Monday, December 20, 2010
The Reflex, is a lonely child….
Greetings Ddrum fans!
Lots of activity at the offices of late, gearing up for NAMM (National Association of Music Merchandisers). All kinds of artist and product happenings I would love to talk about, but am not allowed to yet. In the meantime, we briefly played host to Tim Yeung of Morbid Angel on Friday. Tim was down shooting a product demo for Sabian cymbals. I went down to the shoot, and got him set up on one of our new Reflex kits. In true metal fashion, we set him up with 3 racks 2 floors and 2 kicks. The shoot went well and the kit sounded incredible. Reflex looks to be one of the coolest things to come out of the collective ddrum imagination.
After the shoot was over, I had a gig to play with my own band. I am a ddrum Dios player, and have a 4 piece red sparkle kit. Due to time and space constraints though, I carved a 4 piece out of the Reflex kit that I brought for Tim, and played my gig on it, instead. I can say, with absolute confidence, the Reflex drums are good, professional sounding, and professional looking drums. The face off lugs, and proprietary mounting system work extremely well. The shells sound incredible. It's amazing that no one has ever tried Alder in a drum shell before. It's warm and punchy, and extremely musical. This kit could easily work for any level of gig. A fact we are further proving, as both James Kottak with the Scorpions, and Isaac Richardson of 10DeepXperience are both touring on Reflex, currently.
Lots of activity at the offices of late, gearing up for NAMM (National Association of Music Merchandisers). All kinds of artist and product happenings I would love to talk about, but am not allowed to yet. In the meantime, we briefly played host to Tim Yeung of Morbid Angel on Friday. Tim was down shooting a product demo for Sabian cymbals. I went down to the shoot, and got him set up on one of our new Reflex kits. In true metal fashion, we set him up with 3 racks 2 floors and 2 kicks. The shoot went well and the kit sounded incredible. Reflex looks to be one of the coolest things to come out of the collective ddrum imagination.
After the shoot was over, I had a gig to play with my own band. I am a ddrum Dios player, and have a 4 piece red sparkle kit. Due to time and space constraints though, I carved a 4 piece out of the Reflex kit that I brought for Tim, and played my gig on it, instead. I can say, with absolute confidence, the Reflex drums are good, professional sounding, and professional looking drums. The face off lugs, and proprietary mounting system work extremely well. The shells sound incredible. It's amazing that no one has ever tried Alder in a drum shell before. It's warm and punchy, and extremely musical. This kit could easily work for any level of gig. A fact we are further proving, as both James Kottak with the Scorpions, and Isaac Richardson of 10DeepXperience are both touring on Reflex, currently.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Grammy Nominations for Slayer & Megadeth
Megadeth and Slayer Nominated for a Grammy!
Megadeth is nominated for "Sudden Death". It was written for inclusion in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, which was released on September 28, 2010 in North America. The song itself was released on iTunes on September 24, 2010, and on September 28, Roadrunner Records made the song available for streaming on its website. It is Megadeth's first release with Dave Ellefson since The World Needs a Hero. Furthermore, Roadrunner Records has submitted the song to consideration for Best Metal Performance at the 53rd Grammy Awards making it the band's ninth nomination.
Slayer is nominated for "World Painted Blood" With much anticipation for the album after 2006's Christ Illusion, members of Slayer were revealing information about the album since early 2009. There were four different artworks released for the album, each which completed one-fourth of a map, that when put together, illustrates the earth painted with red. There are eleven tracks on the album, with origins illustrating death and destruction, war, serial killers, and the Apocalypse. The band is nominated for the title track, that shares the album name.
Both bands were featured in 2010's epic European tour, known simply as "The Big 4 Tour". The tour was documented and released as:
The Big 4 Live from Sofia, Bulgaria featuring live concert performances by Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, which are collectively known as "The Big 4" of thrash metal. The show was recorded at the June 22, 2010 Sonisphere Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria. The shows were recorded and edited and then aired in over 800 cinemas worldwide on the same day of the festival. It was released as a two disc set with behind the scenes footage and interviews, the DVD also features a limited super deluxe box set including the two DVDs, five CDs, a 24 page booklet, a poster, photos of each band and a Big 4 guitar pick.
