Drum History

A podcast all about the rich history of the drums - and how they became what they are today! Join Bart van der Zee as he speaks with experts about the curious journey of the ever-evolving drum set.

Music
Music History
History
126
The New Milestone Percussion with Ronn Dunnett
Ronn discusses his new acquisition of the classic Canadian brand, Milestone Percussion! Milestone was founded in the 1970's by Michael Clapham, and then was later purchased by Paul Mason and became the also beloved, Tempus Drums. Now, in 2022, Ronn has brought the original brand back to life and is relaunching with the extreme attention to detail that we have all come to expect from all Dunnett products. Ron doesn't spare any details of what he thinks went wrong with the original run of the company and what he is doing to improve and make it a long lasting Canadian brand. We also learn about Ronn's work process and great info on all of his brands - Dunnett Classic Drums, George Way Drums, and now Milestone Percussion.
62 min
127
Rare and Unique Drum Finishes with Randy Rainwater
Randy takes us through the decades of rare finishes including Leedy's "Autographs of the Stars", Ludwig's "Top Hat and Cain", all sorts of Pearl and Oyster finishes, and through the psychedelic 60 and 70's with Citrus Mod, Psych Red, and Mod Orange. Randy is a longtime collector and restorer of vintage drums and shares stories of many kits that have come through his hands, and discusses many ultra rare kits that he has seen and learned about in the vintage community.
60 min
128
Making a Career out of Collecting with Richard ...
Richard King has been collecting and dealing with high end drums since the 1980's, which has led him to be a dealer and broker for celebrities and also provided drum kits for a number of films. He has a very long running business that specializes in rare and hard to find drum hardware that he has meticulously cleaned, categorized and ready to sell out of his house. Richard shares information on his background on collecting, but also the vintage drum industry and drum shows as a whole. He has built up a sparkling reputation on eBay and to other dealers and collectors around the world so tune in if you want to hear Richards secrets to have a long career in vintage drums!
59 min
129
The History of Street Drumming with Dr. John Owens
Dr, John Owens shares the vibrant lineage of street drumming, the lives of urban percussionists, and the rhythms that make it all happen! He has a history as a street drummer in Washington DC, a performer at Disney, and a member of the US Army Band. He is the author of "Street Drumming: The People, History, and Grooves" which is a soup to nuts guide on everything there is to know about Street Drumming!
72 min
130
Ludwigs Role in Drumhead History with Bill Ryder
Bill Ryder is a longtime listener of the podcast that decided to step up and do extensive research on Ludwig drumheads and the important role that they played in the history of modern plastic drumheads. Ludwig's crimped style of drumhead was unique and different from how Remo and Evans connected to the flesh hoop with a resin epoxy and how they arrived at the use of Mylar is an huge part of drumhead history. The crimped style was quickly stolen by Slingerland which may be the catalyst that started the legendary feud between Slingerland and Ludwig. Bill got help from Jim Catalano (former Ludwig dir. of Marketing) and Herbie May (Remo R&D Director) on this episode which helped create a very thoroughly researched and fun episode.
54 min
131
Downsizing a Drum Collection with Louis Bernstein
Louis Bernstein not only had a large, high-end drum collection but he also had a true passion for hunting down many of the original famous drum films and tapes that we all enjoy on YouTube today - but Louis was faced with the challenge of moving to a Condo in 2013 and sell off the majority of his collection. He shares the process of how downsizing a collection of 140+ snares, 4 kits, countless rare tapes, Buddy Rich Memorabilia, and all sorts of other things worked and what he learned from the process.
55 min
132
The History of the Drum Kit in Brazil with Dani...
Daniel is a professor at the Federal University of São Carlos in Brazil, along with being a contributor to "The Cambridge Companion to the Drum Kit". Daniels history for this episode goes back to 1917 in Brazil and takes us through the amazing history of drum sets, drumming styles, and iconic drummers which has many parallels to the American and European histories we usually hear on the show - but this is uniquely Brazilian!
66 min
133
The History of Drum Workshop with Don Lombardi
Don Lombardi is the founder of DW Drums and he shares the full story of this legendary American drum brand. Drum Workshop has amazing origins in Don's garage where he recycled the name from his drum teaching business and turned his garage into a workshop where he and his student, John Good, created canister thrones that could raise and lower - and the rest is history! I learned so much about the Camco story, the 5000 pedal, and everything I never knew about DW and Don's background as a professional drummers.
