Editor'sOverview

This issue of MD represents the cul-mination of our first year of publishing,and - like most new specialized publica-tions - we've had our share of growingpains. But, we made it through year onein fine form, and I view that as a majoraccomplishment for any new magazine.I'm extremely proud of my people, andvery gratified with our continued indus-try-wide acceptance. We've devoted anunimaginable amount of time, talent,energy and determination to Volume 1in a dedicated effort to make MD aworthy publication that would fill avoid in the lives of serious drummerseverywhere. Our efforts are not goingunnoticed, and are truly beginning topay off. As our subscription list con-tinues to grow steadily, so does ouradvertising support which in turn en-ables us to improve office facilitiesand build on our staff. All this - inessence - simply means an even betterMD for you in the year to come. Whatwith your many kind and enthusiasticletters of encouragement, I personallydon't see how we can lose. Thanks,from all of us.

On with this issue. In response tonumerous requests, our lead off fea-tures for October are the excitingLenny White - an illuminating profileof this outstanding artist by jazz jour-nalist Aran Wald, and an interview withjazz tabla master Badal Roy which pro-vides some insights into this most in-teresting man's musical career.

North Drums and Milestone Percus-sion, Ltd., are two names you'll be hear-ing a great deal about* in the future.Both are manufacturing equipmentthat's causing a lot of heads to turn. In-teresting reading on where they've beenand where they're going.

Terri Lynn Carrington is a twelveyear old jazz drumming talent with anoutstanding list of credits and a greatfuture ahead. Garry Marshall, betterknown as the creator and producer ofTV's Happy Days and Laverne & Shir-ley has also been known to dabble inthe fine art of drumming and once madea living at it. MD's own Gabe Villanitakes a lighthearted look at Garry'searly drumming days.

Advisory Board member Butch Milesof the Basie band with some super ad-vice for big band aspirants; a look at theSwiss Rudiments, and a Max Roach solo

(continued on Page 21)

FEATURES:

COLUMNS:

Lenny White: Beyond Forever

North Drum Report

Tabla Talk: Badal Roy

Terri Lyne Carrington

Garry Marshall

Milestone Percussion

Editor's OverviewReaders PlatformIt's QuestionableRock PerspectivesJazz Drummers WorkshopRudimental SymposiumDrivers SeatShow & StudioDrum SoloistIndustry HappeningsJust DrumsDrum Market

EDITOR: Ronald SpagnardiASSOCIATE EDITORS: Paul Uldrich

Thomas VarelliMANAGING EDITOR: Michael CramerART DIRECTOR: Bryan MitchellPRODUCTION M A N A G E R : Roger EllistonADVERTISING: Jonathan Wolf

Isabel LoriCIRCULATION: Nancy Schuller

Leo L. SpagnardiBarbara Macioci

MD ADVISORY BOARD

Henry Adler Don LamondCarmine Appice Mel LewisHoracee Arnold Peter MagadiniLouie Bellson Mitch MarkovichRoy Burns Butch MilesJim Chapin Charlie PersipJoe Corsello Arthur PressSonny Igoe Paul Price

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READERS PLATFORM

Congratulations on MD. Drummersworld-wide have been w a i t i n g years forthis. Both I and all my pupils are veryhappy with your magazine for i ts excel-lent var ie ty of informat ive and educa-tional mater ia l .

M I N G O M A R T I N OESTUDIOS DE P E R C U S S I O N

LaPLATA, A R G E N T I N A

Kindly enroll me as a subscriber to yourf ine publ icat ion. The news of MD hasgot around in England as Jimmy Tag-ford, secretary of the ContemporaryDrummers Society has written about it.Best wishes and success.

TREVOR BENHAMOXFORD,ENGLAND

In reply to your article, "Merits of theMatched Grip", (April '77), might Isuggest that we drummers learn and ap-ply both tradit ional and matched gripsaccording to the musical s i tuat ion, rath-er than continue to argue over which isbetter. Shouldn't the music come first?Isn't that really what it's all about?

STAN H O L L A N DH A R T F O R D , ALA.

I recently attended an Emerson, Lakeand Palmer concert and have never seena more incredible performance by CarlPalmer who has to be the most fantasticrock percussionist in the business. I'mreally anxious to see an article on thisunbelievable performer.

G R E G T U L E YEVANSVILLE, IND.

I look at Modern Drummer as an edu-cational experience, especially your col-umns Shop Talk, On The Job, and theShoppers Guide. Straightforward andbasic. As long as you keep publishing,I'll be buying.

JIM McDONALDVICTORIA, B.C.

The article by Nick Todd, On the Job:

"The In-Demand Club Date Drummer"(April '77), should have been titled"The Commandments For a WeekendDrummer." Well written and very accur-ate. Just beautiful . Keep it up.

CHET K U R O W S K IC R A N F O R D , N . J.

I would like to see articles on JakeHanna, Davey Tough, Mel Lewis andArt Blakey. How about printing a list ofrecords with good representative exam-ples of the above mentioned for thoseof us interested in finding out aboutsome drummers besides Buddy Richand Billy Cobham.

ED SLAUSONBUENA PARK, CALIF.

You are to be congratulated for the ex-cellent beginning issues of MD. I sincere-ly believe it should be in the hands ofevery 'serious player and student. Theexchange of information to our fellowplayers is the highest form of service.Thank goodness we are no longer in thedark ages where teachers held backsome information lest their students gotbetter than them and stole their jobsaway. The vast majority of great playerstoday delight when they can help theiryounger brethren.

W I L L I A M SCHINSTINES & S SCHOOL OF MUSIC

POTTSTOWN, PA.

As a reader of MD I would like to seeinterviews with some of the youngerEuropean rock drummers such as BillBruford, Barriemore Barlow of "JethroTull", Phil Collins of "Genesis", AndyMcCullough and others. Thanks for thequality, and most especially for lettingus drummers be heard.

JAY COHENMIAMI, FLA.

I think your magazine is great. I'd liketo see articles on Les DeMerle and SteveGadd. I would also like to see more on

the technical and musical aspects ofdrumming, rather than emphasis' on anindividual's childhood.

ANDY JOHNSONWILMINGTON, DEL.

How about an interview with StanleySpector? I'm a student of his and Ithink he's one of the most underrateddrum teachers in the country. Accord-ing to a Down Beat interview from someyears back, Jake Hanna and Joe Co-cuzzo agree with me.

TOBEY McINTOSHE L D O N , M O .

I think MD is perhaps the best piece ofliterature of its kind that has been print-ed for drummers. Your first issues reallysaid something, and did so in a very pro-fessional way.

DICK DiCENSORANDOLPH, MASS.

Skepticism breeds criticism. To criti-cize your first issue was to say, "Sureit's good, but how do you follow it upand continue the norm you've set."Upon receiving my further issues - alldoubts have vanished. It's a great publi-cation for a great profession. By contin-uing your informative articles and ad-vice, you not only captivate your cur-rent subscribers, but you are sure tocreate new ones. Thank you for helpingus all.

DAVE HAMILTONTHE DRUM SHOPPE

THORNHILL, ONTARIO, CANADA

IT'S QUESTIONABLEby CHARLES McKAY

system, I'd like to know why they've discontinued parts forthe older line.

G.S.DETROIT, MICH.

A. Don Cannedy, Marketing Director at Rogers, informs usthat his company is making a sincere effort to help all Swivel-malic owners in making the transition to the Memrilok systemas smooth and painless as possible. Cannedy advises thatadaptors are available for Swivelmatic, as are other replace-ment parts. Any questions or problems that cannot be resolvedvia Rogers dealers should be brought to the attention of DonCannedy at Rogers Drums, 1300 E. Valencia, Fullerton, Calif.92631.

Q. I was hoping you could settle an argument. What drum-mer is generally credited for being the most influential playerin the evolution of the bop drumming style, and what werethose basic evolutionary concepts?

J. G.BOSTON, MASS.

A. The major change in the playing concepts of the early bopdrummers was a relinquishing of the bass drums role as the pri-mary time keeper. The bass drum began to acquire a separatevoice in terms of rhythmic variety and tone color. The timefeeling was shifted more to the top via the ride cymbal and thehi-hat afterbeat. As in any evolutionary process it is often dif-ficult to pinpoint any one individual since many were in-volved, however for the record, jazz historians like to creditKenny Clark as one of the most important players of the era,though much credit must also go to the innovative styles ofboth Max Roach and Shelly Manne among others.

Q. One of my favorite drummers is David Garibaldi, formerlyof the Tower of Power. Could you tell me please what kind ofequipment he used on those Tower of Power recordings, andwhere he is now?

S. L.CHICAGO, ILL.

A. Mr. Garibaldi used a stock Slingerland set-up with 20"bass drum and 12" and 14" toms during his recording dayswith TP. He is currently working with singer Deniece Williams.MD will be presenting a feature interview with David Gari-baldi - one of the leading "funk" drumming stylists - in a fu-ture issue. Look for it.

Q. I am looking into calfskin heads for my drums. Is thereanything specific I should look for when selecting calfskin?

E. S.BUENA PARK, CALIF.

A. Drumming great Mel Lewis - an MD Advisory Board mem-ber and advocate of the calfskin school - provides the follow-ing tips: Examine the heads you are considering carefully byfirst holding them up to the light. The head should be free oftiny pinholes, an indication of a faulty head. Look for asmooth surface, clear spots, and the markings of a bone in theheads texture. Calf bass heads should be somewhat thicker andthe markings of a backbone would indicate just that. Also, todetermine the pitch of the head, vibrate it so it rattles and lis-ten for the pitch. The higher the pitch of the rattle, the thin-ner the head; a lower pitch would indicate a thicker head.

Q. I have a very fast foot but it's not consistent. Some nightsI can really burn. On other nights, I can't seem to get it to-gether. What can I do to get that consistency?

B.S.ALIQUIPPA, PA.

A. Consistency is one of the most difficult things to developin any area of performance. Your bass drum playing will onlyattain consistency as you develop a safe margin of speed, con-trol and endurance over and above what is normally requiredof you in an average playing situation. This only seems tocome with much playing and hours of concentrated and pro-ductive practice. The guidance of a competent instructor isstrongly recommended with an emphasis on a complete bassdrum development program.

Q. Several years ago a number of noted jazz drummers wereplaying a brand of electronic drums known as Hollywood. Canyou supply some information? Are they still available?

R.H.MERIDEN, CONN.

A. The Hollywood Tronic Drums were an electronic drum setmanufactured in Italy and distributed in this country in themid-sixties by the Carl Fischer Company. Electronic pickupsin each drum were wired to a control box with volume andtone controls. Set-ups ranged in price from $850 to $1,995.The idea was valid, but perhaps a bit before its time. Thoughthe drums were expected to do well, they failed to arouse theinterest of American drummers and are no longer available.

Q. I need a record and book on rock drumming. Can you sug-gest a good one?

F.B.CALUMET CITY, ILL.

A. Check out the Beat Sheet Self-Study Drum Course pub-lished by TIP Publishing, 9926 Halderman, Philadelphia, Pa.19115. It consists of a study booklet and a 12"-33 1/3 rpmrecording and was designed to teach rock drumming at alllevels from beginner to advanced.

Q. I understand one of the major manufacturers is makingdrum shells from 9 ply beechwood - a super hard shell. Whichone?

V.B.DENVER, COLORADO

A. Sonor. {S.W. Industrial Park, Westwood, Mass.)

Q. Do cymbals have a definite pitch?J.C.

MILWAUKEE, WISC.

A. Good cymbals do not have a definite pitch. They shouldpossess a variety of overtones but should never be out of tunewith any pitch. The term "pitch", when related to cymbals isused only to differentiate between low, medium and high.

Q. I have a Rogers Swivelmatic outfit, a line which Rogershas discontinued. Since this is the first year of the Memrilok

BEYOND FOREVER:MD talks with LENNY WHITEby ARAN WALD

Lenny W h i t e was born in Queens,N. Y. and travel led to Forever. Excusethe forced pun, but it was with ChickCorea's Return to Forever, that Lennymade the reputation that engendered hisforay as a solo act.

