The music industry was in full force in Anaheim California for the annual NAMM Trade Show.  Its the biggest showcase for the musical instrument companies to introduce new products, innovative ideas, and unveil to world where the future of music is headed.    The drum industry is no exception!
Here are some of the highlights:

SABIAN
Big and Ugly.  We have them featured on our site and in our store.  Click HERE for more info.

DW
Drum Workshop had tons of new gear to offer.   Check out the new adjustable hi-hat clutch and bass drum beaters.   The PDP line also has some very sexy direct drive pedals to be released at very attractive pricing. Perhaps the most stunning piece of gear we saw was Neil Peart’s incredible new kit. The R40 (built to honor Rush’s 40th anniversary) drew huge crowds to the DW room. And yes, that is the actual kit Peart will be playing on tour, this is one of one.  This one wont be seeing our showroom anytime soon like The Time Machine kit did….but hey… we can always hope!

PAISTE
Paiste launched some gorgeous new signature series hi hats from the one and only Stewart Copeland.  12″ hats that apparently have been behind every Copeland recording for years now.

PEARL
One of the highlights for us was seeing the new (actually a re-release) of the Pearl Fiberglass/Wood series kit.   Available in some great finishes like Cocoa Fade, these are 3pc shell packs of a poplar,kapur,fiberglass shell construction.   Price will be really decent too at about $1100 – $1200 in Canada.

Chad Smith got not just one new signature snare, but two. Building on his 20-year-old, industry-standard signature model, these drums come in to flavours – a sweet candy apple red snare and an ultra-limited edition Free Floater.

TAMA
Speaking of signature snare drums, Abe Cunningham finally got himself a Tama signature snare. The Deftones drummer can now call this 14″x6″, 3mm brass-shelled snare his own.

ZILDJIAN
Zildjian’s fx Spiral Stackers are paper thin, ultra-lightweight, and have an eye-catching visual spiral effect when played. Zildjian fx Spiral Stackers are an inexpensive entry into cymbal stacking that delivers a diverse palette of trashy sound. You can stack Spiral Stackers on anything, from splashes, to Chinas, to crashes, or even broken cymbals you’ve taken out of service. Available in 10″ and 12″ sizes.

  • Stack on top of any cymbal to create unique and trashy sounds
  • Robust, quick attack; quick decay
  • Multiple unique sounds and colors produced by hitting different parts of the stack
  • Visual spiral effect when played

LP – Latin Percussion
If you’re holding down the rhythm on a cajon, then this set of Latin Percussion LP1510 Cajon Hats may be just the thing your percussing kit is missing. These premium 9″ B20 cast bronze hi-hats come mounted together and easily attach to your cajon. At the same time, you can always removable them for convenient transportation. Featuring an integrated striker, which provides a stick-like attack while keeping your hands free, there is also adjustable tension letting you play your closed or open to create hi-hat washes.

  • Mounts directly to the side of your cajon for easy access
  • Integrated striker lets you get stick-like attack
  • Adjustable tension lets you play open or closed
  • Easily removable for transportation convenience

EVANS
Evans launched their new 16 inch bass drumheads. These come in either Emad or EQ4 models and there are also matching resonant heads. They are available in either bass drum hoop or tom hoop models depending on what kit you have. We also saw their ”Reso 7” seven mil coated resonant heads which are designed to produce a shorter note on toms.

REMO
The new snare head is the Powerstroke77. It consists of two plies of seven mil film, an internal damping ring (also 7 mil but narrower than a traditional Powerstroke) to reduce overtones plus a five mil clear top dot to give extra strength. It”s also coated.  There’s a cool video of Tony Royster Jr demoing the head, and as he accurately described it, it”s got loads of crack to it”) This head actually started as a marching drum head but was recently adopted by kit players when they realized what a great sound it could give.

LUDWIG
New from Ludwig is the Legacy Mahogany kits. These come in five different finishes,although the natural Mahogany looks simply beautiful. There are plenty of nods to the past, with gullwing spurs and Keystone badges.
The Copperphonic snare is US made and available in 5 inch and 6 1/2 inch. It has a patina’d shell and looks beautiful

ROLAND
Roland”s news was that they have released a new range of drum triggers. Rather than having a snare trigger, tom trigger and a kick trigger, they have a dual zone trigger (the RT-30HR) which will trigger the head and the rim, and a single zone trigger (RT-30H) which will just trigger the head, plus the kick trigger (RT-30K) to go with it. They have redesigned the shape of the trigger to sit better on acoustic drum rims of all shapes and sizes, as the current models sometimes sit awkwardly on some rims and squash the sensor into the drumhead.  The new models have a distinctive look to them with a shiny chrome circle on the back which will make them instantly recognizable from a distance. They also come packaged in an attractive new box, which also doubles as a travel case for them.

NFUZED
NFUZD is a new brand and this is their first departure into the field of electronic drums under the NSPIRE name. The people behind it are Russ Miller and John Emrich. This isn’t a new electronic drum kit, more it is a range of electronic products which can change any acoustic drum kit into an electronic drum kit, or can be used as a standalone electronic kit, or can be used in a hybrid role. The pads lay on top of existing drum heads on a drum kit or on their own holders (which turns them into low-profile pads), have a rubber surface with either one or two rim zones (the snare drums have two rims and the toms have one). NSPIRE was being shown with conventional electronic cymbal pads.

The module is very interesting as you can load sounds from BFD into it. You create the kit you want to use using BFD on your computer and then using a special program, you can export that kit directly into the module and play it back. It doesn’t sound exactly the same as BFD as it only uses eight dynamic layers rather than the many more which are available in BFD. However, it sounds good, looks good (especially when mounted onto a conventional drumkit) and is a much needed new direction for the electronic drum world.

 

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