Drummers of Los Angeles, grab your sticks and join us. Why let guitar players have all the fun? We see you guys supporting each other, forming communities on YouTube and the forums and message boards, we want to give you a platform to get together in person to trade knowledge, network, and have fun.

Where:

Musician’s Choice Studios, 3727 Robertson Blvd, Culver City, CA (map)

When:

Wednesday, October 21st, 7:30pm-9:30pm

RSVP:

Meetup.com, Facebook, or Upcoming.org

Brent Barnett, Gibraltar‘s drum rack builder to the stars will be on the scene at this event. Brent has helped design drum racks for Clown (drummer for Slipknot) Jonathan Moffett (drummer for Michael Jackson), Joey Bumpus (drummer for Lady Gaga), Marc Schulman (drummer for Pink), and Tris Imboden (drummer for Chicago). Come and meet Brent to get the expert opinion on your drum setup.

Gibraltar Hardware Product manager, Ken Fredenberg will be on-hand to discuss everything you ever wanted to know about drum hardware.

Talk shop with Jim Stanek, Product Manager for Dixon Drums, who will be demonstrating Dixon’s Outlaw kit, and award winning Rosewood snare drums.

We’ll provide the food and drinks, some kits to work with and some pro talent to get things started.

But wait, there’s more! We’ve got great giveaways!

• Dixon Rosewood Snare Drums
• Dixon Demon Series 6-pc drum set
• Gibraltar Stealth VMS System
• Gibraltar Pedals and Ultra Adjust Hi Hat Stand
• Gibraltar Hybrid Mounting Pod with Boom Stand

Don’t miss out on your chance to win these sweet prizes, talk with the pros and meet your fellow drummers!

Parking:
There is street parking on Robertson and a municipal lot behind Del Taco.

RSVP for the LA Drummer Meetup:
Meetup.com, Facebook, or Upcoming.org

Here is a letter from Hal D, the Grand Prize winner of our Modern Drummer Contest.

Hey y’all, I’m the Grand Prize winner of the Modern Drummer Dixon Drums/Sabian Cymbals June ’09 giveaway! Wow, am I BLOWN AWAY!

I’ve played drums/percussion for almost 50 years….school bands and orchestras, cover bands, jazz bands, Riverside, CA Symphony Orchestra while still in high school, (*** years ago), the Air Force Bands of the West and Midwest…studied music education in college….full time professional musician at times, and part time at other times. These days I’m retired from my ‘day job’, am the principal percussionist with our local community/professional symphony orchestra, (for the last 22 years), play in various rock, blues, jazz combos, big bands, and teach private drum lessons.

When I first learned that I’d won this awesome prize package, I wasn’t exactly sure what I’d end up with. Dixon drums have just recently entered the drum market, and like probably many of you, I was unfamiliar with them. But once they arrived?….my expectations were definitely exceeded! This Outlaw Series set, in the Rock Configuration, is certainly a pro quality set of drums! The ‘build’ is top notch….solid, true 100% maple shells….clean and flawless bearing edges….quality low-mass lugs….quality/solid Dixon stands and pedals….the 24” bass drum is a CANON!….the ten lug snare is sensitive AND powerful, (very nice!)….and a beautiful, lustrous lacquer finish! Yeah! I also didn’t have any first hand knowledge about the Sabian XS20 cymbals. They ALSO exceeded my expectations…with their great quality sound!

Probably neither the Dixon Outlaw Rock configuration drums, nor the Sabian XS20’s would fit into a jazz genre. But if you want to ROCK on a professional level, at a VERY affordable price, you should really make a point of checking these drums and cymbals out!

Now, the thanks…and thanks….and THANKS! First I want to thank Modern Drummer Magazine for offering this giveaway, and OF COURSE, for drawing my name! I also want to thank the staff of Modern Drummer, (specifically, Kevin Kearns), for handling the whole process in such a wonderful, helpful way. Secondly…but CERTAINLY NOT least….many, many thanks to Jim Stanek of Dixon Drums and Sabian Cymbals for ALL of his great, professional, TIMELY effort to see to it that these awesome prizes arrived at my door quickly and safely. That effort, and his follow-up speak volumes about his professionalism and personal character. Thanks Jim!

