Vater Percussion is an American drumstick and percussion accessory manufacturing company. It was founded by Clarence Vater, and is currently run by his two grandsons Alan and Ron Vater. Although the company began producing sticks in 1956, it did not officially become Vater Percussion until much later. The first sticks made by a Vater were made by Joan (Adams) Vater, in Jacks drumshop in Boston, Massachusetts. Jacks was one of the first shops to offer custom models, and began producing custom models for Buddy Rich. In the early to mid 1980's what would become Vater began manufacturing drumsticks for Vic-Firth percussion and Zildjian Cymbals. On 10-22-1988 Vater moved their factory to Holbrook, Massachusetts. Three years later the first Vater drumsticks were introduced at a Percussive Arts Society show.

Vater guarantees their sticks to be "straighter, more consistent and of higher quality than all other leading drumstick manufacturers". Vater sticks typically have a slightly higher moisture content than other drumsticks, which is intended to create more durable drumsticks, though this does result in a slightly heavier stick.

Besides drum sticks, Vater also manufactures a variety of timpani mallets, marimba mallets, vibraphone mallets, brushes, specialty sticks, silence mutes, stick bags, drink holders and other accessories.

Notable artists[link]

• Paul Bostaph (Slayer, Testament)
• Morgan Rose (Sevendust)
• Will Hunt (Evanescence, Black Label Society, Static X)
• Jeremy Spencer (Five Finger Death Punch)
• Jess Bowen (The Summer Set)
• Mario Calire (Ozomatli, The Wallflowers)
• Tommy Clufetos (Ozzy Osbourne, Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper)
• Nathan Followill (Kings of Leon)
• Sean Kinney (Alice in Chains)
• Martin Langer (Jeanette)
• Jay Lane (Primus, RatDog)
• David Lovering (Pixies)
• Chad Smith (Red Hot Chilli Peppers)
• Andrew Wetzel (Attack Attack!)
• Jürgen Zöller (Bap)
• Jason Duffy (Michael Flatley, The Corrs)
• Matt Flynn (Maroon 5)
• Atom Willard (Danko Jones)
• Austin Matthews (Independent)

External links[link]

• Vater company web site

Peter Hofmann (22 August 1944 – 30 November 2010)^[1] was a German tenor who had a successful performance career within the fields of opera, rock, pop, and musical theatre. He first rose to prominence in 1976 as a heldentenor at the Bayreuth festival where he drew critical acclaim for his performance of Siegmund in Richard Wagner's Die Walküre. He was active as one of the world's leading Wagnerian tenors over the next decade, performing roles like Lohengrin, Parsifal, Siegfried, and Tristan at major opera houses and festivals internationally.^[2]

Hofmann's busy and demanding schedule in combination with an "imperfect vocal technique", led to intermittent vocal problems which became more prominent in the singer's opera performances in the late 1980s.^[2] These difficulties led him to completely abandon his opera career in 1989 in favor of pursuing a fulltime career in popular music.^[3] Hofmann had already spent portions of his opera career performing and recording popular music, and he had already achieved success with tours and recordings of classic rock during the mid to late 1980s. He continued to perform pop and rock songs until his retirement from performance due to health reasons in 1999.^[4] He had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1994.^[3]

Early life and education[link]

Hofmann was born in Marienbad, German Sudetenland (now modern Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic) and grew up in Darmstadt. In his youth, before receiving any training in classical music, he was a singer in a rock band. He served seven years in the West German Armed Forces, during which time he began studying singing privately. After being honorably discharged with a financial bonus, he entered the Karlsruhe Conservatory where he was trained as an opera singer.^[2]

Opera career[link]