"I got a call from a different guitarplayer every day for about a month,"Lenny related. "When they heard aboutthe breakup of RTF, they all wanted toplay with me. There were some peoplewho played better than others, but Iwas looking for versatil ity."

That's the key word as far as his di-rection is concerned - versatility. Lennywants the group - which was formed inthe beginning of 1977 - "to mesh intodifferent kinds of styles, and to playany kind of music like post bop, spacebop, jazz, rock - anything." That led tothe discovery of different musicianswho were at home in various phases ofthe music.

Caught up in a busy schedule, Lennyand I sat down in a borrowed office todiscuss some of the finer points of hismusical career.

WALD: Are your musicians schooled?Do you look for that?W H I T E : I don't necessarily look forthat. One of my guitarists went to Berk-lee and didn't like it. It's a differentthing today because younger musiciansare into all kinds of music. You have thefusion groups that play music with di-verse roots. They come from traditionaljazz music, or from rock and roll. Thekids that started out listening to guitarfrom the Ventures are listening toGeorge Benson. You have a cross refer-ence, a meshing of styles.WALD: Will you be diluting the effectif you seek to touch all bases?WHITE: Oh, we'll basically have a con-cept. I write for the group and I'll con-centrate on certain things. Alex Blakewrites for us, and the whole group puta tune together. So we have a direction -but we won't be limited. I brought in atheme and had the whole group workon it and find out what kind of influ-ences they would bring into this pieceof music. I wanted to see what it wouldsound like if we all composed a singlepiece of music. We all use our roots andit's all individual.W A L D : Where did you get your har-mony training?WHITE: I listen to a lot of records man,

let me te l l you . (laughs) If you meandid I have formal training - no. When Iwas young, the music played around thehouse was Duke, Basie, Trane, Miles andBird. My father was a Lester Young fan.I listened to classical music in school,and I listened to more of it on my own -everyday. Even today I take a cassetteplayer wherever I go. It's a thing aboutconditioning. I have a very young sonand everytime I turn on the music, he'sright there and moving. When my wifewas pregnant, she was always aroundmusic. Maybe there are vibes - whoknows. My harmonic approach to musicis a lot more limited than someonewho's studied piano or whatever, but Idon't think it's all that bad. It's a matterof ears.W A L D : I assume you were a drummerto start?W H I T E : I don't remember. I wanted toplay trumpet, but the next thing I knewI was playing drums in the school or-chestra. They'd have had me playingtuba unless I had two years training ondrums. I told them I did and faked myway through it. To this day I don'tknow whether my teacher knew, or Iwas lucky.WALD: Did you ever have any formaldrum training at all?W H I T E : No, not sitting down with ateacher. I know about flams and para-didles, but I learned how to do them bywatching people play, and by buying abook that told me what to do with whatI saw. I still do some things that are in-correct technically. I lived down thestreet from a club called the Club Rubyand I saw Max Roach and Philly Jo. I'dlook in the window and try to do thesame thing. I'd listen to records andhear things, and try to create the samesound. Tony Williams was my idol. He

would take Phil ly Jo's style, Max'sstyle, and Roy Haynes, and he'd put hisown thing to it . He would do things thatwere unorthodox. Opening the hi-hatsand splash at them. Hit the stick hereand there - drag the stick. Roy wouldhit on all four corners of the beat, notnecessarily the downbeat. His hi-hatwouldn't be on two and four all thetime.WALD: Wouldn't you give the creditfor all that to Art Blakey who experi-mented like that before Haynes?WHITE: Art played in the middle of thebeat. Philly Jo and Tony played on topof the beat; Elvin played a little bit be-hind, but Art played right in the center,like the pulse. Of course I listened toArt. I could play one of his solos, pres-sed tolls and all. He was the first personI heard play K. Zildjian cymbals. Ididn't know what it was, but the soundon those old Blue Note records . . thecrash would be like (makes a sound ofrolling surf). Those K. Zildjians weredifferent from the A's. K's are made inTurkey. They're darker sounding withmore overtones. I remember getting myfirst K's and sounding like Art Blakey.W A L D : What do you use now?W H I T E : I use mostly A's, due to thenature of the new music. K's don't cut.I was using K's when I first went withRTF and beating them to death. Theywouldn't project. They're softer andthey would split and crack. I did a littleresearch and listening and bought someA's which are brighter and a little bitheavier. They also project more. Youneed that with all the other electronicinstruments up there. We drummersdon't turn up an amplifier. It's all pres-sure we put in the drum or the cymbal.Out of the frequency range they ratenear the top. You can get a synthesizerto play notes that are above that, butyou can't hear them. There are over-tones that you can't hear from cymbals,too. I use A. Zildjian because of theamplification, and because they're bright-er and they cut through more.WALD: What about your drums?W H I T E : My first set was an $80 special -didn't even have a hi-hat; just a bassdrum, snare and cymbal. Later, a friendof the family - Brad Spinney - gave me aGretsch set - my first real set. It wasTHE thing to use Gretsch because ofthat little insignia on the bass drum, andall of the people I admired played them.I still use Gretsch. I use one 22" basswith both heads. All my drums havetwo heads. I use 12" and 13" mountedtoms, and three floor toms; 14", 16"and 18 x 16". My snare is 5 x 14". Ihave a few snare drums, but the one Iuse live and on recordings is a Gretschwood. It has a special strainer on it,and nylon snares by Hinger. I also usean A. Zildjian 24" high buffed heavy

ride cymbal. The heaviness allows me toget the cleanliness, the definition ratherthan overtones. I like to hear the actualattack. I also use a 16" and 18" crash,and a 20" K. Zildjian with six rivets. Myhi-hats are high gloss 14" heavy.WALD: No splash, no gongs?WHITE: No, not my style. I used someof the percussion things earlier in mycareer, but not now. But I'll use themagain.WALD: What's the difference betweenwhat you're playing now and earlier?WHITE: What we're playing now ismore structured. RTF was very struc-tured also. You had the same situation Idescribed earlier. You had people whocame from the improvising school ofmusic, Chick, Stanley and myself - postbop. We played this structured type mu-sic. What's different is that I'm touchingmore areas than I did before. With RTFI played more high energy music, alldexterity, a lot of emphasis on notes -technique. The new group is more intotextures, sound images. We try to re-create musical images that fit the tunes.On one piece, we try to recreate the mu-sic of China. On another, the texturesfrom Egypt. We make audio pictures.We did some of that with RTF, but Istill think the emphasis was on techni-cal dexterity, and sheer artistic bent.WALD: Did you practice when youwere with them?WHITE: We didn't rehearse that much.We'd rehearse before we had a recorddate. The first time we played newmusic with Al DiMeola in the band werehearsed for two days. I didn't practice

"I DON'T LIKE TO USE ELECTRONICS JUST BECAUSE IT'S THERE.I THINK THEY SHOULD BE USED MUSICALLY, AROUND A PIECE

OF MUSIC. I FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT DRUM SOLOS."

that much. I had some difficulty withsome things that RTF played, but onthe whole there weren't that manyproblems. I can remember two instancesthat involved incorrect sticking. OnCelebration Suite there was a drumthing and I had a problem with it,mostly because of incorrect sticking. Iwas prepared to work it out, but Chicksaid he'd work something around it.Since then, things like that have comeeasier to me because I constantly do it.You acquire different techniques, justlike Miles created his own thing. I'llhave mine because I don't have a tech-nical approach to the music. I try to getthe most musical approach to the in-strument I can.WALD: Does head pressure have any-thing to do with that?

WHITE: Sure. I use Rerno Ambassadorweight clear heads. On the snare drum Iuse a coated head, a regular snare drumbatter. I use a Diplomat on the bottom.The pressure varies from recordings tolive performances. There are differentacoustics in different halls. There's alsothe handicap of the drummer sitting onstage playing in his sound and not actu-ally hearing it. You don't know how it

use electronics just because it's there. Ithink they should be used musicallyaround a piece of music. I feel the sameway about drum solos. There's a pieceof music we do that's just a drum thing.I play a drum lick on bass drum and weget everybody in the group to play thesame lick with melodic notes, but it'sthe same lick. That's the best way topresent a drum solo. Like the way

"TODAY'S DRUMMER IS WHAT REALLY MAKES THE BAND HAP-PEN. THE GUY WHO KEEPS THE TIME. IF THE TIME GETS WEIRD,THE SOLOISTS CAN'T PLAY. EVEN THE GREATEST SOLOIST INTHE WORLD CAN'T PLAY IF THE BOTTOM FALLS OUT FROMUNDER HIM."

sounds to the audience because thesound goes through speakers. You hearit through the monitors sure, but youdon't get a true, true sound. You try toget a sound that's as true as possible. I'lltune a drum and know that the soundwill carry, that it will have weight. If Ituned it with more tension it wouldmake the sound a bit thinner, and itwouldn't carry the same way. It wouldlose some of its impact if I loosened it abit more.W A L D : Have you tried metal or fiber-glass?WHITE: Yeah. Also plastic, but I likethe sound of the true drums. I like thesound of wood.WALD: About the size of your set-up.Do you consider yours large or small?W H I T E : I'm right in the middle be-

tween a bop set-up like Max's, and BillyCobham's wrap-around. I might aug-ment the set with some Rerno roto-toms or melodic tom-toms. They giveyou some melodfe depth.WALD: Would you get the same melod-ic depth by adding electronics?WHITE: I did some recording in 1970where I used electronic instruments. Idid a session with George Cables andStanley Clarke which was never released,and I used a lot of electronics on mydrums. I did a session with Luis Gascaand Carlos Santana and there's a bit onthere too. There was one with BuddyTerry that I used Echoplex on.WALD: What about the drum synthe-sizer?WHITE: I used a Moog for an effect,but I used it musically. I don't like to

Philly played rudiments. To me classicfours is Billy Boy on Miles Davis'sMilestones album.WALD: That's probably the most deftbrush work I've ever heard.WHITE: Another solo that sticks out inmy mind would be Skin Deep by LouieBellson with Ellington. That's a workman. The band was around him. Theyplayed the drum solo WITH him andthat's the way it should be presented.One piece of mine opens with synthe-sizer on a sequencer, that is a sampleand hold which'is played randomly. I'llplay with that and the band will playaround it. The band supports the drums.It's arranged so that the drums are play-ing on this figure. It's the same conceptas a horn player playing and the rhythmsection accompanying him. This way,the drummer is playing the solo andeveryone else is accompanying him.WALD: I take it you're an ensembleplayer.WHITE: That's the thing I liked aboutRoy, Tony and Philly too. In the earlydays of the Lifetime group with Mc-Gloughlin and Larry Young, they'dplay figures and Tony would play ontop of the figures. The group aroundRoy Haynes would play a blues andRoy would play a melodic solo overthe blues. That's like an art to me - tobe able to play a drum solo and make itmelodic. Max did it all the time',BemshaSwing, Parisian Thoroughfare, I Get aKick out of You; that's arty drummingto me. I met Max the day I did theBitches Brew album with Miles. We hada little talk and he befriended me - gaveme some pointers. Later, I met ArtBlakey at Slug's in the Village and hepaid me the highest compliment by let-ting me sit in on some solos; he did thatagain at the Village Vanguard. When Iwas playing the Vanguard with FreddieHubbard, I went back to the kitchenand Philly Jo was there. He said, "You'replaying good. You gotta kick Freddie's

(continued on page 13)

NORTH - Directional drums strive for unconventional soundby STU ASTOR

ONE THING that Roger North'sdrums have in common with most otherpercussion instruments is that the drum-mer hits them with a drumstick. Butfrom that point on, North, a profession-al musician and MIT engineering gradu-ate, abandoned normal percussion de-signs in his search for a more directionalinstrument.

