Freddie Gruber is known as the teacher of iconic drummers such as Neil Peart, Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Smith, Dave Weckl, and my guest Bruce Becker. Freddie has somewhat of a mysterious background that wasn't well documented, but Bruce fills us in on what is known about his life and career, plus many great stories of what it what it was like to be on the inner circle of his friends. Freddie was a real character of a person and you really get a feel for that with this episode.

Mike takes us back to the advent of the drum set and how people would learn to play in the early 1900's and how things have and haven't changed over the years. We go through each advancement in education including face to face lessons, lessons on records (LP's), drum books with CD's, drum tapes and DVD's, online lessons, and what the future holds for the world of drum lessons.

Gene Krupa Legend". This is the be-all and end-all source for everything you would ever want to know about the most minute details of Genes life and equipment through his entire career. Brooks gives us a quick refresher biography of Gene and then he jumps into the details of how he put such a great book together. We pick some key points of interest to spotlight as we talk about his gear and then dive deep into things like Genes Dynasonic, the rareness of REAL Gene Krupa equipment, how he spots fakes, and tons of other great info.

This is a a unique episode that takes a deep dive into the history of acoustics as we know it today dating back to 6000 b.c. Thomas is a French drum builder who makes extremely scientifically progressive and modern drums, but he is also a noise vibration and harshness engineering expert in the automotive industry. All of that combines together for a passion for how acoustics have changed over thousands of years and how it effects drums in 2021.

The iconic 5000 pedal dates back to the early 1940's where it was created by the Martin Fleetfoot company, and it has been a staple of the drum world ever since. The 80 year history has many twists and turns until it reaches the modern DW 5000 pedal that we all know and love. Vincent tells us all about each and every era of the pedal including Gretsch, George Way, Camco, Rogers, John Gray, Tama, and DW and many more. The impact that this one pedal design has had on the drum world is unbelievable - learn the full story in this episode!

Life, Career and Lessons with Pete Magadini

Cocktail drum kits date back to post World War 2 in an orchestra pit in England where space is at a premium and the drums needed to grow taller, as opposed to wider. the "stand up drum set" evolved from there and became a staple of jazz lounges, street performers, comedy acts and many great drummers who wanted a unique look and feel to the drums they play.

Jerry was the drummer for the iconic "A Charlie Brown Christmas" soundtrack and he shares the story of the writing and recording of the album and great info on the creation of the TV special. He tells us about how he wanted nothing to do with Charlie Brown for 30 years, until he came to the realization that he has made millions of happy people and he should embrace it. We also hear the full story of his illustrious career and his background in drumming.

We are lead to believe that the bass drum pedal was invented in the USA, and that the drum set as we know it today was first created in the states - but Fritz shares examples that show many revolutionary drum inventions that were first created in Europe. We also discuss brands like Sonor, Trixon, Paiste, plus drumming and drum building in communist countries and many other great facts and stories along the way.

Orion was a 14 year old drummer boy in the Civil War when he earned the Medal of Honor for an extremely courageous act in battle. Marlene Shares his amazing story that begins when he enters the war at 12 years old through the rest of his life, and the lives of his musical family. We learn all about drummer boys and the role they played in the war, including Johnny Clem - the youngest noncommisioned officer in army history who began as a drummer.

Peavey Drums were short lived but the Radial Pro series has become a cult classic to many drummers. Rob shares his experience with the first generation of Peavey Drums that was full of problems from the beginning that never got off the ground and the second generation which is the ultra unique Radial Pro's that were short lived but are a part of drum history. This episode is a lesson in the harsh realities of the music business.

N&C is the oldest drum company in the US, founded 166 years ago in 1854. The company began at a kitchen table with Silas Noble making Toy Drums for Christmas presents, and he then partnered with James Cooley to make drums for the Civil War.

Mike has 650 rare and valuable snare drums in his San Francisco home! He tells us all about the rarest snares that he owns and how he got into this level of collecting. He also shares tips and trick for how to begin your own collection and how to utilize eBay to find great deals on legendary snare drums.

Mike is the co-founder of SJC and shares the great journey he and the company have been on in its 20 year existence. They erupted on the scene right when boutique drum companies were popping up everywhere, and I think it is safe to say that they came out on top - but it was full of serious ups and downs in the relatively short existence of the company.

Max Abrams was THE drum teacher in England in the mid 1900's and taught Stewart Copeland, Simon Phillips and my guest, Neal Wilkinson. He operated like a drill sergeant and didn't give his students much praise, but it created countless professional drummers.

Mapex was founded in 1989, but its parent company, KHS, goes back 80 years in China and has a very interesting story beginning in after school music programs. Jeff is the brand manager for Mapex and is full of great stories about this relatively young drum brand and goes through the origins of all the iconic lines of drums that Mapex is famous for today.

Donn Bennett is one of the worlds foremost dealers in celebrity drums that were owned by the top drummers in the world such as Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Hal Blaine, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones and MANY more...

Dan Bailey shares his tips and tricks for recording with vintage drums in his studio including favorite drum brands, head choices, mics and recording gear. Dan and I go off the deep end in this episode and completely nerd out about recording and engineering..and it's great! Learn his entire mic and pre-amp choices he uses in his studio.

Norbert takes us through every decade in the history of Meinl and gives a detailed look at the 70 year history of this iconic company. We begin in 1951 when Roland Meinl started out making wind instruments and creating his own cymbals by hand in his home with his wife. He then went head first into distributing Hoshino (Tama) drums in Germany and carried on in that fashion until the company grew into what we know today in a slow and steady rise to the top.

We discuss how percussion is used in Ireland, Turkey, Iran, Africa, and other various countries in comparison to the downbeat focused western music that dominates pop culture. It is a big eye opener to learn that drummers are often used to support the melody of the music more commonly than providing a head-bobbing back beat that we are used to in American music.

Vic Firth was a prolific timpanist, drum set performer, and educator all before he started his iconic drum stick company that we all know today. This episode starts as a biography of Vic, but then goes through the origins and rise of his company with great stories like how Vic used to have his employees matching sticks by tapping them on a tombstone he got from a friend in his basement,

Nick takes us through an in-depth look at the full history of cymbals, bronze, the iconic brands such as UFIP and Paiste, and all of the processes that are used around the world to create cymbals through time. The episode starts 7000 years ago and works up to the modern revolution of independent cymbal makers like NickyMoon.

Learn the history of broadway drummers dating back to the days of Vaudeville, up to the modern times where shows are technical marvels that run Ableton, have screens on all the music stands, and the drummer is often playing remotely in a complete different part of the building!

We go back to post World War 2 Japan and learn about the origins of Pearl as a music stand manufacturer in 1946. They then entered the world of drums in the 50's and began to rise to the drum company that we know today by creating "stencil drums" for over 30 other brand names, including CB-700 and Apollo, before creating the iconic Pearl "Presidents Series" in 1966.

Claus teaches us all about the Moeller Technique and its origins with Sanford Moeller, and how he passed the technique along to the legendary Jim Chapin who taught Claus and many famous drummers. This episode is full of great history and stories about how this method of playing was passed down through the generations, and also hear all about Claus's passion for rope tension drums, collapsed rudiments, and a number of other topics!