By Nicolas Grizzle

This edition of Drum News covers how you can still register to view PASIC 2020 and register to participate in PASIC 2021, Yamaha’s DTX6-series e-drums, DW’s Dave Grohl Icon series snare drum, and Adoro’s “Silent” beater and sticks.

PASIC 2021 Artist Registration Open, 2020 Virtual Sessions Still Available to View

The Percussive Arts Society International Convention, one of the largest drum and percussion events in the world, will be taking place on November 10-13, 2021. Though the 2020 event, held last month, was completely online, “We are planning on an in-person PASIC 2021,” says the Percussive Arts Society, which hosts the annual event. “At this time we have no plans to make 2021 a virtual only event.”

PAS artist members are encouraged to apply now to perform in front of thousands of percussionists and drummers from around the world in 2021. Applications are due before January 19, 2021.

You can also still register to attend (well, watch the recorded sessions) the PASIC 2020 event. Registration is open until December 21, 2020, and the sessions will be viewable through December 31, 2020.

Yamaha Unveils New DTX6 Series E-Drums

Yamaha has released a new line of electronic drums, the DTX6 series. It includes the DTX6K-X, DTX6K2-X and DTX6K3-X models.

All kits include the new DTX-PRO module featuring the Kit Modifier, which allows for changing sounds alter sounds dynamically with EQ effects including ambiance and compression with the turn of a knob. It also includes new professionally sampled sounds and effects recorded around the world in renowned studios, with more than 30 preset kits and room for 200 user-defined kits. Improvements to the module include expanded polyphony and lightning-fast triggering speed. The module is compatible with all current DTX pads, as well as with other triggering devices and pads.

As for hardware, the DTX6K-X and DTX6K2-X include single-zone, rubber pads on the toms, while the DTX6K3-X has multi-zone silicone pads across the board. The DTX6K2-X and DTX6K3-X models come equipped with the new RS6 rack with “L” shaped legs for enhanced stability, top-of-the-line PCY135 cymbals, and a redesigned kick drum tower. The DTX6K3-X also includes Yamaha’s chain-driven HS-650A hi-hat pedal.

The DTX6 Series comes integrated with Yamaha’s popular and free iOS/Android Rec’n’Share app that allows drummers to record audio and video from the e-kit along with songs from their music library and easily share their performances with the world. Retail prices for the kits are $999-$1,799.

DW Releases Dave Grohl Icon Signature Snare Drum & New Pedal Colors

This month, one of rock music’s best-known drummers finally gets a signature snare drum, it it really couldn’t be more personal. Dave Grohl’s face is inlayed into the teal-dyed birdseye maple outer veneer on DW’s new 14” x 6.5” Dave Grohl Icon snare drum.

It’s also got the Sound City logo, a nod to the studio where Nirvana recorded the groundbreaking album Nevermind, as well as the title of Grohl’s documentary about the studio. Said Grohl in a press release, “This is something that blows my mind. I’ve never had my own snare drum before, and this is pretty beautiful.”

In addition to being a prized collectable, the drum is also highly playable. It’s made from 11-plies of North American hard rock maple with VLT grain orientation technology, and fitted with DW’s top-of-the-line hoops (triple-flanged) and wires, as well as it’s MAG throw-off with 3P butt plate. Of course, it includes a Deluxe DW carrying case, certificate of authenticity and Sound City hat. Only 250 of these drums will be made. A portion of proceeds from the sale of each snare will be donated to the charity nominated by Grohl, National Independent Venue Association. Retail price for this drum is $1,599.

DW has also released two new colors of its MFG pedal series. Called ColorBoards (retail $529-$1,099), this is the latest addition to DW’s flagship line of single and double pedals, as well as a direct drive hi-hat (bass drum pedals are available in direct drive and chain drive). The new pedals feature footboards and matching heel plates in three color options:cobalt, graphite and the original gun metal finishes.

DW says the new colors were inspired by motor racing. DW endorsee Thomas Lang, who you can and should check out in the video above playing the new pedals, said in a press release, “The first time I put my feet on a pair of Machined Chain Drive pedals it felt like putting on a perfectly tailored custom pair of shoes. Now I even have a palette of colors to choose from to perfectly match the style of my kit.”

