I know, I know, we can't quit writing about the guy...But that's because he never stops. 24/7 drums and "Jurasskickpark" as Mike would say.  :-)

Meinl Cymbal artist Mike Johnston and his on-line lesson website mikeslessons.com are both gearing up for a very cool event happening this coming Monday, May 02. In addition to his regularly scheduled on-line lessons happening at 11am PST and 6 pm PST, Mike has also scheduled  for the same day, a 'Meinl Day' which will air at 12pm PST and 7pm PST. During these two scheduled times which will last until there are no more questions, Mike will have  Meinl Cymbals' US president Mitch McMichen and US and Canadian Artist Relations Manager Chris Brewer at his mikeslessons.com facility, where they will participate live while Mike gives a thorough run down and demonstration of all of the pro-level Meinl Cymbals series. Mike will play each series and Mitch and Chris will chat live with all of Mike's students who are watching and who have questions, comments, etc. about what they are seeing and hearing Mike play.

This will be an excellent chance for any of Mike's students who are interested in and/or curious about Meinl Cymbals to learn more straight from an artist and also two of the company's employees. Of course you have to be a paying student to access the Meinl Day, but it's well worth the money spent, as mikeslessons.com is simply an incredible way to learn.

Don't miss it! Sign up and tune in!

We've just posted two new Mike Johnston videos and I'm pretty pumped about both of them.

As most of you know, Mike is best known for his work as one of the world's leading drum educators, through his cutting edge and uber-cool mikeslessons.com website. Have you just picked up the sticks for the first time and you want to know what to do next? No problem. Have you just watched Chris Coleman and you now need to be able to have the technical command and musical flow of a drumming ninja? No problem. Mike has you covered on both ends of the spectrum and everything in between. Not only does he have you covered as far as being able to teach you everything you need to know to be the most complete drummer you can be, but he'll teach you in such a way that it's almost impossible not to learn. Because Mike is simply that good of a teacher.

I know, because while Mike was in Nashville at Meinl USA hand selecting a set of cymbals, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. So while I had already enjoyed my mikeslessons.com downloads and live lessons experience, and had DEFINITELY learned from those, I wanted to see what the Mike Johnston experience was like in person. So I got him to give me an impromptu lesson behind the kit. I was not disappointed. The man can teach. It is his gift.

Playing is also his gift. Mike had told me that one of his biggest personal drumming obstacles in recent years was simply playing. Soloing. Flowing. He told me when he picked his set of Meinl Cymbals out here in Nashville and began playing them, that the flow came to him. Everything that he felt had been bottled up was then let out.

This is why I am pretty pumped about these videos. Because they show a drummer who has been let loose to express his creativity, and according to Mike his creative expression hit a whole new peak when he started playing on his Meinl Cymbals.

A few years back, we used to have a marketing expression that said "Meinl Cymbals Inspire!" The gist of it was that when drummers played our cymbals, the sounds that we created, these drummers were then inspired to new heights in their creative experience.

Watching these videos, I'm not looking at a new Meinl Cymbal artist. I'm not looking at Mike Johnston, the world's leading on-line drum educator. I'm looking at a drummer who is one heck of a happy camper! I'm looking at a guy who has found cymbals that truly inspire him. You can hear it and see it. It's really fun to watch and the enthusiasm is contagious.

The first link is to a short solo that Mike played while at a photo shoot at The Factory in Franklin, TN, just a few miles down the road from Meinl USA. Click here to check that out.

The second clip is a solo that Mike recorded at his mikeslessons.com facility in Folsom, CA when he returned from his Nashville visit. Some of you will recognize this drumming. It's the same drumming that Mike interspersed within his clip that he released where he spoke some as well, giving all of his students and those who follow his activities an explanation as to why he made his switch to Meinl Cymbals. Click here to watch that one.

So even after we have moved on to new marketing expressions, it's nice to see that those we set aside still carry some weight.  :-)

 - Chris

yesterday we had our first research + development meeting about new cymbals and sounds for 2012.

we would like to get your input too and ask you what you want us to make? if you happen to have a suggestion for us, now is your chance to let us know.

