According to the KVR audio forum, a company called Sonic Reality recently completed a Neil Peart drum sampling session, engineered by Nick Raskulinecz. It appears the session started on March 18 in Los Angeles, and the final product is scheduled to be released by the end of 2008.
The end result of this project will be a "Neil Peart Studio Profile," most likely a complete sample of Neil's Snakes & Arrows DW kit and his V-drum sounds -- and possibly Neil Peart loops. Sonic Reality has produced other Studio Profiles on such drummers as Cheap Trick's Bun E. Carlos and Yes/Earthworks/King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford.
If you're curious about what this all means, you can basically buy professionally-recorded sampled sounds of drummers that you can use with music software on a computer -- or plug these samples into keyboards or electronic drums. Studio Profiles cost around $79.00.
In addition to this exciting news for drummers and other musicians out there, there are a few tidbits in the forum write-up by Squid (in several posts, which I edited a little). One thing that he writes about is the DW Snakes & Arrows kit will be available to buy in the near future.
March 18
Squids and Co in LA right now. We're doing a session with Neil Peart today! It's more than just me sampling but yes we are sampling his drum kit too! I will reveal more about the project when I am able to.
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March 19
So... I am at The Foo Fighters' studio right now. We just listened back to the tracks with Neil. HOLY S#$#*(%*#T!!!!!!!! There is this SEISMIC floor tom in his set that is the most massive boom! Wow. Explosive! Can you imagine playing Neil's kit? I can't WAIT until this is mapped. But, that is just one part of this session we did. There's more to it than that... very cool. Nick Raskulinecz who I think did a phenomenal job producing the last Rush album is co-producing this particular project with me (his studio is the Foo one... he mixed a bunch of Foo records) and it's really amazing that Neil and everyone are up for it! Very exciting.
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March 21
... Anyway, I was talking to Neil about playing his own kit from V-Drums after and he wasn't as interested in that (as say Omar Hakim was). So I think Neil is more just open to the idea of everyone else getting a chance to play around with his drum kit sound (and the rest of the project)... which is surprising and very cool. He's never done anything like this before.
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March 23
I was tempted to ask Neil about Rush lyrics. It's incredible that he's such an amazing drummer and writes those complex lyrics as well. I've always been curious what some of them mean or why he chose certain words that you don't commonly hear. But I wasn't sure if he'd want to talk about it or not so I didn't go there. I asked Nick if he ever talked at length to him about it and he hadn't either (with some significant hang time having produced the last Rush album). Neil is very comfortable with Nick so it was a good thing he was there. Plus Nick is a fantastic engineer. It was a very interesting mic set up. Two RCA ribbons for one room set and two U67s plus a Telefunken 251 mono room. 3 C12's for overheads to capture Neil's enormous kit.
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March 25
Anyway, here's a cool pic of Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio, me and Nick Raskulinecz. Nick was amazing in the session. He's one of the hottest producers around right now. He produced the last Rush album and three Foo Fighters albums and a bunch of other stuff. Cool guy and fun to work with too! Terry Bozzio is another really cool person who came by when we were recording Neil Peart. We have sampling session coming up with Terry recreating the sound he got with Missing Persons and producer/engineer/manager Ken Scott! Me, I'm just weaseling my way into a pic with these legends.
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March 30
... Apparently this "Neil Peart Kit" spec is or will be available to buy from DW! You wanna hear something totally cool? Neil liked Nick Raskulinecz' work so much on the last Rush album that for Nick's birthday a truck showed up at Nick's door with that DW kit as a present. Nice present huh? Shows you the kind of guy Neil is... and the kind of people the whole band and label are. Very grateful and generous.
When we were done, Neil signed a drum head for me wishing us success with the project. ... So... okay, yeah we're doing a Neil Peart Studio ProFile. But there's more to the session than that... quite exciting stuff! More news later.
Neil Peart to perform at Buddy Rich Memorial concert in NYC - 10/18/08
On the Buddy Rich Drum Company MySpace page, there's an announcement that Neil Peart will perform at the Buddy Rich Memorial Concert on October 18, 2008. Here's the announcement:
2008 Buddy Rich Memorial Concert Hammerstein Ballroom NYC October 18, 2008. Starring Neil Peart John Blackwell Nick Rich with The Buddy Rich Band. More artists to be announced. Check our Ads in DRUM! and Traps magazines starting in early April. The Biggest concert event of the year.
