Recently I myself have started to play more multi-mallet keyboard percussion (marimba/vibes with 4 sticks) and have needed some pro-level yet inexpensive mallets to start out. Having played 2 stick keyboards (bells/xylo) for a few years already I have experience in this field, but multi-mallet technique is new to me. Anyway, whilst at D’ addario, based near to us in Team Valley, I had the opportunity to try out drum kit sticks which we don’t regularly stock (yet!). I came away with some of the MJZ ‘Jazz Cafe’ Series and, after trying out many models whilst there, convinced my colleague Danny Ward to order some samples too. These are the sticks on this review:

• MJZ-3 Jazz Cafe Maple
• MJZ-5 Jazz Cafe Maple
• TX424W Haratio “El Negro” Hernandez – Hickory
• TX718W Acid Jazz – Hickory
• TX721W Marco Minnemann – Hickory

MJZ-3, 5 and 7 (not reviewed here)

Check out these tips!

Acid Jazz

Marco Minnemann's

The core members Anthony Kiedis, Michael Balzary (“Flea”), John Frusciante, and our favourite Chad Smith have taken 2 years out of the band, pursuing various interests – musical and otherwise.

Kiedis has been spending time with his young family; Chad Smith has been playing with Chickenfoot and the Bombastic Meatbats; John Frusciante has been working on solo material; and Flea went to Berklee to get another music qualification (apparently being one of the world’s most respected bass players, working in an international act for 20 years, and an eye-watering session CV just wasn’t enough for him).

It’s been well publicised that Frusciante will continue to focus on his solo work, and won’t be returning to the Chilis.
However, rather than find a replacement with a totally different sound (a la Dave Navarro), this time the band have stepped up touring guitarist Josh Klinghoffer up to the role.
Klinghoffer has been Frusciante’s right-hand man in various projects for many years, and his style has brought the band’s sound back to the sparse funk of old.

The new material shows that a short hiatus was just what the Chilis needed.

The guitar-rock grandiosity of Stadium Arcadium is gone, replaced with some tasty rhythm work, and buckets of disco influence from Flea and Smith.
Lead single The Adventures Of Rain Maggie lacks the chorus hook that I was eagerly expecting, but it grooves like hell!

According to interviews the band are personally energised, and unanimously say they are back as one unit, ready to take on the world with the upcoming tour.

Mind you, they said the same pre-Stadium Arcadium, and many fans were sorely disappointed.
Make up your own mind at The Stadium of Light, June 24^th 2012.

Gifts

Some of our more popular items have understandably been electronic kits. Saturday gone we sold a Roland TD-12, some Yamaha 500 series DTX Kits and a few Alesis DM6′s too. There’s gonna be some happy people come X-mas morn. Also, if you haven’t checked out our Mapex HX MONSTER kits, then you better do it soon as they’re selling like hot cakes! The 6 piece beasts include cymbals and all the necessary hardware. They won’t last long!

Teaching

Speaking as the guy who picks up most of the teaching enquiries that come into the store its more than safe to say that the popularity for tuition here at NDC has kept on booming. This is no doubt thanks to our offers on living social deals which have each seen at least 100 people buy either a pack of 4-half hour lessons or 1-half hour taster session. I am also glad to say the retention rate is good too so we must be doing something right!

X-Mas Gear

We’re really looking forward to the big day here at NDC. We know we can bring our customers the very best in service and in value for money, as well as offering a massive collection of the best gear around. This year Mapex and Tama have both sent us some great limited edition kits which we know you guys will enjoy. The Mapex HX ltd edition Kit features short stack toms and paiste 101 cymbals, aswell as including a really quite nice hammered steel snare drum! The imperialstar 6 piece ltd edition kit on the other hand is a different animal completely. Having an extra floor tom, it lends itself to being very versatile. The gorgeous finishes and exclusive black chrome hardware complete the package.

These really are some great kits, follow the links above to check the prices and to see some of the awesome add-ons too!

We’re Open!

To make it easier for you, our customers, to come down and get involved we’re opening up every Sunday from the 21st November (that’s this Sunday coming). We know many of you are busy during the week and don’t want to brave the Saturday rush so come down, chill out and try out the latest gear in the best Drum store in the North from 11am – 3pm. We look forward to seeing you.

Thanks for taking the time to read the blog, check us out on facebook or twitter for more frequent updates on the goings on here at NDC!

New Features!

