We got this question from Rick Latham as he was ending his summer tour in Europe.Can any of you help us out here? - NSMD: Hi George, Greetings brother from the Black Forest of Germany! Hope you are doing well. I'm nearing the end of a three month tour here in Europe - Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Switzerland... all great! I ran across this drum in a drum shop in Poznan, Poland and the guys are curious if it's anything cool - or maybe a bastardized-something-weird? Ha! I told them if anyone would know, it would be you - so give it your best shot.
Read moreOrlich 9/11 Memorial Glass Drum Kit
A little over 13 years ago, I came across a picture of Alan White (YES) playing what looked to be a set of glass and brass drums. Being a drum nerd, my curiosity got the best of me. Were these gimmicks, art, or perhaps something more? I became obsessed with finding out more... So in 2001, I contacted John Orlich to learn about Orlich Percussion Systems. I later had the opportunity to speak with Alan White and Tris Imboden (CHICAGO) about their Orlich glass drums. After that, I was hooked. I wanted a set of these drums! But let me tell you the whole story from the start…
Read moreWIW? 1909-1915 Conn Snare Drum
This is a very old but never played/museum quality snare drum. From what I've dug up on my own, it's from 1909-1915. It's a metal Conn drum with wood hoops and has twin snares, one underneath the batter head and the other is on the resonant head. It still has the original heads on it and it was given to me by Bob Grauso of the Fibes drum company. He told me it was quite valuable and wanted me to have it. He also gave me other rare things before his passing that I wouldn't part with, but this particular drum he said was something I could sell. I've only found one sale of this drum and if I remember correctly, it only fetched around $250.00. I would think that this drum would be worth considerably more, but I could be wrong.
Read more1960s Ludwig Downbeat Set
The drum set from my collection that I want to feature this month is a 1960s Ludwig Downbeat Set in sparkling pink champagne pearl. Downbeat sets began in 1959. It is one of my all time favorite kits. I really love these drums for many reasons. Their sizes are one reason I love them. These are the size drums Ringo Starr played on the earlier Ed Sullivan shows. The Bass drum is 20"X14", the floor tom is 14"X14" and the mounted tom is 12''X8". Ringo referred to the Downbeat sets he owned as the "mini" kits. I used to have a hard time telling if a kit was a Downbeat set in photos, but I learned to count the bass drum T- rods. The Downbeat set has 8 lugs and the 22"X14" Super Classics have 10 lugs. Another way to tell is to look at the lugs on the mounted tom. The space is greater between the top and bottom lugs on the 12'' tom than the space on the 13" tom. The 13" tom used on the Super Classics has larger lugs, so the space between them is smaller.
Read moreDW "Buddy Rich" Drum Set
This is a Drum Workshop set that I purchased March of 1983 that was custom built for Buddy Rich in August 1982. He used it for the beginning of the 1983 tour and played them until he had the heart attack when he was in Ann Arbor Michigan. It was ordered and built to his specifications through Joe Cusatis at the modern drum shop in NYC. He wanted the Slingerland TDR throw off on the snare, He wanted Pearl spurs and a Ludwig rail/banana mount for the tom tom. He also wanted Ludwig cymbal holders for the bass drum. The rest of the set is DW but is wrapped in Ludwig white marine pearl. It has the BR on the front bass drum head and "Buddy Rich Fragile" on the cases.
Read more1925 Ludwig & Ludwig Triumphal #9
This drum is definitely a 1920s Ludwig & Ludwig gold plated /engraved Triumphal Model. I did notice a few minor differences as compared to my Triumphal... 1. This drum has a 5-petal rose engraving as compared to my drum that has a 6-petal rose engraving... 2. This drum has the “Ludwig Chicago” in the same panel as the P-338 strainer as compared to my drum where the “Ludwig Chicago” is located 2 panels to the left of the strainer. Nothing earth shattering but interesting enough for me to pursue it further, ergo; was this a different engraver than my drum?
Read moreSeptember 2014 - The Nashville Drum Show is HERE!
The Nashville Drum Show is THIS WEEKEND!
We're busy making the final preparations... here's what's going on:
Read moreThe WWII Collection
"Here are a couple of pics of the World War II collection. The L&L is completely restored. The 1st version WFL (with the rolling bomber snare) werepurchased new, played for a year at home and put in the closet for 70+ years - they still have the original Calf heads on them. I am the 2nd owner. A BDP Rollin Bomber kit with a very rare 10" off set lug tom. I am the second owner as well. At the show I will also have a 1st version (Cecil Stupe design) WFL internal tune kit in WMP that I am restoring."
Read moreThe Dragon Drum
Recently I was asked by some friends if I could design a drum with a Renaissance Faire crowd in mind. So in true CT Pro Percussion / Charter Oak Drums fashion when left to our own devices, came up with the dragon drum that you see here. The prototype you see here has been made with a reclaimed shell and hoops and is fitted with calfskin heads both top and bottom along with custom ears. We will be offering this drum as a regular production item with choices of color including red/black, green/black, yellow,black or solid black as well as your choice of plastic, calfskin or Kevlar heads. Matt Alling CT Pro Percussion www.ctpropercussion.com
Read more1927-32 L&L DeLuxe Super Snare
Here’s another snare drum to enter the collection. I got this drum in May from a very nice gentleman named Mark Hamon. For those of you that are old Not So Modern Drummer subscribers you will recognize Mark as the photographer of all of those great NSMD cover shots. A thank you goes out to Bill Wanser for helping me to date this drum.
Read more1941 Leedy Autographs of the Stars
Here’s a snare drum that I have been looking for since my early days of collecting...thank you Ebay! This one wasn’t cheap but I wanted it so here we are. A little bit of history here in that the date stamp on this drum is 4112 (December 1941)...Pearl Harbor, WWII and The War Powers Act (Dec. 18, 1941) which caused the 10% Law that proved to be a pretty sorrowful era in the history of American made drums. It looks like this snare drum made the cut and was obviously built just before the “10% Law” manufacturing restrictions were enacted.