• which new models, sizes, finished do you think should be added to an already existing meinl series?

• which new sounds in general do you find are missing in our cymbal assortment?

• is there any cymbal accessory that you suggest us to look into?

only serious suggestions please. we will discuss and consider every proposal at our next r+d meeting. of course, no guarantee can be given as to which of your ideas will become an actual new meinl product.

we are looking forward to reading your suggestions :-)

- norbert

this year's musikmesse has been a great one! check out what's happened at our booth and watch some impressions from our artists.
we'd like to say thank you to everyone who has stopped by our booth and showed support and interest in what we do.
cu all again next year.

- norbert

Meinl Cymbals welcomes the following artists to the family: Christian Coma (Black Veil Brides), Justine Ethier (Blackguard), Ryan Guanzon (New Medicine), RJ Kelly (Macy Gray), David Morrison (For Today) and Mike Mazzarese (Redline Chemistry).

Christian Coma drums for the glam rock inspired modern day sleaze/screamo group Black Veil Brides. BVB's debut album "We Stitch These Wounds" was released in July 2010 and sold nearly 20,000 copies in its first week, ranking at #36 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, and #1 on the Billboard Independent chart...a big deal to sell that many albums right out of the gate, the first week and to rank that high in the charts. Currently Christian and BVB are on the Alternative Press Magazine tour and are set to release their second album in June of 2011.

Justine Ethier drums for the French Canadian band Blackguard. Hailing from Montreal, Quebec, Justine and Blackguard issue a brutal form of melodic metal that combines the forms of both death metal and black metal. Justine and Blackguard have lived on the road non-stop, as they have been constantly on tour for the last two years. With their debut album for Victory Records, "Firefight" having just been released, chances are they'll be on tha road for the next two years as well.

Ryan Guanzon drums for the modern rock band New Medicine. Having formed in 2009, the band released their debut album "Race You To the Bottom" in late 2010 and have been on the road  in a support slot capacity on major tours ever since.

Ronald 'RJ' Kelly is currently drumming for Macy Gray. Having moved from Kansas City, MO to Los Angeles, CA only a little over a year ago, RJ has already found himself drumming for national acts such as current American Idol winner Lee Dewyze and now Macy Gray. When asked what his secret was to getting good gigs so soon after moving to LA, without knowing anyone, RJ said he just got out there and networked. He pounded the pavement and had the goods when the right opportunity came along.

David Morrison drums for the Christian metal-core band For Today from Sioux City, IA. David and For Today are currently on tour in support of their third studio album "Breaker," and are winning over new fans everywhere.

Mike Mazzarese drums for the Kansas City, MO modern rock band Redline Chemistry. Currently Mike and RLC are on a never ending tour in support of their debut album "Dying For a Living."

Welcome one and all!

A few months back, I was having lunch at a very cool taco joint in Nashville with my buddy and Meinl Cymbal artist Grant McFarland. Grant was in town with his band This or the Apocalypse on a tour stop. They arrived in town early, and Grant and I got a chance to go break bread together.

A bit of back story on Grant first...I met him through Meinl Cymbal artist Chris Adler of Lamb of God, as Chris was gearing up to co-produce the second and most recent album from This or the Apocalypse, "Haunt What's Left." Chris told me about Grant and basically said that there was so much about Grant's drumming that he admired. Naturally this prompted me to check him out. I agreed with Chris. Grant is a fun drummer to watch and listen to. I loaned Grant some cymbals for his recording session and after speaking a few times, we both felt it was the right move for him to come on-board as a Meinl Cymbal artist. I've been very pleased with that decision, because Grant is a forward-thinking drummer who has a bit of marketing savvy in him.

Marketing - I've mentioned this theme before in blogs about our some of our artists. It's a two way street. The artist/manufacturer relationship is all about...say it with me boys and girls...Gear support for marketability. REAL marketability. In this day and age, that means thinking outside the box. The traditional box for a long time has been things such as clinics and print ads. Don't get me wrong, those are still effective and we support clinics from many of our artists all the time and we still run many print ads world-wide. But there are more means at a company's disposal these days that help just as much. That's where my lunch with Grant turned interesting.