The newest feature is without a doubt the drop-down boxes on certain products. Instead of having every possible finish listed for every kit as an individual product, now its as simple as brand -> series -> configuration. SIMPLE. However, its not just as simple as choosing the finish. We’ve included add on’s to such as the facility to select a ‘build-and-tune’ service for £35, where the kit will be shipped already built and tuned to perfection by one of our very own staff. If the add-on you’re wanting isn’t an option in the drop-down box, try scrolling down to look at ‘associated products’ where

you should be able to find those upgraded drum-heads or pair of sticks you’ve been wanting (pretty cool no?). However, since we do list THOUSANDS of items on the website, we can’t always add every relevant item to every other. SO, try our awesome search bar at the top of the page, or browse through our great mega-menu!!!

BNPL

As you will also already have seen on each product there is a ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ calculator which works out 6 months of interest free finance for you with Barclays Partner Finance.  A useful feature if we do say so ourselves!

Offers!

If you’re in the market and can’t decide who’s offering the best deal, why not check out these awesome offers which we hope will sway you! With things such as discounts, free lessons and many other freebies, we hope to give you the BEST service which (let’s be honest) is what you really expect!

NDC Exclusives

If you’re really in the market for deals (and who isn’t?) then have a look at our NDC Exclusives section. This section includes all of our kit packages, limited edition kits and more offers than you could swing a drum stick at.

We would appreciate any feedback you guys have about our site whether it be praise or criticism. It’ll only makle our site better for YOU! Like us on facebook (via our home-page!) or grab our twitter handle @newcastledrum.

The Stone Roses are back.

In late 1980s Manchester, at the time and place where British music was the envy of the world, but guitars seemed forever out of vogue, the remnants of English Rose were playing under-publicised warehouse gigs and searching for their sound.
A few short years later, the winning combination of 1960s beat and ultra-modern acid house would catapult The Stone Roses to national fame with their eponymous debut album.

The band were heralded as the pioneers in a new musical awakening, spearheading a movement of similar guitar-based bands and garnering praise from all angles of the music press.
However, internal arguments and a lengthy lawsuit led to the band all-but disappearing before the release of album number 2, which turned out to be a widespread disappointment.

Drummer Reni and guitarist John Squire left the band shortly after its release, and remaining founders Ian Brown and Mani dissolved the band in 1996 after failing to adequately replace the original members.
Brown and Squire haven’t spoken in 15 years, and have both refused to entertain any ideas of a reunion, despite persistent resurfacing rumours. Even Mani has gone on record to say that there would be no reunion, with Reni and Squire both having given up music for a number of years.

Brown and Squire allegedly reconnected at funeral and buried the hatchet – with New Order’s Peter Hook commentating that reconciliation is much easier face-to-face than through the offices of lawyers.
However, another Madchester scene veteran has another theory. Ian Brown has recently split from his wife of 11 years, and Shaun Ryder has publicly said “It’s amazing what a divorce will make you do” – a statement that John Cleese will no doubt confirm.

Whatever the reason for the reunion, it has led me to reconsider the Roses. In my heart and mind, they have always inhabited a similar time and place as Oasis – but The Stone Roses were years ahead.

For anyone else too young to have been captured by their spirit the first time around, it is important to remember that they set the music industry’s compass to the North and drew the execs out of London – for which every musician in Newcastle should be grateful.

More than that, however – their pioneering fusion of classic guitar pop and cutting-edge dance grooves arguably set the template for many of the bands to come, twenty years before Pendulum, Linkin Park, or The Prodigy.

I thought i’d write this blog from a more personal perspective as I (Dave) went to london for the weekend and had a pretty awesome time. Before mentioning the drum show i’d first like to share with you the results of the 2011 National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain. Basically, we won! (YAY!). That’s the Brighouse and Rastrick Band for those of you who don’t know me.

The Night Before the Morning After…

And onto business. Being busy competing at the Royal Albert Hall on the Saturday, my Drum Show Experience started prematurely on the Saturday Evening, celebrating in the pub. After having had a few too many drinks, i saw a familiar face at the Bar. Steve Vine from headstock distribution (TAMA and Zildjian) went on to buy me a drink and introduced me to some of the guys from Zildjian along with a certain Mr. Kenny Aranoff which was an experience to say the least! The night then wound up with me on the floor on the hotel room much later on as per…

I was accompanied to the Drum Show by my good friend Kieran Johnson, arguably the best young drummer and percussionist in the North of England (actually, probably the entire country. At 14 he has joined the world famous Black Dyke Band, the youngest ever to do so). Kieran and I heard that the Saturday had sold out and that people were being turned away at the door so I frantically called my friend Dean Price of Guru Drumworks (who were exhibiting at the show) to reserve us some tickets. He went one better and placed us on the guestlist for which we got in free!

