The Paradiddler — THE blog for all things drumming

DVD Review – Drum Gear Buyers Guide

September 9, 2009

In this edition of The Paradiddler we’re going to review a drumming resource published by Railroad Media. It’s the DVD titled “Drum Gear Buyers Guide”, and it’s hosted by Mike Michalkow & Dean “Schroeder” Reimer. It’s purpose is to give practical tips on what to look for when buying drum gear, specifically [...]

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Brute Force Learning

September 3, 2009

Those of us who are X-Men fans may recall a particular scene in “The Last Stand” where there was a competition of opposites. On the one, you had Shadowcat. She had the mutant ability to phase or move through solid objects. Very graceful in execution, seamless. On the other, you had [...]

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Book Review – “Stick Technique” by Jim McCarthy

August 23, 2009

Welcome to another edition of The Paradiddler. Today we’ll review a most excellent product that will assist drummers with their drumming technique. It is “Stick Technique”, by Jim McCarthy.

What is it that we want, fundamentally, as drummers? That differs from drummer to drummer, as we each have different goals we want to [...]

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Girl Gone Bad by Van Halen, Drum Cover

August 10, 2009

The Paradiddler coming at you with another drum cover! This time, it’s “Girl Gone Bad” from Van Halen’s 1984.

This is my favorite Van Halen song. In fact, I believe this is Alex Van Halen’s best recording. Although he was always one of the most powerful drummers around, I don’t think his drumming stood out sound-wise [...]

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“Exquisite Torture”

August 8, 2009

Do you remember the first time you were absolutely blown away by the ability of a drummer? Maybe you were a wee little lad (like me) who saw Peter Criss’ monstrous kit (at least to me it was) and watched how seemingly gracefully he handled the whole thing. Or maybe you heard a [...]

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“Future Times/Rejoice” by Yes, Drum Cover

July 22, 2009

Here’s the latest drum cover from The Paradiddler: “Future Times/Rejoice” by Yes.

I haven’t updated my ‘Artists’ page as of late, but one of the drummers I wanted to make sure made my initial list was Alan White. He’s one of my favorite drummers, very unassuming, and to me, the best timekeeper in rock. [...]

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The Emergence of Air Drumming

July 18, 2009

If we look around in the drumming landscape, we’ll notice that air drumming is garnering a little bit of attention lately.
For example, the movie “Adventures of Power” glorifies wannabe drummers and shine the spotlight on the guilty pleasure of thinking we know what the real drummer is doing! Recently as well, DrumChannel.com hosted an [...]

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Perry, Peart and Bozzio: Pearls of Drumming Wisdom

July 7, 2009

I eagerly awaited June 18th, 2009. DrumChannel.com was going to feature Doane Perry (Jethro Tull), Neil Peart (Rush), and Terry Bozzio (Frank Zappa, Missing Persons, DrumChannel resident). So many years of drumming experience, coincidentally from the so-called “progressive rock” genre. In any case, it was an event I couldn’t miss.
Those who have [...]

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Drum Channel’s Air Drumming Contest with Chad Smith

July 2, 2009

If you’ve read my three-part series on my origins (The Paradiddler, Origins), then you’ll already know that, at least for the moment, I’m mostly a self-taught drummer, and I learned how to play by air drumming. You also surmised that I’m a big fan of Neil Peart, Rush drummer extraordinaire. So when DrumChannel.com came out [...]

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