July 1978 - Modern Drummer - Ed Shaughnessy

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• JULY 1978. $1.75MODERN DRUMMER A Contemporary Publication Exclusively for Drummers
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• Page 3Some drums have to be grown. Not made. The sound of a drum with a solid wood shell is unlike all other sounds. It's rich. It's mellow, It's solid and sometimes even primal.
• ED SHAUGHNESSY by Rob CookEd Shaughnessy has been playing drums since he was 14 years old in his native New Jersey. By 19, he was working with George Shearing at New York's Three Deuces. He's performed with the New York Philharmonic, the NBC and Pittsburgh Symphony, and the big bands of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, and Oliver Nelson. Today. Ed is one of the most in-demand drum set clinicians in the music world. He is most widely known for his resident gig with the Doc Severinsen NBC Orchestra on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show where he's in his fourteenth year as a regularly featured instrumentalist. Shaughnessy also works with Doc's band, his own band Energy Force, and does numerous recordings and clinics. This interview was conducted while Ed was in Michigan for a drum clinic. MD:
• Page 5SWINGER ON STAFF by having two bass drums you can get twice as much of one sound. But I get two very different sounds. It's much hipper for rock to have the power on the right foot off-beat, and complement it on the other foot. It gets me in the feel of the sound. Ml): How about your cymbal set-up?
• Page 6"DRUMMERS WHO GO THROUGH STICKS AND HEADS ARE PLAYING WRONG. IF THEY PLAY INTO THE DRUM WITH A DOWNWARD DRIVE, INSTEAD OF PULLING THE SOUND OUT OF THE DRUM, THEY'RE NOT ONLY GOING TO BREAK EQUIPMENT, BUT CHOKE OFF THE SOUND, AS WELL." This gets the sound close enough so you don't drown it out with the drums, but you still hear your instrument as it really sounds. This sort of practice, and of course practice with live musicians whenever possible, makes for better ensemble players.
• Page 7A wide assortment of drum heads — always available at PDS. Mountains of Gretsch and Ludwig drums serve as a backdrop for a barrel of drum sticks.
• Page 8Pearl, Sonor and North Drums fill display shelves. Huge selection of major lines makes this L.A. shop a virtual drummers' paradise. professional drummer.
• Page 9Harvey Mason. World renowned studio drummer has appeared on over 30 gold and platinum records. He has three of his own albums on the Arista label, including his most recent release, "Funk in a Mason Jar". ROGERS
• Page 10it becomes, the more you must concentrate. This is the challenge. The variations in studio music also require a special insight into proper tuning. That's one reason I think Rogers drums are so outstanding. Whatever studio tuning situation I come across, I've found that Rogers equipment can give it to you accurately...every time...without taking forever to adjust. I tune the set so that each drum sounds most resonant and has a distinct voice. In tuning, I want the tone to have a characteristic sound, not a specific pitch. There's another thing about Rogers. The MemriLoc hardware on Rogers drums gives me an exact duplication of my set-up every time. I know my set-up backwards and forwards. In order to relax, everything must be exactly where I want it...so I can forget about constantly re-adjusting positions of my drums...and I can really get into the music...in a way that makes my interpretation add a special kind of dimension within the total fabric of the music.
• Page 11NEW 16 SIZES
• Page 12Great cymbals are made, not manufactured. The one thing that mass pro- duction cannot produce is greatness. That's why no cym bal with the Zildjian name on it will ever be stamped out of sheet metal.