If you ever caught NRBQ live, you were most likely treated to some raucous, pounding and undeniably joyful roadhouse revelry that made you wanna drink another beer (at least) and bask in the divine glory of Rock. And. Roll. But it is with a sad heart that I relay the news to you today that the hard-hitting, deeply grooving powerhouse behind the drums, the man who drove America's Best Bar Band to ever more delirious heights of cathartic oneness with the Universe, has left us. RIP, Tommy Ardolino. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jan 7, 2012 - 27 comments

Paul Motian (wiki) (myspace) (allaboutjazz), one of the great jazz drummers of our time, is dead at 80. [more inside]
posted by Lutoslawski on Nov 22, 2011 - 30 comments

"Hello friends, my name is Tino. Do you like the drums? Great man! I love them!" As CEO and principal artist, Tino launched [Tino Corp] the label with a series of instructional albums called Tino's Breaks, which teach a new style of drumming with each installment. Straight from their factory to you, six volumes of breaks, from mambo (YT) and dub (YT), to hallowe'en music (YT) and Christmas dubs (Grooveshark). [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Oct 29, 2011 - 10 comments

The Akai MPC family of instruments combine drum machine, sampler, and sequencer. They've dominated hip hop production for the past couple decades, inspired newer bigger grid based controllers (previously), and have also allowed the finger drummers of the world to take their craft to the next level. [more inside]
posted by p3t3 on Sep 11, 2011 - 26 comments

40 Noises That Built Pop [parts 2 • 3 • 4]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Sep 7, 2011 - 79 comments

Jeff Bridges digs this app, ..man. What might be a whole new way of studying music in general. “What I like about the app,” says Jackson Browne, “is that it is very much like a book in that you can open it whenever you want, it will keep your place, and you can come back to it whenever you want. It kind of defeats the constraints of time and space, all the barriers of getting together with a teacher at a particular time.” Reviews are varied, and the lessons aren't cheap.
posted by thisisdrew on Aug 25, 2011 - 29 comments

Give the drummer some? Nuh-uh. PAY the drummer some! Living Legend Tries to Make a Living. I'm talking about the man who gave us the drum solo (at 5:35) that launched a thousand hip hop ships, James Brown's funky heartbeat, Clyde Stubblefield. [previously].
posted by flapjax at midnite on Mar 29, 2011 - 36 comments

Vadrum drums over some familiar classics ... Mozart's overture to The Marriage of Figaro (original). The William Tell overture (original). Rossini's overture to The Barber of Seville — you'll recognize it at 1:20 (original). Mozart's "Rondo Alla Turca" a.k.a. "Turkish March," from Piano Sonata No. 11, K. 331 (original). [more inside]
posted by John Cohen on Dec 29, 2010 - 19 comments

TheNintendoDrummer plays drums over Nintendo music. Totally Rad. Castlevania 2. Ghosts and Goblins. Ninja Gaiden 2. Mega Man 9.
posted by Sticherbeast on Oct 14, 2010 - 20 comments

Isolated Keith Moon drum tracks for Won't Get Fooled Again and Who Are You? (via)
posted by Crane Shot on Jul 19, 2010 - 85 comments

One of the most rhythmically solid, tastefully understated and (all too often) criminally underrated drummers in the history of rock music turned 70 today, and you'll forgive me if I couldn't let the day pass without a nod in his direction. You've probably heard of him. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jul 7, 2010 - 98 comments

Back in the 1920s, when Warren "Baby" Dodds was busy inventing jazz drumming in the company of pioneers like King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong, to "give the drummer some" usually never meant more than a couple of bars fill every now and again. Fortunately, though, come 1946, when Dodds was already an older man but still in fine playing form, someone had the wherewithal to record this seminal percussion stylist in a series of extended drum solos, displaying his exuberant rhythmic stylings as well as his lending of superbly playful swing to the the rudiments. But let's jump back to the 20's again, and hear drummer Dodds, with the aforementioned King Oliver, take what's gotta be the killingest slide whistle solo in all of jazz history. [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Mar 22, 2010 - 11 comments

I'm gonna 'splain to you what the Purdie shuffle is all about... Woooo! Don't worry about those ghost notes! Ain't nuthin' but rebounds! We're gonna take an extra step! I'm gonna go to my cowbell! You don't have to be a tub-thumper yourself to dig master percussionist Bernard "Pretty" Purdie's infectiously joyous drum instruction videos. Yeah!
posted by flapjax at midnite on Feb 24, 2010 - 21 comments

JAZARI! How it works.
posted by bigmusic on Feb 19, 2010 - 28 comments

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