The shape of the instruments is thefirst noticeable departure from conven-tional drums. Below the head* of eachtom-tom, for instance, the drum con-tinues downward in a cylinder thencurves ninety degrees to end in a wild-looking open flared horn, facing theaudience. The bass drum doesn't havethat curve, but its mouth, too, is openand flared.

Molded-in fiberglass colors are partof their look, and the drums are pro-duced in solid, single colors or contrast-ing combinations — one color outsideand another in the horn.

But when one music editor said re-cently, that, "North Drums do for per-cussion what the synthesizer did forkeyboards," he wasn't talking abouttheir unusual shape. He was respondingto their sound, which is also distinctiveand identifiable. These drums are loud,clear, tight in tone and are distinguish-able, both live and recorded.

These superlative compliments were-n't created by the manufacturer's adver-tising manager but by the people whoplay North Drums. The few musicianswho have been able to perform withprototypes see advantages to these in-struments, and some will play nothingelse.

The drums were conceived and creat-ed by Roger North of Portland, Oregon.North's credits as a drummer are impres-

sive — a year with Odetta, five yearswith The Holy Modal Rounders — buthis credits as a designer are even moreso.

A graduate of Swarthmore College,North went on to MIT for a graduatedegree, in structural engineering. Forfour years afterward, he played drumsprofessionally full-time. His drums are aproduct of musical experience and thor-ough technological training.

PROJECTING SOUNDIn 1968 North, then playing high-

quality conventional drums, realizedthat the sounds he was creating on stagewere not projecting to the audience inthe same way as he heard them. He need-ed a more directional instrument, fattersounding at a distance with a lot of bot-tom and mid-range. His first experi-ments in making drums for himself pro-duced a 12-inch Tom, laid-up by handfrom fiberglass with a longer than nor-mal shell for increased low range reso-nance.

The principle worked almost toowell. First, the 12-incher tuned lowenough to enable the sound of a muchlarger conventional Tom; and second,the increased volume and clarity of theone new drum, in North's words, "Blewthe rest of the drum set away."

Clearly, development of a whole newset was indicated, and North beganpatiently to handcraft other comple-mentary drums. He made smaller in-struments first with increased lowrange. A bass drum followed with moreor less the diameter of a conventionalbass, but somewhat longer. By 1970,North had a rough looking but superb-sounding group of drums for his ownperformances, and he applied for pat-

Reprinted Courtesy of North Drums.

ents on them. The patents were grantedin 1971.

It took another year, while Northstill played drums professionally, to pro-duce a set for a fellow musician. Finally,in 1972, he opened a small factory andwent into limited production.

MTI INCREASES SUPPLYTo date, perhaps 65 drum sets and

another 30 individual drums have beenmade and sold, seemingly gaining con-verts with every sale. Some rock 'n' roll,country and jazz drummers (includingBilly Cobham, Doug "Cosmo" Clifford,Jerry Brown and Richie Albright) usethem regularly, as was the current U.S.Champion Drum Corps, the Blue Devils;but until now, the demand for these in-struments has exceeded the supply.

Roger North, sitting at his original handmadeset of tom-toms, settled on this design for hisdrums after seeking to project the sounds hecreated to his audience.

With Roger North's agreement in 1976to allow Music Technology Incorporat-ed to set up full-scale production andmarketing facilities, his drums are be-coming an available reality for everydrummer.

Roger North's original idea was toproduce a better drum for live perform-ances. In use, his drums have just asmany advantages for recording purposes.Doug "Cosmo" Clifford, formerly Cre-dance Clearwater's drummer and now amainstay of the Don Harrison Band, sawhis first North Drums in a West Coastmusic store in mid-1976.

"I loved their sculpture," Clifford ex-plained, "but I didn't believe they couldsound as good as they looked."

Clifford rented the set and experi-mented with it. Within a month, heowned the set and was playing them inconcert. "Red Hot," the Don HarrisonBand's latest recording for AtlanticRecords, features Clifford playing thefull set of Toms and the Bass.

"The only adjustment I had tomake," says Clifford, "was to get usedto the smaller heads. Each drum soundsbigger than its size. The six-inch Tom isone of the most unique instruments I'veever played, and the bass keeps goingdeeper when some conventional drumsmight loose their bottom end."

Clifford went on to say that thesmaller heads make for tight sharp at-tack, but that the sound stays tight andgets rounder and mellower, particularlyin the bottom ranges. He claims he canget a bassy sound out of a small Tom.

"All the Toms are loud, but they arenot muddy," he remarked, "they turnout clear, directional, pointed sounds,but they don't hurt the listeners. I canget five Toms in the space I used to usefor three conventional Toms.

"They're integrated tonally, but eachone is distinguishable, either live or re-corded, so I can get a lot of movementon any track." (Clifford cultivates theimage of an athlete. He is very active

North drum technician works on drumfinishing.

on stage. Movement from Tom to Tomis both visible and audible when heplays.)

RESPONSIVE IN RECORDINGIn recording, Clifford noted, the in-

struments stay somewhat distinguish-able against the string bass at high vol-ume levels. They apparently don't drivethe sound mixer crazy trying to equalizeindividual drum sounds. But whereequalization is necessary for a desiredeffect, they respond adequately, as theyalso do to echo, miking, tape delay andother recording techniques. Further-more, the units can be miked in thehorn of the drum itself in recording andamplification.

"When we're playing," Clifford con-cluded, "the drum sound isn't lost inthe floor. The other musicians tell methat they can hear what I am playingand respond to it. That's unusual in arock 'n' roll group.

"For me, these drums are to con-ventional drums what the jet plane is tothe Turboprop. Until Roger North camealong, the biggest technical advance indrum design was the plastic drum head.But these are all-new instruments."

Production facilities are located atMusic Technology Inc., in Garden CityPark, New York, and went on stream

early in 1977. Ernie Briefel, presidentof MTI promises a plentiful supply ofdrum sets and individual instruments assoon as back orders are filled. Highquality control of drum shells and hard-ware will be maintained. MTI will alsobe producing cases and other accessoryitems for the drums, along with plansfor a snare drum.

Dennis Briefel, MTI's vice presidentof Sales and Marketing, is unguardedlyoptimistic about the future. "These arethe best drums made anywhere," Briefelsays, "we only wish we could makethem faster."

REMO, INC. 12804 RAYMER ST., NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. 91605

TABLA TALK: BADAL ROYAN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE JAZZ TABLA MASTER

Shining bright white in the tradition-al garb of Indian music, Badal Royhunched over his two tabla drums andsquinted into the falling afternoon sun.At his side was bassist Frank Tusa, andthe two of them were bridging East andWest on an outdoor stage at the Arco-santi Festival in Arizona. Roy's dedica-tion to broadening the avenues of tablaimprovisation began with a similarly un-usual instrumental duet nearly sevenyears ago in small New York cafes. Atthat time, Badal's frequent companionwas a relatively unknown guitaristnamed John McLaughlin.

After coming to this country fromPakistan in 1968, and meeting up withMcLaughlin, Roy has gone on from vir-tual obscurity to play with some of themajor figures in jazz. After achievingnotoriety on McLaughlin 's breakthroughMy Goal's Beyond album, Badal gar-nered sessions and tours with the likesof Miles Davis, Lonnie Liston Smith,Pharoah Sanders, and most recentlywith Dave Liebman's incredible Look-out Farm.

I met with Badal Roy the followingmorning beneath the main apse. . .ahuge, concrete half dome at the heartof the futuristic city. . .and talked withhim about his evolution as a tabla drum-mer, his involvement with jazz, and theart of percussion in modern music. Apersonable, enthusiastic, and intelligentman, Badal proved extremely coopera-tive and most interesting. Born in Bang-ladesh, and schooled in West Pakistan,Roy was a national collegiate championin both tennis and ping pong. He held aMaster's Degree in statistics from thestate university, and was highly quali-fied as a computer programmer. Buteven more importantly, he was the sonof an amateur musician who encouragedhis son to take up the drums at anearly age. . .

B R : It's like my father would say, "Al-right son, if you do well in this class, orif you get an A + in mathematics, I'llbuy you a pair of tabla. Next day if youdo well, I'll buy a ping pong table."( laughs)MD: We had that same kind of briberyover here. Did your dad have a specialinterest in music?B R : He played tabla in a group withhis seven brothers. . .sort of traditional.He never became really proficient. Hewent in to do a straight nine to five job.He was one of the joint secretaries ofstate in Pakistan. He was holding apretty high office. He's still living, re-tired, in Calcutta.MD: Did he give you tabla lessons?B R : I took tabla lessons from my un-cle who was my mother's brother, aMr. Chakraborty. He gave me the firstlessons and all that , and I started play-ing here and there. . .with singers. Wehad Tagore songs. . .he was the firstAsian Nobel Prize winner in l iterature.His name was Tagore. We just playedsongs.MD: What was your first exposure toWestern music?BR: Would you believe. . .rock'n'roll!I was a fan of Elvis Presley when I was14-15. You name it: Elvis Presley, PatBoone, Nat King Cole also. I knew whoLouis Armstrong was, and even DukeEllington. When I was in Pakistan, Dukewith his big band went to Pakistan and Iwent and saw him. I was getting into it.It was there. But without knowing it ,it was there.MD: When did you first come to theU . S . ?BR: At the end of '68 I came here tostudy, to do my PhD at NYU. I didsome courses, and I did finish my Mas-ter's Degree in statistics again. I neverwent for my PhD. I did some computerprogramming, and (laughs) I did bringmy litt le tabla case along with me. Ididn't bring that much of clothes, but Idid bring my tabla case. And I had asitar also, although I don't play sitar.MD: Did you find work as a musician?B R : I started playing here and therearound New York. I met a sitar player;we used to play in one of the night-clubs. And here one night, nearly sevenyears ago, John comes in. . .this boycomes in with his wife. He sits in withme and plays every, almost every Fridayand Saturday. This is McLaughlin. Hewas not that famous at that time, buthe'd been around, you know, with Milesand all that. And I didn't know who he

by BOB HENSCHENwas. He was a good musician. He playedacoustic totally; it was just a small place.Just me and him mostly. There wasanother sitar player, but he didn't sit inwith us. Whenever John didn't sit in, theother sat in.

So one day, he calls me up for myfirst album job, My Goal's Beyond.That's a great album. They're putting itout again. That was great, you know.That was total ly new for me, but I tookthe challenge anyway. Just went thereand did the things straight.MD: McLaughlin obviously gained a lotfrom listening to musicians such as your-self. . .B R : McLaughlin is getting a lot, andhe's learning a lot also. He used to learnfrom a teacher in the west end, andwhatever he learned there, I'm sure heapplied it in his guitar, and that madehim play different.MD: How do you like McLaughlin'snew group, Shakti?B R : Everybody's my friend in theShakti group. Everybody. Shakti's drum-mer is Zakir Hussain who is Alla Rakha'sson, who is my teacher in America andplays with Ravi Shankar. Zakir is fan-tastic. I mean in his way, he's just great.I feel everybody has his own way ofsaying things, and he's just great. He'sbeen practicing for 20 years. He's 24.He started playing at the age of four. . .like eight to ten hours a day for yearsand years and years. He's just got it,that's for sure.MD: Alla Rakha is your teacher?BR: Yes, but once in a year or when-ever he is in New York. He does not livein New York.MD: After My Goal's Beyond whathappened?BR: I kept on playing with all theseIndian people. . .a lot of Indian pro-grams go on in New York. There's nomoney, but for music, I love music, Istill go and play. I also play in a clubcalled Nirvana in New York City. Theyhave sitar and tabla music seven nightsa week. I do three nights: Monday, Tues-day, and Wednesday.MD: How did you get linked up withMiles Davis?BR: Miles asked for a tabla player andTeo Macero, his producer, called me tocome for a record date. And I did a lotof record dates with Miles. I just wentthere to do a couple of records with himat Columbia. After I did about ten orfifteen days with him, one day he askedme to join. It was great.MD: How do you feel, personally, aboutMiles Davis?