Even before you entered the building you could here the drums a-bangin’…the event was on the 3rd floor…and i don’t think the Dr. Who exhibit on the floor beneath were particularly appreciative. The noise levels really were insane, but the quality of the gear on show really made up for it.

Hidden Gem

Before we move on to the staples on the drumming world with booths from Yamaha, Pearl, Tama, Korg etc i would like to point out my favourite booth of the entire show. Rohema Percussion really impressed with a large range of some amazing drumsticks along with shakers, claves and other handheld items. The diamond in the rough for me was the Ebony Drumsticks of which i bought quite a few pairs for my concert snare drum work! The price alone was reason enough to buy them! I also left with a bubinga/brass shaker and some heavenly tapered 8H and Tango sticks in hornwood and hickory respectively.

The Big Guns

Pearl really wowed everyone with their centre-piece Reference Pure kit. This beast of a drumset features thinner shells than the normal Reference series along with lighter ‘Fat-Tone’ hoops and new swivel mini-tube lugs. All these are alleged to promote resonance as each shell is much lighter than before. The E-pro live and limited edition Visions completed the rest of the display but everyones’ attention was firmly fixed on that Reference Pure (it was for sale too, i wonder if it got snapped up…)

Headstock distribute both of these prestigious brands and therefore shared a pretty large booth next to all the British custom companies. The gen-16‘s were set up on a mesh-headed TAMA superstar hyper-drive and hooked up to 8 pairs of headphones, allowing passers by to listen in to what the demonstrators were playing. They really do work too! I had my doubts even after seeing them in store but on a kit, they make sense. The range of Zildjian cymbals shown was staggering, my personal favourite being the K Light Flat Ride and A custom EFX Crash.

TAMA had on show a bubinga Starclassic along with some of their newer silverstar range including a very attractive looking bop kit.

KORG had an entire room to themselves demoing some of the latest and greatest gear from Vic Firth, Mapex and Paiste (including the entire masters range of ride cymbals from there Twenty Series!). Mapex really pulled out all the stops with both of their Black Panther Kits and ALL of their Black Panther Snares on display, along with a healthy range of Meredians and Saturns too!

Sabian had on show their entire range of Artisan cymbals with the main article being a beautiful 22″ Artisan medium ride. This pie was sweet on the bow, yet heavy on the bell. It would literally out do any ride you currently own in any genre!

Silent but Deadly

Before we visit some of the lesser known brands i’d like to mention the Yamaha and Roland e-booths as it were. Both hosted ‘silent’ drum clinics with Roland opting to allow people to play along on their V-Drums. Yamaha also displayed a range of their Acoustic Kits including club customs and a PHX which had the best sounding 10″ Tom of the day (by a mile!).

Boutique Brits

There was of course the usual contribution of artisan brands from around England including Gatton, Highwood, AD Drums, Tiki Drums and Guru Drumworks.

The Gatton booth was extremely popular for groups of shedders who saw the opportunity of 3 kits set up in close proximity as one to show off some chops and trade fours, much to the delight (and annoyance) of the impromptu audiences! The corian drums really projected and many people i’m sure went home with bloody ears (especially that little 13×4 snare! OW!!!).

Highwood had their usual Birch Kits on show with the addition of a few of the Hallmark aluminium snares. These feature a solid 1″ thick aluminium shell are relatively dry, extremely articulate and VERY heavy. The number 2 snare drum of the show for me.

Altered Design drums were popular with the younger folk with their striking finishes and simple, nu-metal set ups. Definitely a company to check out.

Tiki were one of my favourites, promoting a 2 day drum building course aimed to educate about what it is that makes a great drum great. They also had (hiding in their booth) my Number 1 snare of the show. A 14×6, 6 ply Mahogany and poplar hybrid with Maple re-rings. This thing was just so sensitive it almost cried when I played it (I know I did!). Perfectly tuned it was the archetype of a jazz snare drum but offered enough bite to work for anything. Seriously guys, this thing was amazing.