At the time of this writing, the DVD has gone gold in Norway, Portugal, New Zealand, and Germany, and is officially double platinum in France and Australia.
ddrum is extremely proud of Shawn and Dave and the continued success of both bands. They are true titans of metal!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Shawn Drover Clinic Tour
It's a Celebration!
The Q&A sections varied from shop to shop. Questions ranged from "how often do you practice?" to "do they charge taxes on the money you make in other countries?"Shawn answered every question with authority, and a welcome dose of humor. The last day of the tour, Shawn came by the factory, and we handpicked a couple snares for use in the studio. Shawn grabbed a Duplex snare, and a steam-bent zebra snare. We also looked at some new snares that are in development, stuff that the world will see in the months to come. All of the clinics were a success. One particular clinic, will benefit a charitable cause. More on that in a bit…..
Friday, November 5, 2010
Dimebash and beyond.....
Whew! What a week it has been! I sit here, at ddrum's offices and am trying to find a way to properly convey all the things we have seen and done, over the past seven days. I suppose I shall start from the beginning, and see where that takes us.
Thursday, October 28th:
Arrive in Los Angeles, 9pm their time. Sit on the tarmac way longer than expected. Grab a cab and head straight to Sunset. Drop the bags off, and text Tim Yeung. Tim is the drummer in Devine Heresy, and recently of Morbid Angel. I am also convinced, he is the mayor of Los Angeles, since he seems to know everyone there. We hit up the Rainbow for dinner and drinks. The funny thing about LA, if you see someone that reminds you of a famous person, there is a better than likely chance, that its actually the famous person in question. This proved to be the case, when I thought I saw Brent Smith of Shinedown. A few minutes later, I saw Eric Bass, and realized, it really was Shinedown, in the corner booth. Meanwhile, at the video poker machine, none other than Lemmy Kilmister, of the legendary Motorhead. We spent some time with Tim, there were drinks, and the rest of the night is a blur…..I did manager to find my way back to the hotel room, for a couple hours of sleep.
Friday, October 29th:
Show day! Lots to do, but first, breakfast at the legendary Mel's Diner, and a quick trip to Melrose. Luckily, I couldn't afford anything. While shopping, we run into Eric Bass and his wife, also doing some shopping (Dean artist relations, Josh Maloney was there too). We head back to the hotel and grab some dinner, then check in at the Dimebash sound check. First person we see, none other than Dave Lombardo. We had seen him earlier, in his custom 2010 Mustang GT. We spent a little time talking muscle cars, and then he jumped on stage to sound check. Drums on this date, are a black double bass dominion kit. A pair of 20x24 cannons, 12/13/16/18 toms. Dave allowed all participants to use his personal set of Paiste cymbals. The green room was a veritable who's who of rock and METAL. Ddrum trigger endorser, Joey Jordison, as well as ddrum acoustic artist Jeff Fabb, of In This Moment. Next thing you know, it's ShowTime! The list of legends gracing the stage at this point, almost too big to list. They each tore thru either Pantera songs, or played some of Dimebag's favorites. The absolute highlight of the show, in my book, was Dave Lombardo, and Kerry King from slayer, joined by Chuck Billy of Testament, and Tony Campos, played the Slayer classic "Raining Blood" . I have said in this blog before, and will say again, Dave is an absolute MACHINE, on the drums! Relentless double kick, and blazing tom fills, and once again proving why he is a true legend of metal. It was an evening that Dime would have been proud to be part of.
So, there you go….two days of crazy in LA, any questions?
PS....MORE TO COME.....
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Free
Shawn Drover
Florida Drum Clinics!
Megadeth drummer and drum artist Shawn Drover will be conducting three free drum clinics in central Florida on November 9th, 10th and 11th. Please contact the participating stores below to sign up or for more information.
