Music News in the Triangle

NEWS

Maintenance Tips For Your Drum Set

Although you would not change the oil every 3,000 miles, instruments are like cars where they require some routine maintenance to keep them in performance ready shape and sounding their best. In our teaching studios we often have drums, guitars, basses, amps, and keyboards that come in with minor problems that could have been prevented with some minor maintenance.

Here are a few simple things to consider for your drum set to keep it sounding great and trouble free.

1. CHANGE YOUR DRUMHEADS. Drum heads are often neglected and go for months, and sometimes even years, before they are changed. If the heads have small dings (we call them dimples) then they are in need of changing. Of course, drum heads with splits in the ply's or heads that no longer tune up need replacing as well.

2. TIGHTEN TUNING LUGS. We often have drums come in with very loose tuning rods or are missing them all together. As you play the drum the vibrations will cause the tuning rods to become loose and eventually fall out. Regular tuning will prevent this.

3. ARE YOUR DRUMSTICKS CAUSING DAMAGE? Drum sticks literally take a beating and this can cause damage to your drum heads and cymbals. Sticks that have broken, cracked or chipped tips sticks need to be replaced. This also goes for sticks that are splintered or being "eaten away" on the shaft from been hit on the edge of hihats or cymbals. The balance of the stick will be different and it needs to be replaced.

4. CLEAN YOUR DRUMS. A simple dusting will do once every week or two. This will keep the finish looking great and prevent the chrome from dulling.

5. GREASE THE TUNING RODS. If you really ant to do some good cleaning then take your tuning rods out and put a small dap of lubricant on the ends. This will keep them free from rust, dust and grim and make them turn smoothly when tuning.

If you have some tips or tricks that have worked for you in the past, or if you have any questions about proper care of your instrument let us know. info@ppdsonline.com

Posted on 4 March 2010 | 6:49 am

Gibson 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD Guitar

Sporting a semi-hollow body,period-correct hardware like volume and tone knobs, double band tuners and dual PAF-style 57 Classic humbucking pickups, the Gibson 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD Guitar ($5,700-$6,200) is as close as you're going to get to an original without shelling out way, way more cash. Created to celebrate the ES-335TD's golden anniversary, each guitar is handcrafted by Gibson Custom's Memphis division, and comes in either a Vintage Sunburst, Faded Cherry, or Antique Natural finish, each of which is applied using Gibson's Vintage Original Specs process to make sure it looks the part.

Posted on 3 March 2010 | 7:40 pm

Play Guitar

Posted on 1 March 2010 | 6:20 pm

askourmusicians.com

Bringing a variety of content to the web aimed at helping up-and-coming musicians be successful with their music careers, askourmusicians.com offers original video content focused on both music performance instruction, as well as tips and advice for surviving and thriving in the business. askourmusucians.com will also publish relevant music industry news and events.

Posted on 19 February 2010 | 5:57 am

Early Bird Camp Specials End 2/28!!!

Registering for our MusicTech Summer Camps? The Early Bird Special ($50 Off Total Tuition) ends February 28! If you miss the deadline we have a second special ($25 Off Total Tuition) good through April 30th.

Posted on 19 February 2010 | 5:52 am

JIM CHAPIN MEMORIAL TEACHER SCHOLARSHIP

The Jim Chapin Memorial Teacher Scholarship will be launched at the Hard Rock Café in New York City on February 17, 2010 at 7:00PM. The event, which celebrates one of drumming’s most dedicated and influential legends, will include performances by some of today’s leading drummers, along with music by members of the Chapin family.

The Jim Chapin Memorial Teacher Scholarship, open to instructors that want to improve their teaching programs, will be given annually and will be maintained by the Percussive Arts Society (PAS).

Progressive Music Center Founder Billy Cuthrell studied under Jim for 6 years and accompanied him on multiple trips for clinic appearances around the US and to many NAMM shows. Jim taught private lessons and conducted numerous master classes on a regular basis at Progressive Music Center, and on many occasions held court for hours with his stories, ever present practice pad and sticks at the dinner table and in the living room of Billy’s house.

Jim Chapin was not only an amazing teacher, he was a friend, a mentor and one of a kind.

Contributions can be made at the February 17 event and any time by check (payable to PAS/Jim Chapin Scholarship) or online.

