first inMD's Readers Poll in the categories indicated for five or more years. We will include these artists, along with those added in the

future, in each year's Readers Poll Results as our way of honoring these very special performers.

HALL OF FAME

1992: Max Roach1991: Art Blakey1990: Bill Bruford1989: Carl Palmer1988: Joe Morello1987: Billy Cobham1986: Tony Williams1985: Louie Bellson1984: Steve Gadd1983: Neil Peart1982: Keith Moon1981: John Bonham1980: Buddy Rich1979: Gene Krupa

1993: JEFF PORCARO

ALEX ACUNALatin/Brazilian Percussion

AIRTOLatin American and

Latin/Brazilian Percussion

GARY BURTONMallet Percussion

ANTHONY J. CIRONEClassical Percussion

PHIL COLLINSPop/Mainstream Rock

VIC FIRTHClassical Percussion

STEVE GADDAil-Around; Studio

DAVID GARIBALDIR&B/Funk

LARRIE LONDINCountry

ROD MORGENSTEINRock/Progressive Rock

NEIL PEARTRock; Multi-Percussion

BUDDY RICHBig Band

ED SHAUGHNESSYBig Band

STEVE SMITHAll-Around

DAVE WECKLElectric Jazz

TONY WILLIAMSJazz/Mainstream Jazz

HONOR ROLL

2. Rod Morgenstein3. Gregg Bissonette4. Anton Fig5. Kenny Aronoff/

Omar Hakim

2. Jim Keltner3. Kenny Aronoff4. Harvey Mason/

Simon Phillips

2. Steve Smith3. William Kennedy4. Harvey Mason5. Bill Bruford

2. Chuck Morris3. Chad Smith4. Russ McKinnon5. William Calhoun

2. Peter Erskine3. Marvin "Smitty" Smith4. Dave Weckl5. Jack DeJohnette

2. Shannon Powell3. Danny Gottlieb4. Butch Miles5. Dave Weckl

2. Chester Thompson3. Manu Katche4. Blas Elias5. Larry Mullen, Jr.

DENNISCHAMBERS

FUNKELECTRIC JAZZDENNISCHAMBERS

STUDIOVINNIECOLAIUTA

ALL-AROUNDVINNIECOLAIUTA

JEFF WATTS

MAINSTREAMJAZZ

LOUIE BELLSON

BIGBAND

KENNY ARONOFF

POP/MAINSTREAMROCK

2. Fred Young3. Milton Sledge4. Jeff Hale5. Tommy Wells

2. Mike Portnoy(Dream Theater)

3. Sean Kinney(Alice In Chains)

4. Aaron Comess(Spin Doctors)

5. Steve Gorman(Black Crowes)

2. Rod MorgensteinDixie Dregs: Bring 'Em Back Alive

3. Sean KinneyAlice In Chains: Dirt

4. Mike PortnoyDream Theater: Images And Words

5. Nick MenzaMegadeth: CountdownTo Extinction

3. Joey Heredia/Richie "Gajate" Garcia

5. Walfredo Reyes, Sr.

In order to present the results of our ReadersPoll, the votes were tabulated and the top fivenames in each category listed here. In the event atie occurred at any position other than fifthplace, all names in that position were presentedand the subsequent position eliminated. When atie occurred at fifth place, all winning nameswere presented.

2. Luis ConteTITO PUENTE

HARD ROCK/METAL

WILLIAM CALHOUN

DAVE ABBRUZZESE(Pearl Jam)

UP & COMING RECORDEDPERFORMANCE

LATIN/BRAZILIANPERCUSSION

LARS ULRICH2. Alex Van Halen3. Vinnie Paul4. Dave Lombardo5. Scott Rockenfield

EDDIE BAYERS

PROGRESSIVEROCK

2. Stephen Perkins3. Terry Bozzio4. Tim "Herb" Alexander5. Dave Abbruzzese

COUNTRY

DAVE WECKLHeads Up

This award is given by the editors of Modern Drummer in recognition of outstanding contribution to thedrum/percussion community by a performer, author, educator, manufacturer, etc. The persons so honored maybe notable figures in drumming history or active participants on today's drumming scene. The criteria for thisaward shall be the value of the contribution(s) made by the honorees, in terms of influence on subsequent musi-cal styles, educational methods, product designs, etc. There will be no limit as to the number of honorees thatmay be designated each year.For 1993, MD's editors are pleased to honor:

Warren "Baby" Dodds is uni-versally recognized as theworld's first great jazz drum-mer. The most influentialdrummer of the 1920s, Doddsperformed in the saloons ofNew Orleans, on Mississippiriverboats, and on the hot jazz

scene of Chicago, with such artists as King Oliver,Louis Armstrong, and Sidney Bechet. Embodyingthe spirit and tradition of early military-flavoredjazz, he was also the first jazz drummer to make therhythmic undercurrent of the bass drum the founda-tion of the band. Dodds also is credited with beingone of the first drummers to play breaks and fillsbetween phrases and solos—marking the beginningof the drum solo itself.