Adoro Releases ‘Silent Beater’ and ‘Silent E-Sticks’

German drum and accessories brand Adoro has released a bass drum beater designed to cut bass drum volume in half without muting the drum.

Dubbed the Silent Beater, Adoro CEO Stefan Korth says it “provides an efficient and inexpensive means to reduce acoustic drum set sound levels in volume-sensitive situations like churches, school bands, acoustic groups, music classes, and home practice. Play as normal yet sound only half as loud.”

The beater (retail price $26), assembled by hand at Adoro HQ in Hamburg, Germany, consists of a barrel-shaped beater head of high-density shock-absorbing rubber affixed to a polymer rod set into a metal sleeve that fits any bass drum pedal. A Velcro-affixed contact pad of felt on the batter end of the beater head softens the blow as it and the Velcro compress upon impact.

“When the Silent Beater strikes the bass head,” says Korth, “the compression of the Velcro beater dot, the soft rubber of the beater, and the flex of the polymer rod combine to absorb the shock. The impact of the stroke is reduced, and that cuts the volume. There is no muting. Everything plays like normal, yet the sound level is cut in half.”

The company has also released a new set of drumsticks designed specifically to reduce acoustic volume when playing electronic drum kits. The Silent E-Sticks (retail price $24) build on the principals of the company’s Silent Sticks, using their Dual Loop Reflex Tips to reduce the pad noise of electronic drums and practice pads.

With their blue X-Grip handles, Silent E Sticks differ from the black-grip Silent Sticks in subtle ways. The X-grips are slightly larger and softer for increased shock absorption. And the tips are of a softer gauge of monofilament nylon that flexes more readily upon contact to virtually eliminate pad thwack while still triggering the pads as normal. “That touch sensitivity of e-drums means the tips of Silent E Sticks can be softer, more flexible and much, much quieter than any wood drumstick,” says Korth.

In this edition of drum news: Roland announces a budget-friendly e-drum kit; Pearl joins the drumstick business; Gretsch announces a new livestream web show; and Evans receives a grant to expand its face shield PPE manufacturing.

Roland Introduces Budget-friendly, Mesh-headed TD-07KV E-Drums

Roland’s latest addition to its acclaimed V-Drums series is the TD-07KV electronic drum set, a compact and affordable new kit retailing at $999. It includes Roland mesh-head snare and tom pads, large V-Cymbals, premium drum sounds, Bluetooth and USB connectivity, and more.

The TD-07 sound module is filled with acoustic drums and percussion captured in precise detail in pro studios, combined with V-Drums technologies that make them behave just like acoustic counterparts. There’s also a wide range of electronic percussion, and editing tools for personalizing each sound, including pitch, damping, room sound, and individual EQs and transient editors. With onboard Bluetooth, users can call up tracks on a smartphone, tablet, or computer and wirelessly hear the audio through the module alongside the drums. MIDI transmission over Bluetooth is also supported, allowing users to record MIDI data in music apps cable-free.

The kit includes Roland’s PDX-8 8-inch snare pad with independent head and rim zones for assigning different sounds, and three PDX-6A 6-inch tom pads with single-zone triggering. The kit also includes Roland’s CY-8 12-inch pads for crash and ride cymbals, a 10-inch hi-hat with integrated pedal, and a KD-10 kick pad.

The company says its new TD-07KV is designed to be quieter than other e-kits without sacrificing feel. Mesh heads minimize pad noise, while special damping in the kick pad reduces noise and vibration. The stand components are also designed to reduce vibration and noise transfer.

The TD-07KV also integrates seamlessly with Melodics, a Mac/Windows software application that offers a growing selection of free drum lessons to develop rhythm, timing, and muscle memory. Access to 40 lessons is provided for free, with unlimited lesson access available with a subscription.

Pearl Getting Into the Drumstick Business  

Nashville-based Pearl Drums has announced a partnership with Swedish company Wincent Drumsticks to distribute sticks in the United States.

“Wincent is a legendary European brand, but the hickory they use to make their sticks comes from right up the road from us, in Bowling Green, Kentucky,” said Glen Caruba, Pearl’s VP of sales and marketing. “We tested and scrutinized the sticks and player after player commented about how great the sticks felt and how long they lasted. We did not go looking for this opportunity but based on the superior quality of the product it seemed like this is the right time for Pearl USA to get into the drumstick business.” 

