One of the cooler looking products I’ve seen introduced at NAMM 2010 is the ePro electronic drums from Pearl. They actually look like real drums…what a concept! I think this is great for someone who needs the ease of set up and volume control of an electronic kit, but doesn’t want to sit behind a bunch of black plastic pads.

I watched this entire video, and I must say I’m not impressed with the sounds of this kit. It sounds really dead…like someone put duct tape all over the toms. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, fast forward to 2:04 where Joey Jordison is demoing the product. What do you think?

In recent months there have been some very cool videos on YouTube like this one and this one, where musicians around the world are filmed playing the same song, shining a spotlight on a certain social cause.

Being a drummer, my interest was especially piqued yesterday when I saw a video produced by Sudan 365, an organization urging world leaders to get more involved in Sudan to prevent an escalation of violence that could lead to massive human rights violations.

Whether or not your interested in the situation in Sudan (which you should be – as the video points out, the country’s civil war was the longest running in Africa, with over 2 million people dead, but peace is still very unstable), take a minute out of your day to watch this video. It starts with a single drum beat, a beat that is built upon by musicians all over the world, including famous drummers like Stewart Copeland, Philip Selway of Radiohead, and Nick Mason of Pink Floyd.

If you’re interested in learning more about the situation in Sudan, or if you want to get involved, check out the Sudan 365 website. As a shameless (yet worthy) plug, a friend of mine in Denver is part of an organization called The Leadership Institute of New Sudan, whose mission is to develop and train leaders so that the people of New Sudan can experience the virtues of prosperity, civil rights, and social equality. Check out their website or Causes page on Facebook.

Does everyone have their holiday shopping done? I don’t, so I’m going to make it quick this week!

Here are last week’s musical instrument giveaways from GearGiveaway365 on Facebook and Twitter:

• Brady Drums, a very high-end drum builder from Australia is giving away a 14 x 6.5 Spotted Gum ply snare drum. The winner will be notified by a personal telephone call from Brady founder Chris Brady on Christmas Day. Classy! Enter Here
• You can win a TC Electronic Impact Twin, which is a kick-ass new computer audio interface that’s not even on the market yet. It retails for $519. All you have to do is become a fan of the TC Electronic Facebook Page to enter. Enter Here
• Here’s a chance to win a microphone much nicer than most of us need! GC Pro is giving away an amazing sounding Royer R-121 ribbon microphone worth $1295. Enter Here
• The band Saosin is giving you a chance to win all four instruments featured in their video “Changing.” One person will win the Fender Squier Bass, Ibanez Electric Guitar, Gibson Les Paul Electric Guitar, and an Evans Drumhead (ok…not an actual instrument!) that were actually… played in the video, and they’re all signed by the band. Enter Here
• I’ve been searching for some band instrument giveaways, and have found a few. Up first…a euphonium giveaway from Woodwind and Brasswind. Enter to win a Yamaha YEP321 Euphonium (MSRP $4,043) PLUS a $250 gift card. Enter Here
• Here’s a guitar amp giveaway for you! Win a Peavey Vypyr Tube 60 guitar amp (MSRP $599), courtesy of Guitar Edge Magazine. Enter Here
• Win a pair of Toca Elite Series Congas (value: $690) from Making Music Magazine. Enter Here
• If you’re a vintage guitar fan, here’s a great giveaway for you. Custom guitar builder Abe Rittenhouse is giving you a chance to win a custom relic electric guitar (your choice of models) worth up to $1,549. These are really cool ’50s and ’60s era Fender-style guitars. I wish a photo would load here, but go to the website to check them out. Enter Here

As always, you can get these updates everyday on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GearGiveaway365 or follow us our feed on Twitter, at www.twitter.com/GearGiveaway365. You can also subscribe to our giveaway email alerts to get a weekly email with this summary of links by subscribing here.

You can still enter many of the past weeks’ giveaways, so make sure to check out the GearGiveawy365 Archives.

