The Rush drummer’s first signature model with Tama is a 14×6.5″ aluminium snare built around three things she asked for at the outset.
Tama have released the Anika Nilles signature snare drum, model AN1465, a project that ran for more than two years before reaching shops.
That timeline matters. Work on the drum started well before Nilles was announced as Rush‘s drummer, so the instrument now arriving in stores was designed by a player most of the rock audience had not yet heard of, and it lands in the middle of the biggest tour of her career.
Nilles set three goals at the start of the process: a deep low end, clear definition from the snare wires so individual notes survive dense passages, and a look drawn from the vintage snares she collects.
The answer was aluminium, chosen by Tama for its dry warmth and projection, cut to a deeper 6.5″ to push the fundamental pitch down. Aluminium is a soft metal, so the shell carries four grooves around its centre and a bearing edge extended a few millimetres past Tama‘s usual specification. Both features are cosmetic in origin but stiffen the shell, which is what allows the extra depth without the drum losing its resonance.
The other new part is the Mod-Tone Muffler, an internal mute that switches on and off instantly and adjusts pressure through a single dial rather than requiring the head to come off.
Specifications
- 1.2 mm seamless aluminium shell, 14×6.5″
- Four shell grooves and an extended bearing edge for rigidity
- 2.3 mm Sound Arc hoops, eight hole
- Mod-Tone Muffler internal damping system
- Classic Superstar lugs
- MLS50A Linear-Drive strainer with MLS50B butt
- 20-strand Starclassic Hi-Carbon Steel snare wires
- Remo Ambassador Coated batter head, Remo Ambassador snare side head
Nilles is a German drummer who built an international following through her own compositions, her teaching work and a YouTube channel that now carries more than 280,000 subscribers, alongside an Instagram account past 600,000.
She toured with Jeff Beck in 2022, which turned out to be his final run. Beck died in January 2023 at the age of 78.
That tour is also how she came to Rush‘s attention. Geddy Lee told The Guardian in 2023, two years before she was hired: “I heard this drummer the other day, I think her name is Anika [Nilles]. She played on the last Jeff Beck tour and I thought was she was terrific.” Lee has since described her as a perfect fit for the band.
Nilles took the drum stool for Rush‘s “Fifty Something” tour, which is working through Canada, the United States and Mexico. The shows are billed as an evening with the band, running two sets a night with no support act, and the setlist changes between dates. Rush built a pool of around 40 songs to draw from, so no two nights are identical.
Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson announced the first batch of 2026 dates in early October 2025 and sold them out immediately. The tour was then doubled in length, and further dates added after that.
