A drum kit – also called a drum set, trap set or simply drums – is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other percussion instruments. Drum kits are set up on stands to be played by a single player, with drumsticks held in both hands; the feet operate pedals that control the hi-hat cymbal and the beater for the bass drum. Sometimes, there may be two bass drum pedals to assist the player in playing faster rhythms. A drum kit consists of a mix of drums and idiophones – most significantly cymbals, but can also include the woodblock and cowbell. In the 2020s, some kits also include electronic instruments. Also, both hybrid and entirely electronic kits are used.
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A drum machine often has pre-programmed beats and patterns for popular genres and styles, such as pop music, rock music, and dance music. Most modern drum machines made in the 2010s and 2020s also allow users to program their own rhythms and beats. Drum machines may create sounds using analog synthesis or play prerecorded samples.
The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patterns. Unlike its nearest competitor at the time, the more expensive Linn LM-1, the 808 generates sounds using analog synthesis rather than by playing samples.
Stewart Armstrong Copeland is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with the Police, he played drums with English rock band Curved Air from 1975 to 1976. As a composer, his work includes the films Wall Street (1987), Men At Work (1990), Good Burger (1997), and We Are Your Friends (2015); the television shows The Equalizer (1985–1989), The Amanda Show (1999–2002), and Dead Like Me (2003–2004); and video games such as the Spyro series (1998–present) and Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare (2001). He has also written various pieces of ballet, opera, and orchestral music.
The Akai MPC is a series of music workstations produced by Akai from 1988 onwards. MPCs combine sampling and sequencing functions, allowing users to record portions of sound, modify them and play them back as sequences.
Electronic drums is a modern electronic musical instrument, primarily designed to serve as an alternative to an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drums consist of an electronic sound module which produces the synthesized or sampled percussion sounds and a set of 'pads', usually constructed in a shape to resemble drums and cymbals, which are equipped with electronic sensors to send an electronic signal to the sound module which outputs a sound to the player. Like regular drums, the pads are struck by drum sticks and they are played in a similar manner to an acoustic drum kit, albeit some differences in the drumming experience.
Greg Ellis is an American drummer and percussionist, known for his work in film and world music, living in Los Angeles. He has performed and recorded with artists from almost every continent, including Zakir Hussain, Airto, KODO, Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum, Juno Reactor, Billy Idol, Sonu Nigam, Sussan Deyhim, Hamed Nikpay, Bickram Ghosh, Chiwoniso Maraire, Sugizo and many more.
Fleet Foxes is an American indie folk band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 2006. The band consists of Robin Pecknold, Skyler Skjelset, Casey Wescott, Christian Wargo, and Morgan Henderson.
Anomaly is the fifth solo album by former Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley, released on September 15, 2009. It is his first album of new studio material since 1989's Trouble Walkin'. Frehley produced most of the album himself, with Marti Frederiksen producing the Sweet cover "Fox on the Run". The album was dedicated to Kiss drummer Eric Carr, Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, and Les Paul. The album debuted at number 27 on the Billboard 200, number 20 on the Swedish album chart and number 52 on the German chart.
Zs is a Brooklyn, New York-based experimental band. Since the band's inception, Zs has incarnated as everything from a sextet to a duo, now solidified into the quartet of Patrick Higgins, Greg Fox (percussion), Sam Hillmer and Michael Beharie (electronics). While Zs' music has been variously categorized as no wave, noise, post-minimalist, drone, and psych, it is primarily concerned with making music that challenges the physical and mental limitations of both performer and listener. The band has been heralded by The New York Times as "one of the strongest avant-garde bands in New York."
Frank Edwin Wright III, better known by his stage name Tré Cool, is a German-born American musician, singer, and songwriter best known as the drummer for the punk rock band Green Day. He replaced the band's former drummer, John Kiffmeyer, in 1990 as Kiffmeyer felt that he should focus on college. Cool has also played in The Lookouts, Samiam, Dead Mermaids, Bubu and the Brood and the Green Day side projects The Network and the Foxboro Hot Tubs.
