Musical sorting algorithms. [via]
posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse on Aug 21, 2009 - 23 comments

DrumChuk: "A customizable Ruby-based MIDI drum controller for the Wii remote and nunchuk on OS X." The code, and more about the project, can be found at github.
posted by ocherdraco on Jun 17, 2009 - 8 comments

These Beatles clips from a 1965 NME show are straight off the mixing desk, so the voices are way up front. Man, those vocals are so loud you can hardly hear Ringo! But let's back it up just a year, to Holland in 1964, and catch one of the rare performances without Ringo. Aside from his brief stint as a Beatle, session drummer Jimmy Nicol also played with zany Swedish instrumental surf rock band The Spotnicks. So, there you have it: Jimmy Nicol, a lucky fella who got to play with two of the greatest bands in the world! [NOTE: see hoverovers for link descriptions] [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 27, 2008 - 22 comments

Improve your Rock Band drumming technique. Rock Band as in the videogame, that is.
posted by nthdegx on Jan 11, 2008 - 124 comments

Vinnie Colaiuta is the greatest drummer ever.
posted by toma on Aug 26, 2007 - 44 comments

Watch Stevie Wonder play the talk box and the drums. Don't you regret that you stopped playing that instrument as a child, hmm? [Via]
posted by Foci for Analysis on Jul 22, 2007 - 35 comments

DRUMMERWORLD is your one-stop destination for great photos, videos, mp3s and capsule bios for hundreds of drummers from all styles of popular music. Learn more about the rhythmists who've been the driving percussive force behind your favorite music. Baby Dodds, Al Jackson, Jabo Starks, Clyde Stubblefield, Mitch Mitchell, Ginger Baker, John Bonham, Sly Dunbar, Zigaboo Modeliste and many, many, many more.
posted by flapjax at midnite on May 19, 2007 - 37 comments

If you're interested in musical instruments from all over the world, Wesleyan University's Virtual Instrument Museum should not be missed. Instruments are searchable by type (idiophones, aerophones, etc.), by materials (wood, bamboo, etc.), or by geographic region. The photos are very good, and many instruments are represented by excellent MP3 audio clips. And the exhibits (QTVR movies: drag your mouse to see the instrument from all angles) are wonderful.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Sep 25, 2006 - 11 comments

The tabla is the most popular and widely used drum of North India. Origins (embedded sound and mp3) of the tabla and tabla bols, the fascinating spoken sounds of the percussive beat. [more]
posted by nickyskye on Aug 12, 2006 - 19 comments

Afro-Celtic music inspired by the Baka, pygmies living in the Central African rainforest of Cameroon. Rivers running through the rainforest are one of the alluring Bakas' favorite instruments, the water drum. Highly inventive and constantly changing, the vocal polyphony and the polyrhythmic sounds of hands and drums are prodigious achievements which astonish modern composers. There are various albums.
posted by nickyskye on Mar 16, 2006 - 11 comments

Han Bennink - accomplished dutch percussionist, performed a on a drumkit made of cheese as part of a recent Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art exhibit, "Demons Stole My Soul: Rock 'N Roll Drums In Contemporary Art"
posted by tpl1212 on Jul 1, 2005 - 5 comments

Drums around the world "Drums Around the World is an annual simultaneous world wide drumming day.Our purpose is to Honor the traditions of the drum, celebrate its power to unify humanity." The tenth anniversary of the annual "Drums around the World: ....In 1994, the inaugural event, over 2100 drummers showed up at the main event (facilitated by Baba Olatunji, Hamza El Din, Arthur Hull, John Bergamo, Jim Greiner, Muruga Booker, and Native Drummers) creating the worlds largest drum circle. This event was also broadcast world-wide via satellite (complements of CNN)."

Ever drummed on a Djembe until your hands bled? ....Or wondered why virtually no republicans practice African or indigenous drumming techniques? Are hand drums, to the US far right, a spooky talesman which evokes lurid fantasies of wild satanic or Santeria (Voodoo) rituals?
posted by troutfishing on Aug 24, 2003 - 25 comments

But why would I shoot Mister Burns when I can set his soul afire with a slanderous mambo? Alas, poor Tito, I knew him not well at all, but a lot of my friends swore up and down that he was a talented musician, and he was in the running to have shot Mister Burns. Sad that that is what I know him from.
posted by Ezrael on Jun 1, 2000 - 3 comments