Neil Peart's original Tama kit
I saw a post on Rush is a Band about Neil's 1980's Tama kit and where it is today. Adam Roderick won the kit as part of a Modern Drummer essay contest and is still using the kit today in his Rush tribute band Trilogy. Adam has a really cool page that shows pictures of the kit being delivered by Neil's then drum tech Larry Allen, as well as pictures of Adam meeting Neil backstage. He also got to sit behind the Power Windows kit during soundcheck!
Michael, of NeilPeartDrumsticks.com, recently sent me a very rare photo of Neil's drumkit from 1974. You can see the photo in the 1970s gallery. Thanks, Michael!
More pictures of Neil Peart's Fort Wayne drum clinic
Michael also forwarded to me two additional pictures from Neil's drum clinic at Fort Wayne. You can see these two pictures in the 1990s-1990s Gallery starting in the second row.
Tough Break
As most of you have probably heard by now, a Rush-related song called "Tough Break" has surfaced on the Internet. In a nutshell, Rush recorded a song with Jack Secret (an alias for Tony Geranios, a longtime Rush crew member) and Skip Gildersleeve (another Rush crew member). Here's more information about this song:
Neil Peart-Drums Jack Secret-Voice, Bass Alex Lifeson-Guitar Skip Gildersleeve-Guitar Geddy Lee-Keys, Backing Voice
In September, at Le Studio, Quebec, Peart jammed with the road crew on a song, and was joined by Lee and Lifeson. The song was recorded later by Rush and temporarily titled "Tough Break." From the Signals Tourbook:
"We were getting a little bored with inactivity. During the mixing of "Exit... Stage Left" there was really not much for us to do except say "it sounds good" or "it doesn't sound good."
"I had been working down in the little studio, cleaning and renovating an old set of Hayman drums that were kicking around, and had started working on a "Jack Secret" song with Jack and Skip from the crew. Geddy and Alex soon joined in on keyboards and rhythm guitar, and we later recorded the song ("Tough Break") up in the studio."
Rushisaband has a nice post about the history of this track, too.
I've listened to this song a bunch of times, and I think it's really interesting. It's a musical snapshot of the band between "Moving Pictures" and "Signals," and you can definitely hear the keyboard ideas of "Subdivisions" and "Countdown" starting to form.
Also, you can hear how Neil's drumming changes a song that could be very ordinary. For example, listen to the hi-hat work in the second verse, as well as the snare placement.
You can download the song here. Thanks to MonicaZ for sending this to me.
30th Anniversary kits sold out
If you were itching to spend $30K on a Neil Peart 30th Anniversary kit, the kits have now sold out. Here's the announcement on the Guitar Center web page.
If you want to see a few happy owners, you can see them on my Replicas page (listed as "Commemorative" kits).
Related News
Alex Lifeson's guitar lessons
Thanks to a new website called iVideosongs, you can learn to play "Limelight," "The Spirit of Radio," and "Tom Sawyer" from Big Al himself. The lessons cost $9.99 each, and you can download them right onto your computer.
I download "Limelight" and "The Spirit of "Radio," and thought they were both really cool (and I don't even play guitar). It's especially interesting to listen to Alex talk about why he plays what he plays. Here's a link to all of Alex's lessons.
Neil Peart has penned a new article called "The Heart and Soul of a Drumset." The first chapter "Bass Drum Heartbeat" is available on the DW website.
In addition, there's a great video of Neil talking about the DW "X shell" and hybrid kit. In the video, there's a time-lapse sequence of Lorne Wheaton setting up the Snakes kit. Pay close attention to the song playing in the background.
Update 11/7/07: I actually saw (and played) one of these snares at Guitar Center over the weekend. Here's a picture:
Power Windows is reporting that the November Guitar Center catalog includes an item called the "Neil Peart Snakes & Arrows Snare Drum." Looks like this will be selling for $899.99, with no payments until 2009. I didn't see anything on the Guitar Center website yet. Check out the bit about the "special batter head."
