Rhythm

We all have our own groove, but what exactly is it, why is it so important and how can we improve it? From my experience, it’s a wonderful pulse with great syncopation that feels good and makes people want to move. As drummers, we are the engine room

Practising along to your favourite songs sounds like a great idea, but, if we’re honest, it can be a total nightmare. First, you have to turn the track up to deafening levels to hear it over your own playing. Then, your kit sounds completely alien al

Sabian’s 21" HHX Groove Ride cymbal is amazingly versatile with its modern, dark attributes. It combines sharp definition with beautiful tone to give high-quality, funky sounds to provide top-end shimmer whilst retaining plenty of stick articulations

Premier’s revolutionary look after 1946 was a complete change from the ’30s with the richly chromed die-cast hardware leading the world in quality. The first version of the famous ‘Red P’ block logo enamelled badge seen here was replaced in 1952 with

In 1940 the UK’s Premier Drum Company was bombed out of London and relocated north to Leicester in order to continue its vital war work. This work required a step up in engineering precision and expertise in die-casting, that in turn enabled Premier

FREE’s kit includes: Mapex Quantum Agility snares, Mapex Qualifier tenors, ErgoSonic Marching bass drums, Mapex Armory drum-set, Majestic percussion (marimba, vibraphone, timpani), Sabian cymbals, Evans drumheads, Promark sticks Brian’s personal setu

22"x14" bass drum 12"x8" rack tom, 16"x16" floor tom and 14"x5½" Ludwig Black Beauty snare “My first kit was a red Gretsch Blackhawk, and with Niall I’m using a Broadkaster. The shells are quite thin and give you that really nice low-end sound from t

With an unquenchable thirst for new drum gear, Tom is perfectly placed to be Rhythm’s reviews editor. He’s not only a longstanding member of our review team but also a lecturer at BIMM and a busy performing drummer. You may recognise Tom as the man b

In this, the 300th issue of our beloved Rhythm magazine, we bring you everything you need to know about Roland’s recently announced VAD706 e-kit. The surprise release of its latest flagship offering has caused quite a stir in the e-drumming community

“When I first met Jeff at a studio in Santa Monica, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The feel and depth of musicality was amazing. Then he walked out and I saw him outside. He said, ‘Man, I can’t play today’, and I thought, ‘What? Are you jokin

The RHYTHM RECOMMENDED award is given to those products that score seven or eight out of ten. These are products that, although not quite scoring top marks, are strong products in their field. The RHYTHM STAR BUY is awarded to those products that s

Ralph Peterson has passed away at the age of 58 after a six-year battle with cancer. The jazz titan died at his US home on March 1st. Peterson came to the attention of many in 1983 when he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. He became a band leader

Getting used to playing in a linear style fluently takes time, as does utilising rudiments in fills. Once you’ve mastered these skills, the task of creating something original and musical presents another challenge, so in this lesson, we’re going to

The vernacular of a musician is sometimes a bit mysterious, weird, comedic or just generally inaccessible to the ‘layman’. On the one hand, there are terms like ‘accelerando’ or many others that are part of a widely accepted musical lexicon that have

Audio sources can be routed to ‘Master’, ‘Sub Outs’ or ‘Phones Only’. There are a multitude of applications for this functionality, particularly onstage. As an example, you could run drum samples to master, backing tracks to sub outs and click to hea

Editorial Director Louise King Publisher & Managing Editor Ondine Barry Advertising Manager Kim Noakes Beats Working Editor Pete Riley Gear & Reviews Editor Tom Bradley Beat Editor Rich Chamberlain Art & Design Editor Rich Page Video Producer

If you would like to read more on these concepts, I can recommend some great reading – and if you have any thoughts that you would like to share, I would love to hear from you: mikesturgis@dime-online.org. Till then, I wish you well in your pursuit o

24"x18" kick 12"x8" and 13"x9" rack toms 16"x14" and 18"x16" floor toms 14"x4" brass snare Two 14"x6½" brass (or wood) snares 15" 2002 Extra Heavy Sound Edge hi-hats 19" and 20" Signature Full crashes 22" Big Beat crash 24" JR Signature Dark Energy r

22"x14" kick drum 12"x7" side snare 8"x7", 10"x7", 12"x8" rack toms 14"x14" and 16"x16" floor toms 14"x6½" Gretsch USA Black Copper snare 14"x 6½" Ludwig Black Beauty snare 14"x7" Morgan Davies Black Mamba snare (hybrid of birch/walnut/smoked eucalyp

24"x16" kick drum 16"x15" and 14"x13" floor toms 12"x9" rack tom 14"x7" birch main snare 14"x5" side snare 21" A Sweet ride 19" A Rivit 18" K Dark Medium crash 17" K Dark Medium crash 15" A New Beat hi-hats 12" A splash Evans drumheads (EMAD Clear Ba

“Alex’s incredible ear for a song, combined with his unique sound and feel, have landed him some of the biggest gigs in recent years with the likes of Niall Horan, Isaac Gracie, Jade Bird and James Morrison. As a young drummer making his mark on the