Customer Reviews
The most comprehensive book available 
2008-04-25
The Drummer's Bible is the most informative, directive and comprehensive book on drumming styles I have ever found. Mick Berry and Jason Gianni have painstakingly researched every style; they explain each beat clearly and provide excellent examples. The price of this book is negligible when you consider the alternative cost of hours of private instruction. If you are happy being the average head-banger, no need to buy this book, but if you really want to be a drummer who can handle anything, this book is for you.
Excellent introduction to the history of rhythms and drumming 2008-04-24
I've been drumming for about a year, taking lessons from Mick ,the author of this excellent book. I use this book every time I practice either as a reference, to learn new stuff, or to get new ideas. I love the background information on each section and feel the book helps to understand rhythm and drumming from a worldwide historical perspective. Each section teaches solid basics and some intermediate and advanced intermediate techniques. The real pearls are the included transcriptions of some famous drum grooves (e.g. James Brown, etc.) and the references to bands and players and styles. The notation, fonts, spacing, and general organization are outstanding, making the book very easy to read and use while playing. The accompanying CD's are excellent and crucial to be able to learn new techniques. I'll be using this book for years.
This has many things wrong 
2008-04-21
I am sorry to say this, usually I rate dvs and books 4-5 stars cause I have bought very nice, fun and instructive items until I bought this book. I am not a professional drummer, but I am advanced, and there were many subjects I already knew about this. Anyway, it has many WRONG things!!! What made me buy this was the pretty neat title: The Drummer's Bible. Play from afr-cuban to Zydeco... screw this... thats the name of the book just to sell... but is not worth since this guys are wrong in many stuff.. DO NOT SPEND YOUR MONEY IN THIS BOOK... Many concepts are wrong!
Not so a "bomba''. 2008-04-05
When I bought this book was because it has information about the "bomba¨ a rhythm from Puerto Rico. The whole information about the "bomba" is incorrect. Since the book has no footnotes I have no idea where the authors took the data. I read in French, André Pierre Ledru's second volume, the one about Puerto Rico, of his "Voyage aux îles de Ténériffe, la Trinité, St-Thomas, Ste-Croix et Porto-Rico, exécuté par ordre du gouvernement français, de septembre 1796 à juin 1798, Paris, 1810" and there is no a single mention of the word "bomba". The confusion was when in 1863, Julio de Vizcarrondo, a Puerto Rican living in Spain, translated the word "bamboula" the name of the drum for playing an African dance, as "bomba". But "bamboula" is a common word registered in the African languages in the American Continent, even in USA and France. I have not check in Portuguese, but most probably they have it, also. In Puerto Rican Spanish we have "bámbula".
Second, the dance Ledru saw was not in Aibonito. Aibonito is a town located in the mountains of Puerto Rico looking to the South, and mostly white "criollo" population. What Ledru says is that trying to go to Aibonito he got lost and ended up in a hacienda, close to the river and town of Loíza. Loíza is a black town founded by "libertos", that means former slaves. By the way, they also owned slaves. There he saw an African dance. He gives the name, also a common name, "calenda".
A friend of mine heard the example given in the CD for this music. He is an expertise of the "bomba" dance, he also makes "bomba" drums, and he told me that music is not "bomba".
The authors try to put almost every Caribbean music under Cuban music. What a bias! Cuba is neither the father nor the mother of Caribbean music.
If the book has so many inaccurate data as these, I wonder about the rest of the book.
Manuel Domenech
The Ultimate Drum Reference Book 2008-03-11
NOTE: This is not a book for beginner drummers rather it is a book better suited for intermediate to advanced drummers who wish to expand their abilities outside of conventional genres and also maybe to brush up on those conventional genres.
That being said, this is a really fun book and the title is justified as it gives an overview of just about every thing you would ever need to possibly play on the drum set. Even the more obscure rhythms such as Middle-eastern, though you may never realistically be asked to play them for a gig, are still a blast to try to play and the odd rhythms help develop your mind to accept more syncopated rhythms.
A couple of useful appendixes in the back that aren't as advertised are the list of the 40 rudiments which is very handy for practice sessions, and a nice list of a few recordings from each of the styles of music listed in the book. The latter is not by any means definitive, but it gives a starting point for some more obscure styles of music that are very difficult to find any sort of reccomendations for.
Maybe not Drummer's 'Bible'... 
2007-12-05
This guide to popular drum styles offers approximately 400 musical examples in standard drum notation showing grooves and practical variations, and provides overviews of the history and development of almost all popular music styles. Among the many styles and subsidiary styles covered are blues, rock, jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, klezmer, zydeco, funk, bossa nova, polka, Dixieland, surf, and disco. While this resource and two-CD set can serve as a simple encyclopedia for those who need to know how to play a particular style, suggestions on varying the beat patterns for those who want to explore further and create their own patterns are also included. In addition, the two CDs contain performances of the musical examples in the book, which is designed with a lay-flat binding for easy use.
A little of everything! 2007-12-03
It's very good if you want to have a reference of a huge number of styles.
It also includes two CD with almost all the examples.
Very complete, I'd say.
Every Drummer NEEDS This Book 2007-10-11
If you don't have it, it's your loss. I've used this book to learn several Afro-Cuban grooves so far and it's very, very well done. Each style is clearly explained and written. Combine that with the CDs and it's the perfect way to dig into a new style of drumming.
Drummer's Bible: A Drummer's Doctrine 2007-06-18
Eastern religions have the Upanishads, Islam has the Koran, Judaism the Torah, and Christianity the Bible. These religious doctrines have changed the lives of many. In the spiritual world of music, at least for drummers, there's now a doctrine that may change one's life: The Drummer's Bible
The Drummer's Bible has certainly changed this drummer's life. As a drummer that has played nothing but rock and pop music from the age of nine, The Drummer's Bible has opened possibilities both in new genres and in creativity.
I'd rank The Drummer's Bible amongst the canon of staple drum books like Chapin's Advance Techniques for the Modern Drummer, Chester's New Breed series, Reed's Syncopation for the Modern Drummer and Stone's Stick Control. However, The Drummer's Bible does more in that it inspires one to practice, learn new genres, and teach about the history behind the rhythms, and point drummers to recordings that exemplify each style. A MUST for every drummer!! Jason and Mick have done a stupendous job!!
A Gem 2007-05-21
This is a truly outstanding book, of interest not only to drummers but, potentially, to any musician. Far more than a cheat-sheet collection of grooves, it is a lucidly written, encyclopedic treatment of popular music as viewed (or heard) through its rhythmic foundations.
The focus is on drumset playing, not drumming generally, but drumset orchestrations of non-drumset styles (e.g. samba) are included. The articles do seem to cover every imaginable popular style, not just A-Z but Metal to Wedding. The articles on more complicated styles (e.g., Jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian) are correspondingly more detailed than for simpler styles (e.g. Punk) or ones where the drumset may be less relevant (Techno, anyone?) In a compact form, a LOT of information is provided -- histories of each style, including cultural and social context and key performers and compositions, and notations of basic grooves with detailed technical instructions and variations where appropriate. Key elements of given styles are highlighted, e.g. unusual damping patterns, specific sticking, or particular rhythmic emphases.
There are also chapters covering fills for every style, tunings, and lists of key recordings. In case you don't already have them, the rudiments are set out as well.
The 2 CD's give examples in every style, using tunings appropriate to that style, so they work well as auditory models. Each groove is played both with and without a click track.
The book is well organized and also well indexed, making it easy to locate any groove in a matter of moments, just in case you need to back a Klezmer band RIGHT NOW.
