Columbus Percussion

Bill Bruford will be coming to Columbus Percussion on Monday, October 17th at 8:00 pm for a book signing, lecture and appearance. Bill will not be playing drums at this apperance. Tickets are $5 and are available online.

It’s the book everyone’s talking about: Bill Bruford:The Autobiography.

Bill Bruford, the Godfather of progressive rock drumming, speaks candidly about his extraordinary autobiography.

It’s a memoir of life at the heart of progressive rock and electric and acoustic jazz. It’s an honest, entertaining, and brilliantly-written account of Bill’s 40 years on the road and in the studio.

Whether you are a starry-eyed beginner, an inquisitive fan, or a seasoned professional, you’ll be intrigued as Bill lifts the veil on life for the professional musician.

Some of the biggest names in the drum business are proud to announce the search for the Drummer of Tomorrow. Beginning June 1st, drummers can film a solo or play-along performance, upload their video to DrummerofTomorrow.com, and be entered to win over $50,000 in prizes and drum gear. Prizes include drum sets from Mapex Drums, cymbals from Zildjian, drumheads from Remo, drum sticks from Vic Firth and songbooks from Alfred Music Publishing. In addition, the top winner will win an Artist Endorsement Contract from Mapex Drums, and will appear on the company’s official Artist Roster.

“This is an amazing opportunity to find the next great drummer, organically,” says Joe Hibbs, Product Marketing Manager for Mapex Drums. “It’s the only worldwide drum competition, spanning over a dozen countries.”

The Drummer of Tomorrow United States contest will be broken out into several elimination rounds, which run from June 1st, 2011 through 2012 at the Musik Messe show in Frankfurt, Germany. For the U.S. competition, entries will be accepted from June 1st through July 31st, 2011 on the U.S. contest site DrummerofTomorrow.com. As winners advance through the contest, they will be flown to various locales to perform. Destinations include a studio in Nashville, Tennessee, the 2012 Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, California, and the 2012 Musikmesse show in Germany.

Entries will be judged by voters on the contest site, DrummerofTomorrow.com, as well as a panel of drum industry professionals and artists from the Mapex roster.

“This is the ultimate audition for any drummer out there – playing in front of a worldwide audience,” says Hibbs.

For more information, visit DrummerofTomorrow.com.

It’s almost summer again, and that means Roland’s V-Drums Contest is back! Roland U.S. is pleased to announce the 2011 V-Drums® National Championship, its second annual competition to find the top drummer in the United States.

The V-Drums National Championship gives drummers throughout the U.S. the chance to make history by competing at the local, regional, and national levels with solo drum performances on the TD-20SX V-Pro® Series V-Drums. Along the way, contestants can win professional percussion gear and swag, with the champion drummer earning the opportunity to represent the U.S. at the V-Drums World Championship in January 2012, at the Winter NAMM Show.

Players start by submitting a digital audition, via YouTube™ or other video sharing site, to qualify for one of more than 30 preliminary competitions to be held at local music retailers throughout the country from June 23rd-30th. Winners at the prelims will go on to compete at eight regional semi-finals on July 28th, with the top players moving on to the national finals on August 25th at Sam Ash, in Las Vegas.

Prizes throughout the various rounds will include, but not limited to, a TD-20SX drum set, RMP-5 Rhythm Coach® and stand, a TD-9KX2, a set of custom REMO shell wraps, Drum Workshop hardware, and subscriptions to DRUM! magazine.

The finals event will host an array of live performances by top drumming artists and celebrity professional drummers as the guest judges.

Roland U.S. will evaluate the digital auditions and select preliminary round qualifiers based on musicianship, stage presence, and the creative use of technology in their drum performances.

Digital auditions are being taken now through June 7th, at www.rolandus.com/go/v-drums_contest/.

Photo Credit: Sebastien Paquet

Meet Ray Luzier in person! Ray will discuss his career, his recent world tour with KORN, and how he incorporates Yamaha’s DTX digital drum technology into his drumming.

Ray Luzier (pronounced “Lose-Ear”) was the drummer in ARMY OF ANYONE (with STP and Filter members) and was in the DAVID LEE ROTH band for 8 years. He has a degree from MI’s Percussion Institute of Technology and taught there for 10 years. Ray has an instructional DVD in stores now, he’s played live and on countless recordings for TV, film, and international recording artists around the globe. Ray has been a member of the Grammy winning/multi-platinum group KORN since October ’07. They do massive world wide tours annually . Recent ventures include headlining last summer’s biggest tour, the Rockstar Mayhem Festival in support of their latest record “Korn III, Remember Who You Are” and this years’ the Music As A Weapon tour and European festivals.

For more info:
rayluzier.com
korn.com

WGI Percussion Championships start today and go through Saturday. For those of you who are going down there, stop by the Columbus Percussion booth (booth #14). WGI is at the University of Dayton Arena, and full info and directions can be found at http://www.wgi.org/.