111 – Carter McLean: Drumming on Broadway, Playing Duo & Trio with Charlie Hunter, Running a Teaching Website

Carter McLean has been a New Yorker for most of his adult life. From his home base in Brooklyn, he commands a multi-pronged career as the drummer for The Lion King on Broadway, playing regularly with 8-string guitarist Charlie Hunter, and running his own educational website, Four Hands Drumming.

In this podcast, Carter talks about:

His first experiences in NYC – working at Manny’s Music, driving 12 hours for a $100 gig, going to Jeff “Tain” Watts’ jam session.

His typical day, which almost always includes one or two Lion King shows

Fighting the complacency that comes from a steady paycheck

His educational website, Four Hands Drumming, and how the focus is practical musical concepts that everyone can apply

Basic gear and techniques drummers can use to improve the quality of their videos

His approach to micing drums and how using fewer mics gives the drummer more control and more responsibility to self-mix

Playing with Charlie Hunter

Carter McLean endorses Dunnett/George H. Way drums, Istanbul Agop Cymbals, Vic Firth sticks, Remo heads, DW Hardware, Tackle Instruments, BigFatSnareDrum, Beyerdynamic mics, and BAE mic pres.

This episode is sponsored by Mapex.