Hofmann made his professional opera debut in 1972 as Tamino in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute at Theater Lübeck.^[5] He sang his first Siegmund in Richard Wagner's Die Walküre, a role which he became closely associated with, at the Wuppertal Opera in 1974. It was as Siegmund that Hofmann first drew international acclaim when he performed the role in Patrice Chéreau's historic centennial production of The Ring Cycle at the 1976 Bayreuth Festival.^[2] He was also heard at Bayreuth as the title heroes in Parsifal (both 1976 and 1978) and Lohengrin (1979 and 1982), and as Tristan in Tristan und Isolde (1986) and Walther in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1988).^[5]

He subsequently appeared in Stuttgart, Paris, Vienna, London, Chicago and San Francisco. He is best known for singing the heldentenor roles of Wagner, he has performed Siegmund, Lohengrin, Parsifal, Tristan and Loge, notably at the Bayreuth Festival where he first appeared in 1976. He was heard at the Metropolitan Opera from 1980 to 1988, in Lohengrin, Parsifal, Die Meistersinger and Die Walküre.

Light music career[link]

At the same time as singing classic roles in opera, Hofmann was also busy performing and recording popular music. He performed concerts of Elvis Presley songs and other classic rock songs on tour across Europe. He made a number of pop albums which sold well in Europe such as Rock Classics (1987) and Love Me Tender: Peter Hofmann Sings Elvis Presley (1992). In 1987, Hallmark released Songs for the Holidays, an album featuring Hofmann and his wife Deborah Sasson.

By the late 1980s Hofmann had abandoned opera completely in favour of musical theatre. From 1990 to 1991, he played the title role in The Phantom of the Opera, in Hamburg; making 300 appearances in the show. He also hosted a TV show in Germany.

Personal life and later years[link]

Hofmann was married and divorced twice, the second time to singer Deborah Sasson from 1983 to 1990. His divorces cost him a fortune, and he lived the last years of his life in relative poverty. Brother of Mr. Hofmann, chemistry teacher from LCA.^[6]

Peter Hofmann moved to Bayreuth and spent his time writing his autobiography and supporting research through the Peter Hofmann Parkinson Project.^[5] After battling Parkinson's disease for more than a decade, he died of pneumonia in November 2010 at the age of 66.^[7]

Recordings[link]

From Bayreuth, Hofmann appeared as Siegmund in the 1980 Die Walküre (with Dame Gwyneth Jones as Brünnhilde) conducted by Pierre Boulez, in Patrice Chéreau's 1976 Ring production (Deutsche Grammophon), and in the title role of the 1982 Lohengrin (opposite Karan Armstrong as Elsa) conducted by Woldemar Nelsson (EuroArts), in Götz Friedrich's production.

In the studio, he made a remarkable 1978 recording of Die Zauberflöte under French conductor Alain Lombard with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Kathleen Battle which was surprisingly not widely distributed, then Fidelio (conducted by Sir Georg Solti, 1979), Parsifal (opposite Dunja Vejzovic's Kundry, led by Herbert von Karajan, 1979–80), Orfeo ed Euridice (1982) and Der fliegende Holländer (with José van Dam and Vejzovic, conducted by von Karajan, 1981–83). Hofmann is also heard in Leonard Bernstein's "live" recording of Tristan und Isolde (1981).

The 1986 live DVD performance under James Levine of Lohengrin gives some idea of Hofmann's physical appeal. He certainly looked the part of the Aryan Wagnerian figure with his piercing blue eyes, florid blond hair, and square-set facial features.

References[link]

Sources[link]

• The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5

External links[link]

• Peter Hofmann at the Bayreuth Festival
• Listing of Film and TV appearances

Mike Mangini
Mike Mangini during a clinic at the Percussive Arts Centre, Singapore, November 2004
Background information
Birth name	Michael Mangini
Born	(1963-04-18) April 18, 1963 (age 49)
Origin	Newton, Massachusetts, United States
Genres	Progressive metal, instrumental rock, thrash metal, funk metal
Instruments	Drums, percussion
Years active	1987–present
Associated acts	Dream Theater, Steve Vai, Extreme, Annihilator, James LaBrie, Tribe of Judah, Shredding the Envelope, Dave Reffett
Website	www.mikemangini.com