Wincent Drumsticks was established in Sweden in 1992. The sticks are manufactured using a stone lathing process with a unique wax protection applied that compliments the feel and durability of the sticks. Each pair of Wincent sticks is butt-end branded with the stick size, so when you look down into your stick bag the various sizes are easily identifiable.

“It has been a goal to partner with Pearl Corporation and now it is a reality, and we will make every effort to satisfy the U.S. market,” said Dan Nylén, founder & CEO of Wincent Drumsticks. 

The Wincent product portfolio includes drumsticks, brushes, rods, mallets, and percussion accessories like practice pads, drum keys, stick grips and tone gel. Pearl will begin accepting orders for Wincent products immediately and has inventory ready to ship.

Gretsch Announces Bi-Weekly Livestream ‘Heritage’ Show

Gretsch Drums is launching a brand new live stream show called “Gretsch Heritage,” bringing to life the brand’s rich history. The show airs every other Wednesday, and each episode will feature special guests who continue to play important roles in the ongoing story of Gretsch Drums today.

The first episode, which aired Oct. 14, is hosted by Lucas Von Gretsch, a 5^th generation Gretsch family member. It looks at the early history of the brand, focusing on the company’s founder Friedrich Gretsch. Later episodes will chronicle the company’s history and reveal the challenges and successes of his ancestors.

The show is part of DW’s media production company Drum Network (DW is the parent company of Gretsch drums). Other Drum Network shows include DW Playlist Party, LP Stories, Gretsch Generations, Fitness Friday, and Get It Started. The shows are hosted by and feature guests on the company’s artist roster.

Evans Drumheads Receives Grant to Expand Face Shield Manufacturing

New York State and the Empire State Development Corporation recently showed their support for Evans Drumheads’ parent company D’Addario’s altruistic innovation, awarding the company a $341,000 grant to expand face shield manufacturing operations. D’Addario says it will use the grant to build four semi-automated “work cells” to improve efficiency, lower manufacturing cost, and double production capacity.

Evans started making face shields from its Evans G2 drumhead material in April, when manufacturing plants were shut down due to Covid-19. The company’s pivot to making personal protective equipment (PPE) allowed the factory to remain open to produce much-needed essential equipment for frontline healthcare workers in its home state of New York. D’Addario has sold almost 1.5 million face shields to date, primarily to hospitals and healthcare equipment distributors, through its Dynatomy subsidiary.

Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Hochul visited D’Addario’s Farmingdale factory on Oct. 23 to tour the facility and learn more about the company’s COVID-19 Face Shield Initiative. “At a time when we were scouring the earth in search of personal protective equipment, New York State’s manufacturers like D’Addario answered the call to support our COVID-19 frontline heroes,” she said. “We are proud to support our innovative manufacturers who are stepping up to save lives and are a model for how we build back better for the post-pandemic future.”

By Nicolas Grizzle

As the drummer for 20-year-old jam band Lotus, Mike Greenfield is an expert at getting a crowd to dance. The band’s 10^th studio album, Free Swim, was released last month, and in this video Greenfield breaks down how he incorporated Afrobeat rhythms and other world music patterns into the song “Snake Island.”

The influence for the pattern, he says, came from drummer Tony Allen, who invented the Afrobeat genre with Fela Kuti in the 1970s. “For me, the drumming of Tony Allen embodies an incredible amount of syncopation and finesse, which is similar to what Clyde Stubblefield and Jabo Starks were doing with James Brown during the same time in the ‘60s,” Greenfield said in an email to Drum! magazine. “However, Tony Allen and Afrobeat drumming comes at that sound from a different perspective… The phrasing can be very foreign to American drummers and embracing it can lead to some very unique rhythms in your own playing.”

Lotus is a band known for incorporating many styles into its music, including dance, pop, electronica, jazz, funk, and rock, combined with rhythms from around world. “There are so many drummers who just concentrate on one style of music,” said Greenfield. “Even if you primarily play rock music, your palate can be greatly expanded by listening to and playing other styles.”

The new album, he says, is a “natural progression” from their previous studio album, Frames Per Second. “Free Swim expanded upon this emotionally and stylistically. In addition to our dance songs, it also incorporates drum and bass, Afrobeat, and several slower impassioned ballads.”

