X8 Drums Blog

Another drumming World Record has been set. Reverend Mark Temperato of New York State has constructed a fully functioning 813 piece drum kit. The kit weighs over 5000 pounds and it takes RevM, as he likes to be called, over an hour to hit every cowbell, drum, and cymbal in the kit. While RevM has hit an historical landmark by setting the new World Record for Largest Drum Set, he is not satisfied. His aim is to get his kit to 1000 pieces. It took him 20 years to build the kit and it surpasses the …

Simon Collins, the son of drumming great and Genesis member Phil Collins, is making a name for himself in the world of music. As part of the band Sound of Contact, he is reaching out to fans all over the world. Music Radar approached Simon to ask him about his choices for the best drumming albums. On his short list are Nirvana’s Nevermind, Living Colour’s Time’s Up, and Porcupine Tree’s Fear of a Blank Planet. In the piece, he not only lists his choices, but describes what exactly makes them gre …

Music therapy can help alleviate the symptoms of asthma. In a post on Telemanagement, a parent of an asthmatic child shares how music has helped improve the environment surrounding a child in order to prevent asthma attacks and reduce the stress of them. Music therapy is presented as an option to add to the growing list of alternative ways to help with asthma, but not as a replacement for needed medicines and medical support. There is a description of the process licensed music therapists must g …

The one thing most children in the United States have in common is how many hours they spend in a classroom. This time away from home is used to educate them in a variety of subjects and social norms, but it can also be the perfect venue for establishing a lifetime of healthy skills. One such skill is drumming. Drumming has emotional, mental, and physiological benefits for children, enabling them to succeed in the world of academics as well as their communities. Classroom drumming may be just th …

The world of Latin jazz has lost a prominent drummer. The New York Times reports that Steve Berrios recently died of undisclosed cause in his Manhattan home. Mr. Berrios was a master percussionist, playing drums for both secular and spiritual reasons. He was drumming royalty for over 40 years, starting a professional drumming career at age 16. A founding member of the Fort Apache Band, Mr. Berrios played with and for many prominent musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Max Roach, Ar …

Joey Kramer is the drummer for rock band Aerosmith and a lover of gourmet coffee. Now that Aerosmith will be taking a break, he is pushing forward a longtime dream to market his own brand of coffee beans. Enterprise News informs us that the line, called Rockin’ and Roastin’, will debut in August in New England supermarkets such as Trucchi’s and Roche Bros. Joey is hoping his coffee line will help people understand that most of what they think is gourmet coffee is not even tasty when compared wit …

For many drummers, the snare drum is the most important drum in the kit. For this reason it is important to become proficient at tuning your snare drum. It doesn’t take a lot of time, but it will help keep your drums sounding as good as possible and keep drum replacement to a minimum. Tuning your drums is one of those basics that everyone must learn if they want to continue to enjoy drumming because it affects the quality of the sound. Here are some tips for those relatively new to the game: …

A new world record for “longest marathon drumming by a team” has been set. World Record Academy reports that 35 drummers were brought together by The Academy of Contemporary Music to break the previous world record of 66 hours. The ACM team drummed for over 70 hours at ACM’s Roger Taylor Zildjian Studio in Guildford, UK. The record-breaking attempt aimed to help the Clean My Teeth campaign for The British Dental Health Foundation, Heart Your Smile, and Bridge2Aid. Each drummer played for two hou …

In a tribute to Layne Redmond, drumming mentor and author of the book, When the Drummers Were Women: A Spiritual History of Rhythm, Kris Oster shares a bit of her own history with Layne and how she has influenced many women drummers. The article is shared through the Rebelle Society website and offers a glimpse into Layne’s research into drumming as a sacred act of women throughout time. Layne has been a treasure for Kris in her own academic and pleasure pursuits in drumming and she shares with …

Actor, musician, and author Mike Berry has another one-man show and it has been extended through August 4th, 2013. Keith Moon: The Real Me is an enactment of the life of the famous drummer for The Who. Berry aims to portray Keith’s passion, personality, and talent during the show which took 10 years to make. Stark Insider writes that Frank Simes, the musical director of The Who, is also the musical director of this show, giving it an even greater feel of authenticity. Characters portrayed, other …