Mike Mangini (born April 18, 1963 in Newton, Massachusetts) is an American drummer, and the drummer for the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He has played for Annihilator, Extreme, James LaBrie, and Steve Vai, among others. He lectured at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and is also known for his work as a session musician.^[1] At his height from 2002–2005, Mangini was famous for setting five World's Fastest Drummer (WFD) records. He also has written two books titled Rhythm Knowledge about his drumming techniques, a practice method for deconstructing and simplifying complex polyrhythms and time signatures. Mangini appeared on the Discovery Channel show Time Warp, displaying his drum skills for high speed cameras.^[2] In 2010 Mangini joined Dream Theater, after the departure of founding drummer Mike Portnoy.

Early life[link]

Mike Mangini started playing the drums when he was five years old. He would practice two to four hours a day and by the time he was nine he was already mimicking Buddy Rich performances. By high school, he was performing in school bands and participating in the prestigious All-County, All-State, and all Eastern United States ensembles.

After graduating from Waltham Senior High School in 1981, Mangini put aside his music studies to pursue a Computer Science major at Bentley University. After graduating Mike started programming software for the Patriot Missile program.^[3] At the same time, he was working on a program that studied the links between the human brain and body.

In 1987, Mangini scored one of his first 'high-profile' gigs - playing drums for the Rick Berlin Band in Boston, where he worked with bassist Philip Bynoe (who would later go on to work with Mike in sessions for Journey's Steve Perry and more notably during Mike's time in the Steve Vai band). He also taught drums privately in Boston during this time.

Recording career[link]

In 1991, Mangini began working for the thrash metal band Annihilator. Mike performed on the drums on several tracks for the studio album, Set the World on Fire. He went on to tour with the band in support of this album up until 1994. In 1994 he was asked to play with the band Extreme, replacing original drummer Paul Geary. Mike Mangini had been friends with noted Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt since the 1980s. His time in Extreme included recording several tracks for their 1995 album, Waiting For The Punchline. During this time, he also made an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. While on tour with Extreme in 1995, Mike recorded songs for Nuno on his 4-track tape machine. Those songs ended up on Schizophonic after Nuno left Extreme to pursue a solo career.

After Extreme dissolved in 1996, Mike was informed through drummer Jonathan Mover that guitarist Steve Vai was auditioning drummers for his live band. Mike successfully auditioned for Steve Vai's band and relocated to Los Angeles. From late 1996 to early 2000, Mangini was the highly regarded drummer of Vai's live ensemble, which also included bassist Philip Bynoe, guitar wizard Mike Keneally and (in 2000) guitarist Dave Weiner. Mike recorded several drum tracks for Steve's Fire Garden and The Ultra Zone albums. He also rehearsed and recorded Alive in an Ultra World while on tour with Steve Vai in 2000.

Following the initial suspension of the South American leg of the Ultrazone Tour in 2000, Mangini moved back home to Boston and began teaching at Berklee College as an associate professor. He began working with former Extreme frontman Gary Cherone and bassist Pat Badger in the short-lived band, Tribe of Judah. He also continued to work with Dale Bozzio (formerly of the new wave band, Missing Persons), and recorded several more records. Among these records was a Rush tribute record (entitled Subdivisions) and a second full-length album with Annihilator titled All for You. He also recorded tracks for artists Sal DiFusco, Bill Lonero and Chris Emerson.

In 2005, he accepted a full-time teaching position at the Berklee College of Music in Percussion Department. He resigned in 2010 to join Dream Theater.

In 2007, he recorded drums on the album Metal by Annihilator.

At the end of 2010, Mike, along with Marco Minnemann, Peter Wildoer, Virgil Donati, Aquiles Priester, Derek Roddy and Thomas Lang, auditioned to replace Mike Portnoy as the drummer for Dream Theater.^[4] On Friday April 29, 2011, Dream Theater officially announced that Mike Mangini was to be their new drummer.^[5] He has since recorded A Dramatic Turn of Events with the group.