Read more1970s Camco Drum Set
Lately I have been bitten by the Camco bug. You might have been bitten by that bug yourself. There has been a rise in interest in these wonderful drums in recent times and I started wanting to own a Camco kit. I read the article about Camco drums here in the magazine with great interest. In the article the writer called them the "Stradivarius" of vintage drums. I have always thought they looked great, and wanted to own a set, so I finally made it a point to acquired a set for my collection. All the hype about these fine drums is true. They are very well built and sound fantastic. I think the first time I noticed them was when Dennis Wilson played a blue moire Camco set with the Beach Boys.
Read moreRogers Drums at Eastman School of Music
In 1962 I was asked to present a clinic with Louie Bellson at a local hotel in Rochester, NY. I was teaching at the Eastman School of Music and a local music store – Music Lover’s - was sponsoring the event. Ben Strauss of Rogers Drums contacted me and the date was set for November 7, 1962. Louie did the drum set and I did the classical snare drum. Since I also played drum set Louie and I traded fours etc. It was also at this time that I was teaching Steve Gadd and he was in the audience. I told Louie that he should hear this kid play. Louie invited him to the stage and Steve blew Louie away. It was at this moment that Steve, Louie and I became good friends for life.
Read moreIs it custom? Is it boutique? Does it make a difference?
I live in an area that has a lot of local breweries, and people around here talk and write about beer a lot. So recently, when I saw an article about the blurring of lines as to what’s considered a “craft brewery” and what isn’t, I realized that there’s a connection between drums and beer that I hadn’t considered: confusion about industry categories and how to describe them.
Read moreUPDATE: Nashville Drum Show & Snare Drum Olympics 2014
The Nashville Drum Show is just around the corner, September 20 & 21. Six weeks away! It’s not too late to rent an exhibitor booth or enter your snare drum into the Olympics. All of the information is available atwww.nashvilledrumshow.com.
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Who’s exhibiting at the show? Look at the list at the bottom of this post. The show is triple the size it was in 2012! The hall is really close to being full. We have 150 booths, new exhibitors are signing up daily, and there is always a last minute rush - so if want a booth you need to act now! This isn’t a sales pitch, just a heads up. We ran out of corner booths already, so we created some new ones – and we also have outside “demo” booths. Anyone can rent a booth as long as it’s music related.
Read moreThe Levon Helm Snare Drum
So the drum was given to Levon by Ringo, clearly played and signed by Levon to the son of another tremendously influential drummer, Richie Hayward. Four degrees of separation, perhaps? I was happy to win the auction, securing both drum for its history and the ability to help Seve in my own small way.
Read moreMike Clark: Words of Wisdom, Part 3
"OK… So the snares broke on ‘God Make Me Funky’ and I continued to play it on Tom. The engineer Fred Catero takes a brass wastebasket, puts a mike in it and puts the now fixed snare on top of the basket. He then plays the track to the snare which makes a sound at each backbeat, but leaving out all the ghost notes. I hated that sound, and without the ghost notes the beat sounded pedestrian to my ears…Like anyone could have played it. Now it’s one of the most sampled drum loops ever. They dug it, and some drummers say Hey, Man - I worked hard to get my snare to sound like yours!"
Read moreNashville Drum Show Hits the Road
The Nashville Drum Show is hitting the road on Saturday and Sunday, August 16-17th and making stops in Knoxville, TN and Atlanta, GA. Titled "Drummer's Showcase and Swap Meet," these mini-shows are free to the public - not only to attend, but to buy and sell as well.
"Bring your used and vintage gear to sell and trade - bring your new or old drums to show off and play... or just show up and join the drum hang!" - Nashville Drum Show
Here's some photos NSMD readers have submitted of items that will be up for sale over the weekend:
Are you planning on coming and want to show off what you're bringing - either for show or for sale? Let us know!
The event on Saturday will take place at The Whammy Bar, 8426 Kingston Pike in Knoxville, and on Sunday at ATL Drum Collective, 503 Amsterdam Ave NE. Hours are 12-6 PM on both days. There are no rules, and it is a bring-your-own everything atmosphere and open to anyone and everyone - including vendors, collectors and manufacturers. Participants can also purchase Nashville Drum Show tickets on location, $75 for a VIP pass and $15 for a regular day admission. Tickets purchased at the showcase events will be entered into a raffle for a custom built drum set, custom snare drums, and many other prizes. You do not need to be present at the show to win.
In addition to the advanced ticket raffle, ATL Drum Collective is offering 10% off all purchases over $25, and will have select overstock marked down for the event. Joe Ciucci will be showing his 1940 Radio King's at the Atlanta event, beautifully restored by ATL Drum Collective.
For more information, visit www.nashvilledrumshow.com.
1929-32 Leedy Broadway Dual (1st Gen)
Here’s a snare drum that I purchased at the 2014 Chicago Show from Brian Drugan of Drugan’s Drums. First generation Leedy Duals are fairly scarce, nothing earth shattering here but this drum did have something cool that I’ve never seen or heard of before.
Read moreFather to Son: T.S. Monk ‘Keeps it in the Family’
T.S. Monk, son of virtuoso jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, has carved out his own niche as a respectable and identifiable voice in bop drumming circles. But, he never forgot where he came from.
T.S. had the good fortune of soaking in all the musical vibes surrounding him at home. From receiving his first drumset from Max Roach to listening to his father, Miles Davis, John Coltrane or Art Blakey upstairs in his living room, there was no escaping it – he was presented with the ‘gift’ at an early age.
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