Philly Joe Jones is consideredby many to be one of the mostimportant drummers in jazz.As an integral member of theMiles Davis quintet in themid-1950s, Jones was reveredby jazz fans and drummersalike. His solid drive, master-

ful brushwork, and melodically inventive solosinfluenced an entire generation of drummers. Hisemotionally charged playing was the perfect linkbetween the early bop styles of Kenny Clarke, MaxRoach, and Art Blakey, and the freer, more drivingstyles of Elvin Jones and Tony Williams that camelater. Late in his career he combined his innovativeplaying with teaching, and remained active in bothareas until his passing in 1985.

Gary Chester had one of thebusiest studio careers of anymusician in the 1950s and '60s,recording hundreds of hit sin-gles on the New York studioscene. He gave up the grind ofstudio work in the 1970s toconcentrate on teaching. His

innovative and demanding technical concepts con-tributed to the development of such artists as DaveWeckl, Kenny Aronoff, and Danny Gottlieb—amonghundreds of other students. His method book, TheNew Breed, was first published by Modern DrummerPublications in 1985, and has remained a top sellerever since. Upon his passing in 1987, Gary was wide-ly regarded as one of the most creative and influen-tial teachers in drumming.

One of the founding partnersof the Evans ProductsCompany, Chick Evans iscredited with being the firstperson to put a plastic drum-head into commercial produc-tion. A working drummer inthe 1940s and '50s, Evans was

dissatisfied with the inconsistencies of calf heads,and eventually hit upon DuPont Mylar as an alterna-tive. Though crude by modern standards, the Mylarheads that Evans tacked onto wooden hoops in the1950s ultimately led to the complete revolutionizingof the drum industry.

GARY CHESTER

WARREN "BABY" DODDS

MARION "CHICK" EVANS

PHILLY JOE JONES

EDITORS' ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

YamahaMaple Custom DrumkitWith YESS System

by Rick Van Horn

Innovation, quality, andmusicality—Yamaha has atop-flight contender here.

It was only three years ago that Yamaha introduced their origi-nal Maple Custom series, which MD reviewed in November of1991. But in January of '93 the kit was reissued with a totallynew mounting system for the rack and floor toms. Yamahabelieved that the new system made enough difference in thesound of the kit to warrant a second examination. After workingwith the kit at length, I have to concur. This is a totally new ani-mal.

Our test kit consisted of 8x8, 10x10, 10x12, and 12x14 racktoms (all mounted on floor stands), a 16x16 floor tom, an 16x22bass drum, and a 61/2xl4 snare drum. The toms and bass drumwere finished in solid black; the snare drum was finished inblack maple—a lighter finish that revealed the wood grain. Basichardware came from Yamaha's 800 series, including straightand boom cymbal stands, a snare stand, the 830 hi-hat, and the810 bass drum pedal. Two double tom stands from the larger900 series completed the package.

their lower ends to the top two bolts of the bracket. At the upperends of these bars, two bolts pass through steel spacers andultimately through the drumshell—at the same level on theshell at which the upper lugs are mounted. This is the "acousticnode" of the shell, and it has been proven that hardware mount-ed at this point creates less interference with a drum's reso-nance and sustain than hardware mounted elsewhere. It is thisnodal-point mounting—coupled with the smaller amount ofhardware actually affixed to the shells—that allows the YESSsystem to enhance the sustain of the Maple Custom drums.

As for stability: The mounts are still attached directly to theshell—albeit at a different place and by fewer bolts than usual.Thus the drum is not completely free to bounce around whenstruck, as drums can sometimes do when mounted in total sus-pension systems. Additionally, the drums can be placed closertogether than can drums with suspension systems. (The differ-ence is only a matter of an inch or so, but some drummers dofind that one-inch separation bothersome.)

