Winter NAMM '98 Drum Report

Well, another four-day NAMM convention is over. Hundreds of instrument manufacturers gathered in LA to show off their new and existing products, trying to entice retailers to choose their products for sale to consumers. As always, your faithful Harmony Central editors were there to find out what is new in the music industry. And we have a lot to tell.

This is by no means a complete list of new products at NAMM, but it is a good start. We will be adding new items as we receive information.

Make sure that you also check out the Complete Winter NAMM '98 Coverage provided by Harmony Central®.

Drum Sets & Hardware
Cymbals
Hand Drums & Ethnic Percussion
Marching Drums
Concert Percussion
Electronic Drums
Sticks, Brushes & Mallets
Drumheads
Accessories

Drum Sets & Hardware

Pearl has upgraded their popular sets for 1998. The Export Series now includes a boom cymbal stand, pro tom holders, and a new snare drum. Export Select Sets now come with a new snare drum, boom stand, new finishes, and new tom holders -- all at a $100 price decrease! Pearl's Masters Sets are now available with alternative sized toms, new finishes, and improved bass drum heads.

For beginning drummers, Ludwig introduced mahogany Accent Kits. Ludwig was also showing their new Classic Professional Maple Drum Series and Rocker Pro Series Drums. They are also including a new Drum Setup Video with all new sets.

My favorite drums were Arbiter's new Advanced Tuning Drums, which use an innovative design that doesn't require any holes to be drilled through the shell. Instead of the usual 6-10 lugs used to attach each drumhead, a single 'Vee-clamp' with one tuning lug. This allows a head to be changed and tuned quickly, and makes it easy to tune the bottom head while playing the top head.

Yamaha introduced Maple Custom Absolute Drumset, which use thinner shells than their popular Maple Custom drums. Sonor also has a new entry-level kit, the Force 2001, which is available in Stage, Studio, and Fusion configurations.

There are several new snares for 1998. Pearl is now offering two new Mahogany Snares and two powerful Sensitone Power Piccolo Snares. Remo introduced Masteredge Snare Drums, which use their new "Molded Bearing Edge" Technology. Yamaha also introduced the Stage Custom Snare.

Engineered Percussion has new Axis "Hammer" Single & Double Bass Pedals that use their new "Sonic Hammer" variable stroke beater. Their new Axis Electronic Pedal Conversion Kit lets you trigger electronic drums with one of their Axis bass pedals. Engineered Percussion also introduced a new lightweight Vortex line of stands, starting with Vortex Hi-Hat Stands and Vortex Snare Tripods -- look for Vortex cymbal stands and rack systems later this spring.

Tama introduced Iron Cobra Hi-Hat Pedals, as well as Air-Ride Snare Stand for Triple Flanged Hoops.

Blokhed was showing their Indestructible Drum Rack Systems, which use secure aluminum "Bloks" to connect tubes, cymbal arms, and stand hardware.

If you are interested in building your own drums, Fever Drum has a Drum Building Video that shows you how to build a drum from plastic laminate, (more commonly recognized as kitchen countertop).

Cymbals

Sabian has several new cymbals for 1998. The AAX Bright Crash and Fast Hats feature boosted high-end response characteristics. For their series of professional uni-rolled bronze cymbals, Sabian has added Pro Series Rock Hats, Crashes and Rides. The hand-hammered Manhattan Ride is a thin cymbal for reproducing the raw, semi-dry and warm, full sounds of the 50's, 60's and early 70's. The new Terry Bozzio signature series -- Radia -- has a raw, oriental appearance. The Explosion Crash from Chad Smith is an aggressively cutting, loud cymbal. The David Garibaldi Jam Master signature cymbals feature a large bell. 'Glennies Garbage', created from a partnership with Evelyn Glennie, make sounds that are drier, more metallic and biting than those of traditional bronze cymbals. Lastly, Sabian is offering Free Pads and Straps for educational sets.

Paiste, who has a new website, has several new models for their 802 & 502 Lines. They have also extended the product ranges for their Crotales and Hand Cymbal.

Meinl Percussion, who are celebrating their 20th Anniversary, introduced heavy-duty XL Cymbals. They are also making available a limited supply of one of a kind Flat Ride Cymbals from their custom cymbal shop. Headliner Percussion introduced 3K Brass Cymbals.

A new cymbal company, Grand Master, was showing their Turkish "Breathing" Cymbals. These remarkable cymbals are constructed using "ancient cymbal sciences" and 100% handmade workmanship techniques.

Hand Drums & Ethnic Percussion

Remo introduced Congitas, Vintage Congas, and Glen Velez Hand Drums at NAMM. These are the first of almost three dozen products that they plan to add to their World Percussion line in 1998.

Meinl Percussion (who are celebrating their 20th Anniversary) are reintroducing their Woodcraft Congas, which hand crafted from select German oak. Meinl has also invented a Free Ride Suspension System for Bongos that allows their bongos to be connected and mounted without drilling through the shell. They also introduced four professional cowbells called Realplayer Steelbells, and new colorful Blocks. Headliner Percussion introduced Fiber Djembes.

