Dominic Howard

Dominic James "Dom" Howard (born 7 December 1977), is the drummer for the English rock band Muse.

Howard was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in England. When he was around 8 years old he moved with his family to Teignmouth, a small town in Devon. He began playing drums at about the age of 12, when he was inspired by a jazz band performing at school.

Howard's first band was named 'Carnage Mayhem', which he was in at school. Meanwhile, he befriended Matt Bellamy, who played guitar but didn't have a stable band. Not long after, Bellamy was faced with the chance of entering Howard's band. After two years of drop-outs after Bellamy suggested that they write their own songs, only Howard and Bellamy remained. Chris Wolstenholme, who played drums in "Fixed Penalty", then entered the scene and with a great "spirit of sacrifice" he began to play bass.

In the first months of 1994 Gothic Plague was born, followed by Rocket Baby Dolls and then finally Muse. From then on, things got more serious for Howard and the others. Howard is the oldest member of the band, followed by Bellamy, then Wolstenholme.

In 2004, Howard's father, William Howard, came to watch Muse's performance at Glastonbury 2004, a concert which Bellamy described as "the best gig of our lives" Just after their performance finished, William died from a heart attack. Through support from his family and fellow band members, Dominic recovered, and Muse managed to continue their tour.

The song Howard wants played at his funeral is "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen.
In a session where he and Bellamy answered questions from fans, Howard stated that the celebrity, alive or dead, he'd most like to meet is Jimi Hendrix.

On 26 September 2008, Howard, along with Bellamy and Wolstenholme, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Plymouth.

Drum kits

Howard is known to be an endorser of Tama Drums, and used Tama's now-discontinued Starclassic Mirage acrylic sets. However, he has used a set of orange and red Ludwig Vistalites in the USA cut of the Stockholm Syndrome music video, while a clear set of Vistalites is seen on one of the background images of Muse's official site. As of 2009, Dominic appears to be using DW Drums. His new kit is maple with VLT (Vertical Low Timbre) shells and reinforcement rings in a custom finish. All of his recent appearances in support of the new album "Resistance", Howard can be seen using Drum Workshop kits.

Mitch Mitchell Drum Solo

John "Mitch" Mitchell

John "Mitch" Mitchell (9 July 1947 – 12 November 2008) was an English drummer, best known for his work in The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Early life and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Before joining the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Mitchell gained considerable musical experience touring and playing as a session musician. He also had an acting background, and had starred in a children's television programme, Jennings and Derbyshire, when he was a teenager. Pre-Experience bands included Johnny Harris and the Shades, The Pretty Things, Bill Knight & The Sceptres, The Riot Squad, and Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames. He had also worked in Jim Marshall's (creator of the Marshall amplifier) music shop in London. Mitchell auditioned for Hendrix's band in October of 1966, beating out many other British drummers, including Aynsley Dunbar (who, according to Hendrix's manager Chas Chandler, was their other final choice. Mitch won the job on the flip of a coin).
Mitchell was praised for his work with the Jimi Hendrix Experience on songs such as "Manic Depression", "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" "Fire" and "Third Stone from the Sun". Mitchell came from a jazz background and like many of his drummer contemporaries was strongly influenced by the work of Elvin Jones, Max Roach, and Joe Morello.
Mitchell played in Hendrix's Experience trio from October 1966 to mid-1969, in his Woodstock band of August 1969, and also with the later incarnation of the Experience in 1970 with Billy Cox on bass, known posthumously as the "Cry of Love" band. Hendrix would often record tracks in the studio with only Mitchell, and in concert the two fed off of each other to exciting effect.
In December 1968, Mitchell played in the band The Dirty Mac assembled for The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus in 1968. Other members included John Lennon as vocalist and rhythm guitarist "Winston Leg-Thigh"; Eric Clapton as guitarist, and Keith Richards as bassist. The group recorded a cover of "Yer Blues" as well as a jam called "Whole Lotta Yoko".
Another noteworthy musical collaboration in the late 1960s was with the Jack Bruce and Friends band featuring Mitchell along with ex-Cream bassist and vocalist Jack Bruce, keyboardist Mike Mandel and jazz-fusion guitarist and future The Eleventh House frontman Larry Coryell. Mitchell played in this band during late 1969 and early 1970, when Hendrix was working with the Band of Gypsys.
Mitchell also took part in some of Miles Davis' demo sessions for Miles' 1969 album Bitches Brew, but does not appear on the final album.

Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr)

Richard Starkey, MBE (born 7 July 1940), better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the rock group The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr belonged to another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in 1962, taking over from Pete Best. In addition to his contribution as drummer, Starr featured as lead singer on a number of successful Beatles songs (in particular, "With a Little Help from My Friends", "Yellow Submarine", and the Beatles version of "Act Naturally") and as songwriter with the songs "Don't Pass Me By", "What Goes On", and "Octopus's Garden".
As drummer for The Beatles, Starr was musically creative, and his contribution to the band's music has received high praise from notable drummers in more recent times. Starr described himself as "your basic offbeat drummer with funny fills", technically limited by being a left-handed person playing a right-handed kit. Drummer Steve Smith said that Starr's popularity "brought forth a new paradigm" where "we started to see the drummer as an equal participant in the compositional aspect" and that Starr "composed unique, stylistic drum parts for The Beatles songs".
Starr is the most documented and critically acclaimed actor-Beatle, playing a central role in several Beatles films, and appearing in numerous other movies, both during and after his career with The Beatles. After The Beatles' break-up in 1970, Starr achieved solo musical success with several singles and albums, and recorded with each of his fellow ex-Beatles as they too developed their post-Beatle musical careers. He has also been featured in a number of TV documentaries, hosted TV shows, and narrated the children's television series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. He currently tours with the All Starr Band.


Ringo Starr was born Richard Parkin Starkey to Richard and Elsie Starkey (née Gleave), at 9 Madryn Street, Toxteth, Liverpool, England. His parents split up when he was three years old, and his mother subsequently married Harry Graves, who encouraged his interest in music. Starr was afflicted by illness for much of his childhood. When aged six, he had appendicitis, which developed complications, causing him to fall into a coma. At thirteen, he developed chronic pleurisy and was admitted to a sanatorium for two years. After this extended hospital visit he did not return to school. The periods of hospitalisation left him behind scholastically, and as a result he was ineligible to attend grammar school or even sit its Eleven plus qualifying examination. Starr attended St Silas Primary School in High Park Street close to his home in Admiral Grove, which Billy Fury also attended at the same time. Later Starr attended Dingle Vale Secondary Modern School, leaving in 1955. While there, he showed an aptitude for art and drama as well as practical subjects including mechanics. Starr's health problems had another enduring effect in the form of allergies and sensitivities to food, and when The Beatles travelled to India in 1968, he took his own food with him.

Playing Drums – Are You Organized?

What does it mean to be an “organized” drummer?
When your band plays a song, do you play that song the same way every time? If not, you should. Here’s why…
It can all be summed up into one word called “predictability.” So many drummers will never play a song the same way twice. This, many times, throws the other musicians off, potentially causing a drag in timing or increasing the chances of a mislead cue.
As the drummer in a band it is your responsibility to provide the foundation for the music. This meaning that everything you do behind the drum kit is vital. Anything you do out of the ordinary, or something the other musicians are not used to hearing you play in a particular song really has the potential to screw things up.
Experimenting is definitely a good thing, and that’s why we practice, but there just comes a time when experimenting is over. You must decide what you’re gonna do and then stick to it. Never throw in something that the other musicians are not expecting or you can end up with some serious chaos.
Predictability is a must! The other musicians must know what you’re going to do before you do it. An outstanding drummer is predictable, prepared and organized, ready to bring his or her goods to the table. Personally, it has always bothered me when a band mate would come to play and he or she would just not be ready. Situations like that are just not fair to everyone else who is ready.
It’s been said that when preparedness and opportunity meet, success occurs. I don’t know what kind of “success” your hoping for, but one thing is for sure, you will more likely meet with it by being organized when opportunity knocks.