Nov. 9th
10101 East Adamo Dr
Tampa, FL 33619
813-341-3786
Nov. 10th
204 South Semoran Blvd
Orlando, FL 32807
407-306-0611
Nov. 11th
10720 74th Ave N
Suite F
Seminole, FL 33772
727-391-3892
Nov. 12th
Presented by Studio Percussion
7PM - $10 admission at the door
1315 S Main Street
Gainesville, FL 32601
352-338-8302
November 12th Clinic: Your ticket stub automatically enters you to win a FREE SHAWN DROVER SIGNATURE SNARE DRUM autographed by Shawn himself during a private one on one meet and greet directly after the clinic. Must be present to win. NOVEMBER 12th CLINIC ONLY.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
DIMEBASH 2010
Heading out to Los Angeles for Dimebash. Dave Lombardo is playing……..stay tuned for more!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
The Ballad of the Big Bass Drum, a ddrum blog.
Greetings and salutations, ddrum fans. Felix with artist relations, bringing you yet another fun and exciting blog! I am gonna veer slightly from the usual artist updates, to talk about a subject near and to my heart. One of our best and brightest, Brian Tichy recently scored the gig with the legendary Whitesnake.
After we found out, of course our heads started swirling, with images of Whitesnake drummers past, and the immense double bass drum kit is the first thing that came to mind. I knew we would want to put something special together, and I rallied for a clever idea, to go with the epic tour, that would follow the recording of the new Whitesnake record. Brian's head seemed to be in the same place, and a massive kit with concert toms and a gong, soon began taking shape, at least in our collective imaginations.
Then something funny happened, Brian took his ddrum kit, with 26" bass drum, into the studio, and David Coverdale, Whitesnake 's legendary front man, was all about it! Sometimes perceptions of what is expected, end up being a little off, and now we find ourselves with an exciting new idea, spawned by a legendary non-drummer (yes, they are apparently capable of having good drum ideas too).
This got me to thinking about the 26" bass drum, in general, and its place in rock history. Bonham, Paice, Powell, the list of believers is long. Ddrum's own, Carmine Appice, has long been credited as the forerunner of this size, with the red sparkle 4 piece he played with Vanilla Fudge, on Ed Sullivan. We went so far as to make a replica of that kit, and it remains one of my absolute FAVORITE ddrum kits, of all time (yes I'm allowed to have a favorite).
Getting back to Mr. Tichy, he is getting ready to embark on a quick European Tour with Lynch Mob. For this gig, I was able to put together a "Frankenstein" bass drum, to send to him for this tour. It is a Dominion Ash 26" in a beautiful dark red. Before shipping it, I was able to test it, and the low end this thing produced was ridiculous. There really is no amount of processing, that can substitute real, acoustic low end, and this drum has it in spades. I am curious to see what other people think of this size bass drum, so I am opening up the floor to comments. Let me know you're out there!
After we found out, of course our heads started swirling, with images of Whitesnake drummers past, and the immense double bass drum kit is the first thing that came to mind. I knew we would want to put something special together, and I rallied for a clever idea, to go with the epic tour, that would follow the recording of the new Whitesnake record. Brian's head seemed to be in the same place, and a massive kit with concert toms and a gong, soon began taking shape, at least in our collective imaginations.
Then something funny happened, Brian took his ddrum kit, with 26" bass drum, into the studio, and David Coverdale, Whitesnake 's legendary front man, was all about it! Sometimes perceptions of what is expected, end up being a little off, and now we find ourselves with an exciting new idea, spawned by a legendary non-drummer (yes, they are apparently capable of having good drum ideas too). This got me to thinking about the 26" bass drum, in general, and its place in rock history. Bonham, Paice, Powell, the list of believers is long. Ddrum's own, Carmine Appice, has long been credited as the forerunner of this size, with the red sparkle 4 piece he played with Vanilla Fudge, on Ed Sullivan. We went so far as to make a replica of that kit, and it remains one of my absolute FAVORITE ddrum kits, of all time (yes I'm allowed to have a favorite).