OK everyone…I have a ton of giveaway links for you today. Twice as many as usual because…well…I didn’t post this summary last Saturday. Sorry!

Let’s get right to it:

• Enter to win a Fender Classic ‘50s Telecaster electric guitar from Glasvegas & Filter Magazine. Enter Here
• Premier Guitar magazine is giving away an amazing sounding Henriksen JazzAmp 110 worth $899. Enter Here
• Create a wish list at Guitar Center and win a $100 GC gift card, courtesy of The Tripwire. Enter Here
• Win a Fender/Squier Strat Pack from Sigler Music. All you have to do is write a “Letter to Santa” telling him why you deserve to win this giveaway. Enter Here
• Here’s on for drummers OR anyone into recording or just making sweet sounds. Win a Black KORG nanoPAD USB Drum Controller from Audiotuts+. Enter Here
• Win a Gretsch Brian Setzer Hot Rod G6120SHLTV electric guitar, signed by Setzer! This guitar is worth $3,341. Enter Here
• Metalheads unite! Win a Bernie Rico Jr Hybrid Vixen electric guitar. This guy is the son of BC Rich founder Bernie Rico Sr. This is a killer V-Style guitar worth $975.00. Enter Here
• Win a Benedetto Bravo archtop guitar worth $5,500! Just fill out a short survey to enter. This prize is courtesty of Premier Guitar Magazine. Enter Here
• To celebrate the release of “Crash Love,” AFI are giving away a special “Crash Love” branded guitar. The Epiphone Les Paul Special II features a custom Crash Love logo and is autographed by Davey, Jade, Adam and Hunter. Enter Here
• Bass Guitar and Amp Giveaway! Win a Daisy Rock Stardust Elite bass guitar, an SWR WorkingPro 12 bass amp, Curt Mangan bass strings, a Levy’s strap, and Equation Audio headphones, courtesy of Bass Frontiers Magazine. Enter Here
• Enter to win a Sonor Phil Rudd AC/DC Signature Snare Drum worth $659. Enter Here
• Enter to win a Gibson SG Zoot Suit Guitar (retails for $1,999), two photo books (Trust: Photographs by Jim Marshall and Sound Kapital), a pair of Converse AC/DC Sneakers and a Karmaloop x MTV Staying Alive Foundation Tee designed by Shepard Fairey. Enter Here
• Courtesy of Taylor Guitars, enter to win a Taylor Swift Baby Taylor acoustic guitar (MSRP: $398), a Band Hero Wii Band Kit, a Band Hero DS Bundle, and a Band Hero tee shirt. Enter Here
• Win an Epiphone DR-100 Ebony Dreadnought acoustic guitar autographed by Brendan Benson and Cory Chisel…and a selection of ten vinyl LPs picked out by Brendan and Cory. PLUS, just for signing up you get to download two free mp3s. Enter Here
• Win a Marshall MG2FX guitar amp. Marshall is giving away a MG2FX guitar amp everyday thru Dec 24. Enter everyday for a better chance of winning. Enter Here

As always, you can get these updates everyday on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GearGiveaway365 or follow us our feed on Twitter, at www.twitter.com/GearGiveaway365. You can also subscribe to our giveaway email alerts to get a weekly email with this summary of links by subscribing here.

You can still enter many of the past weeks’ giveaways, so make sure to check out the GearGiveawy365 Archives.

Here’s your Saturday summary of this week’s musical instrument giveaways at GearGiveaway365.

More on this later, but I’ve just launched two new Facebook pages. First is the “Musical Instrument Coupon Codes” page. This one should be self-explanatory. I also launched one that I call “Guitar Review Theater.” If you’ve created a video review of a guitar, amp, effect, or accessory, you can upload it there for the world to see. Again, I’ll post more details on these later on.