Vadrum Meets The Simpsons (Drum Video)

BUDDY RICH

Arguably the greatest jazz drummer of all time, the legendary Buddy Rich exhibited his love for music through the dedication of his life to the art. His was a career that spanned seven decades, beginning when Rich was 18 months old and continuing until his death in 1987. Immensely gifted, Rich could play with remarkable speed and dexterity despite the fact that he never received a formal lesson and refused to practice outside of his performances.

Born Bernard Rich to vaudevillians Robert and Bess Rich on September 30, 1917, the famed drummer was introduced to audiences at a very young age. By 1921, he was a seasoned solo performer with his vaudeville act, "Traps the Drum Wonder." With his natural sense of rhythm, Rich performed regularly on Broadway at the age of four. At the peak of Rich's early career, he was the second-highest paid child entertainer in the world.

Rich's jazz career began in 1937 when he began playing with Joe Marsala at New York's Hickory House. By 1939, he had joined Tommy Dorsey's band, and he later went on to play with such jazz greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Ventura, Louis Armstrong and Gene Krupa. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Rich toured with his own bands and opened two nightclubs, Buddy's Place and Buddy's Place II.

Buddy received outstanding recognition throughout his career. The Downbeat Magazine Hall of Fame Award, the Modern Drummer Magazine Hall of Fame Award and the Jazz Unlimited Immortals of Jazz Award are just a few of his numerous honors.

On April 2, 1987, Rich died of heart failure following surgery for a malignant brain tumor. Longtime friend, Frank Sinatra, spoke a touching eulogy at Rich's funeral. Today, Buddy Rich is remembered as one of history's greatest musicians. According to jazz legend Gene Krupa, Rich was "The greatest drummer ever to have drawn breath."

Carter Anthony Beauford Drum Set Up

Equipment.

Beauford uses a Yamaha Drums drum kit, a Ludwig LB417T Black Beauty Supra-Phonic snare drum, 6.5x14" with a die-cast hoop on the batter side and a triple flanged hoop snare side, Zildjian cymbals, Remo drumheads, Pro-Mark sticks and mallets, Yamaha and Drum Workshop hardware including a Yamaha Hex-Rack since the 2008 Summer Tour and various Latin Percussion cowbells, woodblocks and other assorted percussion equipment. He also uses Footjoy golf gloves rather than traditional drum gloves.
Beauford used several Ron Dunnett custom metal snares in the past, the most common being a bright purple with gold hardware he used for the better half of the 2000s. Around the 2006/7 tour season, the Dunnetts were replaced by a prototype silver Yamaha metal snare later to be confirmed by BeaufordBuddy.com to be Carter's forthcoming Signature Snare. The Yamaha Signature "Carter Beauford" Snare Drum is still a prototype, not in production. As of April 2009, photographs of Carter live showed him using a Ludwig Black Beauty in place of the Signature Snare. This has raised questions if the Signature snare has been dropped by Yamaha.

Carter Anthony Beauford

Beauford was first exposed to drumming at the age of three. At the time, his father had bought tickets to a Buddy Rich concert and could not find someone to watch his son, so he took young Beauford along to the show. Beauford was mesmerized by Buddy Rich on stage. After that show, Beauford's father bought his son a tin drum set with paper heads, since Beauford showed so much interest in learning the instrument. Beauford began performing professionally when he was nine.
Beauford explains his unusual playing style in his instructional video "Under The Table & Drumming", attributing his use of left-hand-lead on a right-handed kit to playing his own kit in front of a mirror as a child in an attempt to emulate his favorite drummers, like Buddy Rich He unknowingly set up his drums in reverse of whichever performer and set that he had in mind, in an attempt to make the mirrored image of himself match that of the audience's perspective, as he had seen it on stage and TV. This helped him to become completely ambidextrous at a very early age, albeit by accident.
Beauford earned a degree in music from the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music, in Winchester, Virginia.