Specially shortened versions of Yamaha's familiar hex-rodtom arms are used with the YESS system. And since there areno holes in the drumshells (where the arms would normallypass through), Yamaha has thoughtfully fitted each drum with alittle felt pad glued onto the shell, to prevent the tom arms frompoking and marring the shell if the drum is pushed on too far.

Since the period allowed for a product review is fairly brief,one can only speculate on a product's long-term performance.But I must say that I have some doubts about the durability ofthe YESS mounts on larger rack toms, such as the 12x14 on ourtest kit. The standard Yamaha mount is affixed to a drumshellreasonably near its center of gravity, and by means of four boltsin a square pattern. With the YESS system and its mountingpoint near the top of the drum, there's a lot of downward torqueagainst only two bolts. My concern is that those bolts might beprone to bending (or even snapping) over time and repeatedimpact. I'm not saying that they will—only that the possibilityexists. Only time will tell.

Although the floor tom leg mounts are designed to be similarin appearance to the rack tom mounts, they really aren't anymore "isolated" or "suspended" than are normal floor tom legbrackets. They are affixed to the shell with two bolts—as aremany other types of floor-tom leg brackets. However, the pointat which they are mounted is quite different. They, too, aremounted at a nodal point—this time at the same level as thebottom lugs. This mounting position does have an affect on thesound of the drum, as we'll soon see.

The YESS System

SoundIt doesn't matter how imaginative, thoughtfully designed, or

innovative the YESS system is if it doesn't do what its nameimplies: enhance the drum's sustain. Ahh—but it does! I cansay without hesitation that this was the liveliest, most resonant,and most musical Yamaha drumkit I've ever played. All of the

Essentially, the reason for this second review of the MapleCustom kit is the difference in its sound created by the newYESS (Yamaha Enhanced Sustain System) mounting system.According to the company's ads, this system is designed to dotwo things: maximize the resonance and sustain of the drums,and provide stable mounting—with no movement of the drums.In order to achieve this, Yamaha has come up with a design thatis a compromise between a standard shell-mount tom holderand a totally isolated suspension system.

The YESS system starts by taking the tom mounting bracketoff of the drum shell. A pair of small steel bars are attached at

toms were fitted with Evans single-plyclear Genera batter and Resonant bottomheads, and they just sang! The floor tomespecially rang out for a tremendously longtime when struck. And the sustain wasmore than long; it was musical. The tonecontinued to be full, round, and warm,right up to the end of the long decay.

Obviously, not every drumming applica-tion calls for drums that "ring for days."But the beauty of this kit was that thedrums provided so much "headroom" towork with. I actually had to muffle themdown a bit for my first sets, then openthem up for the later, louder sets. (I wasespecially impressed by how well the tomssounded when miked up only through acouple of overheads.) The drums per-formed marvelously under all circum-stances. I was pleased by the full, punchysound that came back at me from behindthe kit, and by the depth, tonality, and"bigness" that projected to the front.

The design of the Maple Custom bassdrum was not affected by the introductionof the YESS system (other than the factthat the toms on our test kit were allstand-mounted and the bass drum wasfree of other drums). But I should com-ment that it sounded terrific. It was fitted with an Evans GeneraEQ-3 batter head and a standard, single-ply Yamaha logo headon the front. I think that part of the bass drum's excellentsound—right out of the box, I might add—is the fact that the

hole in the head was much smaller than on other Yamaha bassdrums I've seen, and offset rather than in the center. Thisallowed much more of the sound to develop within the drum—thus maximizing its depth and tone. The EQ-3 batter head gave

plenty of anti-ring control for live playing, and asmall pillow was all that was necessary for mikingpurposes.

The snare drum was Yamaha's standardMaple Custom model. I've had trouble with 61/2"-deep snare drums in the past; they can some-times sound a bit "tubby," and can be difficult totune up high without sounding choked. Not sowith this baby. I was able to get an effective tun-ing range from a nice, deep, wet, "fatback" soundto a very respectable, cutting crack. Snare sensi-tivity was excellent throughout. The snare strain-er featured tension adjustments at both ends,and the throw-off worked smoothly and comfort-ably.

LooksOur test kit was finished in a very lustrous

olid black lacquer. The brass finish on the low-

Yamaha's 800 series hardware is big, heavy-duty stuff. The900 series is even bigger, with very long, straight double-bracedlegs for extra stability. All of the cymbal and tom stands thataccompanied our test kit worked very well in terms of position-ing flexibility and sturdiness. Of course, they were heavy to carryaround, but that comes with the territory with hardware in thissize and strength range. Yamaha does make excellent lighter-duty hardware, which I suppose one could order as an alterna-tive.