Getting back to Mr. Tichy, he is getting ready to embark on a quick European Tour with Lynch Mob. For this gig, I was able to put together a "Frankenstein" bass drum, to send to him for this tour. It is a Dominion Ash 26" in a beautiful dark red. Before shipping it, I was able to test it, and the low end this thing produced was ridiculous. There really is no amount of processing, that can substitute real, acoustic low end, and this drum has it in spades. I am curious to see what other people think of this size bass drum, so I am opening up the floor to comments. Let me know you're out there!
Monday, October 11, 2010
The weekend report....
And now, weekend update, with DDRUM!
We had quite a week here in sunny Tampa Bay, last week. Yours truly, s holding down the fort on the Dean side, and handling all the usual ddrum shenanigans as well. As such, this blog will include a couple non-drummer artists as well!
We had a couple noteworthy visits to the office to the office last week. First up was the guys in Attila. This band is currently on a tour criss-crossing the country. They are what we like to refer to as a double-threat band, as the guitarists and bass player are all sporting Dean, while their drummer, Sean Heenan is holding it down with a new Reflex kit. Everyone in the band has been blown away by the sound and quality of this "lower line kit". Even going so far as to mention its superiority over some of the other "high-end" brands they have encountered on the road. With warm alder shells and a killer wrapped finish, these kits my prove to be the sleeper hit of the coming year.
On Friday, our offices received a visit from not one, but TWO members of the Mighty GWAR! Brad Roberts AKA Jizmak the Gusher, and his partner in low end, Beefcake the Mighty. The guys took the "nickel tour" of our humble facility, checking out our woodshop, and world-famous artist rooms. We then visited ddrum parts guru and customer service manager extraordinaire, Mike Petrak, where brad was able to pick up some spare parts for this current run. No one pummels a kit quite like Jizmak, luckily, no one makes a drum kit quite like ddrum. Later that night, joined by many of the staff here at the shop, I took in the Gwar show at the Ritz in Ybor City. Performance art, meets warriors from space, and collides with political and pop satire, while played by shredding musicians, and then covered in more blood and goo than a venue can hold. Stick that in a blender and hit "frappe". The band closed the evening with a piece from their upcoming record " Bloody Pit of Horror" a de-tuned masterpiece involving zombies…..what more can a Gwar fan ask for? Be sure to catch them on the road between now and December, as they tour the second half of their 25th anniversary, and look for the new record on November 9th 2010.
We had quite a week here in sunny Tampa Bay, last week. Yours truly, s holding down the fort on the Dean side, and handling all the usual ddrum shenanigans as well. As such, this blog will include a couple non-drummer artists as well!
We had a couple noteworthy visits to the office to the office last week. First up was the guys in Attila. This band is currently on a tour criss-crossing the country. They are what we like to refer to as a double-threat band, as the guitarists and bass player are all sporting Dean, while their drummer, Sean Heenan is holding it down with a new Reflex kit. Everyone in the band has been blown away by the sound and quality of this "lower line kit". Even going so far as to mention its superiority over some of the other "high-end" brands they have encountered on the road. With warm alder shells and a killer wrapped finish, these kits my prove to be the sleeper hit of the coming year.
On Friday, our offices received a visit from not one, but TWO members of the Mighty GWAR! Brad Roberts AKA Jizmak the Gusher, and his partner in low end, Beefcake the Mighty. The guys took the "nickel tour" of our humble facility, checking out our woodshop, and world-famous artist rooms. We then visited ddrum parts guru and customer service manager extraordinaire, Mike Petrak, where brad was able to pick up some spare parts for this current run. No one pummels a kit quite like Jizmak, luckily, no one makes a drum kit quite like ddrum. Later that night, joined by many of the staff here at the shop, I took in the Gwar show at the Ritz in Ybor City. Performance art, meets warriors from space, and collides with political and pop satire, while played by shredding musicians, and then covered in more blood and goo than a venue can hold. Stick that in a blender and hit "frappe". The band closed the evening with a piece from their upcoming record " Bloody Pit of Horror" a de-tuned masterpiece involving zombies…..what more can a Gwar fan ask for? Be sure to catch them on the road between now and December, as they tour the second half of their 25th anniversary, and look for the new record on November 9th 2010.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
American Carnage
Good Morning DDRUM!