1500 or Nothin' is an American musical ensemble composed of record producers, songwriters, musicians and music videographers, formed in 2006, in Los Angeles, California. With headquarters located in Inglewood, California, 1500 or Nothin' is composed of three internal divisions: 1500 Or Nothin’ Music, 1500 Or Nothin’ Video, and 1500 Or Nothin’ Ancillary. In 2006, 1500 or Nothin' began to create "a variety of music genres including Hip-Hop Rap, Rhythm & Blues, Alternative Rock, Urban and New Adult Contemporary. The collective 1500 or Nothin' has lent their writing, production or instrument skills to records for Justin Timberlake, Asher Roth, Jay-Z, Kanye West, T.I., Bruno Mars and B.o.B.
Holly Herndon is an American composer, musician, and sound artist based in Berlin, Germany. After studying composition at Stanford University and completing her Ph.D. at Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, she pursued a music career internationally. Herndon's music often includes human singing voices, is primarily computer-based, and regularly uses the visual programming language Max/MSP to create custom instruments and vocal processes. She has released music on the labels RVNG Intl. and 4AD. Her most recent full-length album Proto was released on May 10, 2019.
RVNG Intl. is an independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 2003 by Matt Werth, the label is run by Werth and focuses on experimental dance and electronic music, often incorporating avant-garde genres. Release formats include vinyl, CDs, and digital downloads. In 2011, they were named one of the top 50 indie labels in America by Billboard.
Reassemblage is the second studio album of Portland, Oregon duo Visible Cloaks, consisting of musicians Spencer Doran and Ryan Carlile. The record is named after Trinh T. Minh-ha's 1982 documentary film of the same name, since both works observe its subject matter without showing meaning to it. Reassemblage departs from Doran's past hip-hop releases for a more high-quality style inspired by the works of Japanese synthesizer music acts such as Yellow Magic Orchestra and Ryuichi Sakamoto, all of which were featured on Doran's 2010 mix Fairlights, Mallets & Bamboo.
"The Colours of Life'" is a composition written and recorded in 2011 by Canadian electronic musician Michael Silver, known by his stage name as CFCF. The 40-minute, twelve-movement track was influenced by what Silver described as "some really cornball music," such as the works of singer Phil Collins and the Windham Hill label. The style Silver went for with "The Colours of Life" was "call waiting background music, just the most pleasant thing and kind of trying to push to the edges of tolerable cheese in some places, but also have it be totally sincere and not ironic, like actually purely pleasurable music."
The River is an extended play written and produced from 2009 to 2010 by Canadian electronic musician Michael Silver, known by his stage name as CFCF. It was inspired by Werner Herzog's 1982 film Fitzcarraldo. Described by RVNG Intl.'s press release as a series of "lucid sound sequences from a lunatic mind," the experimental downtempo psychedelic new age EP was analyzed by music journalist Jonny Coleman as the story of a character who is stranded in a rural, tribal land. The River is a set of six original tracks by Silver with digital download versions of the record containing four remixes of songs from the EP by acts such as Jacques Renault, Coyote, and Games. The River was released by label RVNG Intl. on October 12, 2010 to generally positive reviews from critics, some reviewers calling its more modern-sounding cuts to be the best of the entire record.
Lex is a mini-album and partial soundtrack by Portland, Oregon duo Visible Cloaks, consisting of Spencer Doran and Ryan Carlile. Continuing the experimental electronic music stylings and East and West relationship ideas of their previous work Reassemblage (2017), the album takes place in a future utopian world with aliens talking in a hybrid of several languages to the point of speaking a "non-language." The speech sounds on the album were made by Doran feeding dialects and accents to the language translation program Infovox Voice Manager.
UkabazUmorezU, translated in English to "slow and steady wins the race," is the fifth studio album by Japanese musician Sugai Ken and his first LP for the New York-based independent label RVNG Intl. Continuing the ambient electroacoustic style of Ken's previous albums, UkabazUmorezU is a set of musical representations of Japanese folk traditions and "artificial" versions of passageways in the Kanagawa Prefecture during the nighttime. It was released on October 20, 2017 to favorable critical reviews.
Syndrome Syndrome is the debut studio album of Australian techno duo Gardland, consisting of Alex Murray and Mark Smith. It was released by the label RVNG Intl. on 29 October 2013. The album was produced by Gardland based on a deal RVNG Intl. leader Matt Werth made with the duo after he listened to a performance they did on the radio. Recorded in Marrickville over three weeks of improvisational sessions, Syndrome Syndrome is very harsh in tone and has an open-ended style that's unconventional to most electronic music genres. In critical reviews, Syndrome Syndrome was praised for its unique arrangement and sound methods while also being panned for its long length.
