i have been at a concert of singer/songwriter "stoppock" yesterday. it's kind of a blues rock gig with german lyrics. voice, guitar, bass, hammond, and benny greb on drums. i have seen benny play hundreds of times, but always during workshops playing solos and his own songs. i have witnessed his development as a player over all those years until now. i know how much time he's invested (and still is) in practising. but until yesterday, shame on me,  i have never seen him play with a band.

not that i haven't known this before, but this concert has opened my eyes again about the drummer's role in music: when it comes down to the real essence of drumming, the only thing that matters is time, feel, and groove. if you are not able to play a straight 4/4 groove that feels good and makes people want to dance, you are doing something wrong. no matter what you practice on and how fast you can play, if you can't lay down a great pocket, you're not gonna make it.

benny did just that. he laid it down for everyone else in the band to get into his groove. he offered the foundation on which the others were able to unfold their musicality. he made the audience dance. there has never been a doubt about where the "one" is. that is what matters as a drummer and what our job is in a band. and, at least to me, it's also the most fun part to simply lay it down and get people to dance along to your beat.

so my recommendation is that no matter what you practise on or what you strive for as a drummer, never forget that time, feel, groove, and musicality are the essentials for us drummers. happy drumming!

- norbert

the banners, which were displayed at the walls of our this year's messebooth in frankfurt, have finally arrived here at our factory. last year's banners were given away to a local school, where they are now displayed. this year we decided to use them for ourself. yesterday we hung them up at the walls in our production hall. they are so huge.

shown are thomas noonan of "36 crazyfists", spencer smith of "panic at the disco", and chris adler of "lamb of god".

who knows what will happen with next year's banners?

- norbert

dave j has asked us:

"What overhead mics are ya using and what kick mic?"

he is referring to the equipment we have been using to record the recent felix lehrmann videos in which he demonstrates our different cymbal series.
i asked the sound-engineer lothar schrems who recorded the audio for all tracks in his power station studios. here is his response:

microphones:
overheads: 2 x schoeps CMC6 with MMK 21G caps
ride-cymbal:  earthworks SR 25
hihat: AKG C 414EB (a very old microphone)
kick: AKG D-112
snare: shure SM57
toms: 2 x audix D2
room: royer ribbon

preamps:
kick and snare: telefunken 676 with W695 equalizer
overhead: audient mico
room: universal audio 610 with 1176er compressor
everything else went directly into the DDA console

all of felix's demo videos have been recorded with that equipment. the only thing that has changed from clip to clip were the cymbals. all drums, heads, mics and other equipment stayed the same throughout every video.

hope this info helps!
- norbert

many of you have noticed it: on march 23rd we have started our official twitter feed where we keep you in the know about what is going on here and everyhwere we go. we are trying to keep this as up-to-date as we possibly can. for example, during the last musikmesse in frankfurt i have basically twittered every hour directly from our show-floor and from everywhere i went to.

myself, and the following colleagues will be posting to our twitter about their respective fields of activities:

(udo): general management
(helge): marketing and digital media
(norbert): international artist relations, marketing and events
(chris): artist relations for usa / canada, marketing and events
(stefan): product specialist and development

enjoy our tweets. your feedback is highly welcome.

- norbert

Meinl Cymbal artist Chris Adler has been hitting the in-store signing sessions quite hard these days. Recently, Chris and his fellow Lamb of God band-mate and brother Willie Adler took the time to hang at the Sam Ash Hollywood Drum Store as well as Mother's Music locations in Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg.

Check out the pics from those events. Thanks to Dave and his staff at Sam Ash Hollywood and Rod and his staff(s) at all three Mother's Music stores for their hard work and efforts which made every signing a great success. Stay tuned for more Chris Adler in-store appearance announcements!

- Chris

being ambitious drummers ourselves, one of the most enjoyable parts of our job is that we get to test new sounds and cymbals in our drum studio. during the last couple of weeks, we have completely rebuilt that room to soundproof it and to improve its acoustic conditions.
today we have finally inaugurated the new studio as world renowned jazz drummer wolfgang haffner has visited us to work on new ride cymbal sounds for our next years programm.
- norbert

i can't believe it, but we are now going to have four days off. easter holiday starts tomorrow and our office will be closed until next monday. i have been working nonstop every day since two weeks now. this time off is desperately needed. not just for me, but for many of my colleagues too. the weather forecast for the next four days is good. spring is finally here after a long, dark, and cold winter. my personal bbq season will start today :-)
we are off now to a well deserved holiday. happy easter everyone.
- norbert

if you have ever wondered where our ideas for new cymbals come from, here is one answer for you: meinl artist mike terrana is visiting us today in order to discuss new cymbals and sounds for his always expanding playing style. mike is a drummer who is constantly practicing and evolving to new levels. his cymbal sound must reflect his development. some of mike's ideas will certainly be included into our regular assortment so everyone can have it. some other ideas mike has we'll have to make a one-off custom product for him.
in general, most of the ideas for our new cymbals come from our endorsing artists. this time it was mike terrana who shared his valuable experience with us. next time it could be another of our artists sharing a different idea with us. being drummers ourselves, the r+d part of our job certainly is one of the most satisfying.
- norbert

Hi Everyone,

I just returned on Monday from a great trip north to Columbus, Ohio for the awesome Drum Daze festival, hosted by Columbus Percussion. Jim Rupp, the owner of the store, has been hosting Drum Daze for, I think, 14 years now. It's a real class act hosted by Jim and his staff, who are all a class act in and of themselves.

Drum Daze was happened on Sunday, March 29 at the Capitol Theater in the Vern Riffe Center in the heart of downtown Columbus. It's a great concert hall, where many cultural and artistic events such as symphonies are held.

Meinl Cymbal artist Felix Pollard kicked things off this year, as the first of five drummers to give performances. Felix played for almost an hour and received no less than two standing ovations. His performance highlighted the reasons why he is always working. Deep funk grooves, manic shout music and infectious Lionel Richie medlies dominated his playing, while all the time Felix kept the audience in a trance with his unbelievable chops and technical drumming gymnastics.

Many thanks to Jim and his staff for hosting such a great event and all of his guests so comfortable.

 - Chris