Guru are always close to my heart, having a few of their snare drums myself. They had on show the best sounding kit you’ve ever heard. A prototype, free-floating 3mm thin stave kit made from 200-year old, seasoned Mahogany. The toms opened up at the lightest touch because of the paper thin, vertical-grained shells and responded even better as the volume increased. The best in show for me.

So there’s a roundup of the show, more pictures on our facebook page. I apologise for all the exhibitors i didn’t mention but there were just so many!

Keep on Drummin’
Peace,

Dave and the NDC Team

I hope it does the same for you.

Music is universal.

The thrill of hearing Heartbreak Hotel, Thriller, or Smells Like Teen Spirit for the first time is something everyone can relate to.

The best lyric writers tell hugely personal stories, and artists sing things they would never dream of speaking, and yet their lyrical themes leave space for individual interpretation.

The Beatles’ Yesterday is the most covered song of all time, because it’s so ambiguous, and yet so specific and consummate that everybody relates to it.

Music is inspirational.

From the folk music of city slums and the swing band dances of the 1940s, to the punk movement and the advent of rave, music has brought people together, to drink, dance, and share.

Music is a healer.

When things go wrong, the first thing many of us do is reach for our favourite album to cheer us up – our favourite music is the perfect embodiment of our favourite memories.

Music is emotional.

A well-crafted album will take the listener on an emotional journey through harmony, arrangement, and dynamics. Music has the power to relax us, excite us, speed us up, and slow us down.

Films are impotent without their soundtracks; they create melancholy, elation, confusion, and congruity. Without John Williams’ Imperial Death March, the immutable Darth Vader would never have been so imposing.

Silent tragedies wouldn’t move us, silent chases wouldn’t excite us, and silent zombies wouldn’t scare us.

“No culture so far discovered lacks music” – Anthony Storr

The urge to dance fulfils a primeval sexual need, inextricably fused with rhythm – and the ability we have as musicians to communicate on that basic, sub-lingual, and extremely powerful level is an incredible capability, and one that we should never take for granted.

We thought we’d discuss some of the more specifically weird and wonderful CYMBALS we have in stock. Some are more ‘interesting’ than others, some may seem pretty mainstream to those of you who follow this sort of thing. Others will be left in AWE simply because they didn’t realise you can get octagonal cymbals!

Sabian

Sabian are heralded as THE innovators in the cymbal world. They took the Zildjian formula (being owned by members of the Zildjian family and named after SAlly, BIlly and ANdy Zildjian) and went wild. Sabian obviously make ‘normal’ cymbals, but their fresh approach to the old turkish tradition put them firmly in the market alongside Zildjian in as short a time as 20 years (Zildjian have been around for centuries!).

HOLY PIES!!!

Sabians have come up with dozens of new ideas in the cymbal field since its inception. These include their collaborations with Dave Weckl: HHX, Evolution, Legacy etc, one of the first ever completely unlathed rides: the AA Raw ride and many others! The one thing though that grabbed the drumming world’s attention by the pies was the O-zone cymbals. Variations are now a staple in every manufacturer’s catalogues but when Weckl came up with the idea of cutting holes in a cymbal as a way to ‘trash’ up the sound, this was some out of the box thinking. The story goes that Sabian were cutting sections out of cymbals to use as smaller cymbals if the larger one didn’t quite pass QC. Dave heard one of these throw-backs and thought it interesting. He asked for a purpose-made hole-y cymbal to be produced and voila! He incorporated it into his HHX Evolution line.

These O-zone cymbals have leaked into the HHX Legacy, AAX, Vault and even APX lines (along with some B8 prototypes). They can now be seen in crashes, rides, splashes, more recently chinas and even some hats. Some think its strange to charge the same amount of money for less metal (in the case of the APX Ozone you get a lot less cymbal for your money). But, if you want that trashy sound and a 2 year warranty, Sabian Ozones are the way to go!.

Octagons!!!

Sabian also came up with the Rocktagon! An 8 sided crash (and splash, along with some prototype rides) which offers a similar sound to the O-zones. Since some of the cymbal is cut away, the sound waves through the lathing is disturbed offering distorted, trashy sounds. They’re no-where near as popular as they’re perforated counterparts probably because they look rather strange. Every says ‘sound matters’ but we know deep down when something just doesn’t ‘look’ right.

Zildjian

Its time to roll with the big boys. For these guys you won’t find many original innovations. BUT if you dig into their more recent history, you’ll find some cool offerings.

