World’s Fastest Drummer Contest Returns to NAMM

NAMM International announces the return of the World’s Fastest Drummer Contest. This event will be sponsored by Church’s Chicken and will take place during Summer NAMM at Music City Center in Nashville, TN, July 9–12.

The contest, which consists of two categories, Fastest Hands and Fastest Feet, will be held each day on the World’s Fastest Drummer lobby stage at the Music City Center starting at 11 am Thursday, July 9, with heats continuing through 1 pm on Music Industry Day, Saturday, July 11. The top ten Fastest Hands and top ten Fastest Feet will compete in a Finals Battle of both categories held at 2 pm, Saturday, July 11.

The Thursday and Friday preliminaries are for NAMM members only. Saturday is open to the public with a NAMM Music Industry Day ticket. WFD will have public preliminaries starting at 10 am and running until 1 pm. The World Finals Battle is at 2 pm Saturday, July 11.

WFD Extreme Sport Drumming has been a feature on The Warped Tour, OzzFest, and most major networks including ESPN, FOX Sports, MTV, VH1, ABC, BBC, PBS, and CNN. WFD The Game produced well over 1.5 million plays for MTV’s Addicting Games in its first ninety days. WFD is the official ruling and certification organization for Guinness World Records.

Contestants should sign in at World’s Fastest Drummer Contest stage area located at the Level 3, A1 lobby of the Music City Center starting the morning of Thursday, July 11.

Additional sponsors for this year’s WFD World Finals include Vic Firth, Sabian, Remo, Axis, and Modern Drummer.

For more information, please visit www.namm.org and www.WorldsFastestDrummer.com or email info@WorldsFastestDrummer.com

Gavin Harrison European Clinic Tour 2013

British Drummer Gavin Harrison is set to embark on an extensive Zildjian European Clinic tour this April 2013. In a month he will visit Italy, the UK, The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Voted 'Progressive Rock Drummer of the year' for four consecutive years in the Modern Drummer magazine readers' poll, as well as winning "Best Progressive Drummer" in DRUM USA magazine, Gavin has played with a number of the world’s greatest artists, from bands such as Incognito and level 42 to the punk icon Iggy Pop.

Now best known for his work with the progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, Gavin also occupies the drum seat with the legendary band King Crimson A talented author, Gavin has released two instructional drum books entitled 'Rhythmic Illusions' and 'Rhythmic Perspectives'. As well as producing his own instructional DVDs, 'Rhythmic Visions' and 'Rhythmic Horizons',

2010 saw the release of 'Rhythmic Designs', a book of transcriptions by Terry Branam, and a 3 hour DVD of Gavin's explanations and demonstrations. It won 'Best in Show' at the summer NAMM show in the USA. Bob Wiczling, Zildjian‘s International Marketing Manager:

"We are extremely proud to be able to bring Gavin out to perform clinics in Europe. Gavin continues to be one of the world’s most sought after clinicians. As well as his acoustic Zildjian cymbals Gavin will also be incorporating Zildjian’s exciting new Gen 16 AE Acoustic Electric cymbal system into his performance."
Confirmed dates Gavin Harrison European Clinic Tour 2013

April 16 - Modena Italy Lenzotti Strumenti Musicali 

address: Via Emilia Est 885 MODENA 

tel: +39 059 364114 

email: info@lenzotti.com 

venue: La Tenda, Viale Molza ang. Viale Monte Kosica 

time: 21,00 

April 24 - Naples Italy Acustica 

address: Via Scarfoglio 75, 80125 Agnano Terme (NA) 

tel: +39 081 5708397 

email: info@acusticanapoli.com 

time: 17,30 

May 7 - Manchester Uk Pmt 

address: Unit 5 The Red Rose Centre, Regent Road, Salford, Manchester, M5 3GR 

tel: 07989162948 

email: manchesterdrums@pmtonline.co.uk 

May 8 - Cardiff Uk Drum Depot 

address: The Old Warehouse, Penarth Road, Cardiff, South Glam., CF11 8TT 

tel: 02920 220120 

email: info@drumdepot.co.uk 

May 9 - London Uk Wembley Drum Centre 

address: Unit 8 Metro Trading Centre, Fifth Way, Wembley, HA9 0YJ 

tel: 020 8795 4001 

email: Dave@wembleydrumcentre.com 

May 10 - Portsmouth Uk Nevada Music 

tel: 02392 205100 

venue: Unit 1, Fitzherbert Spur, Farlington, Portsmouth, PO6 1TT 

email: jof@nevada.co.uk 

May 13 - St. Niklaas Belgium Key Music 

address: Ankerstraat 81, St. Niklaas, Belgium 

tel: 0032 (0)3-7666393 

web: www.keymusic.com 

email: Helpdesk@keymusic.com 

May 14 - Rotterdam Holland Feedback Rotterdam 

address: Ceintuurbaan 191, Rotterdam, Netherlands 

tel: 0031 (0)10-2111000 

web: www.feedback.nl 

email: klantenservice@feedback.nL 

May 15 - Hamburg Germany Just Music Hamburg 

address: Feldstraße 66, Hamburg 

tel: +49 40 87888900 

email: p.reymann@justmusic.de 

May 16 - Frankfurt Germany Session Music Frankfurt 

address: Hanauer Landstraße 338, Frankfurt am Main 

tel: +49 40 87888900 

web: www.session.de 

email: p.reymann@justmusic.de OR info@session.de

Matthew Brown named Young Drummer of the Year

Matthew Brown, a 16-year-old drummer from Hackney, London, is UK's Young Drummer of the Year 2013. He won the grand final yesterday, Sunday 3rd February.