BR: Love him, man. I mean, I've heardstories, but I've travelled with him al-most three years now, and I tell you,he's . . . well, I've seen him saying, "Idon't give a shit, man." But never withme man. Always very, very good. Whenhe's in a good mood, he's like a child,like a pure child . . . he's so beautiful.MD: You toured with Miles for threeyears; is that when you met Dave Lieb-man?BR: No, I first met Dave on My Goal'sBeyond, though we were only acquaint-ances then. When I first went out on theroad there was Mtume on congas, AlFoster on drums, Michael Henderson onbass, and the saxophone player was . . .Carlos Garnett. Then Lieb joined thegroup. We used to room together andbecame friends then.MD: He seems to turn on to drums . . .BR: Lieb loves percussion, man! Lovesit. Drum Ode, you know?MD: And Sweet Hands . . . that's you.(Badal smiles and nods). It's too badthat Lookout Farm is breaking up. Istonight really the last we'll hear ofLookout Farm?BR: Yes. Except that Adamo Recordshas bought a master tape we did in Indiawith Lookout Farm. Name of the albumis "Passing Dreams." This is interesting.When we went to India, we went to astudio with five other Indian musicians,especially I must mention one person'sname, Sultan Khan, he plays the saran-gi. He's just great. He toured with RaviShankar and George Harrison when theywere having this big tour all over theworld. He plays the sarangi . . . it's aviolin type instrument, you've seen it?Anyway, we just went there, LookoutFarm, and all these musicians that Icontacted after I went there. I knewSultan and a couple of other musi-cians, and we just went and played.Now we have this master tape onAdamo and it's just beautiful! I pro-duced.

Also I did an album in Japan . . . lastyear. The whole band played. It wasreally short notice, but we did it. It'scalled "Ashirbad" which means "bless-ings." It's on Trio Records (PA-7116) .MD: So, for now you're going to playduo with Frank Tusa. That's a very un-usual format, tabla and bass. How doyou like playing in a duo?BR: Listen, it was a big challenge forme. This is the first time like we'veplayed. This is the first time we've reallyplayed duo. We did a couple of gigs . . .me, Frank, and Richie . . . and me,Frank, and sometimes Dave . . . there's aplace called Sweet Basil, a downtownjazz club in Manhattan. But we neverplayed duo, me and Frank, and it was abig challenge for me. I really didn'twant to go after Paul Winter Consort's

(continued on Page 21)

TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON:she's only just begunby JACK LONDON

Why a feature story on a twelve yearold l i t t le girl in a drummers magazine?Very simple. Terri Lyne Carrington ofMedford, Massachusetts first off is notyour average twelve year old girl; andshe's not just an average little drum-mer. She happens to be one of the mostremarkable new jazz drumming talentson the scene today, and as the titlereads — she's only just begun. Impos-sible you say? Well, read on — andlook out.ART BLAKEY: "She has a terrific earand a terrific talent. I think her future iswide open. When she played with us lastfall she surprised everybody but me, be-cause I knew what she could do. She'smy secret weapon."ROLAND KIRK: "If she keeps herhead and keeps the music on her mindand doesn't get turned around later inlife, she'll make a good contribution tothe music. She's on the right track.She's not strung out just playing a rockthing and getting hung up on flash beinga little girl. She's trying to play music."DIZZY GILLESPIE: "She's mean!She's good man! That little girl canplay."

Despite her tender age, Terri Lynehas already performed with each of theabove musicians plus other jazz lumin-aries like Les McCann, Buddy Rich, JoeWilliams, Helen Hume, Harry "Sweets"Edison, Sonny Stitt , Jimmy Wither-spoon, Oscar Peterson and both Natand the late Cannonball Adderley.

One might easily wonder how a littlegirl becomes such a dynamic player atsuch a tender age. Well, music runs inTerri's family. Her grandfather, the lateMatt Carrington Sr., was a roommate ofsaxophonist Chu Berry and went on tobecome a professional drummer withsuch greats as Fats Waller, JohnnyHodges and Duke Ellington. Terri'sdad, Matt (Sonny) Carrington - current-ly an insurance underwriter - at onetime fronted his own band and stillplays tenor sax with local bands andvisiting musicians. He's currently Vice-President of the Boston Jazz Society.

Terri's early home life nurtured herinborn musical instinct, and unlike mostchildren her age, she's been surroundedby jazz all of her life. "When she wasgoing on two, I used to pick her up andlisten to jazz while holding her. She gotthe feeling of the music by my rockingand tapping her while listening to folks

like Jimmy Witherspoon", says Terri'sproud dad. "When she was small, we'dgo through our record collection listen-ing to early Coltrane or Cannonball andprogress through their later periods.Once I took her to a concert withIllinois Jacquet, and after hearing him,she decided she wanted to play the sax.When we got home, she picked up mysax and started playing riffs. It was likea miracle."

Her career as a saxophonist, however,was short lived. She was about five yearsold when she lost her baby teeth whichmade it difficult for her to play the in-strument. Undaunted by the dentaldropout, Terri Lyne stumbled on herpaternal grandfather's thirty year olddrums in the basement. She hasn't putthem down since. She practiced on herlate grandfather's drums for a year be-fore beginning formal lessons at theLexington Music Center. She now stud-ies with Keith Copeland of the BerkleeCollege of Music in Boston where sheholds the distinction of being the young-est musician ever to get a scholarship tothe prestigious school. Berklee president,Lawrence Berk has commented, "Ithink she's genius material."

Last year, Terri sat in with ClarkTerry at Sandy 's Jazz Revival in Boston.Clark was so impressed with the young-ster's remarkable ability that he askedher to accompany him at the highly re-garded Wichita Jazz Festival. She bor-rowed Louie Bellson's drums for herfestival debut with Clark's East Coast -West Coast jazz giants which includedJimmy Rowles, Lockjaw Davis, Al Cohn,George Duvivier and Garnett Brown.Her fantastic performance brought threestanding ovations. "I thank God I'vehad a child who was able to compre-hend the music and a God given talentto pick up and carry on the tradition ofmy family," says Matt Carrington.

And how is the talented little twelveyear old taking all this recent notoriety?"The publicity doesn't seem to haveaffected her at all. She takes it in stride,"says her teacher, Gerald Daley of theBrooks Elementary School in WestMedford, where Terri is at the top ofher class. "My classmates don't treatme any different. Half of them don'teven know that I play drums," saysTerri. "You can't really start yourcareer at ten, so right now the music is ahobby. But, when I get out of school,

it will be my career. By the time I get tocollege, I should already have the basicsdown, so I probably won't have to workas hard as some of the other students."

Since Terri's live performances havebeen limited for the most part to sit-insituations, she usually has been facedwith the difficulty of playing someoneelse's drums. She looks the drums oververy carefully from the audience beforeshe gets up to play. "I listen to how thedrums sound — the tone; and I lookover the set-up. I'm usually always ner-vous when I first get onstage, but afterthe first few bars, I'm not nervous any-more."

Along with all the local and nationalmedia coverage, Terri's radically pre-cocious talent has not gone unnoticedby some of the major industry people.She enjoys the status of being the young-est endorser for both Avedis ZildjianCymbals and Slingerland Drums.

Terri rates jazz drummers Alan Daw-son and Louie Bellson as her all timefavorites, but her record collection alsoconsists of the work of Billy Cobhamand Roy Haynes. "Terri's sense of timeis fantastic," says her instructor KeithCopeland. "She's at the point of play-ing with groups where if somebody inthe group is out of time, she'll call themon it. I think she can make a majorbreakthrough. But it's up to her — shecan do whatever she wants to do."

Not bad for twelve years old. We, atMD have a strong inner feeling that thename Terri Lyne Carrington will appearin the pages of this magazine manymore times in the future. Jazz drum-mers — look out. Terri Lyne's on thescene, and she's only just begun.

GARRY MARSHALL:

Hollywood producer reminiscesby GABE VILLANI

The famed producer of TV's Happy Days and Laverne &Shirley is just one of show businesses successful personalitieswho've been known to dabble in the fine art of drumming.MD's own Gabe Villani - ex-roommate and dear friend ofGarry's - takes a lighthearted look at our hero's less thanearth-shattering early drumming career.

This is a Cinderella story that should bring comfort to anydrummer who has feared leaving the music business. It's thestory of a man who had to hang up his sticks because fate de-creed that he should become something else. A fascinating taleof how music's loss, became television's gain.

Garry Marshall was bom in the Bronx, New York in Nov-ember, 1934. He had a fairly normal childhood which includedthe usual bruised knees, runny nose, dead frogs and stolenbases. But his formative years were primarily devoted to dis-covering girls, making people laugh and learning to play drums."When I was growing up, there were three drummers I ad-mired: Gene Krupa, Max Roach, and this little girl drummer inmy school who used to blow in my ear after practice," saysGarry.

He earned enough money from playing drums to put him-self through Northwestern University where he was awarded aB.A. in Journalism. Following college, Garry was drafted intothe Army and sent to Korea where he spent his time in SpecialServices, playing, writing and producing shows and contribu-ting articles to Stars and Stripes.

"The lowest musical experience of my life came when I wasin the Army. I was a solo marching snare drummer and keptcadence for my battalion. One day while my battalion wasmarching, I was playing so badly that the Captain shot a holethrough my drum with a .45 revolver."

Following his Army stint, Garry moved back to New Yorkand teamed up with the now famous writer-producer FredFreeman. They wrote day and night, but unfortunately at thetime no one was buying what they were writing. They had toturn elsewhere to pay the rent. Garry again went to his drumsfor help to augment his meager earnings as a part-time writerfor the Daily News Sports Department. He began playingdrums around New York and putting shows together for VAhospitals and other organizations. It was at this point where Ientered Garry's life.

When I first heard Garry play, I was not only awed by hisuncanny ability to play rim shots with brushes, but also by hissmooth body movements which were fascinating. The morefrantically he swung his arms, the slower he played — but helooked good. . .chewed gum and all.

"In the early sixties, I was playing the tune 'Zena Zena' at abar mitzvah. My erratic changing of rhythms and losing beatscaused the dancers to stumble which unfortunately resultedin a close uncle kicking the bar mitzvah boy in the groin. Butmy greatest musical accomplishment was playing drums in theHappy Days episode where the kids go to the prom. I was oncamera, and in rhythm for the whole show."

Everything about him was show — even his equipment. Heplayed a 34" bass drum with GM painted in silver sparkle right

above the picture of the canoe. He used a small Indian tom-tom, a faded white mother of pearl snare, and a shellacked13" x 17" floor tom. His cymbal set-up consisted of two 18"hi-hats, one 13" ride and a 9" crash. He used one 2S stick andone 5A, and had another pair just like it at home.

I remember Garry would take me along to play for theshows he put together so he could MC and do stand-up com-edy. He became the "Kenny Youngman" of the VA hospitalcircuit. His desire to make people laugh was developing into awell-seasoned talent that was leading him away from musicand into a life of fame as a writer-producer. He was soon toland a job writing for Jack Parr on the old Tonight Showwhich eventually led to a move westward to Hollywood. Hiscareer began to sky-rocket. The Joey Bishop Show, Dick VanDyke Show, Lucy Show, the Odd Couple, and finally creatorand executive producer of Happy Days and Laverne andShirley, the number one and two rated TV shows in the coun-try. The scope of his genius ranges from creating "The Fonz",to acting and directing many episodes of his shows as well. Hehas attributed his success to being in touch with the commonfolk and sympathizing with the underdog.

Unfortunately, Garry's Hollywood career has caused himto put the drums in the closet, though he still uses them in atherapeutic way. "I have a full set of drums in my house andoccasionally I play in the Happy Days show band. Drums aregreat therapy. If I didn't beat on them, I'd probably beat onmy wife — or this girl in Hollywood who lets you hit her withtom-tom mallets for $100. My drums have saved my marriage,not to mention many hundred dollar bills."

When asked for some overall words of advice for youngdrummers, Mr. Marshall had the following comment: "Frommy experience, I would strongly suggest that all young drum-mers have a soft, comfortable drum stool at all times. I sin-cerely feel that hemorrhoids were most definitely detrimentalto my career."