I found the HS-830 hi-hat smooth and comfortable to use.The spring tension is adjusted by a lift-and-twist cylinder, withfive incremental steps. There's no option for in-between posi-tions, but most drummers would probably be happy with one ofthe five provided. The FP-810 bass drum pedal is lightweightand compact, and has a quick, smooth, and sure action. It'savailable with a baseplate for heavier-duty use, but I found the

Now that I've got that off my chest, I can safely say that theMaple Custom kit, fitted with the YESS mounting system, is farand away the best-sounding, most responsive Yamaha kit I'veever played. Its construction, finish, and acoustic quality put itfirmly in the league of the best maple drumkits on the market.Not surprisingly, the Maple Custom is now Yamaha's top-of-the-line series, and it carries a price tag that corresponds to itslevel of quality. The suggested retail price for our test kit is$5,850.

MD's Sound SystemFor the purpose of product reviews involving drum and/or cymbal miking, MD

employs the following equipment: Shure SM98, SM91, and SM57 microphones,Zildjian ZMC-/0 Cymbal Microphone System, Seck 122 12-channel stereo

mixer, Shure M268 mixers (2), JBL/UREI 6260 power amplifier,JBL -46028 Cabaret Series monitor speakers (2).

New Brushes FromCalato and Firth

by Rick Mattingly

Brush playing is often referred to as a "lost art," but given thevariety of wire brushes currently on the market, somebody mustbe using them. Recently, Calato added a new model to theiralready distinguished line, while Vic Firth introduced his firstmodel of the traditional wire brush.

The new Calato brush bears the signature of ClaytonCameron, the young brush virtuoso whose clinics and DCIvideo have done a lot to rekindle interest in brush playing. Hisdesign features rubber handles with a nylon cap at the end,which can be used to simulate a stick sound if you suddenlyneed to play an accent, a tom fill, or even a cross-stick sound.There is also a rounded stainless-steel rivet at the very enddesigned for cymbal scrapes.

The brushes themselves are not retractable, nor is the spreadof the brush adjustable. But most players should find the three-inch spread quite acceptable. For comparison, it's the samespread as the middle notch on the adjustable Calato model thathas three notches in its handle. Ordinarily I would worry abouttossing non-retractable brushes into a trap case or even puttingthem in a stick bag, but Calato packages the Clayton CameronDrumbrush in a cardboard tube that should offer plenty of pro-tection between gigs.

Conclusion

Lest I make it sound like everything with this kit was perfect,I want to point out that two things weren't (not only with thiskit, but with every pro-level Yamaha kit I've come in contactwith). For some reason, Yamaha bass drum hoops are excep-tionally thick, and some excellent bass drum pedals on the mar-ket simply will not fit onto them. Even this might not be asaggravating, were it not for the fact that one can't even takeadvantage of the variety of unique bass drum beaters on themarket, because they won't fit into a Yamaha pedal—the shafthole is too small. It seems as though Yamaha is saying that ifyou play a Yamaha bass drum, you have to use a Yamaha pedaland beater as well. I think this position bears some examination,since we drummers are a cantankerous and individualistic lot,and we like to make such choices for ourselves.

Pet Peeves

standard model more than strong enough for my needs.

Hardware

mass lugs added a striking accent, and the overall look of the kitwas both classy and attractive. Other finishes available in thisseries are natural maple, black maple, and turquoise maple (allof which let the grain show through). I was a bit surprised tolearn that the only finishes available for snare drums are thenatural maple or the black maple. While the black maple finishon our test snare looked fine in its own right, I think it would bea nice touch to have snares available to match the rest of thedrums.

I also found it a bit unusual to see a white logo head on thekit. A Yamaha spokesperson told me that this was a deliberatestatement on Yamaha's part—a desire to be a little differentfrom what has become the norm. The Yamaha logo—normallyrather large and blocky—has also been reduced in size for thisreason. It's certainly still prominent, but is perhaps a bit lessbillboard-like than others of its ilk.

