''Modern Drummer'' is a monthly publication targeting the interests of

drummers A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer's ...

and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

ists. The

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

features interviews, equipment reviews, and columns offering advice on technique, as well as information for the general public. ''Modern Drummer'' is also available on the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. First published in 1977, today the print version of ''Modern Drummer'' is available in 67 countries. The monthly digital edition, enhanced with music and videos corresponding to the current issue's contents, is available on the

. An electronic newsletter featuring unique

editorial An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK) is an article written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper, magazine, or any other written document, often unsigned. Australian and major United States newspapers, suc ...

, ''MD Wire'', is also published monthly. A corresponding website is used to supplement the magazine with

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

s and other items which cannot be provided in the paper format (e.g., audio-video presentations). In 1993, Modern Drummer Publications introduced a bimonthly drum dealer-oriented magazine called ''Drum Business,'' and for more than 20 years its book division has released works by drum educators. In 2006 the company published its first

hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occa ...

book on the history of drumming, entitled ''The Drummer: 100 Years Of Rhythmic Power And Invention''. Since 1987 it has also produced the Modern Drummer Festival.

History

''Modern Drummer'' magazine was conceived in the basement of Ron and Isabel Spagnardi's home in Nutley, New Jersey, funded only with the family's personal savings. The magazine's initial staff consisted of Leo Spagnardi (Ron's father, who taught him how to play the drums), and Ron and Isabel's daughter, Lori. Although they had no real publication experience or

financial backing An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Typ ...

, the Spagnardis placed ads in local

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

s, in ''

Downbeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

,'' and in ''Drum World.'' "What we didn’t consider when we put the ads in the papers," recalled Isabel in ''The Drummer,'' "was that we were innocently breaking the law by advertising a product that didn’t even exist yet!" The ads worked, however, and subscriptions began coming in as the first issue was still being laid out on the Spagnardis’ ping-pong table. Ron contributed most of the magazine's content, writing the majority of the articles on an old

typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...

under various

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

s. Within two years, the Spagnardis’

basement A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ...

could no longer provide the necessary space and so moved to its first proper

office An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...

Clifton, New Jersey Clifton is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Criss-crossed by several major highways, the city is a regional commercial hub for North Jersey and is a bedroom suburb of New York City in the New York Metropolitan Area. As ...

. By 1984, the magazine once again outgrew its

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

and moved to a larger facility in

Cedar Grove, New Jersey Cedar Grove is a township in north central Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 12,411, reflecting an increase of 111 (+0.9%) from the 12,300 counted in the 2000 Census, w ...

. Ten years later, it moved to an even larger facility in the same town. ''Modern Drummer''’s offices remain at 12 Old Bridge Road in Cedar Grove today. Ron Spagnardi died on September 22, 2003. David Frangioni became Publisher in 2019 and then CEO/Owner in 2020.

''Drum Business'' and book publishing

In 1993 Modern Drummer Publications introduced ''Drum Business'', a magazine dedicated to the needs of drum retailers. The bi-monthly

publication To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Conve ...

features interviews with drum sellers,

press release A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...

s for new products, drum-industry news, articles and news such as on the annual National Association of Merchant Musicians (NAMM) convention. Among the books Modern Drummer Publications has released are titles by well-known drummers such as

Gary Chester Gary Chester (born Cesario Gurciullo; October 27, 1924 – August 17, 1987) was an American studio drummer, author, and teacher. Beginning in the 1960s, he played on hundreds of records for bands such as The Coasters, The Monkees, and The Lovin ...

Carl Palmer Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer (born 20 March 1950) is an English drummer best known as founding member and the last surviving member of the progressive rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer. He was also a founding member of progressive rock s ...

and

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English former drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording ...

. Ron Spagnardi authored more than a dozen books.

Readers poll

Each year ''Modern Drummer'' publishes the results of its readers

poll Poll, polled, or polling may refer to: Figurative head counts * Poll, a formal election ** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts ** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions ** Polling places o ...

, which highlights top drummers spanning all genres of music and inducts one drummer into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame.Modern Drummer Hall of Fame
/ref> Awards are also given for top educational materials and recorded performances.

References

External links

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TigerBill.com 1977 establishments in New Jersey Monthly magazines published in the United States Music magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1977 Magazines published in New Jersey