All references to Mr. Marshall's equipment and spasticplaying was done purely in jest. Garry is really a good musi-cian, and could be a top drummer today, but when given thepreference, he would always rather make people laugh. Wethank him for giving MD a few moments out of a very busyschedule.

GV

There's probably a lew drum crazypeople in t h i s world who have worked,or are working, on that elusive sound;t h a t fee l ing t h e y wish so much fromtheir chosen i n s t r u m e n t . Four yearsago drum nut person Michael Clapham,or ig ina l ly from London, met a chemistengineer of t h i r t y - f i v e years experiencenamed John Soprovich who, l ike Clap-ham, was in search of t h a t elusive sound.Later, L u t z S i l l , one of those geniusjack of all trade types jo ined the team.Their aim was simple. Bring the drum-mer-percussionist a superb hand-craftedinstrument, get involved in new mater-ials, new formulas, new techniques,apply utmost precision, and keep con-trol - over recreat ing exact ly , any andall successful prototypes.

"It was a t ime of disappointment,exasperat ion , fun and joy," recallsMichael , "but the end results - which isall that really matters a f t e r all - werequite unique."

An instruments performance quali-ties are determined in two areas. Tonaltexture and projection power comefrom the shel lcyl inder , how precisely itis built and from what. The responseand "feel" of the instrument dependson a precise shel lcyl inder, the timespent on shellcylinder periphery, and aprecise tensioning system. Milestonedrums possess a superb blend of re-sponse, tonal textures and projectionpower, with the advantage that , unlikewoods and metals, Therrabond shell-cyl inders are non-variable formulations.Therrabond shellcylinders are, in es-sence, formulations involving chemicalt reatments of, and matings of, siliconefibers and resins.

"The nice thing working with resins,silicone fibers and chemical formula-tions is that we can duplicate the soundsover and over again. The drummer caninvest in an instrument unaffected byweather, humidi ty and the like. Therra-bond cylinders have no butts, no seamsand a full warm sound, whether you'recaressing or hammering, with no breakin period - except for the head," statesMichael .

The Milestone Spectrum Series snaredrums are seamless one piece units

which includes the rich ebony color asan integrated part of the shellcylinder.This a l lev iates the use of glues, chrome,or plastic sheets and thus avoids airbubbles, dents and fading. To obtainmaximum efficiency from drum heads,cylinder peripheries (tension edges) areprecision trimmed, honed, and thenhandrubbed to that smooth finish. Toassist periphery, the tension hoops areprecision molded and not of the tripleflanged variety so prevalent today. Inaddition to precision and strength, thismethod offers less wear on drum sticksand more tonally pleasing rim shots. Allmodels feature ten housings, with nointer ior springs to annoy. Therrabondshellcylinders are precise, and with re-gards to air and road travel, there isnothing stronger being offered today.The shells are virtually indestructible,and they ignore the weather completely.Most important, their composition be-ing non-variable, the sound formula youorder is what you receive, exactly, andit will never deteriorate.

The Spectrum Series snare drums arebroken down into four distinct formu-las. Formulas Six and Nine are twoTherrabond shellcylinders prepared forthose drummers who have enjoyed tonalwarmth of the fine old wood snares, butcomplain at their lack of crisp responseand projection. In these two formulas,there is a lack of nothing. Formula Nineis slightly brighter than Formula Six.Formulas Five and Seven are preparedfor drummers who have enjoyed thecrispness of the chrome shells, but notthe accompanying lack of tonal warmth,and tendency to choke and distort un-der power. These two formulas offercrisp response from dead center rightup to the tension hoop and projectionpower throughout the volume spectrumwhile maintaining the warm tones.Formula Five is brighter than Seven.The ebony Spectrum Series snare drumsare available in 5" x 14" on up to 10" x14".

"There is only one way to search forsounds and the right physical responsefrom a drum and that is to build drums,and build drums we did during threeyears of experimentation with proto-

types and design models," says Michael."When we began experiments, we wereconcentrating solely on snare drums.Eventually we found ourselves with foursnare drum formulas - each receiving ex-cellent reviews. About this time, weformed Milestone Percussion and movedon to challenge the bass drums and tom-toms. The amazing thing was that oncewe were happy with the snare drumsounds, we duplicated that shell formulain bass drum size and it was quite disap-pointing initially. Eventually we endedup with different shellcylinders forsnare drums, bass drums and tom-toms."

Therrabond bass drum tension hoopsare precise one piece units and shell-cylinder peripheries receive the same de-tailed attention as snare drums. To fur-ther assist the drumhead, the outsideedge of the tension hoop is shaped tomeet the molded tension claws and theinterior edge is shaped to conform tothe bass head counter hoop. The 24"and 22" drums are fitted with twentytension claws. 20" and 18" models havesixteen. Spur supports are hexagonshaped solid steel. Formula One bassdrums have superb tonal texture andwarmth qualities usually lacking in largedrums, with projection power and re-sponse underfoot like a cannon. FormulaThree bass drums, suggested in sizes15" x 18" and 16" x 20", are for theplayer who wishes that tighter and

(continued on page 19)

MILESTONEPERCUSSION

- CANADA:

Doing it their wayby STAN PETERSON

BEYOND FOREVER(continued from page 5)

ass, make his lips burn." All the whileFreddie was telling me I was playingtoo loud. When I came up it was thechic thing to be overpowering. It waship to get over. I t was during the timeTony was with Miles and Elvin was withTrane. And they were different, notonly harmonically, but the way theyapproached the beat. Both Elvin andTony played pulse, but Tony was moreon top of the beat - ride-hi-hat. Elvinwas into the DRUMS, like quarter notetriplets and stuff. They were two dif-ferent schools. It was the thing to hearpeople say, "man, that drummer wasbad. Did you hear that drummer withFreddie?" You wanted to make a voiceand to have people hear you.WALD: Do you use both stick grips?W H I T E : I used to. I still use the tradi-tional grip when I play straight ahead,but you get more power out of thematched.WALD: When you listen to a group'sdrummer, what do you like to hear?WHITE: In today's music I listen for adrummer that has built-in-ears - a guywho pushes the band. Today's drummeris what really makes the band happen.The guy who keeps the time. If the timegets weird the soloists can't play. Eventhe greatest soloist in the world can'tplay if the bottom falls out from underhim. All the great players are masters atdoing that. Buddy pushes that bandman, and he's colorful. A drummer isback there sitting. He can't move. Hehas to sit there and be colorful. He hasto be animated.WALD: Do sticks make a difference?WHITE: I use a Regal Tip 5A. They'rebetween light and heavy. I use the plas-tic tip, again, because of the clean, crispsound.WALD: What have you learned frombeing a leader?W H I T E : All about life. Basically, howto put things together. More will comethrough trial and error. At concerts, myattention was on the stage where itshouldn't be. The people became moreimpressed with me than they were withmy group. That's understandable be-cause I was the leader and the bestknown, and I felt I had to perform be-cause if I didn't, it wouldn't go over. Imight have put on better performanceshad I been more relaxed. Now I knowthat if I spread the spotlight around ittakes the pressure off any one of us. Myconcentration now is on the audiencerather than on the stage. Your attentionshould be around the whole room andnot centered in any one area. My atten-tion was on everyone on stage. I wasn'tplaying to the audience; I was playingto the guys on stage - like a quarterback

giving orders. I've also learned to playdifferently in a club than I do at a con-cert. My attent ion span must take in thewhole room - no matter how large.W A L D : Now that jazz is getting outthere, more musicians are learning toproject themselves. What's your goal?W H I T E : First, I want to become a per-sonality, then a musical personality,then a drummer. If someone tuned inand saw Buddy on the Tonight Showand never heard him play, they'd thinkhe was a comedian. I know, I can dothat. I can tell jokes. I want people tosay, "I love his music; I love the way heplays, and I love the guy." All aboutLenny White. Take Miles, for instance.Here's a guy who is loved for all thethings you're not supposed to do.WALD: What about setting up a group.Is it difficult?W H I T E : For some, I guess it is. I waswith the top group of my genre. I didn'thave to start at the bottom again. I hadthe recognition already. Business wise,you have to have something that appealsto people, not only musically - but visu-ally. You have to be an accessible com-modity. If you're not accessible, youdon't get on TV, and TV is the most im-portant medium today. More peoplecome to see the show than hear the mu-sic these days. The first thing you musthave is a musical concept. Then, you be-gin to make it salable. The classic ex-ample are the Beatles, their haircuts -clothes. People began to believe themwhen they said anything. Another ex-ample is Muhammed Ali . He's the mostfamous man in the world, and it's notbecause of boxing alone. People whohate him will also come just to see himget beat. He gets it over. He makes itaccessible. In my case, it also has tocompliment the music, or it won't workfor me.

ROCK PERSPECTIVESby DAVID LEVINE

"PLAYING ROCK TAMBOURINE"Illustrations by JEAN HIGGINS

Although there are many different types of tambourinesthey can be basically broken down into two groups, 1) thosewith heads, 2) those without. The most widely used tam-bourine in the pop field is the headless, or rock, tambourine.Commercially available rock tambourines range from 6 to 12inches in diameter and have either single or double rows ofjingles.

In choosing a tambourine pick one that is balanced; feelsright, and sounds good. It should have a clean, relatively high-pitched sound, and some after ring. I like an eight to ten inchdouble row tambourine: it provides enough volume to cutthrough a big band while being light enough to handle. Try outa few instruments, each will be a l i tt le different. I also suggestthat you put tape over the heads of the nails which will pre-vent them from falling out, leaving you with a jingle-less, head-less tambourine.

The main purpose of the rock tambourine is to reinforcethe 8th or 16th note pattern that the drummer plays on theride cymbal or hi-hat, and to accent the pattern the way thedrummer uses his snare and/or bass drums (for example on 2and 4.), repeating the basic pattern to free the drummer fromhis time keeping role and at the same time adding the char-acteristic color and maintaining the groove.

The rock tambourine can be used in almost any type ofrock music, though it fits some styles better than others. If apercussion part is not provided the percussionist should usehis ears to decide whether tambourine, another instrument, or,perhaps nothing, will add most to a particular piece.

There are two basic techniques that are used in playing rocktambourine. The first produces the 8th or 16th notes (depend-ing on the tempo) by holding the tambourine in the right handand moving it back and forth. (See illustration 1-a.) By makingthis motion the beats l,+2,+3,+4,+ will be played when theleft side of the tambourine comes in contact with the left hand.To produce accents on the off-beat 16th is a bit more difficult.Cup your left hand and hold it in such a position that the fin-gers will hit the right side of the tambourine at the top. Bymoving the hand across the top of the tambourine the heel ofthe hand will hit the left side. (See illus. 1-b.) The idea is tokeep the tambourine moving from side to side while the lefthand crosses over the top to play the accents. To do this fastand accurately requires practice.

The second way of playing produces much the same results,though the technique is quite different. In this method ofplaying the left hand will play all the accents on the left side

of the tambourine while the right hand moves the tambourinein a rotating motion, like opening a door knob, (see illus. 2-a.)In this way the 1,+, etc. will occur when the left palm inter-cepts the arc of the tambourine at the top, and the e's and ah'swill be accented when the heel of the hand hits the bottom.(See illus. 2-b.) The basic idea here is to move the left hand tohit the top or bottom of the tambourine while the right handkeeps the pulse going. This technique is harder to master but ismore showy and allows the rhythms to be played at fastertempos. •

The following examples will help develop the techniquesI've discussed. Practice at various speeds using both playingmethods.

Using either technique figure out how to play these pat-terns:

All of the above may be used in actual playing situations.One particularly effective pattern is to play 16th notes, accent-ing all the +'s while drummer is playing straight rock time(accenting 2 and 4.) This gives a double-time feel. Other pat-terns that I frequently use are:

Try playing pattern L using the first technique and hittingthe tambourine lightly on your chest to accent the down-beats.