78 min
134
Carrying on George L. Stones Legacy with Barry ...
Barry James was a student of George Lawrence Stone in the 1950's and is continuing on his teachings to this day by releasing two new books that he worked on with Joe Morello that are finally ready to be released! Barry's new book's are called "Counting the Exercises in Stick Control" which supplements "Stick Control" and teaches how to read it the way Stone originally intended, and the second is "Future Rudiments" which is a concept that Stone created towards the end of his life. Barry is a wealth of knowledge and is working very hard to teach the Stone method at its truest form!
51 min
135
Ringo and The Beatles "Get Back" with Gary Astr...
Gary Astridge is Ringo Starr's historian and curator of his equipment who does talks around the world about all things Ringo! He shares tons of great information about the recent documentary, "Get Back", including his equipment, the relationship of the band, and what happened to Ringo's drums after the album was finished. I also ask Gary a bunch of great questions that were sent in from listeners on social media. We also learn some very exciting news about Ringos "Let It Be" drums that are coming out of the vault and making an appearance at the Rock Hall!
61 min
136
A Look at the Delaware Drum Show with Joe Mekler
Joey Boom tells us all about the Delaware Drum Show which is one of the top drum shows in the USA and is happening on February 27th (2022). Joe is not only an expert on World War 2 drums, but he is a master restorer of vintage drums and a staple of the vintage community. In this episode, my old friend Joe shares everything you need to know about this years show and the legacy that he is keeping alive through his passionate dedication to the vintage drum community and the beautiful instruments that collectors like Joe bring to the Delaware Drum Show.
70 min
137
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Drummers with Mandy Smith
Mandy is the Director of Education at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio and she shares tons of great insider information on how the Rock Hall works! She is a drummer who teaches us things like how many drummers have been inducted twice, can an iconic studio musician be inducted, and how many female drummers are in the Hall of Fame? This is a cool episode that really shines a light on an American Rock and Roll institution that can often be a source of controversy when the nominees are announced, but Mandy has a great attitude and love for her job that is really cool to learn about.
47 min
138
Studying the Greats with Joe Bergamini
Joe talks about working with Neil Peart and Stewart Copeland on the amazing books that he created to spotlight their legendary careers. Joe Bergamini is a prolific author, drummer and teacher and shares the story of how he convinced these mega drummers to let him in and create books that are detailed transcription books, but also work as a coffee table book that shares all the details of the drummers career. Joe shares lots of great stories about his career and working as a broadway drummer in NYC.
71 min
139
Collectors Spotlight with Terry Keating (Bonzol...
This is a fun conversation with Youtube legend Terry Keating (aka Bonzoleum) about how his long history of collecting drums and tips and tricks he has learned along the way, He is known for his passion and knowledge about John Bonham, but Terry is also extremely knowledgable about a wide range of vintage and not so vintage drums. He is a genuinely nice guy who has worked very hard on building his 61k subscriber YouTube channel and it was a lot of fun to talk to Terry about his personal collecting and pick his brain about a ton of topics.
82 min
140
How the Drum Industry Works with John DeChristo...
John worked for Zildjian for 24 years in a number of roles from artist relations all the way up to vice president of the company. I asked him to teach me how the industry works, and he did a great job of breaking down many roles in the drum world and how they all work together. John has personally worked with brands like Simmons, DW, and Zildjian - but these positions and roles are typically industry wide. This is a good way to learn about how it all works if you are interested in a career, but it is also a fun look at how the brands we all love work.
68 min
141
The John Bonham Episode with George Fludas
George Fludas is a Bonzo fanatic who shares his immense knowledge about John Bonham including a biography of the iconic Zeppelin drummer, a discussion of his touring years with Zep, and a look at what we do and don't know about his famous gear. This is a very long awaited episode that I have wanted to do for a long time and I am very happy that George came on to share a very respectful and interesting look at the favorite drummer of many drummers around the world.
100 min
142
A Look at Billy Gladstone with Chet Falzerano a...
