If you and your friends are planning to attend PASIC 2020 in the virtual format this year, this is the last week to register and get a discount. Registration fees go up next Tuesday, November 3rd, so get registered today and save yourself a little cash. You can register for PASIC here. Please note that once you’ve registered, you are locked in. There are no refunds for cancellations. If you have any specific questions regarding the event, please check out pasic.org for more info.

If you are a fan of the late, great Neil Peart, you are going to want to get your hands on one of these books. We will only have 5 available, so you may want to call to reserve a copy ASAP. “Neil Peart’s ten appearances on the cover of Modern Drummer magazine span the years 1980, when he was five albums and several tours into his historic run with the Canadian progressive rock band Rush, and 2020, the year of his passing. No other drummer has come close to appearing so many times on the front of a drum publication, certainly not the world’s most recognized one. This, the first installment in Modern Drummer magazine’s Legends book series, collects all nine of Peart’s cover stories, plus the complete contents of his May 2020 Modern Drummer tribute issue. Highlights include analyses of Neil’s performances on every Rush studio album, a survey of the evolution of his famous live drumkits, transcriptions of deep Rush cuts, and much more.”

Welcome back to the Chops blog! Now that school is starting (in some form) and kids are getting their instruments, there are instrument assembly questions that need to be addressed. The Musser Xylo kit seems to be the one that people have the most questions about, so we’re sharing an assembly video from Jim Catalano to help you out! If you have any additional questions after the video, please feel free to call or email us!

If you are one of the teachers or instructors still looking for ways to safely and effectively disinfect your drums and percussion instruments, Yamaha has put out a very helpful guide that you should check out. This guide details what disinfecting agents can be used on specific percussion instruments, which I know has raised a lot of questions in the percussion community as of late. You can find that information here. Yamaha has all the other instruments covered as well, so be sure to check that out here. Chops hopes that this finds you all well and staying safe. Best of luck to all of you as you try to bring school music back in the safest and most effective ways possible.

A friend sent me this cool video from Drumeo last week, so I wanted to share it with all of you. It turns out there are several creative things you can do with your broken drumsticks (and even the sleeves they’re sold in!) Most of these involve power tools, so if you don’t have experience using them, you may not want to try this. Drumeo says it best in their video when they say “power tools are dangerous. Be smart.” If you’re adventurous enough to try one of these ideas, share it with us on Instagram or Facebook! If you don’t follow us, we’re easy to find! You can view the Drumeo video here. Have fun!

Now that everyone is trying to get marching band up and running, the staff at Chops figured we could do our part to help you out! From July 27th until August 31st, you can save money on your Remo marching and concert head order. Here’s how it will break down: Save 3% on orders up to $499 Save 7% on orders from $500 to $999 Save 10% on orders from $1,000 to $1,499 Save 15% on orders from $1,500 and above Please email your orders for this sale to [email protected]. This sale is good for in stock Remo marching and concert drum heads only, and this discount does NOT apply to World Percussion heads or instruments. Please feel free to email the sales address mentioned previously, or call 317-813-2070 if you have any questions or need to place your order over the phone. Thanks for supporting Chops Percussion and best of luck with the upcoming season! *Qualifying artist orders are not eligible for extra discounts

I hope this finds you all doing well! If you’re a teacher or a percussion instructor, odds are you have been thinking a lot about the upcoming school and marching season. There are still tons of unanswered questions out there, so the Percussive Arts Society came up with a guide to help you navigate the tough road ahead. This guide is the most thorough I have seen with regards to sanitizing gear, rehearsal protocol, and curricular recommendations. It is definitely worth a few minutes of your time. Many of the items listed in the guide are things you all will face, so I hope that this serves to answer some questions or give you some fresh ideas. You can find the guide here:

The TCX tenor heads are a new alternative from Evans for all marching tenor applications. They are designed with band directors and percussion instructors in mind who seek enhanced volume and tonal clarity of their tenor line. With the combination of two identical plies of 7 mil clear film, TCX tenor heads offer a full, rich tonal spectrum at any tuning range with increased projection and clear articulation. Combined with Level 360 Technology and Evans proprietary two-ply alignment, each head delivers maximum resonance and sustain at any tension. Available in 6-14″ for all common tenor drum sizes. For all of you that are fans of the Corps Clear and MX Frost tenor heads, those are being discontinued in favor of this new TCX head. Chops now has the TCX heads in stock, so give us a call when you’re ready to give them a shot!