It helps that he is allowed the creative freedom to create his own grooves and drum parts on his hybrid drum set. For “Snake Island,” he felt an Afrobeat influence on the demo and ran with it. The main beat he came up with starts with two eighth-note snare hits in the beginning and sounds like a rock beat flipped on its head.

Under the guitar solo, he plays a disco-y pea soup beat. Then, in the second half of the song he plays a soca beat from Trinidad mixed with part of an Afro-Cuban cascara rhythm. The result is a song that’s hard to resist dancing to.

Such a big part of Lotus’ energy is about playing live shows, something they haven’t been able to do since March thanks to the pandemic shutdown. But the band did get to take part in an interesting live, in-person concert earlier this month when they performed as part of the 12-concert Live-in/Drive-in series at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia—well, at the parking lot adjacent to the park, technically.

“To be honest, I was a little apprehensive when I was first told about the drive-in show.  I thought that it would be strange to play to people in cars spread throughout a large parking lot without a PA on stage,” said Greenfield. “While the experience was a bit odd, it was so incredible to play live music again with the boys!”

Another aspect was specific to Lotus’ genre, which practically requires dancing as part of the experience. “Sometimes jam band audiences can be very particular with live concerts, but everyone was so happy to actually be at a show again that some of the problematic aspects of being at a drive-in show were ignored and everyone had a great time,” said Greenfield. “I had a lot of fans reach out after the show to tell me how much it meant to them.”

By Nicolas Grizzle

In this edition of drum news, we see new products inspired by history. One draws from relatively modern developments, harkening back a mere 100 years, while the other pulls from concepts known for about 4,000 years.

A&F Pulls From Yesteryear for New Hardware Design

A&F Drum Co. has released a new line of hardware that harkens back to drum sets of yore, with modern engineering and durability upgrades. The nickel-plated steel hardware line includes cymbal stands, snare stands, and some accessories, all with A&F’s characteristic vintage aesthetic.

The snare stands ($149-$159) operate like vintage, lightweight stands, with one arm of the basket featuring adjustable length and the arms folding together horizontally for storage. The snare stands come in two sizes: one holding 10” to 16” snares and one holding 18” to 22” snares. That larger size might seem unnecessary but if you’ve seen A&F’s Pancake or Shotgun snares, this will immediately make sense.

The cymbals stands ($169–$179) feature round, rubber feet and a 360-degree height adjustment wingnut that swivels around the stand to be reachable no matter where it’s placed in relation to your throne. Aluminum tension washers in the head and boom arm tilters are designed to be replaceable, as these parts of stands are one of the first to wear out with continuous use and adjustment in any hardware set.

Both the cymbal and snare stands have pull-pin tripod legs with three notches, for flat or angled placement. The nickel plating is designed to wear over time to develop a patinaed, worn look, like pieces from the early 1900’s.

Accessories include an update to the company’s Kickbone to make it modular, allowing it to accommodate 10” to 16”–deep bass drums. The company also introduced a bass drum hoop–mounted clamp and L-arm with matching aesthetic.

There were some hints at this release at NAMM back in January, and the company says the first production run was supposed to ship in late March. Due to Covid-19, that was delayed until late July, and now, in mid-August, the hardware is finally available.

DW Takes Math Rock Literally with New ‘Pi’ Snare

Drum Workshop has released a Collector’s Series piccolo snare drum with a depth of 3.14”, a nod to the mathematical constant Pi, which was first used around 1900 BC by ancient Babylonian and Egyptian civilizations.

The Pi piccolo snare ($600–$800) features a newly-designed, two-piece mini turret lug that houses independent lug receivers, as well as DW’s compact Mini MAG Throw-Off, 3.0 steel True-Hoops, 3-position butt plate, and 20-stand snare wires. The 14” diameter drum is available in wood or carbon fiber.

DW notes the drum’s “quick and snappy” response with “dry, crisp, clean fundamental tones” and a wide tuning range considering its shallow depth. “This drum is sensitive and has its own tonal character depending on the shell material chosen, but it’s also a shotgun! I mean this thing is loud!” said DW VP and drum designer John Good. “We’ve been wanting to engineer some new hardware that would allow us to accommodate shallower depths. Rich Sikra and his design team did an outstanding job on the new lug and Mini MAG. We even designed a new mini Collector’s badge to fit these drums.”

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