Held at Leamington Spa's Royal Spa Centre, the drum event saw Matthew and nine other finalists (whittled down from 400 entries) perform in front of a panel of star judges which included Richard Jupp, Robin Guy, Ash Soan and Donavan Hepburn.

All finalists had to perform a solo piece and two other pieces with a band. It was a hard-fought battle, but in the end Matthew was named the winner.

The other finalists of Young Drummer of the Year 2013 included:
Sien Gwilym Roberts from Wales

• Paul Youngs from Lowestoft 
• Callum Edwards from Ayrshire 
• Euan Leslie from Dumfries 
• Nick Georgiou from Glasgow 
• Peter Rayner from Chelmsford 
• Oscar Ogden from Lancashire 
• Nathan Greene from Birmingham 
• Nathan Wallington from Dorset

The annual Young Drummer of the Year competition, organised by Mike Dolbear, is sponsored by Mapex, Paiste and Vic Firth.

Watch one of Matthew's entry videos here:

 

Russ Miller joins the Mapex artist family

The Mapex Drum Company welcomes Russ Miller to their family of artists. Russ, who endorsed Yamaha until now, is internationally known as one of the top drummers of today. As a multi-platinum recording artist, he has played on multiple Grammy award winning recordings with combined sales of over 26 million copies.

Russ Miller's musical versatility has led him to work with an incredible list of over fifty international artists from legends like Ray Charles, The Fifth Dimension, Natalie Cole, Tina Turner and Bobby Caldwell through modern stars, Nelly Furtado, The Psychedelic Furs, Hilary Duff, Steve Perry, Andrea Bocelli, Daniel Bedingfield and Meredith Brooks.

As a star of the Los Angeles studio scene, the Modern Drummer Magazine Readers Poll has repeatedly voted Russ in the top 5 studio drummers in the world, including 2010, when he was voted the #2 session drummer.

Russ also has authored two books: 'The Drum Set Crash Course', and 'The Drum Set Crash Course Tuning Edition' from Alfred Publications. A 7-time Modern Drummer reader's poll winner, Russ' solo projects were also voted the #1 educational books and videos in the world (2001-2004). Says Russ:
"I have been playing drums professionally for quite some time, ...and most of my endorsement relationships have lasted well over 20 years. But after seeing the direction that Mapex is headed in, I felt it was time for a change to a brand and a team that has their eye on the future. What Mapex does so well is the delivery of all aspects of the instrument. The sound, the presentation, the quality …the finishes are impeccable, piano like lacquer…that's what I am looking for in a company. We innovate together and that is really important. I am really happy to be associated with Mapex."

Michael Robinson, KHS Director of Marketing, states:
"Several of us on the Mapex team have known and respected Russ for a long time. His knowledge of the instrument and design experience is a perfect fit with where we want to take the brand. The fact that he's a great guy and is easy to work with make it that much better."

Christian Netzell rejoins Volturyon

Original drummer Christian "Crille" Netzell has rejoined Volturyon. The Swedish metallers have issued the following update about their skinsman's return:

"We are very happy to announce that Crille has rejoined Volturyon as a permanent member on drums. During the session time in the band he felt more and more that it was time to rejoin forces and start kicking ass again. The rehearsals for the new album is going very well and we are hungrier than ever to make this third album our best album so far!"

Christian Netzell, who also plays drums with In Mourning and Spasmodic, left the group in April 2012.

Hit Like A Girl 2013 celebrates female drummers

Developed to support, promote and inspire the growth of female drummers, the Hit Like A Girl drumming contest for women and girls attracted nearly 400 contestants and more than 400,000 online votes from around the world in 2012. This response has allowed organizers to plan for an even bigger event in 2013.

Hit Like A Girl 2013 will begin accepting online video entries at hitlikeagirl2013.com on Friday, February 1, 2013. Entries will close on Sunday, March 31, 2013.

A panel of world-renowned drummers including Meytal Cohen (independent), Hannah Ford (Prince, Bellevue Suite) and Dawn Richardson (4 Non Blondes, Tracy Chapman) will then select and judge the finalists.

In addition to offering drum and accessory prizes valued at thousands of dollars, Hit Like A Girl 2013 has been expanded with the participation of corporate sponsor School Of Rock and divided into under and over 18 age divisions to create more interest and a more even playing field.

Submitted videos can be drum covers, solos or performances with a band or pre-recorded tracks and will judged on factors such as technique, musicality and overall effect.

Additional details will be announced as they become available. To learn more and view the top women’s drumming videos from last year, visit hitlikeagirl2013.com.

Hit Like A Girl 2013 is led by Drum! Magazine with Drum Workshop, TRX Cymbals, Evans, Vater Percussion, and SKB Cases as participating sponsors, along with media sponsors Drum Channel, Alfred Music, Tom Tom Magazine, and the Enter Music Network.

Rock on female drummers :P

Pearl Solicits Beats From Drummers Worldwide

You have to hand it to Pearl for coming up with one of the coolest promotions in recent memory. With the launch of Project 108, the mega drum company is inviting drummers from around the world to send in videos of themselves playing four bars at 108 beats per minute. Accepted submissions will be combined with videos of such Pearl endorsers as Scott Johnson, Todd Sucherman, Terence Higgins, and Omar Hakim to create a seamless patchwork of grooves and chops. The only proviso is that all vids must feature drummers playing Pearl drums. Hey, you can’t blame them – they came up with this cool idea, after all!

Interested? Go here to get started.

Nice project from Pearl ;) Check their site for videos and rules!