as every year in january we are introducing our newest cymbal innovations at the winter namm convention in anaheim, california.

if you happen to be there too, stop by our booth 3454 to say hello. the show is from january 19th - 22nd. we're looking forward to seeing you there.

- norbert

i am glad to let you all know that we've come out with 46 news for 2012 :-)
all of them will be introduced at the upcoming winter namm show which starts in just a few days in sunny california.

all new products are online already. if you want to see them all at a glance, go to the products section on meinlcymbals.com and simply click on new 2012 in the tag-cloud. that will make all of them show up collectively on your computer. no more time-consuming search necessary.

and for more details, download our new 2012 cymbal guide PURE METAL - or - grab your own copy at the namm show, or at your local dealer soon.

enjoy !!

- norbert

fresh from the printer's shop comes our new cymbal guide for next year. it shows you all product news (46 this time), and of course the whole cymbals, drumgear and merchandise portfolio too.

besides that, we've been focusing on the fact that next year we will celebrate our 60th meinl cymbals anniversary. we've made a timeline spanning from 1952 until 2012 showing all our series ever made, special events and other company highlights. very interesting content in my opinion.

and last but not least: features on many of our international top artists, a meinl drum festival report from mexico city and tons of more information are included.

pure metal 2012 will be available online on meinlcymbals.com as of january 02, and will be handed out for the first time at the namm show in anaheim, california.

i take this opportunity to thank you all for your outstanding support during the last year. it means the world to us. there is much more to come next year. stay tuned!

- norbert

if we made a dedicated meinlcymbals.com mobile website, which requirements should it fulfill in your opinion? please let us know, thanks

- norbert

A few weeks ago, Meinl Cymbal artist Mike Johnston took a trip to the Meinl Cymbal factory in Gutenstetten, Germany. Mike is the world's leading on-line educator for drumming. His website mikeslessons.com is an insanely successful business that Mike has built from the ground up over the last few years and his gift as an educator and his great business savvy are the two main reasons why he is doing so well. I traveled with Mike across the pond to help give him a tour of how things are done at the mother-ship. We met up with my Meinl partner-in-crime Norbert Saemann at the airport in Frankfurt, and from there the next two days were a blur. 

When you visit Meinl, you pack a lot of meetings and discussions in between great meals. At those meals, a lot of meetings and discussions happen as well, but like any travel and visiting, it all revolves around meals. So Mike was able to experience the standard awesome restaurants of choice when you travel to Meinl world. Lunch with Udo Heubeck, two dinners with Mr. and Mrs. Meinl...and always Norbert and me hanging with Mike the whole time. Heck, we even had a great breakfast at a roadside rest-stop. Who knew?!?!

Mike was able to take a tour of the factory and sit down with us to discuss future plans. It was an extremely productive and fun adventure. Norbert and I were even able to have an impromptu lesson from Mike while working on some prototype ideas.  (Thanks Mike! My songo is coming along nicely!)

Check out the video interview I did with Mike while at the factory. I was supposed to capture the audio with my Zoom Q3HD, the point being to turn the video off and get only audio from my device which we would sync up to our web dept's video that they were taking. Well, stupid me... I forgot to turn off the video and when we checked the sound the video popped up as well, giving an outstanding view up my nose since I had the Zoom on my lap. Nice...It gave Norbert and me a good laugh.

our next meinl drum festival will take place on june 23rd & 24th 2012 here on our own premises in gutenstetten, germany. it's gonna be a two-day event.

supposing you were to come to the event and you could choose, which meinl artist would you like to see then?