Last week’s giveaways:

• BC Rich Giveaway! Win a BC Rich Warlock Electric Guitar and a Lita Ford prize pack (includes her new album “Wicked Wonderland,” a limited-edition vinyl version, and a tee shirt. Enter Here
• Woodwind and Brasswind Silver Bells Giveaway! Win a Stephanhöuser Model SAS2000-SS Sterling Silver Alto Saxophone worth $7,795. Enter Here
• Win a custom built Fender J Mascis Jazzmaster guitar autographed by the members of Dinosaur Jr. Enter Here
• Win a Jim Dunlop Custom Shop Crybaby Rack Wah worth $599. Enter Here
• Be a REAL Rock Hero Contest! Enter to win one of three great prizes. Three lucky winners will walk away with either an Archer SS30 electric guitar, Union 5-piece Drum Set or a $100 Cascio Interstate Music Gift Card. Enter Here
• You may not be that excited about a guitar strap giveaway, but everyone needs to check out these new straps from Anthology Gear Wear. These premium leather straps are hand rubbed, embroidered, etched, etc. If you win, you get to pick your strap (worth up to $180). Click though to view the photos if nothing else! Enter Here
• Disney Tink My Ride Sweepstakes! Grand prize is a Honda Insight EX Hybrid, BUT first prize is a Gibson electric guitar signed by Disney Channel star Demi Lovato (do you people know who she is? I don’t). Enter Here

As always, you can get these updates everyday on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GearGiveaway365 or follow us our feed on Twitter, at www.twitter.com/GearGiveaway365. You can also subscribe to our giveaway email alerts to get a weekly email with this summary of links by subscribing here.

You can still enter many of the past weeks’ giveaways, so make sure to check out the GearGiveawy365 Archives.

Another seven days another seven musical instrument giveaways…wait nine giveaways! I did post a few extra this week. There was a Daisy Rock guitar giveaway that was about to expire, so I doubled up that day. Also, there was a free RICO sax strap giveaway, which is cool, but perhaps not worthy of an entire day. So you got more for your money this week!

As always, you can get these updates everyday on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GearGiveaway365 or follow us our feed on Twitter, at www.twitter.com/GearGiveaway365. You can also subscribe to our giveaway email alerts to get a weekly email with this summary of links by subscribing here.

In case you’re not checking us out on Twitter or Facebook, here’s our weekly round-up of giveaways:

• Win a killer SubDecay F-Bomb fuzz pedal (worth $109) from Effects Bay Enter Here
• Win a FREE ModTone effects pedal of your choice! Tremolo, Delay, Chorus, Speedbox Distortion, Atomic Phaser, Dyno Drive, Funk Filter, Deep Dive, Extreme Metal or Chromatic Tuner! Enter Here
• Cascio Interstate Music Jam-Tastic Drum Sweepstakes! Grand prize is a Yamaha 14″x7″ brass snare drum signed by Carter Beauford. Additional prizes are Zildjian 14″ & 17″ K Dark Crash Cymbals signed by Carter, a $500 Gift Card from Cascio Interstate Music, a DW 9000 Series Double Bass Pedal, a Yamaha Jacket sig…ned by Carter, and 1 Dozen Pro Mark Carter Beauford Signature Sticks. Enter Here
• Win a SICK Orange Dual Terror guitar head from Premier Guitar. This amp is worth $859, so get on it now! Enter Here
• Any sax players out there? You can get a FREE baritone/tenor sax strap from Rico. Everyone gets one! Just follow the link below to the Rico Facebook page. In a comment, tell them who your favorite saxophone player is, then click the link to take a brief survey about what you like. Pretty simple for free gear. Enter Here
• Check out Sweetwater Sound’s 24-day Holiday Giveaway! Every day from December 1 to December 24, they’re going to give away a special gift of some of the most popular audio and music gear they carry, including gear from Fender, Digidesign, Yamaha, and Epiphone. Enter Here
• Win a bunch of gear from the band Between the Buried and Me. Score an autographed Spector Legend 5 Classic Bass in black cherry finish, D’Addario XL strings, Planet Waves straps, tuners & more, signed Vic Firth drum sticks, and BTBAM swag. Enter Here
• Win a Rock Candy Special electric guitar from Daisy Rock Guitars & Viva la Rock. Enter Here (Expired)
• Win a custom hand drawn Fender Squier Stratocaster guitar by the animators & creators of Phineas and Ferb! Enter Here

You can still enter many of the past weeks’ giveaways, so make sure to check out the GearGiveawy365 Archives.