"This stunning 6"x14" snare features an Aztec Red finish with handpainted gold leaf and metallic gray Snakes and Arrows graphics. The finish is done by DW master craftsman Louie Garcia, who paints Neil Peart's own drums. DW's unique Black Diamond hardware is made of nickel, but it's as hard and durable as chrome. The all-maple shell utilized DW's proprietary VLT (Vertical Low Timbre) design, with a vertical grain pattern that allows for a lower overall tone without sacrificing resonance and attack. The special batter head features a printed Neil Peart signature. Everything about this drum was designed in accordance with Neil Peart. This is the same snare Neil is currently using on the Snakes and Arrows tour. See it first at Guitar Center."
Rush.com has added a video interview with Lorne "Gump" Wheaton, Neil's drum tech. In the video, Lorne goes over the entire setup, including the backstage area.
To watch the video, go to Rush.com and click Multimedia. The interview with Lorne is listed on the right side as Rush Backstage - Welcome to Bubba Gump. See screenshot below for more information.
Neil Peart wins 5 Drummie 2007 awards, including "Drummer of the Year"
Note: This story was released on several web sites last week, but there's still no official word on the DRUM! magazine website. Evidently the official announcement will happen in the November 2007 issue of DRUM! magazine (on sale around October 7, 2007). I'll update this post when the official results are announced.
According to Huliq.com, Rushisaband.com, and several other sources, Neil Peart has won five "Drummie" awards for 2007, including "Drummer of the Year." The Drummie award is conducted by DRUM! magazine.
The awards include:
2007 Drummer of the Year
Progressive Rock Drummer
Live Performer
DVD: Anatomy Of A Drum Solo
Drumming Album: Snakes & Arrows by Rush
Congratulations, Neil, and all the other drummers who won Drummies.
Here are a few items I've been meaning to send out the past two weeks.
Postcards from Neil
I've created a new section called Postcards from Neil. This section highlights postcards that Neil Peart sent to people who wrote to him through Modern Drummer. I've seen a few of these postcards, but had never seen one that was handwritten like what Neil Peart had sent to Neal Scanapico. (Thanks for letting me post this, Neal.)
If you received a postcard from Neil and want to share it with other fans on this website, please send me an e-mail.
New photos in the 1980s gallery
I've posted five amazing photos that M. Hayden sent to me from the Hold Your Fire tour. (Thanks to M. for letting me post these to my site.)
Snakes & Arrows updates
As of this writing, Rush has performed 39 shows on this tour. The tour has been extremely successful so far, both financially and critically, and many fans have said this is the best tour they've ever seen. I would have to agree.
Here are a few links you might be interested in:
I've posted two stories about the Rush shows I attended on my personal blog. You can read them here:
I've continued to update the Snakes & Arrows section of my site.
I've continued to track and tag information about this tour using del.icio.us, a social-bookmarking site. I've turned a few of these tags (or categories) into feeds that are now available on this page.
New auctions
My friend has posted more Rush items to eBay. You can check these out at the Featured Rush Auction Items page. This week there are a few rare items.
Paragon Diamondback cymbal now available
I found the new Paragon Diamondback cymbal at one online music store location. The list price for this cymbal is $449, but you can buy it for $269. If anyone knows when this cymbal will be available in other locations, let me know.
Only four 30th Anniversary Commemorative kits remain
I saw on Guitar Center's website that there are only four of the 30th Anniversary kits left. According to the site, these kits are in the following Guitar Center stores:
For those of you using Firefox or Safari, you might have had problems reading The Latest News in HTML format. A few weeks ago I updated this blog so that it will now work with these browsers. If you have any other problems, please e-mail me.
You can listen to a drums-only version of the song "The Main Monkey Business" at NeilPeart.net. I listened to the entire track, and I heard all kinds of things I'd never heard before.
Just got to NeilPeart.net and click on the embedded player (see the arrow below):
If you like this kind of thing, check out the following Book/CD, which includes a few drums-only tracks of Neil, including "Leave That Thing Alone." Unfortunately, it looks like it's not published anymore -- but you might be able to find it used.
Rush is a band has posted a few scans of recent NEP magazine articles that are worth checking out:
DRUM! magazine photos: I've been trying to find this issue for a while with no luck. But you can look at the accompanying photos in these scans. Subscribe to DRUM!
Motorcyclist Magazine artice: Includes some never-seen-before photos along with excerpts from "Roadshow." A nice sidebar called "Peart's Picks" catalogs the top 11 destinations from the R30 Tour. Finally, on the last page, Motorcyclist Editor-in-Chief Brian Catterson writes an interesting story about riding with Neil. Subscribe to Motorcyclist.