Perkana Perkussion showed their Go-Jo Percussion Bags, a unique percussion instrument that is the only mutable shaker of its kind.

Marching Drums

Ludwig has new Omni Marching Drum Carriers, which are made from lightweight aluminum and finished in black. Ludwig also introduced a Marching Stick / Mallet Caddy that holds up to two pair of marching sticks or mallets and provides quick access while performing.

Concert Percussion

Pearl has several new snares. The new Masters Mahogany Classic Limited Edition Snares join their existing mahogany snares as the only line of professional mahogany snare drums in the world. The brass and steel Sensitone Power Piccolo Snares are deep (5 1/2") snares that combine power with a piccolo sound. Their Masters Series Symphonic Custom Snares are designed specifically for the concert hall and contain Pearl's new multi-timbre snare strainer system.

Aribter also displayed a line of snares as part of their innovative Advanced Tuning Drums -- drums that use special rims with a single tuning lug for each head. GMS Drums also came out with a new snare, the Tom Freer Model Concert Snare.

There were several new timpanis displayed at the show. Pearl / Adams has two new Timpanis, an Adams Cloyd Duff Dresden style philharmonic light model and a Professional Series Fiberglass model. The Tour Timps from Orpheus Music have no bowl and are designed to be easily portable.

Pearl also has a new Synthetic Bar Marimba, and Musser (Ludwig) has a new Student Marimba. There are also new Concert Snare & Bass Stands from Pearl.

Electronic Drums

Yamaha announced the addition of two new electronic percussion to their popular DSX line -- the DTX Latin Set and DTX Expansion Kit. The Latin Set allows percussionists to play while standing, and the Expansion Kit provides added versatility for acoustic drummers.

Roland introduced the SPD-20 Total Percussion Pad, an 8-pad percussion controller with 540 internal sounds. Roland is also offering a free V-Drums Demo Video, and for the first NAMM ever they were letting people try out the amazing drums.

S&S Industries introduced new SR-1 Drum Pads, which provides two separate trigger zones (center and rim) and has a gum rubber surface. It can be used with a drum module such as the Roland TD-5 or Yamaha DTX, or can be used with any MIDI module when connected to the S&S Industries Spitfire EX Trigger to MIDI converter.

The Zoom RhythmTrak Drum Machine includes over 100 distinctive drum kits and 50 bass patterns, real time recording, and General MIDI.

Sticks, Brushes & Mallets

Vic Firth has introduced several new sticks. New Signature and American Concept® Sticks have been introduced using designs specified by Harvey Mason, Alex Acuna and Will Calhoun. Several changes were made to the American Classic® and Signature Tips, including making them clear in order to minimize marking up drumheads and cymbals. Vic Firth also introduced new Robert Van Sice and Mike Mainieri Signature Mallets.

Vater has launced a new Range of Brushes. These include retractable wire brushes, standard (non-retractable) brushes, wood-handled brushes, and drumstick brushes. Vater also announced a new specialty stick -- the Whip, which features a soft vinyl handle with flexible polypropylene bristles.

Grover Pro has now formed a Strategic Partnership with Gambal Mallets, and has also expanded their line of Artist Choice(tm) Gong Beaters.

Shtix has new Marching Shtix, which are like brushes that use thin stainless spring-steel slivers instead of wire. Engineered Percussion introduced Whip Stix, a new alternative stick that uses three pieces of Derlin (a durable synthetic material) embedded in weighted brass handles.

Drumheads

Remo has several new heads. The coating on their new Renaissance Drumheads is extremely durable and helps improve the tone of a drum. Their Powerstroke 3(TM) Series has been expanded to include clear tom-tom heads and Renaissance bass and snare heads. Clear Tom-Tom and Renaissance Models. They are making available their Graphic Heads is a variety of standard and custom styles. They also introduced Renaissance Timpani Heads.

Ludwig has new World Standard Drumheads, which are available in single or double ply, as well as clear or coated finish. They have also returned their classic Weather Master Drumheads to the marketplace.

Accessories

For transporting your drums without scratching them, Ludwig has new Padded Drum Gig Bags. Ludwig also has a Marching Stick / Mallet Caddy for carrying up to two pairs of sticks or mallets.

Appolo(tm) announced the Drumat(tm), a portable 4-foot by 6-foot drum rug that rolls to a 2-foot by 6-inch diameter.

For blocking sound from around a drumset without blocking visibility, Clearsonic displayed their Acoustic Panels and Drummer's Helpers was showing their Sound Screens.

From a new company called Pseudo Drum Sticks, Pseudo Drum Sticks are telescopic practice drumsticks that retract into the size pen for practicing on the go.

To help control the tone of your drums, Percussive Innovations is offering Flop Drops, flexible tone rings that bond to drumheads.

Lastly, Halbrecht introduced the Air Tunes Precision Drum Tuning System, where a small rubber tube is used to tighten the heads on a drum set.

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