The Deal: For those who have not heard of a “Meetup” it’s exactly what it sounds like. A bunch of like-minded people get together to talk about what they’re passionate about. The cool thing is that people are actually meeting in person, not online or over video conference.

If you’re a drummer who lives around Los Angeles, you should check out the LA Drummers meetup at Musician’s Choice Studios (3727 Robertson Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232) at 7:30 PM on October 21.

Why, you may ask? There’s a lot of cool stuff going on. For instance, Brent Barnett, Gibraltar’s drum rack builder to the stars, will be on the scene at this event. Brent has helped design drum racks for Clown (drummer for Slipknot) Jonathan Moffett (drummer for Michael Jackson), Joey Bumpus (drummer for Lady Gaga), Marc Schulman (drummer for Pink), and Tris Imboden (drummer for Chicago).

Also, Ken Fredenberg, Gibraltar Hardware Product Manager, and Jim Stanek, Product Manager for Dixon Drums will be on-hand to discuss their hardware and drum products.

And….Drum roll, please………..you can win free gear! The guys from Gibralter and Dixon will be giving away:

• Dixon Rosewood Snare Drums
• Dixon Demon Series 6-pc drum set
• Gibraltar Stealth VMS System
• Gibraltar Pedals and Ultra Adjust Hi Hat Stand
• Gibraltar Hybrid Mounting Pod with Boom Stand

Get It: For more information or to RSVP, check out the event’s Facebook page or official Meetup page.

The Deal: Dixon Drums is hosting Beats for Eats: Rock Out for a Good Cause, a series of food drives taking place in April 2009 at select independent music retailers to benefit local food banks and city shelters throughout Southern California.

The event will showcase a Dixon drum set interfaced with Playstation 3’s popular video game, Rock Band — allowing attendees to test drive an actual drum set while playing along with the video game. Free food, refreshments, valuable door prizes and professional drumming tips and tricks will be provided, courtesy of the pros at Dixon Drums. Attendees are encouraged to bring canned or non-perishable foods to be donated to selected city shelters.

If you’re in SoCal, please stop by these shops and join these events:

Saturday April 18th
Singer Music, 12pm-3pm
La Puente, CA

Wednesday, April 22nd
Santa Monica Music Center, 5pm-7:30pm
Santa Monica, CA

Thursday, April 23rd
Tom’s Music, 5pm-7pm
Victorville, CA

Get It: Click Here For More About This Deal

The Deal: Modern Drummer Magazine has put together three prize packages full of Mapex and Zildjian gear.

There’s a lot going on here, so let’s get right to the prizes:

First Prize

• From Mapex: The new Meridian Maple drumset six-piece Studioease configuration: 18×22 bass drum, 8×10 and 9×12 rack toms, 14×14 and 16×16 floor toms, 5½x14 snare. Hardware includes a snare stand, a bass drum pedal, a hi-hat, a cymbal stand, and a boom stand. Your choice of color.
• From Zildjian: a three-piece set of K Custom Hybrid cymbals, including 14¼” hi-hats, a 17″ crash, and a 21″ ride, plus twelve pairs of Zildjian 5A drumsticks.
• From Modern Drummer: The 25-Year Digital Archive + Year 26.

Second Prize

• Mapex Meridian Birch drumset five-piece Standard configuration: 18×22 bass drum, 9×12 and 10×13 rack toms, 16×16 floor tom, 5½x14 snare. Your choice of color.* Hardware: snare stand, bass drum pedal, hi-hat, cymbal stand, boom stand.
• Zildjian three-piece A Custom ReZo™ cymbals:, 14″ hi-hats, 16″ crash, 21″ ride, plus twelve pairs of Zildjian 5A drumsticks.
• Modern Drummer 25 Year Digital Archive.

