Mike Terrana is an American drummer, known principally in the hard rock genre. His first professional work was in 1984 with the Toronto Canada based rockers “Hanover Fist” (MCA records), after which he recorded and toured with various bands, playing various rock bands in New York State.
Between 1987 and 1997, Terrana was based out Los Angeles, and began working with Artists like Yngwie Malmsteen, Tony Macalpine, Steve Lukather (Toto), Jennifer Batten (Michael Jackson), and Beau Nasty.
In 1997 Mike relocated to Europe, settling in Hamburg Germany, where he worked with such bands as Gamma Ray, Axel Rudi Pell, Masterplan, Rage and Savage Circus.
During the past two years Mike has been touring member of Tarja (X-singer of Nightwish) and recently recorded her second solo CD entitled “What Lies Beneath” for release in the fall of 2010. Terrana also enjoys playing music from the instrumental fusion genre and performs many drum clinics around the world for his endorsers.
“Sinfonica” is the 3rd and latest solo release from Mike Terrana, which contains 11 famous classical orchestral tracks accompanied by his drumming.
Mike Terrana's signature stick:
Mike Terrana (SMT) Produces a big sound‚ even at breathtaking speed. With a barrel tip for clear and concise cymbal sound. L = 16 1/4" | Dia. = .560"[enlarge photo]
The idea for the SinFonica project originally came into being, because I wanted to make a tribute song for one of my favorite drummer Cozy Powell. Cozy was tragically killed in a car accident 10 years ago. I felt this was a great loss to the music and drumming community and I wanted to do something in a musical context to keep his memory alive.
In 1976, I was fortunate enough to see Cozy Powell play along to an abbreviated version of Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” in his drum solo with Rainbow. I was fascinating to see a rock drummer attempting to play such a monumental piece of classical music. During the early part of 2009 I was thinking about how I could pay my respects to Mr. Powell, when I came upon the idea to record a new version of the “1812 Overture.”
I started working on the 1812 Overture track in the summer of 2009 and was very satisfied with the outcome. I enjoyed playing along with the orchestral tracks so much that I decide to seek out another 10 well-known classical pieces. This is a task more easily said then done, because there is a multitude of classical music out there, but not all of it works within the boundaries of the drumming concept. Once I found the correct pieces, I set to work on adapting and composing drum grooves and fills to go along with the music.
“I tried to envision what it would have been like if composers such as Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Rossini would have been able to employ the services of a modern day rock drummer to play on their compositions.”
Sinfonica is a celebration of some of the greatest and most famous Classical music ever written and a tribute to the main inspiration for this project, Cozy Powell. RIP
Cheers!
Mike Terrana
To purchase playalong tracks to SINFONICA, go here:
INTERVIEW SPOTLIGHT:
Don't miss our three part interview series with Mike to hear about his outstanding career as one of the world's premier hard rock drummers!
Installment 1: "That's not enough drums for me."
Mike talks about the early days. Hear about some of his earliest influences and gigs.
Check out Mike's playing on his
lastest DVD release! Mike Terrana “The Rhythm Beast
— In Session”
The first of a 2-disc
set, “The Rhythm Beast – In Session”
is designed to show aspiring drummers what it is really
like to record in a studio environment. Each of
the 8 instrumental rock fusion tracks are recorded
“live” – no multiple takes, no digital editing, no
ProTools, no quantizing – it’s an organic representation
of Mike’s drumming abilities in its rawest form.
There are 3 different angle choices
for each track. One is purely for performance, the
second focuses on the hand and foot technique and the
third is the technical track with a play-by-play commentary.
This will give the viewer the advantage of hearing
me point count different details concerning fill and
groove ideas.
