This Week's Drum News

© Kirsty Umback/Corbis

Avenged Sevenfold have confirmed that they will release a special edition vinyl version of their new album - Nightmare - which of course features Mike Portnoy on skins.

This package will include two 12-inch vinyl discs and will be limited to just 2,500 copies. You can find out more from here.

The ICMP is helping US drummers develop their stick skills with a transatlantic link-up this summer.

Students form the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music will travel to the ICMP's London base for a two-week training scheme this month. Students will be able to gain tips from the ICMP's top tutors as part of the course, making this a killer way to spend the summer.

Are you sick of traditional cymbal felts? No, neither are we, but even so Cympad's new line of washers sound pretty cool to us.

We're obviously not the only ones to be interested by them, because Cympad is reporting that more and more retailers are turning drummers onto their foam washers rather than your usual felts.

Dana Bentley, owner of Bentley's Drum Shop in Fresno, California, said: "Drummers haven't thought about cymbal felts in the past because they didn't have much to think about. But every drummer can hear the improvement that Cympads make, especially on the hi-hats, so getting them to make a small investment to upgrade their cymbal sound is a pretty easy conversion."

To take a look for yourself visit www.cympad.com.