What a weekend! American Carnage invaded Orlando, and nothing will ever be the same! Starting off the show, was Anthrax, with long-time trigger endorser, Charlie Benante. The band reminded everyone present, why they are considered among the originators of thrash metal.
Up next Megadeth! Celebrating the anniversary of their classic album, Rust In Peace, the band opened their set by playing the album, in its entirety. The band then careened like a speeding truck, through a list of some of their biggest hits. The crowd was so into it, they actually sang the riff to "Symphony of Destruction" along with the band. All the while, Shawn Drover, a lefty on a right handed kit, held the band together with his powerful and precise playing. Holding court over all in attendance, on his custom-silver dominion ash drum set.
Closing out the carnage, was none other than the mighty Slayer. I had the opportunity to watch this show, from directly behind Dave Lombardo's drum riser. To hear Dave on record is an experience, to see him live is amazing. To watch him from 4 feet away is like a drum lesson at 150 miles per hr! I was tired after watching him play one song. Dave on the other hand, is a machine, never slowing down for a minute.
Keep on the lookout for these three bands in 2011, there are even bigger things on the horizon. Stay tuned, pics coming soon!
Monday, September 27, 2010
AMERICAN CARNAGE 2010!
A quick update, for a busy week. The Dean and ddrum staff are gearing up for the Orlando stop, of the American Carnage Tour! Three of the biggest bands in metal, Anthrax, Slayer,and Megadeth. And 3 ddrum endorsers: Charlie Benante, on triggers, Dave Lombardo on acoustic drums and Shawn Drover using ddrum acoustic drums and triggers. It's going to be more metal than Orlando can handle. I fear that the princess castle may not be standing when all is said and done. Join us at Hard Rock Live on October 2nd for the Reunion of the original "Clash of the Titans" tour line-up. News and pics following the show!
Roll
Friday, September 24, 2010
News and Weather ddrum Style!
And now the news, don't touch that dial!
Time once again for the ddrum artist blog. Another quick look into the roster of everyone's favorite drum company. First up, Brit Turner, and the boys in Blackberry Smoke, continue to bring their incendiary live show to the people. Southern Rock at its absolute finest, they are playing up and down the east coast for most of October, including a stop at the DeLuna festival in Gulf Breeze Florida. I gotta admit, using my last name to name a festival is the best marketing move ever….. The band will continue touring thru the end of the year, followed by a spot on the Lynyrd Skynyrd "Simple Man Cruise" in early 2011. As usual, more info to be had on: http://www.blackberrysmoke.com/
Also from Georgia, Stockbridge's own, Collective Soul, continue to prove one of the most solid draws in rock. It's almost impossible to go to one of their shows, and not sing along, the string of hits is THAT massive! Holding down the air-tight rhythm section is drummer Cheney Brannon. The band is currently toning it down slightly and playing some acoustic dates. Cheney will be playing one of our limited edition, all-birch Dios STN series drum sets. These kits are an absolute gem, in an already impressive series, and in limited quantities, are going quick! Cheney dug the kit so much, he is ready to take it into the studio, when the band begins writing its next album! For the latest on the band, check out: http://www.collectivesoul.com/
Speaking of new albums, John Humphrey and Seether, have recently wrapped recording on their next studio release. Working with industry vet, and the producer of some of modern rock's most hallowed albums, Brendan O'Brien, industry buzz says this will be one of Seether's greatest albums to date! An impressive compliment, for a band that has already achieved a very high level of success. John and ddrum are also working a special little something in the ddrum R&D dept, more on that soon! More Seether info on: http://www.seether.com/
Finally, long-time ddrum endorser Tim Yeung has been in our very own hometown, working on the all new Morbid Angel Record. We have had the pleasure of having Tim at the shop, as well as hanging out with him on the town. We also took the opportunity to work with Tim on a very special signature snare drum, that we hope to debut at NAMM in 2011. Tim had a unique vision for the drum, and we at the company took it as a challenge, to create a visually and sonically stunning drum, worthy to be played by some of the fastest hands in metal. Stay tuned for more….