The new Vic FirthJazz Brushes comepackaged in a similartube, but these brush-es are fully retractable.When you first try toextend the brushesinto playing position,you'll find that there isquite a bit of resis-tance—but that is bydesign. A rubberwasher keeps themetal shaft fromslipping too easily

through the handle, permitting the player to select any desiredspread without worrying about the handle slipping and allowingthe change to spread. Fully extended, the Firth brush has aspread of nearly five inches.

In some of the first models, the rubber plug could come out,but that problem has been corrected. Should anyone encounterone of those early pairs, send the defective brushes back toFirth and they will be replaced.

Overall, the Firth brushes can be described as heavy-duty,since the handles are made of high-impact plastic to allow forrimshots, and even the individual wire strands are thicker thanmost. They don't seem as prone to bending as are most brushwires, and you can use these brushes on a head with extremetexture (such as a Remo Legacy) without the strands gettingcaught in the rough spots on the surface. They also produce aslightly sharper sound on cymbals.

These brushes are also heavier than the norm, feeling muchlike a medium-weight drumstick. Drummers who do most oftheir playing with sticks might appreciate the solid feel of theFirth brushes.

Both of these models are of extremely high quality.Considering their different attributes, either or both might beworthy additions to your stick bag. The Calato Clayton CameronDrumbrushes list for $20.95; the Vic Firth Jazz Brushes retailfor $19.95.

Midi-CymsCP-16 ElectronicTrigger System

Interface, drum pads, cymbal triggers.... It's allhere—and it works great!

The CP-16 controller/interface occupies a single space of aconventional 19" audio rack. The unit is quite powerful, with awide range of MIDI-signal processing capabilities, and it offersthe user flexibility, versatility, and ease of use. Since it utilizes"open-architecture" software, the CP-16 will never becomeobsolete in the ever-changing world of MIDI. For example, dur-ing the relatively short period of time that I had the unit forevaluation, there was not only a software revision/update (nocharge to the user), but other upgraded modifications andoptions as well. I must add that the manual, documentation, andtoll-free technical support are excellent. This leaves a very posi-tive image in my mind regarding the company's vision behindtheir instrument.

The CP-16 sports only six buttons on the front panel. Theyare: "select," "enter," "left arrow," "right arrow," "+/ incre-ment," and "-/decrement." Also found here are the power but-ton and an easy-to-read eight-digit alpha numeric L.E.D. dis-play. On the rear panel are the MIDI-In/Out and Thru ports, a

single 1/4" phone jack input for auxiliary hi-hat switching func-tions, eight 1/4" trigger inputs, and eight 1/4" "choke circuit"inputs. Since the choke circuitry inside the CP-16 is one of thesystem's main features, we'll cover it in more detail later.

The CP-16 interface unit gives the player/programmer fullcontrol over a wide range of performance parameters, which areaccessed via a software menu/sub-menu system. These parame-ters include: MIDI note number, MIDI channel number, velocitycurve, velocity type (layer or switch), and pitch bend by velocity.

The sub-menu parameters that control the functionality of thecymbals and hi-hats are: "choke-circuit" (trigger correlation,choke-off delay, and send note off/on), "hi-hat" (off/on triggerassignment, hi-hat mask, velocity, and delay), and "hi-hat closed-to-open."

On the global level are a set of menus covering: "programselect," "program save," "level/auto-sense learning," "calibra-tion," "system re-initialization," and "system exclusive informa-tion." The CP-16 comes with default kits preset at the factoryfor most of the major manufacturers (such as Roland, E-mu,and Alesis). This will be of interest to those who want to "plugin and play," as opposed to learning how to program the unitfirst. However, you may modify any of these pre-programmedkits, and store your edited versions in any of the eighteen kitlocations. It would be impossible to fully cover in detail each ofthe parameters found within all of the various menus, so I'll giveyou a generalized overview.

Upon powering the CP-16 up to its initial editing screen, youmay cycle through the following eight menus: "hi-hat," "level,""calibrate," "program," "presets," "sys-ex information," "trig-ger input," and "choke input." As previously mentioned, youmay use the CP-16 with any combination of pads, cymbals, orhi-hats. However, trigger inputs 1, 2, and 3 are set up from thefactory as default settings for the hi-hats.

Each trigger input has the capability of processing from oneto four "slots" (or MIDI notes) simultaneously. Each slot canprocess individual settings for MIDI note number, MIDI chan-nel number, velocity curve, and velocity type. There are twooptions for velocity type that alter the way the slots interact:"Layer" simply layers together all of the information that youprogram into each of the four slots. If you select "switch," lowand high sub-menus are displayed. These allow you to programvelocity switch point values between each slot used.