Always remember to play under the drummer, to reinforcehis beat, and to help keep the beat and groove going at thesame time.

Reprinted from Percussive Notes Magazine, an official publica-tion of The Percussive Arts Society. (Vol. 14, No.3)

JAZZ DRUMMERS WORKSHOPby MICKY EARNSHAW

A NEW LOOK AT THE TRADITIONAL ROLLS

The standard rudimental open rolls, based upon the double-stroke roll, are standard knowledge to most drummers. If webegin the traditional double-stroke roll on its second note, weobtain an open roll with a distinctly different flavor (see be-low). If we then base the rudimental open rolls upon this newfoundation, we obtain a series of new rolls with a variety offresh possibilities.

ROLL TRADITIONAL NEW

The reader is encouraged to write out and practice the new11, 15, and 17-stroke rolls. The sharp attack and crisp ending- difficult or impossible to achieve with the traditional stick-ings - make these new rolls especially effective. A proper exe-cution requires strong and even double strokes - to give therolls a clean single-stroked sound.

Single-stroked accents can be played out of the new openroll, as illustrated below. After each accent, the roll is "turnedaround" to lead with the opposite hand.

Applications of these rolls to the drum set are innumer-able. One idea is to play the first or the last note with the bassdrum. Some examples:

Try playing the 5-stroke rolls in this rhythm with the varia-tions which follow.

The foregoing discussion and examples indicate just a fewof the many possibilities of these new rolls. Your own creativeimagination combined with technical mastery of these rollswill be the best source of additional variations, and of effectiveapplications to the drum set in your own style.

RUDIMENTAL SYMPOSIUMby BOBBY CONNORS

THE SWISS RUDIMENTS - A BRIEF INSIGHT

Since the onset of our Rudimental Symposium series, we'vehad several requests to supply some information on the inter-esting Swiss Rudiments. Though the American and Swiss rudi-ments have great similarities, the Swiss system - as you willsee - presents a considerably greater problem in terms of pre-cise and uniform execution by a line of drummers as opposedto the 26 standard rudiments established by the AmericanNARD.

The rudiments below are just a few examples of some ofthe more popular Swiss rudiments which have been absorbedby the American corps drummer to some degree. Though theactual Swiss notation is different from ours, I've used the stan-dard American system in the examples to simplify things.

Basically, the Swiss rudimentalist uses flams in unusual anddifficult places within the rudiment; places that most Ameri-can drum corps players would avoid since a uniformity of ex-ecution becomes considerably more difficult to atta in . There isalso a marked difference between the American cadence whichis usually between 128 and 132 beats per minute, and the Swisscadence which is about 90 per minute. The slower cadence, ofcourse, allows for the execution of more complex rudimentalpatterns. Let's look at a few examples:

The Swiss triplet is perhaps the most commonly used Swissrudiment in the American drum corps. The rudiment is similarto our Flam Accent, however notice the double sticking on thefirst two notes of each triplet.

When notated and executed in 16th note triplet form at afaster tempo, the effect is similar to a double stroke roll with aflam in it.

American corps drummers use a rudiment called a Patti-Fla-Fla which also has Swiss origins.

The Swiss also use a 5 and 7 stroke roll which is differentfrom ours. Notice the inclusion of the flam on the stroke justprior to the final note of the roll.

5 Stroke Roll:

7 Stroke Roll:

The Swiss also use flams on the first stroke of a roll.

The Swiss rudimental system is certainly complex, present-ing some very unique execution problems. This article is in noway meant to be a complete treatise on the subject, however,for those who asked - I hope it has given you somewhat of abetter understanding and insight into the Swiss system of rudi-mental drumming.

DRIVERS SEAT

Tips from BUTCH MILES

A big band is many things. It can betop-heavy and cumbersome, or to quotea certain well-known world champion,it can float like a butterfly and sting likea bee. One minute it can be the delicatesound of Basie's Lil' Darlin, then turnaround and roll over you like the jug-gernaut that is Buddy Rich's West SideStory Medley. Power; force, beauty,colors, smiles - a big band is all of thesethings. Likewise, a drummer in a bigband must be aware of the followingconcepts; he must be able to shade everso subtly behind a soloist, explode withfury and power in an ensemble passage,solo (if required) with style, grace, all ofthe technical acumen needed, and aboveall, underscore all of the rhythmic anddynamic passages never losing the beat.

A big band drummer can be com-pared to the driver of a super bus, thecaptain of the greatest ship afloat, orthe pilot of a 747. It's an incredible re-sponsibility and yet there's no otherfeeling like it on the face of the earthwhen it all comes together — andWORKS! But it's not all that simple.You don't get up one morning and pro-claim to everyone that you're a big banddrummer. There's an awful lot of workinvolved.

There are, merely a handful of topbig band drummers like Buddy Rich,Louie Bellson, Peter Erskine, Mel Lewis,Ed Shaughnessey, Sonny Payne, and afew others. The reasons for the extreme-ly small membership in this club is sim-ple. These talented men can direct, cata-pult, enhance, and INSPIRE 16 or 17other musicians. All of the drummersmentioned above are without exception,top-flight team players no matter whattheir solo capacity is. That's the keyword - TEAM.

That big band will be composed of16, 17, 18 or more musicians playingtogether. Now you've got 18 feet tap-ping at different times. It's your job tomake it sound like they're all tappingtogether. To do this, you must be strong.YOU must lead from the drum chair. Itmust be cohesive and a TEAM. There'svery little room for super-egos in ateam situation. So it is the same in abig band. You must play together —it's all teamwork. That band is a ma-chine that has to be kept functioningproperly. That's YOUR job also. Theband and the music are the importantthings, not how your hair looks on

stage or how high you can move yourarms and hands.

Big bands are different. I know thatstatement need not even be written formost of the drummers who are readingthis, but there may be some who areunder the misconception that becausemany big bands have the same instru-mentation, they will all sound the same.Not so. They will ALL differ in sound.

Ellington is a symphonic-concert jazzband; Basie is straight-ahead, special-phrasing, swinging-the-blues; Woody Her-man is high powered, high tempo jazzand blues with forays into rock; BuddyRich moves from 1940's swing to 1977disco; Kenton is concert based withshifting rhythms and time signatures;Maynard will swing hard and rock hard;Harry James will be intense jazz, andsoft, subtle dance tunes - and so on.The point is that they're all different.You may sound great with Maynardand very out of place with James. Youmust be aware of the special sounds andspecial needs of each of these bands, orwhichever band you might be workingwith.

Here are some tips:SUPPORT. If the band has a diffi-

cult passage, support them strongly. Letthem rely on you for cues and dynamics.

DON'T GET IN THE WAY. There'sno reason for you to play somethingrhythmically difficult if it detracts.Simplify it. You're responsible for keep-ing the band together.

DIRECT. Learn the entrances for en-sembles and cue them in with authority.Always let the band know where theyare.

DON'T OVERPLAY. Sometimes awell-placed rim shot in an arrangementhas more impact than 10,000 notes.Learn the importance of silence.

KEEP THE ENERGY LEVEL UP.There's nothing that sounds as sad as aband dying in the middle of a passage.

LEARN THE CHART. Get yournose out of the music and be comfort-able.

LEARN TO PHRASE. This is an artin itself. You don't have to play everynote the band plays. Let them breathe.Learn when to punch, and when to backoff. Talk to the leaders of the other sec-tions and ask them exactly what theymight want in the way of support in anensemble passage. They may have somevery valid ideas that you hadn't thought

of. Don't be afraid to ask.TIME. Never lose sight of the fact

that you're the keeper of the time.That's the first and foremost job of abig band drummer - much more so thanthat of a small group drummer.

LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN. Learnthe nuances, the dynamics of the ar-rangements. My boss, Count Basie, putit all together when he simply said,"LISTEN". As a big band drummer,you must be listening all of the time;listen to the soloist and support him;listen to the ensemble and guide them —cue them correctly; listen to the dynam-ics and play within that framework, butmost importantly, listen to the overallsound and to yourself in the whole pic-ture. Do you detract or do you support?A tape recorder is a great help. Listento yourself on tape and be your biggestcritic. That tape recorder never lies.

Please remember, in a big band, thecues, the pivot points, the dynamics,shading, and strengths OR weaknessescome from you — the big band drum-mer. YOU'RE in the drivers' seat. Agreat band with a bad drummer willmuddle through somehow, but a fairband with a great drummer will alwaysbe outstanding.

Learning how to be a good big banddrummer is a never-ending process.There's always something to learn andsomeone who knows more about it thanyou. Unfortunately, you can't reallylearn how to kick that band out of abook. It takes time, effort, and work.It's one of the few situations in lifewhere you must do it to learn it. Prac-tice, learn and LISTEN. It's up to you.Good luck - and straight ahead.

SHOW & STUDIO

Are two or more drummers on that track even though thejacket only credits one? Why can't I get that sound from mydrums? How can that drummer be coordinating all of thosecomplex patterns between snare, bass and cymbal at the sametime? Sound at all familiar?

Anyone who's ever sat down to listen to a recording andmarvelled at the astounding complexities of some of the mod-ern rock drumming has probably asked himself some of theabove questions. What teacher hasn't experienced the awe-stricken student who shows up, LP under arm, exclaiming,"I can't believe it; how is he doing that; can you show mewhat he's doing?" Very often, efforts at transcribing provefutile, and for a very simple reason - the marvels of moderneight to sixteen track recording studio techniques.

In an effort to help the impressionable student, who mightbe unfamiliar with the wonders of the board, understand thatwhat he hears in the final mix is not necessarily what wentdown the first time through, MI) enlisted the expertise ofrecording man Frank Rizzo of the Friendship RecordingStudio.

If you've ever remarked - "that guy plays like he's gotsixteen hands" - maybe he does! Read on.

Most modern recording is done on multi-track systems,(Systems with 4, 8, 16 or 32 tracks).

When recording in a studio with a multi-track' system, awide amount of ef fects and f l ex ib i l i ty can be achieved. In anybasic four-track, eight-track or sixteen track studio, here iswhat's basically done.

Separate tracks are recorded and then mixed togetherthrough the use of a mix ing board into the final recording.Let us take a Four-Track recording as an example. Let's saywe are recording a four piece group consisting of Drums, Gui-tar, Bass and Piano. In the in i t i a l recording, each instrumentwil l have its own track. In the mixdown, these four separatetracks wil l be taken and converted to two signals, thus givingus Stereo. Or one signal giving us mono.

An important factor in recording is to maintain separation be-tween the tracks. Amplifiers should be separated from eachother and Baff les should be placed in front of the speakers.

Drums are best separated by the use of a drummer's booth.Four microphones are sufficient for miking the drums, onemicrophone for the Bass drum, one placed in between thesnare and high-hat, one for the floor Tom (s) and one overheadmicrophone for the entire set. Of course, additional micro-phones can be added, and a separate mixer can be used for thedrums alone.

This would be a straight Four-Track recording. Four signalsmixed down to two. The four instruments could be mixeddown into Stereo or Mono in the first mixing stage also, leav-ing extra tracks open for the final mix.

Tracks already recorded can be monitored back to the play-er so that at any time other tracks can be added to it. With thiseffect known as "Overdubbing", one person could be his ownband. A drummer could easily be his own rhythm ensembleand a singer could be his own back-up choir. One track is re-corded, it is then monitored back so that the second can beadded, both are monitored back, a third is added and so on.

Using the same four instruments, let's use a totally differ-ent approach. The Piano, Guitar Bass and Drums can all berecorded "Live" in Mono thus leaving three tracks to workwith. This would supply us with a basic rhythm track. Soloinstruments could then be added later on their own tracks.The basic rhythm track could not be changed later in thefinal mix though, as far as bringing each instrument outseparately.

In eight-track and sixteen track recording the same con-cepts apply, but a whole new range of possibilities is openedup.

