Udo Maßhoff

Udo Maßhoff has built drums for the Rolling Stones, Iggy Pop, Max Martin and Shellback and worked with producers such as Michael Ilbert and Alex Silva — recognised with nine gold and one platinum award.

After studying jazz and popular music at the Frankfurter Musikwerkstatt and more than two decades as a professional drummer, he moved his focus to sound and tuning. As a drum sound designer he has worked in the studio for Die Ärzte, Max Herre, Royal Republic and Andreas Bourani; for Apple, Native Instruments and Toontrack he has produced drum samplers — from the instrument to the finished sound. Since 2010 he has built custom instruments from hand-made stainless steel shells under Masshoff Drums.

Out of that knowledge came the Drum Sound Matrix method: a procedure for calculating the exact drum sound instead of guessing at it. It changes how the instrument is approached and makes it possible to integrate the kit into the music rather than laying it over the top.