Meinl Cymbal artist Nick D'Virgilio will be giving a clinic on Friday, November 06 at West Music in Marion, Iowa. Clinic starts at 6pm.

West Music

1398 Twixt Town Road

Marion, IA 52302

(800) 373-9101

Meinl announces the promotion of Annelie Bum to the position of eco-manager. She will be responsible for observing all of the companies activities in terms of utilizing the highest possible level of environmental care and preservation such as toy safety CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act), LGA (Landesgewerbeanstalt), REACH (Registration Evaluation Authorisation of Chemicals), and FSC (Forest Steward Council).

"After completing a ten months work-and-travel voluntary service in Australia, I am excited about joining the Meinl team," says Annelie Bum. "Having worked in the beautiful Australian outback has sharpened my sense for an eco-friendly lifestyle. I feel that sustainability has become an absolute necessity for today's global economy and I'm glad to be able to work in that field for Meinl."

Before working in Australia, Annelie completed an apprenticeship at Meinl and has worked as an assistant for the company's executive management.

Meinl Cymbal artist Jon Wilkes of The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is involved in a very cool side project. Check out Drummer vs DJ. Click here.

Meinl Cymbal artist Allen Blickle and is band Baroness’ brand new album Blue Record has debuted at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart and #117 on the Billboard Top 200. The Heatseekers Chart lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists who have never appeared in the Top 100 of the Billboard 200. Blue Record, the follow-up to 2007’s Red Album, saw its North American release last Tuesday, October 13th, and is currently streaming in its entirety at the band’s MySpace page. Click here to listen.

Allen and Baroness will embark on a full U.S. headlining tour in support of Blue Record starting in mid-November. Guests on this month-long tour will include EARTHLESS, TORCHE, PIG DESTROYER, US CHRISTMAS, IRON AGE, and more.

Meinl Cymbal artist Derek Roddy is set to release his first ever instructional DVD in late November of this year.

Here's some new information from Hudson Limited about this powerhouse instructional tool...

Derek Roddy’s Blast Beats Evolved DVD Defines The Elements And Documents The Growth Of Extreme Metal Drumming.

“I made this DVD because the development of extreme drumming has never been fully documented or, given its popularity and influence, received the attention and respect it deserves. I wanted to validate this style of drumming—and the drummers who play it—by creating an educational reference that would lead to a better understanding of blast beats and their musical value while standardizing their notation and technical attributes. Simply, my goal was to make the blast beat a ‘household’ beat.” — Derek Roddy

Produced and directed by legendary metal drummer Derek Roddy and R. Scott Johnson, and released by Hudson Limited, Blast Beats Evolved explores the development and mechanics of modern extreme drumming. The DVD features examples and exercises for Blast Beats, Skank Beats, Bomb Blasts, Hammer Blasts and Freehand Blasts, plus a comprehensive conditioning program for hands and feet, balance and endurance, and also includes five solo jams and performances of seven Serpents Rise songs—complete with minus-drums play-along tracks. 

Blast Beats Evolved is recommended for drummers who want to gain the mental discipline and technical facility required to master this demanding yet relevant drumming style. In addition, the instructional material on the DVD can be used in conjunction with Roddy’s award-winning book/audio pack, The Evolution Of Blast Beats (Hudson Limited), and can be applied in a variety of progressive drumming situations.

Promotional Trailer - Click Here

Yesterday, some of our British friends visited the Meinl cymbal factory in Gutenstetten. There was Lee Worsley - Director of our UK Distribution Active Music. He was in company of Simon Turner, our NEW dedicated Meinl UK representative and, last but not least, Jason Tavaria, head of Dolphin Music in Liverpool. Thank you for your visit and we hope you had a great time here in good old Germany! See you soon!

Check out these links on Meinl Cymbal artist Justin Meeks, drummer for country star James Otto.

 - Video on James Ottos' backing band, The Smokin' Aces. Click here.

 - Myspace page for The Wailin' Canes, Justin's side project with two other members from James' backing band. Click here.

The Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) is just around the corner. This year’s convention is being held in Indianapolis, Indiana on Thursday, November 12 through Saturday, November 14 at the Indianapolis Convention Center. MEINL cymbals will be exhibiting at this year’s PASIC at booth # 1130. An added bonus for this year’s PASIC attendees, are the highly anticipated clinic/performances being given by MEINL artists Benny Greb and Felix Pollard. Both artists perform on Friday, November 13. Felix hits the stage at 11am and Benny hits the stage at 3pm.

Chris

Meinl Cymbal artist Chris Adler will be at an in-store signing session at Just Drums in Toronto, Ontario one week from today, Tuesday, October 27 from 4:30 - 5:30pm. Chris will be on hand to meet and greet with fans and sign autographs. Don't miss this chance to meet and hang with Chris Adler! Also, there will be some killer door prizes from Meinl Cymbals as well.