Mail checks to:

Percussive Arts Society

110 W. Washington St., Suite A

Indianapolis, IN 46204 USA

tel: 317-974-4488

fax: 317-974-4499

e-mail: percarts@pas.org

(Pictured: Jim Chapin, Billy Cuthrell, Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater at Progressive Music Center 2002)

Posted on 3 February 2010 | 5:16 am

Check out DRUM! Magazine's Wiretap

Progressive Music Center founder Billy Cuthrell is in DRUM! magazine's Wiretap online news section with members of the NAMM Foundation and Percussion Marketing Council (PMC) announcing the 20/10 Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) campaign.

(Chad Smith - Red Hot Chili Peppers/ChickenFoot)

Posted on 28 January 2010 | 9:07 am

Progressive Music Center Student Austin Haga and Chad Smtih

Posted on 20 January 2010 | 6:44 pm

Back From NAMM 2010!

The guys are back from their West Coast Adventure at NAMM and looks like they had a great time! From press conferences with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, NAMM panel presentations to meet and greets with Alice In Chain's Jerry Cantrell, Slash, Flea, Victor Wooten and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D, there is no doubt that we work nationally to make it better locally!

You can always be FAN of Progressive's on Facebook for full pictures, videos and more!

Posted on 18 January 2010 | 1:51 pm

Registration Now Open For ALL Summer Programs

Posted on 8 January 2010 | 6:08 am

NAMM Updates

Staff from Progressive Music Center's Raleigh and Wake Forest locations will be attending NAMM January 12 - 20 in Anaheim, CA and providing updates direct from the show floor. Progressive founder Billy Cuthrell (pictured below with Gene Simmons and Mitsuru Umemura/President Yamaha USA) will present two sessions at NAMM's Idea Center for the NAMM University series. Progressive will also launch a new website while in LA, askourmusicians.com with clips and footage from Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Fender, Gibson and Marshall artists.

Posted on 29 December 2009 | 6:19 am

Summer 2010 Camp Dates Released

We know it's only December, but believe it or not we start preparing for our summer camps in October. We also start receiving camp registrations for our summer camps in January, and our first camp does not start until June. We love early registrations, so send em' in (you even get a discount for doing it early!). Registration opens for Progressive students only January 2, 2010 and to non-students on February 15, 2010. Early bird registration discounts will apply through March 20102. Registration forms will be available on our website www.ppdsonline.com.

The 2010 Camp dates are as follows:

June 14 - 18 - Raleigh Location (finale concert @ 7PM on the 18th)

June 21 - 25 - Wake Forest Location (finale concert @ 7PM on the 25th)

July 12 - 16 - Raleigh Location (finale concert @ 7PM on the 16th)

July 26 - 30 - Wake Forest Location (finale concert @ 7PM on the 30th)

Aug. 2 - 6 - Raleigh Location (finale concert @ 7PM on the 6th)

Aug. 16 - 20 - Wake Forest Location (finale concert @ 7PM on the 20th)

Posted on 2 December 2009 | 10:24 am

Add To Christmas List

Invented in 1967, the Dübreq Stylophone is a small synthesizer played by touching a built-in stylus to the metal keyboard. It was famously used on David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and Kraftwerk's "Pocket Calculator." $20 at thinkgeek.com. Check out the below video of Brett Domino performing a "1980s Hits Medley" on the device.

Posted on 1 December 2009 | 7:48 am

Looking for the BEST Christmas Gifts

Posted on 25 November 2009 | 8:11 pm

Holiday Gift Guide 2009

Posted on 22 November 2009 | 10:09 am

Gibson Offices Raided

11/17/2009 From MMR

While no charges have yet been filed, NashvillePost.com is reporting that earlier today, Federal agents and local police seized wood, guitars, computers and files from Gibson Guitar's Massman Road manufacturing facility in Nashville.

Sources say the guitar manufacturer is being investigated for violating the Lacey Act, a key piece of environmental law, for importing endangered species of rosewood from Madagascar.

Rosewood is widely used in the construction of guitars and sells for $5,000 per cubic meter, more than double the price of mahogany. The island nation off Africa's east coast is a key producer of the hardwood, the export of which has links to international criminal activity.

Madagascar has struggled financially since a January coup and new President Andry Rajoelina issued an executive order in September legalizing the export of rosewood and ebony. The move was decried by environmental groups and political leaders worldwide, as hardwood forests are key to Madagascar's unique ecology and serve as a habitat for a dwindling lemur population.

Sources have told NashvillePost.com that Gibson was involved in a scheme that shipped the wood from Madagascar to Germany and then to the United States.

Posted on 17 November 2009 | 4:50 pm

Progressive's Gift Guide Is Coming

Our First Annual Holiday Gift Guide is coming November 16. Find cool music gear for anyone on your list. Here's a sneak peek...