[edit] WFD Records ^[6]

This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (July 2011)

• Bare Hands (no sticks) in 60 seconds, which he earned by executing 1,138 single stroke notes in 2002, until Glen Caruba broke it with 1,140 notes in 2006.
• Matched Grip single strokes in 60 seconds, executing 1,247 notes at the 2005 Summer NAMM in Indianapolis, IN. Mike already was the 1st person in history to break 1,200 notes when he played 1,203 single notes at the 2005 Winter NAMM Session.
• Traditional Grip which he earned by executing 1,126 single strokes in 60 seconds in 2003, stood for five years before falling to Matt Smith (1,132) in 2008.
• Single Stroke Foot record playing 13,222 hits in 15 minutes and 4,555 hits in five minutes, records that stood for two years before falling to Mike "Machine" Mallais (13,309/4,595) in 2007.

Equipment[link]

Mangini currently endorses - Pearl Drums, Remo Drum Heads, Shure Microphones, Zildjian Artist Series Signature Sticks, Vater Slicknuts

His current Dream Theater touring kit includes:

Drums: Pearl Reference Pure series

5½x14 snare
6x10 mini snare
10" ePro electronic bass drum
16x26 bass drum
18x22 bass drum
16x18 bass drum
16x16 floor tom
9x12 tom
7x8 tom
7x6 tom
8x10 tom
9x14 tom
16x18 floor tom
16x20 gong drum
10" ePro pad mounted on 
    10" Rhythm Traveler shell
12x6 aluminum Cannon tom
15x6 aluminum Cannon tom
18x6 aluminum Cannon tom
21x6 aluminum Cannon tom

Zildjian Cymbals

19" Rezo crash
20" A Custom China
17" K Thin Dark crash
17" K Custom Fast crash
16" K EFX crash
19" Z3 China
18" A Custom Medium crash
18" Oriental China Trash on top
    of 14" Trashformer
20"  20" A Custom Ride 
14" A Custom hi-hats (remote)
13" ZBT hi-hats (X-hat)
8" K splash
10" Oriental Trash splash
13" Oriental China Trash on top
    of 10" Trashformer

Sticks: Zildjian Mike Mangini Signature model (63 grams) _______________________

Heads: Remo, including Coated Controlled Sound bottom dot on snares, clear black dot tom and gong drum batters and Clear Ambassador bottoms, Clear Powerstroke 3 on 22" bass drums, and clear black dot on 18" and 26" bass drums _______________________

Percussion: Pearl tambourine, wind chimes, and ePro Tru-Trac pads with percussion sounds triggered from the r.e.d.box; Vater black and glow-in-the-dark skull-shaped Slick Nut cymbal fasteners _______________________

Mics: Shure, including Beta 98A on rack toms, Beta 27 on floor toms, SM57 on main snare, Beta 52A on bass drums, KSM137 on cymbals, and KSM32 overheads

Discography[link]

Selected album appearances[link]

With Annihilator

• Set the World on Fire (1993)
• All for You (2004)
• Metal (2007)

With Extreme

• Waiting for the Punchline (1995) - tracks "Hip Today", "Leave Me Alone" and "No Respect"

With Steve Vai

• Fire Garden (1996) - tracks "Bangkok" and "The Fire Garden Suite"
• G3: Live in Concert (1996)
• The Ultra Zone (1999) - tracks "Jibboom", "Windows to the Soul" and "Here I am"
• Alive in an Ultra World (2001)

With MullMuzzler/James LaBrie

• Keep It to Yourself (1999)
• James LaBrie's MullMuzzler 2 (2001)
• Elements of Persuasion (2005)

With Tribe of Judah

• Exit Elvis (2002)

With Dream Theater

• A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official Myspace website
• Official Rhythm Knowledge website
• Chix n' Stix Myspace

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2008)