Third Prize

• Mapex’s new MPX snare drum: 6×13 all-birch shell in transparent black finish with black hardware
• Zildjian 5A drumsticks (twelve pairs)
• Year 26 of the Modern Drummer Digital Archive

Entry Deadline: March 31, 2009
Get It: Click Here to Enter

These are currently the top 10 best-selling china cymbals at Musicians Friend.

1. Wuhan China Cymbal
2. Zildjian Oriental China ‘Trash’ Cymbal
3. Sabian B8 Pro Chinese Cymbal
4. Paiste PST 5 China Cymbal
5. Zildjian Z Custom China Cymbal
6. Zildjian A Custom China Cymbal
7. Wuhan China Cymbal with Rivets
8. Sabian AA Chinese Cymbal
9. Zildjian ZBT China Cymbal
10. Sabian Neil Peart Paragon China Cymbal

Check out the Best Selling Musical Instruments Archive.
Search for China Cymbals on eBay.

The Deal: If there’s a young drummer in your life looking to move from the snare drum or practice pad up to a real drum set, check out this deal.

From Musicians Friend, you can get a Sound Percussion SP 4-Piece Drum Set with double-braced hardware (cymbals not included) for just $199, which is 60% off the retail price.

MSRP: $499.99
Regular Price: $249.99
Current Price: $199.99
Savings: $300.00(60%)

Get It: Click Here For More About This Deal

The Deal: For the recording enthusiasts out there, Sweetwater Sound is a store you’re probably familiar with. They’ve been the top catalog and web retailer of studio equipment for years. What makes them #1, though, is their customer service staff. If you’re a customer, you’ll always talk to the same person, who has been trained on the gear.

A few years ago they expanded into guitar products which, from what I’ve heard, has been a successful move for them. They’ve just announced they’re getting into drum and percussion products. They’ve actually offered electronic percussion products for a while, but acoustic drums and percussion is new to them.

It looks like they’ve got some good brands to start with: Yamaha, Tama, Zildjian, Pearl, DW, Latin Percussion, and more.

So, if you’re already a customer and want to buy all of your gear from one spot, check out the drum section of their website.

Get It: Click Here For More About This Deal

The Deal: I have to admit, this does not look like the most enticing cash-back rebate I’ve ever seen. I guess, though, if you’re going to buy a new cymbal anyway, you might as well get a few bucks back.

Through the end of March 2009, when you buy qualifying models of Zildjian A Custom or Armand Series cymbals, Zildjian will send you a dollar back for each inch you buy. So, if you buy an 8″ splash cymbal, they’ll send you $8, a 20″ ride, $20.

Get it? Again, not the greatest deal in the world, but 20 bucks is 20 bucks!

Expires: March 31, 2009

Get It: Click Here For More About This Deal

The Deal: These days we’re all trying to pinch pennies. Whether you’re an established musicians looking for an new instrument, or you need to buy that first guitar or horn for a child, you’re probably looking to spend less that you would have a year ago.

Through the end of February, Woodwind and Brasswind is offering an extra 10% off the already reasonable “value brands” on their website, thanks to a new coupon code. This includes brands like Pulse drums, Laguna and Rogue guitars, and Bundy horns.

Coupon Code: MusicTen
Expires: February 28, 2009

Get It: Click Here For More About This Deal

The Deal: HB Drums has just announced a new coupon code that will be good through the end of 2008 on their factory direct drums.

Just enter the coupon code below at checkout and receive 10% off all drums and accessories on your order. HB Drums also offers free US shipping on orders over $50, so if you want to get some early holiday shopping done for that drummer on your list, here’s a good opportunity to save some coin.

Expires: December 31, 2008
Coupon Code: HBVIP
Get It: Click Here For More About This Deal