Billy Gladstone was a legendary performer and the maker of some of the rarest drums in existence with only 61 snare drums and 2 drum sets that are still known to be among us today. Chet Falzerano provides a fascinating biography of Billy and tons of info that is only available from his extensive research he did for his book on Gladstone. This episode also features a short interview segment with the owner of the one of the two Gladstone drum sets that still exists - David Wood. He shares the story of how he acquired the kit from Chet and the very cool thing he is going to do with this holy grail kit.
73 min
143
Ted Reed Bio (Syncopation) & 2021 Wrap Up
This is a quick episode where Bart shares a short biography of "Syncopation" author, Ted Reed, and discusses some Drum History Pod info about things that are coming up!
18 min
144
The Snare Drums of Buddy Rich with Tommy Piorek
Tommy teaches us about his amazing period correct collection of snares that Buddy Rich played spanning his career from 1950 to the early 1980's! We dig deep into 15 specific snare drums including Buddy's famous relationship with the forbidden Fibes snare drum that he loved so much, his wood DynaSonic, his on/off relationships with Slingerland and Ludwig, and of course - Buddy playing Trixon! Tommy Piorek is a Buddy RIch expert and has a number of rare Buddy Rich collectibles - but this collection of snare drums was something truly special. This is a great episode that has tons of great Buddy stories and lots of information I haven't heard anywhere else!
71 min
145
Backbeat Drumming in the 40's and 50's with Jas...
Jason Gianni shares audio examples from artists including Fats Domino, Elvis, Ray Charles, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and many more that showcase the evolution of rock drumming from the 1940's to the 1960's. We discuss the drumming of these great artists plus Jason plays examples on his own kit! Jason is an instructor at the Drummers Collective in NYC and a professor at the New School in NYC and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and most importantly - he played drums on the "SpongeBob Squarepants" theme :) He has great knowledge on how rock and roll slowly but steadily evolved from one recording to the next and how it was a process of building that led to modern rock and roll as we know it today.
64 min
146
Drumming Through The Decades with Vicky O'Neon
Vicky teaches us the history of female drummers through the decades in this very in-depth episode that begins 2000 years ago when all the drummers in society were women! Vicky O'Neon is a great drummer, educator, and YouTuber who has created an amazing 12. part series that she was kind of enough to condense all that information in this fun episode. Female drummers have faced countless hardships through the decades but the thing that really struck me in this episode is how unbelievably persistent, hardworking, and talented they are despite all the struggles. We live in a great time now where things have gotten much better but it has been a long and fascinating journey that Vicky expertly teaches.
101 min
147
The History of Corder Drums with Don Corder
Corder Drums was born in 1979 when Jim Corder purchased the Fibes manufacturing equipment from C.F. Martin after they decided to no longer be in the drum business. My guest is Don Corder, Jim's son, was an employee since day one and helped his dad and brothers learn on the fly and create a drum brand that is now a part of the history of the instrument. Not only is this a great story because of the Fibes and Darwin drums connection, but it is a wonderful story of a family working together to make Jim Corders dreams a reality.
48 min
148
The History of Paiste (Part 2) with Dan Garza
This is the second in our two part series that covers the history of Paiste Cymbals. We pick up in the 1970's when 2002's were king and all the famous European rock bands were representing Paiste. The company also lost its distribution deal with Ludwig in the early 70's and had a period of about 4 or 5 years where distribution in America was slim to none - until Rogers picked up the slack and began selling Paiste's state-side. This and much much more is discussed in this episode, plus Dan corrects a few things from the first episode that came to light in the short time between us recording these two shows.
77 min
149
The History of Paiste (Part 1) with Dan Garza
This is an in-depth look at the fascinating history of one of the biggest names in cymbal making - Paiste! Dan is an expert on the history of the company and teaches us the origin story that dates back to the turn of the century in Estonia with the Paiste family up to the 1970's when Paiste was being played by some of the biggest names in the industry including John Bonham, Joe Morello, Carmine Appice and many more. Part 2 will pick up where this episode leaves off with the 70's rock explosion.
96 min
150
A Look at Basel Drumming with Edith Habraken
Edith teaches us about the amazing drumming culture in Basel Switzerland and the unique style of drumming that the region has made famous. We talk about the construction of the Basler drums and the history of the clubs and traditions that created this unique environment. Edith is a legend in the Basel drumming community and is a great ambassador to the region.
44 min