We hope this finds everyone doing well. We have updated and added to our demo list at chopspercussion.com. You can view the list here. Please check product availability with the Chops staff before ordering. You can call 317-813-2070 or email [email protected] and we’ll be glad to answer any questions you may have.

Welcome back to the Chops blog. I hope this finds all of you doing well. We are now at the point that we can start letting customers back into our showroom. While we are very excited to see you, there are some new protocols in place for our walk-in customers. Here are some things to know before you head this way: – If you do not feel well or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, please do not enter the building. – Children 16 years of age and younger will not be allowed in Chops unless they’re accompanied by an adult. – Children 16 and under must remain in the Paige’s showroom with their parent(s) until a parent is able to accompany them into Chops. – No more than 4 guests are allowed in the Chops showroom at one time. – Please ask the staff on hand for assistance before trying instruments/accessories out. – Hands-free sanitizing station is available at the counter. – If more than one person is in the room with you, please practice social distancing. We all know things are A LOT different right now, but for the safety of our staff and our customers, this

Welcome back to the Chops blog. We know marching season is upon us, and there are a lot of questions about how groups are keeping their kids informed and prepared for the upcoming season. I would like to thank Sean for taking the time to answer a few questions about how things are currently going at Greenfield-Central. For more information on Sean, you can check out his bio here. How have your kids gotten over the sting of indoor season ending prematurely? It’s been understandably difficult. It was even difficult to fully understand the impact in the following days. In these moments, it’s so important for people in jobs like mine to educate and remember that your students are watching you, AND watching you react. There are life lessons to be learned through this… Not taking things for granted. Not waiting to take care of something. Giving it your all every rehearsal. I hope more than anything our students at Greenfield-Central are ready to flip the script and turn a tough time in life into a better version of themselves, ready to tackle whatever is next in life because they won’t take it for granted. Marching band drumline auditions would

If you love playing the drums, but you’re stuck at home without a drum set, we have the solution for you! We have several here to rent, so give us a call and we can help get your process started today! A 3 month minimum commitment and your first month’s payment is all it takes to get a drum set from our store to your home. If you’re worried about noise, we do have options to take care of that! For more information on the drum set rental program, click here. If you have any specific questions that the website can’t answer, feel free to email [email protected] or call 317-813-2070. I hope everyone is staying safe. Please know that we’re thinking of all of you during this time, and we can’t wait to see you again!

Hi, everyone. I hope this finds you all safe and doing well. I’m sure many of you are getting a chance to play your drums or other percussion instruments daily. I know I’ve had more time to play at home these last few weeks than I’ve had in years, so I’ve tried to take advantage of it, because I may never get it again! If you are playing more regularly, try adding something new to your arsenal. The above picture is my practice kit at home. Look at the hardware and you’ll notice a Pearl Eliminator double bass drum pedal. I’ve never been a double pedal guy, and truth be told, I’ve never really had the patience to work on it. I figured now may be the right time for this old dog to learn some new tricks. I’m a little more patient with myself these days, and just trying to enjoy the process of learning something new. I hope you are doing the same. Maybe your fills need freshening up, or you finally want to learn the drum break in “Tom Sawyer”; now is the perfect time to do exactly that! Be patient with yourself, slow things down, slow

Do you have trouble tuning your rack toms? Does your snare sound bother you to no end? Would you like to know how to get more low end out of your kick drum? If you’ve answered “yes” to any of those questions, you need to be checking out “Sounds Like A Drum” on YouTube. You can find that channel here. I find myself watching a video from them daily. I’ve played and messed with drums my entire adult life and then some, but I don’t pretend to know everything. When I’m struggling with snare tuning or I’m looking to make my floor tom growl a little more, the “Sounds Like A Drum” channel is the first place I go. Here’s how Cody and Ben describe the mission of SLAD: “An ongoing video series for drummers, audio engineers, and anyone who is responsible for achieving great drum sounds at the source. Sounds Like a Drum offers in-depth tutorials on tuning in ways most have never learned, tips and tricks for a memorable sound, and hacks that you might never have thought of.” This channel really is a great resource, and I would suggest subscribing and watching daily. You never know what