A drum maker from London is in the hospital after he inhaled anthrax spores while handling animal skins. That’s a fairly uncommon occupational hazard for drum builders, so if you’re in the business, don’t freak out (…at least don’t freak out completely). From the article:

Need a big ol’ marching stick in persimmon wood? As far as we knew, persimmon was a one-time wood of choice for golf clubs and old people’s furniture, but Silverfox has seen fit to unveil a version of its 3S stick made of the stuff. If you actually wield a pair, don’t be surprised if your BPMs slow down.

Yamaha wasn’t going to let Halloween slip by without giving us drummers at least a couple of goodies. First up is the company’s Hex Rack System that we first reported on in April. The latest incarnation comes with improved arm clamps and the grandly named “Synthetic Open Sphere,” which makes omelets or cleans floors or something equally useful. Here it is supporting a boner-inducing cock-rock kit (…two penis references in a six-word phrase is almost a record here at BDT):

Next, Yamaha is whipping out ten new snare drums. Models include an all-birch snare in the Stage Custom line, a 10″ Musashi snare, a new Vintage snare, and two new series—the Loud and the Sensitive. No mention of prices in the press release, but the Loud model below looks pretty spectacular with its offset lugs and nine freakin’ air vents:

Three of Tama’s big boys—Kenny Aronoff, Jason Bittner, and John Tempesta—are doing some individual clinics to show off their skillz (…and promote a couple signature snare drums). Tragically, most of the dates are on the East Coast. Check the link for showtimes and locales.

It’s good to see Travis in the wilds of Malibu, California, and we continue to be impressed with how exceedingly tolerant he is of paparazzi.

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Steve Smith just completed a North American tour with his band Jazz Legacy. For those of us who missed them, a 10-minuteish documentary has been posted to YouTube (and, of course, embedded in high quality below). Most sobering revelation: even drumming royalty have to set up their own kits on jazz tours.

But the gorilla definitely played better….

Never let a drummer, particularly a crazy-ass Muppet drummer, behind the wheel of an Audi.

[via Gizmodo]

Some pics from Barker’s Calabasas outing this week. The severity of the burns on his legs is quite evident.

RockPages.gr just scored a nine-minute telephone interview with Tommy Lee. It’s fairly staid stuff, but Tommy’s thoughts on New Tattoo, the Motley album that was recorded with Randy Castillo on drums, are pretty amusing:

Man, that record sucks! [laughs] I might as well have not listened to it at all, at least all of it…I have listened to some of the songs on it and they are absolutely crap! Nikki took some demos of ours from the past, like “Hell On High Heels” that didn’t make it on the Dr. Feelgood album, and put them in there….[it was at that point that Tommy Lee’s assistant asked us politely to end the interview]

Headbanger’s Ball turns 20 years old, and we get the present: a 14-minute vid interview with his Larsness. He chats a little bit about the Ball, how the video for “One” introduced the MTV generation to Metallica, and (of course) the pretty positive critical reception to the band’s latest album. Money quote: “I’m psyched that people give a shit.”

Metallica - MTV Shows

Barker was filmed Thursday leaving a restaurant in Calabasas, California. Even with all he’s been through in the last month, he’s still a nice enough fellow to politely suffer a particularly lame-sounding reporter.

Stone Temple Pilots stickman Eric Kretz has to miss the final dates on the band’s North American tour because his father recently passed away. Perennial backup Ray Luzier will fill in.

Meinl has posted a super shiteload of photos from last weekend’s Superdrumming festival in Australia. Check out this overhead shot of the Teutonic titan:

…that made a 47-year-old man break into a church to play the drums. According to the police report, Michael Smith was driving by the Holy Ghost Deliverance Church when he spotted a drum set through its window. And just like a truly devoted skinsman should, he busted right into God’s house, where officers later found him “in a spirited solo.”

…We hope that they at least let dude finish before hauling him off to the clink.

The National Transportation Safety Board released some of its findings today about what caused the crash that seriously injured Travis Barker. According to People, the “aircraft’s wheels had very little rubber remaining and its brakes were severely damaged.” The investigation is ongoing. We’ll keep you updated as more information is available.

All you gigging drummers with gold-plated hi-hat stands paying attention? Protection Racket has got a hardware case to sell you for $84.99. Here’s the press release:

Was he cut? Did he quit? We don’t really know yet, but Paddy Boom is apparently no longer the skin slapper (…eww) for the Scissor Sisters. The band has released this not-very-explainy statement:

We would like our fans and friends to know that we have amicably parted ways with the original Scissor drummer Paddy Boom. He will no longer be on stage with us but he will always be our sister.

Aw yeah, Hudson Music is about to unleash a Jason Bittner DVD, What Drives the Beat. It’ll clock in at three hours and feature Bittner demonstrating enough concepts to fill a six-hour DVD:

• The basic beats and fills of metal drumming
• Applying rudiments
• Hand and foot technique
• Developing both feet evenly
• Two-handed ride patterns
• How to “metalfy” jazz, funk, shuffles, slow blues, and world beats
• Soloing

Check the link above for a sneak peek.

Music Towers sat down with drummer John Dolmayan to chat about the stuff that’s really important: Warcraft, comic books, and not having to pay state income tax.

Our only gripe? It appears that John is (sigh) a PC.