Grant had a cool idea for a video contest that he and Chris Adler could judge together. He wanted contestants to learn his drum parts to a song and then to record themselves playing those parts along to the song and upload them to a site where he and Chris could judge the entries and choose a winner. I loved this idea and we set about really fleshing it out to get all of the details in order. I think what we have come up with is one of the cooler and more fun things that Meinl has done in terms of working with an artist to help spread the gospel of Meinl. It's not revolutionary, but it is something that's not every day. In my mind, one of the coolest aspects about it is that an artist presented me with the idea and it was obvious that he thought about it because he cared about being a part of the team and doing what he could to spread the word.

The grand prize to all of this is a comprehensive set-up of the new Meinl Classics Custom Series Cymbals. These are the same type of cymbals that Grant is playing in the video he recorded. The only cymbals in the video that aren't Classics Custom are the two bells. Those are straight up Classics series, which are made of a B8 alloy, while the Classics Custom are made from our B10 alloy.

If you're not going to enter the contest, be sure and at least watch the video of Grant playing along to the guitar and bass tracks from TOTA's song "Toro." Again, Grant is a very cool drummer to watch and listen to and the Classics Custom cymbals are pretty awesome. I haven't had a chance to sit and play every one of them yet, but the other day I did find what was a stand out for me, and that is the set of 14" Medium hihats. Wow! These hats had some mid-range BEEF to them. But they also had a good clean stick definition and a nice chick. They're just bright enough to cut through, but no so bright that they hurt the ears. No overtones whatsoever either. Basically I decided I would need to buy a pair of them for myself...and the fact is that I get to hear ALL of our cymbals, so when one stands out enough that I have to buy it right away, I know that's a sign of a choice cymbal.

CLICK HERE to be redirected to the page that will get you started on this very cool contest, or to at least watch and listen to Grant and the Classics Custom Cymbals in action. I'm pretty excited to see what all of the drummers who enter come up with. Have fun and good luck!!!

 - Chris

just a quick announcement: the pure metal volume 2 is now online. check it out.

and now - it's that time of the year again when the global drum family gets together for the annual musikmesse in frankfurt germany. after winter namm in anaheim usa, this is the second major event for our industry.

be sure to drop by our booth b25 in hall 3.0. to check out our cymbal news for this year and to meet some of our top artists at one of our signing sessions. and as every year a lot of concerts featuring meinl artists will be presented all over the messe.

here's a schedule what is going to happen.

signing sessions at our booth b25:

friday april 08, 4h30pm
patrick gruen with his band caliban

saturday april 09, 11h30am
frederik ehmke with his band blind guardian

saturday april 09, 3pm
benny greb
jost nickel
chris coleman
bertram engel
wolfgang haffner

saturday april 09, 4h30pm
patrick gruen with his band caliban
can oezguensuer with his band we-butter-the-bread-with-butter


live at the agore messe stage:

wednesday, april 06
5pm: flo dauner with his band the help

thursday, april 07
4pm: sebastian lanser with his band panzerballett
5pm: florian alexandru-zorn and his fusion trio

friday, april 08
1h30pm: alex landenburg with his band 21 octayne

saturday, april 09
10am: florian alexandru-zorn and his fusion trio
12h30pm: chris coleman
2h30pm: mike terrana
3h30pm: patrick gruen with his band caliban

besides all those performances, bertram engel, mike terrana, alex landeburg and ron van stratum will perform in the booths of their respective drum companies. and last but not least, our french artist damien schmitt will play at the "performance is everything" event on saturday april 09 at the "saal europa" at 2pm.

so a lot is going on again this year at the musikmesse. i hope you'll have a great time there.

i will be hanging out at our booth most of the time. please stop by and say hello. and in case you might have any meinl related questions, simply step up to me or to one of my colleagues and ask. that's what we are there for.

- norbert

ps: all dates and times and artist names are subject to change without notice