Collective Masters Live: Riccardo Merlini and Alex Cohen

Sound Collective is happy to announce this Collective Masters Live featuring Riccardo Merlini and Alex Cohen. Riccardo and Alex will share their techniques for developing lightning-fast speed and brain-twisting ambidexterity on the drum set.

About Riccardo Merlini: Riccardo Merlini is an Italian drummer, a graduate of the Boston Conservatory, and a student of Mike Mangini (Dream Theater), known for having the fastest hands on the planet. In addition to being a teacher and clinician, Riccardo is also one of the world’s fastest drummers who discovered and developed the fastest hand technique for a human being, reaching 400 BPM with a single stroke roll. Riccardo shows his skills every day, putting his personal style on any beat, groove and song, gaining engagement on every social media platform, including Instagram, Tik Tok (with more than a million views on one video), Facebook and YouTube. Drummers from all over the world study with Riccardo, including superstar percussionist Eric Bobo of Cypress Hill, Mike Reid (drummer for Janet Jackson and Rihanna), and thousands of amateur drummers who want to increase their skills.

About Alex Cohen: Named by Drumhead Magazine as one of the drummers ‘Raising the Bar’ with cutting-edge concepts, New York-born Alex Cohen has made a career of releasing innovative, progressive, and boundary-pushing content. His first book ‘Ultimate Progressive Drumming’, released on Hudson Music, was hailed as ‘a modern classic’ by drummers ranging from Charley Drayton, to Derek Roddy, to Robby Ameen. Alongside drummers Yoni Madar and Ramon Montagner (also featured on the same cover) they’ve worked together to release and teach ideas that push the boundaries of contemporary drumset playing. Cohen’s second book with Montagner, entitled ‘Extreme Speed and Polyrhythmic Concepts’ was released in March with Hudson Music and has already received acclaim from drummers such as Aquiles Priester, Eloy Casagrande, Dan Weiss, Ari Hoenig, Steve Lyman, and Drumeo. In addition to his teaching, Alex also runs a high-end recording studio in PA, and enjoys a busy session schedule as well as independent films, web series, and AAA video games. His art songs and concert music have been performed across the U.S. and Europe and his original songs and theatrical arrangements have been played on stages throughout New York. At YouTooCanWoo, he has also created music and sound for a number of documentaries, including the Cinema Eye Honors-nominated score for Mateo, Plamen, and Emory Douglas: Art of the Black Panthers, as well a range of advertisements and branded content.