Samy Deluxe
Background information
Birth name	Samy Sorge
Also known as	Sam Semilia, Wickeda MC
Born	(1977-12-19) 19 December 1977 (age 34) Hamburg, Germany
Genres	German hip hop
Occupations	Rapper
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Deluxe Records
Associated acts	Dynamite Deluxe ASD
Website	www.samy-deluxe.de

Samy Sorge (born 19 December 1977^[1]), commonly known as Samy Deluxe, Wickeda MC or Sam Semillia is a German rapper, and hip hop artist from Hamburg. He is one of Germany's most successful solo rap musicians and also releases albums as a member of two separate groups, Dynamite Deluxe (with DJ Dynamite aka Joni Rewind and Tropf) and ASD (with Afrob). He was the founder of record label Deluxe Records, which exist from 2003 to 2009.

Youth and early life[link]

As his Sudanese father left Germany when Samy Deluxe was just two years old, Samy grew up with his mother's family. His half-sister was born shortly after his father left. The family lived in Barmbek for many years, then moved to Eppendorf, a better-off part of Hamburg, where he attended the Wolfgang-Borchert-Schule and attained the Realschulabschluss.

Music career[link]

[edit] 1996-2000: First experiences and Deluxe Soundsystem

At the beginning of his career Samy Deluxe rapped in English. Eventually he also became known for his singing and rapping in German. He founded the duo "No Nonsens" with DJ Dynamite, where he gained his first experience on-stage. The duo had some minor performances at the Hamburg airport. After the duo split up, Samy Deluxe was supported by Jan Eißfeldt (better known as Jan Delay), member of hip-hop group Absolute Beginner (later known as Beginner) and founder of record label Eimsbush Entertainment, to continue his stage performance.

In 1997, Samy Deluxe founded Dynamite Deluxe with partners DJ Dynamite and Tropf, and the group produced and released a demo tape on Eimsbush Entertainment. Absolute Beginner featured Samy Deluxe on their 1999 single "Füchse" from their album Bambule (1998). The success of Deluxe Soundsystem by Dynamite Deluxe and the following live performances at the festivals Splash and Flash brought Samy Deluxe into the public eye.

2001-2003: Debut album and rise to fame[link]

In 2001, Samy Deluxe released his self tilted debut album, which ranked #2 in the German Album Charts for the 19th calendar week of 2001. The first single from the album, "Hab' gehört...", ranked #26. However, the second single, "Internetional Love", failed to enter the charts. The final single, "Weck mich auf", peaked at #4 in Germany, becoming a national hit and the album's most successful single. Following the success of his solo debut, Samy Deluxe became a highly acclaimed hip hop artist in German rap and internationally.

In 2003, Samy Deluxe founded the rap duo ASD with fellow rapper Afrob. They released their debut Wer hätte das gedacht. The lead single from the album, "Sneak Preview", ranked successfully on the German charts. Most of the beats on this album came from American producers, including J Dilla, Diamond D and Waajeed.

[edit] 2004: Verdammtnochma!

In August 2004, Samy Deluxe released his second solo album, Verdammtnochma!. The album peaked at number 2 on the German album-charts shortly thereafter and stayed for three weeks in the Top 10. In the same year, he was featured on the German remix of "Dip It Low" by American singer Christina Milian, which was an commercial success.

Musical style[link]

Samy Deluxe is famous for his flow. Audacious and eloquent, he initially chose an aggressive style, based on imaginative use of metaphors, complex overlapping rhymes and his own melodic flow. For this reason, he is sometimes called the "German Jay-Z". He favors constructing constantly changing pictures rather than telling long stories. This has caused some critics to find fault with his lyrical style.

Business ventures[link]

In 2006 designed Samy Deluxe in collaboration with Reebok a sneaker and a cap with New Era Cap Company. On the cover of his mixtape Deluxe von Kopf bis Fuß, he worn for him designed clothes. In 2007 followed two more sneakers until 2008; as total result were four Reeboks sneakers developed of the Samy Deluxe series.^[2]

Discography[link]