All the best, and ROCK ON!
Hal D.
Southern Oregon

What you’ll need:

• 5 piece drum kit
• Playstation 3 (or 2)
• RockBand 2 (or original RB)
• Rock Band Microphone and two guitar controllers
• 5 acoustic drum triggers, appropriate cables (cable connector types depends on the triggers and interface, just make sure they are compatible with each other)
• drum trigger interface
• Midi to USB Rock Band Adaptor
• RemO’s Tone Control Rings
• Hart Dynamics Magnum mesh heads (optional)
• Blue, Red, Green, Yellow spray paint
• polycrylic spray coating
• 3M mounting tape
• orange construction paper
• Elmer’s glue
• Pintech cymbal triggers (optional)

(see more photos here and see our post on Instructables.com)

1. Get the gear and the game

Get the Playstation 3 or 2, and the Rock Band or Rock Band 2 pack that comes with the drums, guitar and microphone, and game disc. Even through you will not use the drums, this pack is less expensive than buying the game, two guitar controllers, and the microphone separately. And if you want to return you drum kit to a normal later, you can use the included Rock Band drum kit to play the game. We used the Guitar Hero World Tour controller for our second guitar.

2. Get the Special Adaptor

Buy a USB Rock Band adaptor. We bought ours from Rock Band Forum user sethmeisterg. (This will not work with the XBox 360 because of Microsoft’s interface licensing restrictions, this is why it must be a Playstation 2 or 3).

3. Take Measurements

Measure and write down the diameter of your toms and snare (or you might already know). If you are going to use cymbal triggers also, measure them as well. We bought the Pintech TC Cymbal Package which includes a 14, 18, and 10 inch cymbal triggers. It does not matter which size you pick.

4. Get the rings

Get the appropriate quantity and size of RemO’s Tone Control Rings at a drum accessory store. They come in packs, but sometimes dealers will sell the rings individually.

5. Optional: Get the mesh heads

Buy the appropriate size and quantity of mesh heads. This is optional. Using mesh heads will be quieter than the regular acoustic heads. This will let you hear the music track of the game more easily. You will only need one mesh head per drum. You can keep the original bottom heads. Remove the top rims, then the top head, mount the mesh heads, and re-mount the rim. We used Hart Dynamics Kontrol Screen Magnum.

6. Paint the Rings

Lay out the tone rings on your kit and note which color you will need to paint each one. Then, take them outside and paint each one the appropriate colors. From left to right it should be: red, yellow, blue green. You may need to apply several coats until you cannot see the white through the paint.

7. Coat the Rings

After the paint dries, apply the polycrylic spray.

8. Mount the Rings

After the polycrylic coat dries, attach each ring to the head with the 3M Mounting Tape. If you are using the cymbal triggers, glue the rings to the them. We cut the bottom part of the rim to accommodate the foam pad on the trigger.

9. Apply the Orange Construction Paper

Apply the orange construction paper to the kick drum in some way do designate its color. We glued to strips to the bottom inside rim of the kick drum.

10. Mount and Connect the Triggers

Mount the triggers to the drums and connect them to the trigger interface. We used the Alesis DM5. You can also use the Alesis Trigger I/O, Roland TD-3 or Roland TMC-6. Connect the trigger interface to the USB adaptor, and the USB adaptor to the Playstation 3.

11. Configure the Interface

Set up your drum trigger interface to trigger the correct midi note numbers as described by the USB adaptor interface. You can start the game to test the triggers. You may want to put the game in the “no fail” mode so you will not need to keep restarting the song. Adjust the crosstalk and gain setting in the drum trigger interface.

12. You’re done! Start playing!

Invite some friends over to sing and play the guitar and bass parts, and rock out!

Our last stop on the Beats For Eats Tour is today April 23rd at 5pm to 7pm at Tom’s Music in Victorville, Ca. We need singer, guitar players to rock out, and of course, drummers! We’ll give away our last Dixon Snare drum and more t-shirts Bring your canned goods for High Desert Homeless Services.
Update:
Thank you everyone, for coming out to have fun with Dixon Drums!