Monday, September 20, 2010
ddrum Artist Relations News
By: Felix Deluna ddrum Artist Relations
This is the first of a new series of blogs, posted by yours truly, Felix DeLuna, ddrum artist rep. The idea behind it is simple, create a timely update in regard to the various projects our many ddrum artists are up to. A quick and informal look into one of the greatest drum rosters in the world!
My first order of business, congratulations to Thomas Noonan and his band, 36Crazyfists, as they prepare to embark on their first ever, headlining tour, in support of their new Ferret Music release: Collisions and Castaways. First stop on the tour, September 16th in Seattle, Washington. Visit their MySpace page for more info.
Just wrapping up the first leg of the American Carnage Tour, we have Dave Lombardo of Slayer and Shawn Drover of Megadeth. Expect more metal than your mama's kettle, when leg two kicks off on September 24th, in Dallas, Texas. They will be joined on this leg, by longtime ddrum trigger endorser, Charlie Benante and Anthrax. This brings together, the original tour line up, from the 1991 "Clash of the Titans" tour. More info on Slayer's website as well as, Megadeth and of course, the Anthrax site.
On the R&B front, longtime ddrum endorser, Isaac Richardson, and his band 10deepXperience have hit number 5 on the pop charts, and number 2 on the R&B charts with their new single: "Love Elevator". Bam brings it like few others, so hit up a 10deep show, when they roll thru a town near you. As usual, more info to be had on their FaceBook page.
Finally, no ddrum update would be complete, without an update on Vinnie Paul. Vinnie, and the boys in Hellyeah, have been on the road solid, since late April, and no signs of letting up. They kicked off their tour in ddrum's very own hometown of Tampa Florida, and have blazed a trail thru the US, Europe, and Australia. They can currently be found on Rockstar Energy Drink's Uproar tour, headlining the Jagermiester stage. Plans have them heading back across the pond, later this year, to give them a little taste of Texas flavored metal. See, Hell Yeah's website for more tour dates as well as videos and interviews.
That’s it for now, stay tuned to www.ddrum.com for more on our stable of artists! ROLL!
By: Felix Deluna ddrum Artist Relations
This is the first of a new series of blogs, posted by yours truly, Felix DeLuna, ddrum artist rep. The idea behind it is simple, create a timely update in regard to the various projects our many ddrum artists are up to. A quick and informal look into one of the greatest drum rosters in the world!
My first order of business, congratulations to Thomas Noonan and his band, 36Crazyfists, as they prepare to embark on their first ever, headlining tour, in support of their new Ferret Music release: Collisions and Castaways. First stop on the tour, September 16th in Seattle, Washington. Visit their MySpace page for more info.
Just wrapping up the first leg of the American Carnage Tour, we have Dave Lombardo of Slayer and Shawn Drover of Megadeth. Expect more metal than your mama's kettle, when leg two kicks off on September 24th, in Dallas, Texas. They will be joined on this leg, by longtime ddrum trigger endorser, Charlie Benante and Anthrax. This brings together, the original tour line up, from the 1991 "Clash of the Titans" tour. More info on Slayer's website as well as, Megadeth and of course, the Anthrax site.
On the R&B front, longtime ddrum endorser, Isaac Richardson, and his band 10deepXperience have hit number 5 on the pop charts, and number 2 on the R&B charts with their new single: "Love Elevator". Bam brings it like few others, so hit up a 10deep show, when they roll thru a town near you. As usual, more info to be had on their FaceBook page.
Finally, no ddrum update would be complete, without an update on Vinnie Paul. Vinnie, and the boys in Hellyeah, have been on the road solid, since late April, and no signs of letting up. They kicked off their tour in ddrum's very own hometown of Tampa Florida, and have blazed a trail thru the US, Europe, and Australia. They can currently be found on Rockstar Energy Drink's Uproar tour, headlining the Jagermiester stage. Plans have them heading back across the pond, later this year, to give them a little taste of Texas flavored metal. See, Hell Yeah's website for more tour dates as well as videos and interviews. That’s it for now, stay tuned to www.ddrum.com for more on our stable of artists! ROLL!
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