Every year for quite some time now, Meinl Cymbals has had a commanding presence on most of the US Summer Tours. This year however, that presence just became bigger.

Here's a rundown of where you can see Meinl this summer in the States - 

OZZFEST

ozzy osbourne - tommy clufetos

devildriver - john boecklin

skeleton witch - derrick nau

saviours - scott batiste

kataklysm - max duhamel

MAYHEM

lamb of god - chris adler

in this moment - jeff fabb

shadows fall - jason bittner

winds of plague - art cruz

SUMMER SLAUGHTER

decapitated - kerim lechner

the faceless - lyle cooper

the red chord - mike justian

veil of maya - sam applebaum

cephalic carnage - john merryman

animals as leaders - navene koperweis

VANS WARPED TOUR

attack attack - andrew wetzel

every time i die - ryan leger

suicide silence - alex lopez

versa emerge - chris pollock

whitechapel - kevin lane

THRASH AND BURN

born of osiris - cameron losch

periphery - matt halpern

Head on out to any or all of these tours and hear the best drummers around playing the best cymbals around!

lot of excitement here today. the bayerische rundfunk, one of germany's most popular tv stations, is here right now setting up cameras and lights for a live broadcast from our factory for their program later today. no taped program. realtime live broadcast from our cymbal production.

between 17:30 and 18:00 central-european-time it can be seen on bayerisches fernsehen during the show frankenschau aktuell.

as of tomorrow, the report can also viewed online at the br-mediathek.

- norbert

the 2010 musikmesse ended laster saturday. from all the 21 musikmessen i have attended for meinl, this has been the one with the most controversial discussions prior to its start. several companies decided not to attend the show at all, others reduced their floorsplace remarkably, and a heatedly discussion was going on about the extreme noise level in the halls. a lot was going behind the scenes this year.

however once the show started, most of that was forgotten and everyone was just trying to have a good time. after all, it has been another fantastic show for us in every aspect. my personal highlight of the show was accepting the m.i.p.a. award for the byzance vintage benny greb sand ride. once again, thanks to everyone who voted for us. also, thanks to all of you who stopped by at our booth and checked out our new products. your continued support means a lot to me.

here are some fotos i took from our booth.

- norbert

here we are preparing our two poster pillars with the meinl drum festival poster which we got today from the printing shop. both pillars are going to be positioned at various spots of interest for the next couple of months before the festival.

to start with, they will be displayed on the open-air exhibition ground near the agora tent at the upcoming frankfurt musikmesse. watch out for them in case you will be attending messe next week.

pre-sales for the meinl drum festival have started this week. thanks to all who have already ordered their tickets.

- norbert

our old coffee machine, a jura impressa s9, has brewed 30,606 cups of coffee for us over the last six years. it is now going into well-deserved retirement.

couple hours ago we got our new coffee machine. a jura impresse xs90. annelie is currently setting it up and i can't wait to enjoy my first coffee brewed by this machine. coffee is by far our favourite drink here in the office. without it, meinl would not function properly :-)

- norbert

we are deeply saddened by the passing of paul specht of ibanez guitars. paul was a close friend to the meinl company and a long-time music industry veteran.

on the foto you can see paul holding the ibanez history book, on which he has worked over so long and lovingly.

our thoughts are with his family.


meinl cymbals

what albert hammond states in his song it never rains in southern california has not been the case today. it has rained the entire day so far, and not just a few drops here and there. real heavy showers! i heard that several flights got cancelled because of the rain which means that some namm people are stuck here for one more night. good luck and safe travels to you all. i‘ll be leaving anaheim tomorrow and fly back to frankfurt. 

oh well, another namm show is over which means time to move on to new projects.  most of my work during the last six months has been related to namm. it all culminates in those four days of namm. as soon as it is over, a huge mental load is off my shoulders. now i sit here in my hotel room reflecting on the last four days. bottom line, it has been a fantastic show for us. here is why:

> our booth looked stunning.

> we have had more drummers and artists visit our booth than ever before. everyone who stopped by had a great time.

> we got a great response on our new m-series.

> most importantly: people dig drumming more than ever. the spirit in the drumscene continues to be positive. that means the most to me and that is what keeps me going. 

now it‘s time to pack my suitcases. for some reason i always go back home with more stuff that i came with. it‘s gonna be a challenge to fit it all in. 

i guess albert hammond is right after all: when i look outside my window now, i see a clear sky and no more rain in southern california.

- norbert

ps: check out the fotos i took during namm

the weather forecast estimates low-pressure-area daisy to bring germany cold, windy, snowy weather for the next couple of days. when i look outside the window right now, they are perfectly right. having said that, it is perfect timing that next monday most of the meinl team will fly to sunny california to attend another namm show in anaheim. the last couple of days were very busy for us with all the usual last-minute preparations. and as always, we managed to finish everything just in time - now.

let the weather forecast people predict whatever they want for the next ten days. it's time for namm and time for a climate change.

looking forward to a wonderful week in anaheim at the namm show and maybe i see some of you there. would be great!

- norbert

on behalf of the entire meinl team, i wish you a very happy, peaceful, and healthy new year 2010

another year is almost over. in a couple of minutes we'll close the doors here and leave for holidays. 2009 has been an extremely successfull year for meinl cymbals. we have achieved a lot worldwide and still, everyone here is full of new ideas and inspiration for the next year. a lot will be going on again and is being planned right now already.

looking back to 2009, one of my personal highlights has been without a doubt our first international drum festival in moscow, russia which took place on june 06. this has been a fantastic experience and to be honest, i for myself have declared that event as the best-day-ever in my 20yrs long lasting meinl career. no kidding. it seemed as if all the years of hard work have climaxed for us in that phenomenal festival.

looking ahead, please mark your calender for june 26th 2010 when our next drum festival will take place here in gutenstetten again. this will be another highlight for us next year. have a sneak preview on meinldrumfestival.com already.

on behalf of the entire meinl company, i thank you all for your support, loyalty and believe in meinl throughout the last year. it means everything to us.

wish you a merry xmas and all the best for 2010. see you next year :-)

- norbert