Pitch bend has three sub-menus: rate/range, ratio, and mask.The "rate/range" parameters set the four-point envelope curveof the "pitch bend by velocity" feature. This allows you toprocess and filter trigger data through the curves you have setup. "Range" sets the amount of bend applied to your tonesource, while "rate" affects how quickly the pitch bend occurs.

The "ratio" parameter gives you seven variations of the cur-rently programmed curve. These variations give a percentageamount of the original curve value, and include: 1-1 (100%), 1-2(50%), 1-3 (33%), 1-4 (25%), 2-1 (200%), 3-1 (300%), and 4-1

by Paul M. Van Patten

CP-16 Trigger Interface

The CP-16 from Midi-Cyms is an electronic percussion trigger-ing system that boasts many new and innovative features. Thesystem is comprised of the rack-mountable CP-16 MIDI inter-face unit and any combination of drum, cymbal, and hi-hat"pads." The system does not employ an internal tone source, soit must be used in conjunction with any MIDI-based soundmodule.

The CP-16 system can function similarly to other MIDI trig-ger/pad systems on the market. However, it is Midi-Cyms' cym-bal and hi-hat "pads" that make this system so special. (Fromthis point on, I will simply refer to them as "cymbals" and "hi-hats.") Before digging into their individual capabilities, let'stake a tour of the CP-16 interface unit.

(400%). You also have thecapability of programming inindividual custom curves pertrigger. The final parameteris "pitch-bend mask." Thisoffers the capability to deter-mine which slot or slots willbe affected by the pitch bendeffect.

The "choke" menu con-trols the choking abilities ofthe CP-16. These parametersare: trigger select, note num-ber, channel, channel num-ber, delay, and velocity. Thischoke-circuit technology isthe most innovative feature ofthe CP-16 system. Players canchoke off a triggered sound atwill (for example, a cymbalcrash), fur ther ing theirexpressive control. However,this feature can only be usedif the drum machine or tonesource will accept note-offcommands, and that note-offreceive must be enabledeither globally or per voice.

Another feature availablevia this choke circuitry isthe"choke note on" com-mand. This allows you tosend an immediate or delayedtrigger-on command, whichcan delay or shorten a note's full duration after you have chokeda note. You have control over note number, channel number,delay time, and velocity level. With these two features, a wholenew dimension can be added to one's performance. With a littleexperimentation, some very interesting effects can be obtained.

did yield a very realistic playing response and feel.The main level menu represents the "auto-sense-learning"

portion of the CP-16. This menu will automatically cyclethrough each of the trigger inputs asking for low and high veloc-ity hits from the user. This function allows you to easily inputyour playing dynamics per trigger, as well as "training" them toeliminate false triggering. It also saves you considerable time ininputting this type of data (as opposed to manually entering itin). However, you still may opt to enter it in step-by-step, byusing the "calibrate" parameter found within the sub-menusystem.

The Hi-hatsThe main hi-hat menu allows you to choose what trigger

inputs will be used for the Midi-Cyms hi-hat trigger pads.Inputs 1, 2, and 3 are the factory default settings, however, youmay also use any of the other trigger inputs as well. Available arefour trigger outputs from the pads themselves, which are tradi-tionally set up as: trigger 1 for the top hat, 2 for the bottom, 3for the top hat's bell, and 4 for a choke circuit output.

Level and decay are the two primary parameters that controlthe way in which the hi-hat pad triggers interact. Though it tooka while for me to tweak these parameters back and forth toadjust their response to my satisfaction, this adjustment process

Note TrackingThe CP-16 offers total voice polyphony via use of its unique

"note tracking" feature. Here you have the option of program-ming in delayed note-off commands, ranging from 0 to 25.5 sec-onds in duration, from the time of receiving a trigger-on com-mand. Many pad interfaces send consecutive note-off com-

I received 12", 16", and 18" cymbal pads and a pair of 12" hi-hatsfor this review. The cymbals are constructed of 1/4"-thick blackplastic, with center holes cut for use with any traditional cymbalstand. The bottom of each cymbal is made of lightweight alu-minum, which is where the trigger output circuitry is mounted.There are two models available for the conventional cymbal pads:The MCC model utilizes a single trigger output, with choke cir-cuitry as well. This model is intended for use as a crash cymbal,hence the choke circuitry. The RCC model comes with two trig-gers and is made for use as a ride cymbal. The first trigger islocated under the traditional playing area, while the second triggeris located within the bell portion.