In a sixteen track recording, five separate tracks can be usedfor the drums; one track for the Bass drum, one for the snaredrum, one for the High-Hat and the rest of the set in Stereo ontwo tracks. A piano would be miked with two microphones,one for the lower register and one for the high register. Withso many separate tracks to work with, perfect balance can beachieved in the final mixes.MIXING - Mixing is the most important part of a recording.Every mix done can create an entirely different feel to a song.Signals coming into the board can be directed onto the tapeto achieve any effect desired. Equalizing units can be used toalter the tone of the instruments.

Basically during a Stereo mixdown, each track can bedirected to the right or to the left, but most boards offer pan-ning controls which allow placement of a track anywhere fromright, left, middle, to anywhere in-between. In mixing down,drums can be broken up into the right and to the left for afuller sound. There are endless possibilities to mixing. We havecombined electronic Rhythm Aces on one track along with adrummer on another track, with separate percussion parts overthat. Vocals can be mixed with the voice coming straight outof the right side while echo, phase, etc. is coming out of theleft. Different tracks at different speeds can be mixed to-gether. Next time you listen to an album, listen closely, didthe drummer really play all that at once?

2. Tone, color, effects are added. Balance is achieved.

3. Basic 4—Track Recording 4. Four signals are mixed downinto either Stereo or Mono.

1 . Four Separate Signals

MILESTONE PERCUSSION-CANADA(continued from page 12)

warmer tonal texture. Formula Two isdesigned for the player who prefers thephysically smaller ensemble, but who isstill called upon to perform rock, popand jazz. Formula Two blends the char-acteristics of One and Three.

"We've got the number one drums inthe whole wide world. We take a nicethick 2B and clobber the shells and bassdrum hoops with quiet theatrics - butit's all the sound and warm, warm tonesthat get 'em. We have one hundredcolors to choose from, and though weleave size choices up to the individual,we do have eleven suggested ensembles."

Tom-toms have all precision moldedtension hoops, with twelve housings onmounted toms and twenty on floortoms. In the works are the new "highpitched" series. 10" diameters will havedepths varying from 6" to 10". The 8"diameters will run from 5 1/2" to 8" indepth. Up to 7" will have 4 housingsand 8 rods, and over 7" depths willhave 8 housings and 8 rods. Floor tom-tom legs are hexagon shape solid steelfor strength and flared at the bottomfor stability. All metal fittings are highlypolished, then quadruple plated. TheTwinpillar tom mount assemblies, 1/2"cold rolled steel dowels, are built towithstand the most punishing perform-ances, while offering maximum posi-tions with minimum maneuvers.

Milestone may be a new name tomost, but not to all. "We're receivinginquiries and orders from drummersand drum shops all over now; Feedbackfrom owners has been delightful - fromyour everyday hard working unknown,to the top flight professionals."

To top everything off, Milestonegives to the original purchaser a lifetimeguarantee against defects in materialsand workmanship on all metal tensionhoops, Therrabond bass tension hoopsand Therrabond shellcylinders.

"Our wish is very simply to preparean ensemble that will meet each drum-mer's requirements exactly. We're tryingvery hard to keep prices within thedrummer's reach and thus far, every-thing has fallen into place the way wehoped it would. I should also thank,what is surely, hundreds of drummerswho gave of their time, experience andencouragement throughout."

If it's hand crafted equipment withthose fine personal touches you'reafter, look no more. Milestone may beyour answer. We see nothing but goodthings in sight for this young, up andcoming company - doing it their way.Further information on the Milestoneline of drum equipment can be had bywriting to: Milestone Percussion, Ltd.,977 Pinewell Crescent, Richmond, Brit-ish Columbia, Canada. V7A 2C7.

DRUM SOLOISTby LOWELL SCHIFF

Transcription and Analysis

- MAX ROACH

The following is excerpted from a soon to be released in-struction manual on jazz drumming by Lowell Schiff, entitledToward a Theory of Jazz Drumming.

Album: Deeds Not Words. Title of Tune: Jody 's Cha-Cha.

Max Roach's artistic development in the late 40's andearly 50's made it clear that an evolutionary change had oc-curred in jazz drumming. The pre-40's style of soloing was tokeep time with a steady beat on the bass drum. In this soloyou don't hear a steady bass drum. You do, however, hear awalking bass throughout.

Leaving out the bass drum not only allowed, but forced thedrummer to learn more about time and phrases and form; andthe drum set in general. The drummer had to internalize the"time" - to feel the steady flow of time without having tostate it, and to feel it so strongly that he could play syncopa-tions utilizing four limbs without losing the time flow. Nowthat the bass drum was no longer restricted to playing a steadybeat, it could be used as an integral part of the rhythmic line.

The displacement of the beat with the bass drum has a pro-foundly disorienting effect on the listener, and thus, lends it-self to a most favorable syncopation when integrated into therhythmic line. EX. measures 3 & 4, 17 through 20, 27 & 28.Notice how often in this solo Max will end one phrase on thebeat, then answer that phrase with another ending off the beatwith the bass drum. EX. measures 9 & 1 1 , 33-36.

It's as if playing and accenting an off-beat eighth note in

ED. NOTE: The notation below may, at first glance, appear confusingto those of us accustomed to five line drum set notation. However withcareful scrutiny and study, one will recognize that Mr. Schiff has cre-

Key to notation:

the bass were so rhythmically profound that it disorients us"time", and a certain amount of time must elapse before wecan recover. How much space to leave is a delicate issue. MaxRoach is the master of this, so great is his sensitivity to theflow. His phrases breathe and are very conversational; neverhyper; sounding like a relaxed exploration of favorable rhyth-mic groupings and resolutions utilizing the whole drum set andwithin the structure of the music.

In measures 21 & 22, with the use of just six notes, Maximplies a feeling of three; not quite enough to shake you outof four; but before you can stop and say, "Hey, look what Ijust heard", he segues with a succession of role-like tripletsinto the next idea. The feeling of anticipation producedthroughout this solo is uncanny. He sort of teases you withbrief syncopations or brief implied superimpositions of three-four; then leaves you wanting more.

In measures 47 & 48, Max superimposes a 3/4 pulse whichhe resolves on the first beat of measure 49 with a strong bassdrum and cymbal crash. He sets up the same exact rhythmstarting on measure 57, this time sustaining the 3/4 feel throughmeasure 59. Then he sort of triplet-rolls us into the final fourbars. Meanwhile the listener who has just been ravaged, hismental barlines broken down; his temporal equilibrium demol-ished by three full measures of superimposed 3/4 time, has somuch residual tension built up, that for him, the release doesn'tcome until the band hits in on the first beat of the "out-chorus".

So, that's it - a beautifully formed, musically relevantdrum solo. Max Roach was the man who showed the worldwhat it could really sound like.

ated a system which accounts for the various drums and the rhythmicnotation all on a one line format; a system we find most refreshing andingenious.

TABLA TALK(continued from page 9)

big sound. Then, I did also . . . I said,"maybe after the big sound whatever wedo will be nice and mellow." But it wasa big challenge. It was totally impro-vised. I was not really, really ready forit.MD: It was totally improvised? Youdidn't have any idea what you weregonna do?BR: Very, very slightly. Very slightly.MD: Like the last piece you did seemedto have some structure . . .BR: (delighted) Last piece was totallyimprovised! Had nothing to do with thelast piece, (laughs) The last piece wastotally improvised!MD: While you play tabla, you alsochant. What is your native language?BR: Bengali. But I sing in tabla lan-guage. Those words are meant for tablaonly. What we play in tabla, we cansing: Dha, Dhin, Na, Ta . . . and so on.MD: It's amazing the way you applytabla to jazz. Like on Sweet Hands, orwith Miles, you even get into a funkykind of beat . . .BR: I love jazz, man. I feel it has a lotof depth in it. I'm past that age of rockand roll, and all that. I don't say I haterock and roll, cuz I love that too. Listenman, I'd like to play with James Brownor a group like the Jackson Five! I justhave that feeling.MD: Of the drmmers you have playedwith over here, which one had the bestfeel for tabla?BR: Al Foster . . . Jeff Williams.MD: Is there anyone you'd like to playwith in the future?BR: I would like to work with KeithJarrett someday, and Jack DeJohnette.MD: Have you ever played other kindsof percussion, like traps, congas, bongos,anything?BR: No. I play other Indian drums,like mridangam, dholak, khol, . . . .there are lots of instruments in India,you know. I mean, you go to the North,they have five or six kinds. You go tothe South, they have 5-6 kinds. Go tothe village, they have some. Altogetherdifferent sounds! That makes India real-ly great. They have different drums, dif-ferent textures.MD: I like to see music that spans thegap between two different cultures.BR: I still say it, man. It's still a bigchallenge. For me, tabla and bass . . . togo out and hold it there for an hour anda half . . . big challenge. I felt I could ex-

press what I wanted to.MD: How about keeping time, jazzmeters versus Indian meters? Do youhave any problems playing jazz?BR: One thing I've seen . . . when it isreally bebop jazz, man, tabla doesn'treally go. When it's really pure jazz, orbebop, I sit there and don't do any-thing. When it becomes contemporary,freer, even also with funk rhythm, thenI come in. And I feel that tabla is givinga lot of beautiful colors and direction.

Just to give one example, with MilesI got this experience. For instance, he'splaying really loud, right? And every-body's burning. And I'm playing tabla. . . nobody's hearing me. I have five orten microphones . . . and nobody's hear-ing me! Then he always used to shuteverybody up like this . . . sshlih . . .and complete silence. And from thatbig sound into tabla right away . . . itwas such a nice thing to come to. Itwas such another direction, really beau-tiful. And that five minutes that I usedto play, I felt like playing for all day . . .and Miles knew. Miles knew what totake from that. Even though I wasburied for an hour, playing but not get-ting any sound . . . I mean, that wasgreat!MD: Can regular jazz or rock drummersdo anything to "Easternize" their play-ing?BR: There are ways. I don't have anygood written material on Indian rhyth-ms, so I have started writing a book. Itwill be completed by the end of thisyear.MD: What about American students ofthe tabla? How can they learn to play?BR: They have a school for tabla mas-ters in San Francisco, the AH AkbarKhan School of Music.MD: You hold a Master's Degree instatistics from NYU. You could be earn-ing a large salary in computer program-ming. And yet, you seem completelydedicated to playing tabla . . .BR: Well, here I am, man: trying todo, trying to give, trying to learn. Musicis so beautiful, you know? I mean, Icould have done my nine to five job andearned more money and be financiallywell off, or whatever, you know. Com-puters and statistics and all that. Butthat's not me. Here I am. I like it. Ireally like it.

EDITOR'S OVERVIEW(continued from page 1)

transcription are mere samplings of themany points of interest in our columnlineup for Fall '77.

We've used our standard Just Drumscolumn this issue to highlight the hap-penings at this year's National Associa-tion of Music Merchants Convention.Our man in Atlanta this year was RobCook, bringing us up to date via a fas-cinating photo essay on the drum com-panies represented at the show, andsome of the remarkable new productson the market.

The drum companies participating atthe NAMM show also says a lot more toall of us then simply "look what's new".I believe it clearly points out the basicfact that our industry is more alive andvibrant than ever. It's an industry that'son the move, ever changing and improv-ing. Surely a great era for the seriousdrummer to be alive, and I hope we'vereflected that fact in this and past issuesof MD. One thing is for sure. We'll bebringing you the top artists, the latestadvances, and the most complete cover-age we possibly can with every issue ofthe coming year. Modern Drummer -like the industry we represent - is alsovery much on the move, and we lookforward to moving ahead together dur-ing the months to come.

EDITOR

INDUSTRY HAPPENINGSby SUSAN ALEXANDER

BELLSON meets COBHAM ..."This is the first time anything like

this has happened since Buddy Rich andGene Krupa did it in 1938." LloydMcCausland of Remo was obviouslypleased about the Louie Bellson/BillyCobham weekend drum workshop andconcert at Cal State University, North-ridge in Los Angeles. Says McCausland,"Louie and Billy were in Remo's of-fice when Billy suggested they shouldget together to do a joint clinic. Louiethought it would be great to do it at auniversity, and tie it in with the educa-tional program." Joel Leach, Professorof Music at CSUN, and President of theNational Association of Jazz Educators,was contacted, and the idea was set intomotion.