Just Drums

137 Willowdale Ave.

Toronto, Ontario M2N 4Y3

Canada

Meinl Cymbal artist Rodney Holmes is scheduled to perform at Cascio Interstate Music's annual Drummerfest. The event will take place on Saturday, October, 24 in New Berlin, WI at the Sound Stage at Cascio. For more information, click here.

Meinl Cymbal artist, Navene Koperweis has been busy as of late.

Navene recently joined the widely-hyped and ultra-cool experimental outfit, Animals As Leaders. Check out a clip of Navene playing along to one of AAL's tunes. Click here.

Also, Navene just laid down all of the instrumental tracks to Jonny Davy's (Job For a Cowboy) side project, Fleshrot. Check out the mind-bending madness. Click here.

Keep an eye out for Navene. This guy slays!

On October 10th, 2009 the first ever Drum Expo in Iceland took place. It has been organised by a highly dedicated and passionate group of professional and amateur Icelandic drummers. The Meinl Soundcaster Fusion Series cymbals were debuted at the expo and received raving reviews from the crowd. Furthermore top Icelandic drummers and Meinl artists Helgi Svavar Helgason and Einar Valur Scheving were performing at the event.

Skuli Arason from Meinl's Iclandic distributor comments: "This was a great day for us drummers, everyone came together and enjoyed great drumming, great instruments, and exchanged ideas. Although there is a financial crises in the world right now there's no reason to stop the beat."

Meinl Cymbal artist Chris Adler will be at an in-store signing session at Fork's Drum Closet in Knoxville, TN on Friday, October 16 from 5pm-6pm. Don't miss your chance to meet Chris and get his autograph. Also, all those who attend will be entered for their chance to win some great prizes from Meinl Cymbals! 

Furio is considered as one of the leading drummers in Italy and has also gained international recognition when he had the honor to perform at the 2002 Modern Drummer Festival in New Jersey, USA. He also is a renowned teacher and educational director of a national music- and drum school in Italy.

Furio is using Meinl Byzance and Generation X Series cymbals.

Check out the new trailer from Hudson Music for their upcoming release of Meinl Cymbal artist Derek Roddy's Blast Beats Evolved DVD! Click here to view the trailer.

Here's the official word from Hudson about the DVD - 

"With Blast Beats Evolved, extreme metal master Derek Roddy has created the definitive educational document on contemporary extreme drumming and modern metal styles. Drawing on his experience both as a world-reknowned metal drummer, his critically-acclaimed work outside the metal world, and his background in drum education and clinics, Derek provides the perfect balance of performance and instruction to help you advance your understanding and technical skills for this music. 

Metal styles and techniques such as skank beats, traditional blast beats, bomb blasts, hammer blasts, freehand blasts, accent blasting, hand/foot combinations, rolls and fills are covered in extensive detail, with multiple examples for each topic. 

Going beyond the beats and fills, Derek provides a complete conditioning program to improve your overall command of the drumkit. COvering areas that include balance exercises, a system for equaling the feet, improving your endurance and moving around the kit, Derek touches on areas that will assist all drummers - not just metal players. 

This incredible package also contains 5 solo jams, 7 Serpents Rise songs, a detailed discussion of the equipment and setup used, interviews, and outtakes. 

Blast Beats Evolved provides an unprecidented look at the state of modern metal drumming today, along with an extensive program to improve your personal approach to the drums. 

Running Time - 2 hours 49 minutes " 

Meinl Cymbal artist Danny Walker of the post-metal band Intronaut shared an interesting news bit about his and his band's upcoming trip to India, where they'll play the Great Indian Rock Festival. This is a great testimonial to the borders that are being crossed on an international level in the world of music...

"Heavy metal has never been music to Delhi ears. We are synonymous with bhangra and Bollywood nites. However, the winds of change have been blowing furiously over the Capital, transforming its music scene and hoisting it alongside Mumbai and Bangalore as a hotspot for metal acts. Local bands are playing it up, international acts are stopping by, and young listeners no longer associate metal with violent music for angst-ridden individuals. 

At the 13th edition of the Great Indian Rock Festival — to be held at Pragati Maidan on October 24 and 25 — guests can burn their souls to the sounds of two international metal bands, Benea Reach and Intronaut. “Metal as a genre has increased in popularity over the past few years, but the definition of metal changes with every generation. Deep Purple was considered metal in the 1970 but today it’s called classic rock. Metal is a slightly harder music but it is getting its share of audience now,” says Amit Saigal, founder of the festival, which has showcased some of the best in Indian rock and metal as well as introduced international metal stalwarts such as Enslaved, Satyricon and Freak Kitchen to India. Benea Reach is a progressive metal band from Oslo, Norway, and Intronaut is a post-metal band from Los Angeles, California. 