Knock Knock…SWISH SWISH

Mel Lewis was probably one of the most high-profile endorsers and users of Zildjian ever. He used to use a cymbal which was essentially a flatter china with 20 (don’t quote us on this!) rivets around its circumference. This was the perfect big band ride for things like sax solis or a great cushion of sound for a 4 piece band. Zildjian recently re-issued an exact copy of Lewis’ cymbal called the Avedis Swish-Knocker.

THE BELLS!!!

The Zil-Bel has been one of Zildjians most popular effects cymbals. Available as either a 6″ or 9.5″ model, they offer a definite cutting tone which has found its way into a lot of nu-metal a screamo music. Cheack this out if you want an offensive yet musical addition to your set!

In the interest of being concise, we will continue this PIES blog as a seperate mini-series under the ‘weird and wonderful’ banner. There’s plenty to talk about, and we don’t want to give it all away at once.

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog and we appreciate all feedback you may give!
Why not grab our twitter handle @newcastledrum or like us on facebook?

Keep on drumming,

The NDC Team

Don’t Go Into the Long Grass!!!

Those of you who are fans of fiction will know this infamous line from Jurassic Park. It is of course a reference to the namesake of the new Mapex direct-drive pedal “Raptor”. The Mapex Raptor is essentially the very well reputed Falcon with a direct drive system instead of chain drive. Direct drive seems to be coming back into fashion recently with the contributions from Yamaha and Pearl. They state it adds response as there is no latency between engaging the pedal and the beater hitting the head. I can see exactly their point and you can feel the difference. The Raptor is no exception to this rule and provides immediate response at a MUCH lower price point to its other Japanese Rivals. Follow the link above to check out the price of the double.

Interestingly enough you can also buy a direct drive conversion mechanism which will easily retrofit onto your current falcon. How cool is that?!

Shake it Real Good!!!

You really need to see our shaker array to really understand what we can offer. Check out THIS link to see a pick of a small range of what we stock. There’s new innovations such as the One-Shot from LP and more traditional instruments like this Kambala Caixixi. All in all, we KNOW we will have whatever you need. Even the rather odd-looking QUBE above!

Give me Thunder…AND LIGHTNING!

The REMO thunder drum is probably one of the strangest items in our inventory. Technically its called a “Spring Drum”, but it is made to simulate thunder with a rumbling, roaring sound. You shake the drum and the spring attached to one of the heads oscillates. This vibration is then transferred to the head on to which the spring is attached and is magnified within the drum itself. The shell (made from REMO’s Acousticon) also features a hole, which you can cover or leave open for numerous sonic possibilities!!!

Jingle-Jangle

Tambourines are often overlooked and get quite a bad rep, but we love them here! Pearl have come out with an awesome idea for mounting a tambourine with a simple yet ingenious solution. The pearl ultra-grip tambourine also features their “ultra-grip” technology which ensures you won’t struggle to find a comfortable grip on this bad-boy.

Two more cool features are the adjustable jingles (so YOU can CHOOSE how much jingle your tambourine has) and the rubber insulated top edge for easy playing with sticks!

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog and we appreciate all feedback you may give!
Why not grab our twitter handle @newcastledrum or like us on facebook?

Keep on drumming,

The NDC Team

Protect Your Head!!!

No we’re not talking about hard hats, but BATTER BADGES!!! We stock a wide range of these kick drum head savers in many sizes from many brands. Obviously there’s remo and evans (that’s no news to anyone) but DID YOU KNOW we also offer slug percussion products and Danmar?

Slug percussion specialise in kick drum accessories including strange glow-in-the-dark kick drum patches and bass drum beaters. Danmar are a company who also specialise in accessories but are much more functional than your usual kick batters and beaters. The ZORO signature kick drum beater is something you have to see to believe where the batter badges are made to enhance definition with plastic or even metal patches.

Turkish Pies

We know go from Africa through the US to Turkey with Turkish Cymbals. We have a very limited stock at present which will no doubt go soon! Check them out HERE
At this price point, you will NOT find any other hand-made genuine turkish cymbals…period!

We only currently have a 21″ Ride, 16″ Med-thin crash, 14″ Quick Flat-Bottom hats all from their classic range.

Thanks for reading this blog, please comment, rant or generally flame each other as much as you want. Please feel free to check out our facebook or follow us on twitter @newcastledrum.

Peace, the NDC team