The organizers were expecting 150participants, but the event attractedclose to 300 people from places as faraway as Mexico and Alaska.

The workshop consisted of Louieand Billy each leading two workshopsthe first day, and a joint clinic the sec-ond day. Closing out the agenda was aconcert with the two drummers and theCSUN jazz band, featuring a piece writ-ten for the event by Louie. This concert($3.50 for the public, and free for work-shop participants) and the student regis-tration fee helped defray costs and raisedfunds for the CSUN Music Department.

Since participants covered the spec-trum from beginner to pro (includingsuch luminaries as Carmine Appice andLes DeMerle), the general format wasquestion and answer. There was con-siderable interest in Billy's North Drums.These fibreglass instruments open endsare fanned up and out, very much likean ancient horn, delivering the sound di-rectly to the audience without benefitof miking.

Billy also demonstrated his Moogdrums, which consisted of two smallbongo-sized drums patched into asynthesizer. The result is when eitherdrum is struck, the synthesizer emits ahigh frequency sound which can be ad-justed and changed. These drums wereused mostly as sound effects.

Billy feels his custom-made kit ofrosin and fibreglass projects more thanwood shell drums. His approach to thedouble bass drums is that he plays themlike a snare, only with his feet. "Thekey is to know when to use the secondbass drum, and when not to use it." He

thinks that writing, as well as getting in-to another instrument, helps drummersbecome more melodic percussionists.

Along with his standard kit, Louiebrought along a set with three bassdrums and the three accompanyingsnare drums. He also demonstrated acomplete set of Rerno Roto drums, in-cluding two Roto bass drums and aRoto snare! The snare sounded almostidentical to the familiar standard snare.The pitch of a Roto drum is changedby turning the drum by hand. Remo ispresently working on improvements anddeveloping a more practical method ofturning the drums, thereby freeing bothhands for playing.

Louie and Billy both stressed the im-portance of rudiments. Billy made thepoint that when coming into a gig cold,he knows he can rely on the rudimentsto get him through until he is warmedup. Also emphasized was attitude; "IfBilly Cobham can do it, I can do it."

Billy practices yoga to relax, whileLouie practices the oriental art of Akido.Both felt that one of the keys to goodplaying is knowing that one's powerpoint, or key, is in the area around thebase of the spine. One must learn tomake the energy flow from the keydown the legs to the feet, and up theback and down the arms to the hands.A very important point is to remem-ber to pace one's self, and use one'senergy conservatively. Louie observed,"the most important thing you can doas a drummer is to propel the band."

He feels the best way for a drummer tobuild stamina is by playing every nightin a band, as opposed to practicingalone.

Both gentlemen agreed on the im-portance of good health - a drummer,much like an athlete, must be in goodshape at all times. This means maintain-ing a healthy diet and exercising regu-larly.

Plans are being made for the work-shop to take to the road. "We have com-mitments from Louie and Billy for Oc-tober and January workshops," saysMcCausland. "We've learned from ourCSUN experience, and will be incorpor-ating ideas for improvements in ourfuture workshops. One idea is to passout materials with prewritten exercisesand examples of what Billy and Louieare talking about -- something the stu-dent can take home and work on."

McCausland says he has all the de-tails, including how much the schoolcan expect to make if they follow allthe steps, for any school interested induplicating this successful clinic. This isobtainable from him at Remo, Inc.,12804 Raymer Street, North Holly-wood, California 91605. Says McCaus-land, "It would be a prestigious, educa-tional workshop and fund raiser." Itcertainly turned out that way at CSUN.As Joel Leach stated at the close of theconcert, "If we get a good reaction, we'lldo it again." There is no doubt that theworkshop received a very enthusiasticresponse.

JUST DRUMSby ROB COOK

Over 13,000 members of the musicindustry converged on Atlanta, Georgia,for the annual "NAMM InternationalEXPO". For most exhibitors the NAMMEXPO is the major advertising and pro-motional event of the year; they natu-rally try their darndest to have new (orat least improved) products to intro-duce. Atlanta was certainly no disap-pointment for drummers in that re-spect - there were new drums, newsticks and beaters, new pedals and acces-sories, new hardware, new cases, and ex-citing new electronics.

Ludwig introduced new molded drum cases(5 sizes only) which are durable, water re-pellent, and lightweight. The new "aerialtom toms" are 1" longer than conventionalsizes, and in this picture are fitted with re-movable "sound reflectors" (available sep-arately) .

SLINGERLAND'S NEW PRODUCTS

Marching drums angled for tonal projection.

2 to 1 snare 12 lugs on the top head, 6 onthe bottom.

"Do It Yourself" finish - The customer cansubmit any type or artwork, and Slingerlandwill put it in pearl.

Tubular leg stands, with nylon bushings.

PEARL VARI-SET

Nashville recording artist Larrie Londin onPearl Drums and Zildjian cymbals. This sethad no floor cymbal stands: cymbals weremounted with Pearl's new booms that attachto bass drum hardware.

TAMA INNOVATIONS

Octobans-small plexiglass drums of varyinglengths .

Microphone stands that mount on outfithardware.

Heavy floor stands (with wheels) for mountedbass drums (Cobham style) and melodic

REMO DISPLAYED TWO NEWPRODUCT LINES

Double thickness "Pin Stripe" heads for the"heavy" sound.

Roto-tom reflectors for directing the sound.

Sue Vogel from Evans with new concert-tomsize blue head and head with tambourinejingles. Evans also introduced a mirror-goldhead.

New from SONOR: Concert tom outfits, 3metallic finishes, and a snare drum made from"a highly secret special metal".

The Balter mallet company displayed newdrum set beaters.

Mike Snead and Erica Appleton from MsPerc(Miscellaneous Percussion) show MD a coupleof their more unusual products: Leather bootprotectors (developed for a drummer who wasruining $200.00 boots on his drum, set) and ahi hat cover that allows packing of the hi hatwithout removing the cymbals. The firm alsomakes a line of cymbal bags, drum covers,stick bags, leather washers and pedal straps,etc.

GRETSCH has now joined the swing to heav-ier hardware and metallic finishes.

A seldom seen but much needed new productfrom Ambico (importers of Camber cymbals)- corduroy cymbal cuffs for travel protection.

Conrad Feirn of Distex, Inc. A man attunedto the case needs of drummers. His best casesare foam-lined fiber, with a polyurethane fin-ish available in several colors. Each stock sizedrum case is made in "regular" and "large" toallow for the bulkier hardware that some man-ufacturers use.

ALSO R E P R E S E N T E D AT NAMM-

LATIN P E R C U S S I O N

ROGERS

FIBES

PREMIER

NORTH

ASBA LARGEST DRUM COMPANYIN FRANCE

Before you draw your final conclu-sions about what the NAMM-introducedproducts signify for today's drummers,where the industry is headed, and whereit should be headed, it may be helpfulto consider the comments of the pro-prietors of three of the largest percus-sion centers in the country —BOB Y E A G E R , of the PROFESSIONALDRUM SHOP, HOLLYWOOD, CALIF.

There were a lot of very nice pro-ducts, nice exhibits - a very good show.I handle all the major lines, so I don'twant .to hurt anyone's feelings bysingling out specific products. The onlyplug I can think of is Joe Pollard'sSyndrum. It's the first electronic drumthat makes any sense. The others in thepast have been all noise and distortion.MARTY LISHON, of FRANK'S DRUMSHOP, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Overall, I think it was a good show -there was great dealer participation.There are a number of things that thecompanies could do better — all of thecompanies tend to confine the customerwith stock drum sets that make him adrummer, not a total percussionist. Ifyou look at the catalogs from 20 yearsago, you see sets with accessories liketemple blocks, etc. I think the com-panies should worry more about thatthan the skyscraper cymbal stand race.I think Larry Linkin of Slingerland real-ly deserves credit for going against the"rock craze" grain with his display ofmarching percussion manikins.

The endorsement thing has reallygotten out of hand. I'd have 9 or 10companies drag me into their booth andtell me the same people were using allof their products. There's very littlecredibility in endorsements anymore.I did see some new products with realpotential — especially the Syndrum.It's the first electronic device that reallycan make sounds like a drum.FRANK IPPOLITO, of PROFESSION-AL PERCUSSION CENTER, NEWYORK CITY

I couldn't wait to leave. The only

reason I go to those things is to meetwith friends who have drum shops . . .as far away as Hawaii. A lot of moneywas spent, and that's all the companiescare about. There's no one there (atexhibitor's booths) that I can talk toabout percussion; nobody really knowsanything. You watch — the importantinnovations all come out of the bigdrum shops —then three years later thecompanies market the same ideas at aN A M M EXPO.

If your local drum shop or musicstore cannot supply you with more in-formation about the products reviewedin MD's N A M M EXPO coverage, writedirectly to the companies at the addresslisted below. They will be glad to sendyou literature, answer your questions,and in most cases send you the name ofthe dealers in your area who stock theirproducts.AMBICO, INC., 101 Horton Ave.Lynbrook, N. Y. 11563ASBA, 1 1 , Rue H.-Barbusse, 94450Brevannes, FranceMIKE BALTER MALLETS, 6 5 1 5 N.Seeley Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60645DISTEX CORP., P.O. Box 958, Bremen,Georgia 30110DURALINE, 9014 Lindblade St.,Culver City, California 90230EVANS, Box 58, Dodge City, Kansas67801FIBES, 1500 New Highway, Farming-dale, L. I., New York 11735GRETSCH, 1801 Gilbert Ave.,Cincinnati, Ohio 45202LATIN PERCUSSION, 454 CommercialAve., Palisades Park, New Jersey 07650LUDWIG INDUSTRIES, 1728 S.Damen Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60647McPERC, 475 Valencia, San Francisco,California 94103NORTH DRUMS, c/o Music Tech. Inc.105 Fifth Ave., Garden City Park,New York 11040PEARL DRUMS, 7373 N. Cicero Ave.Lincolnwood, Illinois 60646PER DEL, 4466 Industrial St.,Simi Valley, California 93063POLLARD, 3749 South Robertson Blvd.Culver City, California 90230PREMIER, c/o Selmer, Box 310,Elkhart, Indiana 46514REMO, 12804 RaymerSt . ,No. Hollywood, California 91605ROGERS DRUM CO., 1300 E. Valencia,Fullerton, California 92631SLINGERLAND DRUM CO., 6633 MU-waukee Ave., Niles, Illinois 60648SONOR, c/o Chas. Alden Music Co.Southwest Industrial Park,Westwood, Ma. 02090TAMA, c/o Elger, P.O. Box 469,16948 Winchester Rd.,Cornwells Heights, Pa. 19020STAR INSTRUMENTS, INC.P.O. Box 71,Stafford Springs, Conn. 06076

WANTED: Four octave marimba. LarryFried, 1067 Cedar Drive South, NewHyde Park, N. Y. (516) 746-0553.

DRUM GOODIES! Recorded home-study drum courses, Rock, Conga. Un-usual, hard-to-find percussion items.Catalog free. TIP, 9926 Haldeman,Suite 24A, Dept. MD-2, Philadelphia,Pa. 19115.

WANTED: Four or 41/3 Octave rose-wood marimba. Win Winfree, 406 So.Armistead Avenue, Apt. #3, Hampton,Va. 23669 (304)-722-8456.

CHET DOBOE DRUM SCHOOL - THEFUNK DRUMMING CORRESPOND-ENCE PROGRAM - Get your drummingtogether by studying the styles of Cob-ham, Gadd, Mason, Purdie, Garribaldi,and More! Transcripts, records andcassettes will help you master the funkcliches! Author of forthcoming book onFunk Drumming. For free l iterature,write: Chet Doboe Drum School, 51Searing Street, Hempstead, New York11550 (516) 483-8910.