When the Eastwind Festival gets underway in January, the line-up will have its own metal feel. “Though metal existed even a few years ago, its growing popularity cannot be ignored,” says Adhiraj Mustafi, founder of Eastwind Festival, which enters its second year. Apart from foreign metal bands, the festival will include “bands from across genre and metal as a sound will have its own space.” Over the past two years, international heavyweights like Iron Maiden, Sepultura, Megadeth, Machine Head, Megadeth, Satyricon, Enslaved and Opeth have performed in Delhi , and in the coming months, we may see gigs by Guns and Roses and Textures among others. 

Reuben Bhattacharya, bassist of city-based metal band Undying Inc, is on a high: “Five years ago when our band was formed, we would get five shows a year, today we get five shows a month.” The music circuit is abuzz about Rock Connect, a platform where Indian bands will play their originals to music industry professionals from Europe. “Rock Connect is intended to showcase Indian talent to the European music industry. Our aim is to get them to book Indian bands to play at European festivals,” says Saigal. Delhi’s growing metal consciousness is evident by the fact that the international delegation will comprise one of the largest booking agents for metal bands besides agents for the Bukta Festival in Tromso, Norway, and Jan Martin Jensen, the agent for the Inferno Festival. Rock Connect will be held at The Mezz and Turquoise Cottage on October 22, 23 and 25. 

Delhi’s “metallic colours” can be attributed to easy downloads and YouTube where young listeners catch up on the latest in heavy metal worldwide, even as blues and jazz still languish in anonymity. Music festivals and shows such as Channel V Launchpad and MTV’s Rock On, too, can take a bow for keeping metal alive in the city. Shashwat Gupta, founder of the Grey and Saurian, a label that manages metal acts from India such as Bhayanak Maut and a Singapore-based metal band called Rudra, is upbeat about the rising metal graph. “The audience for metal has expanded. While the lower age bracket has gone down to 13 years, the upper limit is 35 years.” He points out that when Rudra performed in Dhanbad in Jharkhand in February this year, more than 2,000 people showed up. While Bangalore and Mumbai still attract global metal heavyweights such as Iron Maiden and Megadeth, Delhi has joined the party." 

A good time was had at the 15th international Music Moscow Exhibition which took place from September 24th - 27th. Meinl's Russian distributor O.K. & Co. celebrated their 10th anniversary with a 120 sqm exhibition space displaying a wide range of Meinl Cymbals and hosting appearances of top Russian Meinl Endorsees Kirill "Dudu" Kachanov (SLOT), Igor Javad Zade, and Snake. 

Italien Meinl Artist Raphael Saini will be performing a "Real Metal" Drumworkshop on October 24th at the Freestroke Drum School in Firenze, Italy.

Check out Raphael's website for more information.

Meinl Cymbal artist Brann Dailor will be visiting of string of Meinl Cymbal dealers over the next month. Don't miss your chance to meet Brann, get his autograph and say hello. 

Brann will be at the following locations - 

October 10 - Rupps Drums - Denver, CO - 1:30-2:30

October 12 - Explorers Percussion - Kansas City, MO - 4:30-5:30

October 20 - Columbus Percussion - Columbus, OH - 4:30-5:30

October, 21 - Huber & Breese - Fraser,MI - time TBD

October 30 - Sam Ash - NYC,NY - 4:30-5:30

November 01 - Sam Ash - King of Prussia, PA - 1:30-2:30

November 07 - Drums 2 Go - Orlando,FL - 2:30-3:30

November 13 - Strait Music Center - Austin,TX - 4:30-5:30

November 16 - Hubbard's Music & More - Las Cruces, NM - 4:30-5:30

November 19 - Sam Ash - Hollywood,CA - 4:30-5:30

Seven additional Meinl personnel have been added to the company's Twitter team and will start reporting to you about news and experiences from their respective fields.

Mitch McMitchen - President of Meinl USA L.C.
Juan Berrios - Sales Manager at Meinl USA L.C.
Bernie Amon - Sales Manager Europe, Middle East, Africa
Uwe Becker - Sales Manager Asia, Australia, South America
Thomas Hofmann - Sales + Product Specialist U.K., Belgium
Micha Dimpel - Sales + Product Specialist Netherlands
Stefan Mueller - Product Manager Cymbals

Along with Meinl's Norbert Saemann, Chris Brewer, Helge Hamer, and Udo Heubeck, all in all eleven Meinl staff members are now constantly using the "meinlcymbals" twitter account to report live from their World of Meinl.