Posted on 12 November 2009 | 6:27 pm

Breaking News Chik-Fil-A Mascot @ Progressive Music Center

Breaking News

The Chick-fil-A mascot made a stop in the Progressive Music Center Wake Forest, North Carolina location during a business expo being held in the adjacent building. The local Chick-fil-A restaurant handed out samples of sandwiches and drinks. No cows were harmed during the visit, but lots of free chicken sandwiches was consumed.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Pictured - Progressive Music bass student Katie Sullivan with the Chick-fil-A mascot.

Posted on 28 October 2009 | 7:17 pm

And Now We Present...U2 Live

Can't See The Video? Check It Out HERE

Posted on 26 October 2009 | 6:48 pm

STOLEN!

Progressive Music Center guitar instructor Andrew Davis has alerted us that his band, To The Republic, was a victim of theft on October 15.

Thieves broke into their storage space and walked out with $14,000 in amps, mixers, speakers, monitors, guitar effects pedals and more.

Here's a list of some of the larger items:

Vox AC30 amp, Marsahll 1960a Lead 4X12 speaker cabinet (has the letters "CC" on the back), Ampeg SVT-CL Classic Bass Head, Ampeg SVT810E Classis Series 8X10 Bass Speaker Cabinet, Mackei 408S Pro Mixer, Creative Acoustics CA Speaker CA112F 12" stage monitor

If you have any information that could lead to the recovery of any of this gear please email nate@totherepublicmusic.com or info@raleighROCKschool.com

Posted on 22 October 2009 | 8:32 am

Roscoe P. Coltrane Digs Progressive

Otcober 10, 2009 - Wake Forest, NC

Progressive Music Center student Charlie Keith and James Best, aka Roscoe P. Coltrane from the original Dukes of Hazard television show.

Posted on 21 October 2009 | 12:09 pm

Halloween Bash

No Halloween plans? Check out Progressive Music Center instructors Chuck Barchuk, Bill West and Jason Farley at Mac's Tavern for a night of live music, costume contest and bonfire! It all starts at 8PM on October 31 and the cover is only $8! If you have wanted to check out our teachers and staff on stage this would be a great show to see.

Posted on 20 October 2009 | 9:24 am

Progressive Teacher's Embrace Tech

Progressive Music Center staff and teacher's in our Raleigh and Wake Forest, North Carolina locations have been using and embracing the iPod and iPhone in their lessons and during in-store events for over a year now, and we are seeing the advantages of the popular devices everyday. With the growing popularity of Apple's App Store, it is getting harder to not use one of these handy devices during our lessons.

Progressive's Operations Manager Kyle Long says, "I use an iPod touch to play music between sets during our student showcases and Rock Academy shows. It's cool because we can set-up playlists that coincide with what the bands are playing that night".

The overall benefits of the devices show up in the lesson rooms when teachers use them to search youtube and other music sites for music, tabs, lyrics and videos for use during the lessons.

"All of Progressive's teaching rooms have an internet connection and wi-fi, and at one point I was using my laptop daily during lessons, but once I got my iPhone I realized I could use that for everything I needed. It was nice because I could stop carrying that bulky laptop and my iPhone actually has better applications that what I had on my old computer. I've got a metronome, tuner, chord charts, scale finder and tons of other bass/guitar related apps on my iPhone that I use all the time with my students", says Progressive bass guitar teacher, Larry Dempsey.

Progressive drum instructor Dexter Horton adds, "most of my students have an iPod touch and a few have iPhones. They come in each week and will show me a new App or some music sites they have found and bookmarked. The cool thing is all of my students have a digital file saved on their iPods that I email them after their lesson. It's just a great tool and I think Progressive is the only music school that I know of using the iPods and iPhones as much as we do".

Posted on 30 September 2009 | 6:17 pm

New from case-mate...iPhone Recession Case

Only $.99! Wonder if they can make some nice cardboard drum and guitar cases for recession strapped musicians...

Posted on 17 September 2009 | 6:58 pm

Group Classes

Group classes for GUITAR and DRUMS are now registering for our Wake Forest, NC location. All group classes are 10 weeks and cost $150. A Real Feel practice pad and sticks are required for the drum class and a guitar and beginner book are required for the guitar class. These materials are available for purchase in our retail shop. Jump HERE for drum class info. and registration and HERE for guitar class info and registration. Come join the fun and learn a new instrument!

Posted on 1 September 2009 | 5:37 am

Designed with VIGOR