The 12" hi-hats mount easily on conventional hi-hat stands,with different bottom hat seat adapters available to accommodatevarious hi-hat pull-rod diameters. There are a total of three trig-ger outputs for the hi-hats: The first is in the bottom hat, the sec-ond is in the top, and the third is located in the bell of the top. Allof these triggers have a 28" cable with a 1/4" female input jack per-

manently attached. A fourth 1/4" jack is also attached, and is usedfor a choke-circuit output. This test pair came outfitted with ablack, gum-rubber playing surface glued to the top hi-hat, in-tended to give the player a much more realistic feel than the hardplastic surface. This rubber surface is included on the ride andcrash cymbals as well.

I'll admit that playing on these cymbals felt a bit unusual atfirst—but after a short while I thoroughly enjoyed them. Theplaying feel of the rubber pad yields a dramatic improvement overthe stiff, hard feel of the bare plastic. They remind me of the feelthat I'm used to from my drumKAT controller, while giving anexcellent range of dynamic response. And how does the choke cir-cuitry work? Flawlessly.

I used the system in a variety of applications, triggering aRoland R-8 drum machine, a Roland D-20 keyboard, an E-muProcussion, and an E-mu Proteus. Since the CP-16 offers such awide range of MIDI trigger signal-processing options, you havequite a bit of power at your fingertips. For those players who wishto stretch out from playing "traditional" drums, experimentingwith various tone sources will yield some very interesting results.

The Cymbals

mands immediately after being triggered on, creating the infa-mous machine-gun effect. By giving you control over note-offcommands, you can achieve a much more fluid and realisticperformance. This can be particularly effective within the stu-dio environment.

The Drum PadsMidi-Cyms drum pads are designed to give the player the most

natural acoustic-drum-like feel possible. Their 12"-diameter,black heads are shock-mounted, and they "float" within the pad

casing. This allows them to respond to a stick attack much likean acoustic drumhead does—meaning that their heads will"give" in relation to how hard they are hit. By using this type ofmounting approach, not only does the feel and dynamic responseimprove, but the direct physical stress on the player's arms isdramatically reduced.

I received two types of pads for this review. The first pad fea-tures a piezo-type transducer mounted under the head and a sec-ond piezo trigger affixed to the rim, allowing for rimshot tech-niques to be used. The second pad I received had two rim trig-gers attached, as well as the standard trigger under the head. Onthis pad the two rim triggers were mounted directly across fromone another, opening up even further creative possibilities—suchas rimshots and side-sticking.

As with the cymbals, I found the playing response of these padsto be very enjoyable. The feel was quite nice: semi-soft, with agood amount of natural rebound. The dynamic response wasexcellent for a piezo-type trigger. (In fact, it reminded me of themuch more expensive FSR-trigger technology found in someother pads and controllers.) I experienced no problems withcross-talk, either between two pads on one stand, or betweenmultiple triggers in one pad. The pads are rugged and feel verysolid. They mount on stands using a standard Tama-type mount-ing bracket, which is the only area in which I could suggest

The CP-16 system is a winner. Whether used for live applica-tions or in the recording studio, it certainly addresses most trig-gering needs, while offering new possibilities for electronicsafficionados. By incorporating excellent drum pads and elec-tronic cymbals that actually function like their acoustic counter-parts, the CP-16 is a truly complete triggering system.Suggested list prices are as follows: CP-16 interface unit - $475;12" MCC cymbal -$117; 16" MCC cymbal - $133; 18" RCC cym-bal - $200; 12" MHH hi-hats - $267; 12" drum pad - $108; 12"snare pad with three trigger outputs - $150; bass drum pad -$300. New flourescent Gemstone cymbal pads and less expen-sive "No-Choke" cymbal pads are also available. For furtherinformation contact Midi-Cyms, 840 W. Valley Blvd., Alhambra,CA 91803, tel: (800) 568-8523, fax: (818) 282-6242.

Summary

improvement. It would be terrific if Midi-Cyms offered the padswith a wider variety of mounting brackets.

Unfortunately, Midi-Cyms' recently released bass drum padswere unavailable for this review. The company sent me specsheets indicating that the pads have a 51/2" trigger area, which islarge enough to accommodate double bass drum pedals.

Highlights 0f The 1993