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
151
Louie Bellson and Tuxedo Bags with Ron Weinstein
Ron Weinstein had a 40 year relationship with Louie Bellson and was the inventor of the iconic Tuxedo Bags. He shares the story of how he created the bags which revolutionized drum cases in the 1980's, and how his friend Louie Bellson rocketed his brand forward by attaching Louies celebrity to the brand . The best part is that Louie didn't ask for a dime and Ron tells many great stories that paint picture of how much of a gentleman the drumming legend really was. This is real drumming history that is not widely known, enjoy this great drum history!
58 min
152
A Look At Animal Skin Drumheads with Jeff Stern
Jeff Stern owns and operates Stern Tanning Co. which acquired the United Rawhide Company of Chicago in 2001 - the former largest manufacturer or drumheads in the world before mylar became king. United Rawhide was the primary drumhead provider for Slingerland, Gretsch, Rogers, and Ludwig. Jeff teaches us the start to finish process of how a tannery works and creates high quality drumheads, plus lots of great information about how, when, and why you would want to use a calf or goat skin drumhead.
57 min
153
Can You Copyright A Drumbeat? with Kurt Dahl
Kurt is a drumming entertainment lawyer who breaks down the age old question - can you copyright a drumbeat? We discuss famous songs like "We Will Rock You", "Billy Jean", When The Levee Breaks", "Sunday Bloody Sunday", and many more. Kurt also tells us how song credits work and how we can protect ourselves and get what we deserve as drummers plus tons of other great information. Kurt is the drummer for the very successful rock group, One Bad Son, and has some serious real world experience with his own band and many of his high level clients.
63 min
154
The History of Fibes Drums with Tommy Robertson
Tommy has been the owner of Fibes Drums since 1994, and he is the perfect person to tell us about the history of this iconic brand that dates back to 1965. They are very sought after and beloved drums that are the gem of many collections and we learn about the different eras and owners of the brand. They pushed forward both the technology of Fiberglass drums and Acrylic drums which helped shape the sound of drummers of the 60's, 70,s 80's through to today.
63 min
155
The Science of Why We Love Drums with Dr. Krist...
War drums, Primate communication, Indigenous peoples' sacred instruments, and hippie drum circles! Kristen tells us why we are hard wired to love the drums the way we do through her in-depth scientific research that begins 7000 years ago with the earliest drum and ends up today with blistering heavy metal drummers using the primal rhythms to make us feel the fear that our early ancestors felt. This is a really unique episode with a great perspective from a non-drummer who can help shed some knowledge on why we love this great instrument!
52 min
156
The Right Drummer for the Right Band with Mike ...
Mike Edison joins us to discuss when the stars align and Charlie finds The Stones, Bonzo joins Zeppelin, Ringo meets the Beatles, and Keith explodes into The Who. We talk all about what makes these (plus many another) drummer's the absolute perfect choice for each of the iconic rock groups and play a game where we switch drummers into different bands. Mike also discusses his great book, "Sympathy for the Drummer - Why Charlie Watt's Matters" which is now available on paperback, and he tells us about the phone call he had with Charlie himself to thank him for writing the book.
61 min
157
Creating A Long Career In Drumming With Peter J...
Pete Jarvis has had a very long and illustrious career that includes composing, arranging and drumming for a Wes Anderson film and the HBO series, "Boardwalk Empire", plus he has performed as a soloist, chamber player, Broadway musician and as conductor/player with chamber music ensembles, orchestras and choruses. Pete shares his story with us and many key pieces of advice on how to plan for a long and diverse career in the world of drumming. He is not only planning his next gig, but he is always thinking of his next 20 years of his musical career.
58 min
158
The Origins of Tempus Drums with Paul Mason
Paul is a master drum builder who used materials such as Hemp, Carbon Fiber, Carbon Kevlar, and Fiberglass. He started Tempus in Vancouver in 1985 and and ran the company until he decided to wind down and close his shop in 2012. His unique materials and production style made some of the most unique drums on the market that were widely loved by players around the world. Paul made over 7000 in his career and has some amazing stories about learning to use these materials, running a business, competing with the major players, and tons of other great stories along the way.
71 min
159
The History of Drum Endorsements with Rob Cook
Rob teaches us about the early origins of drum endorsements that dates all the way back to the early 1900's with drummers being featured in "The Ludwig Drummer" and "Leedy Drum Topics" magazines. We then go through the 50's and 60's where big money started to get involved and Rob shares stories of drummers like Buddy Rich receiving massive cash payments to play various drum brands and Gene Krupa's golden deal that he had with Slingerland. Rob also shares great information about how endorsements work with funding clinics and making it so we can all see the drummers we love at events like the Chicago Drum Show.
67 min
160
The History of Practice Pads with Beth Hamon
Beth is a passionate expert on all things to do with practice pads. She has an extensive collection of her own which she has used to get first hand knowledge, and is also a great researcher who has dug deep to find all the in-depth details that she shares in this episode. This is a fun episodes that is full of info on all the various practice pads that we all grew up with, and the pads of our ancestors.
57 min
161
Drumsticks of the Legends with Chris Bennett
Chris owns Bopworks drumsticks and he has recreated drumstick models of some of the most legendary players in drum history. Gene Krupa, Shelly Manne, Art Blakey, Mel Lewis are some of the stick's that Chris has gotten the rights to recreate and produce in Austin, Texas. He teaches us the process he had to go through to get the rights from the familys of these legends and then getting the sticks made. We also discuss the impact the different types of sticks can have on the sound and feel of cymbals. This is a great one with lots of different information.
55 min
162
The History of Zickos Drums with Wes Faulconer
The History of Zickos Drums with Wes Faulconer
61 min
163
Tony Williams Clinic Breakdown (1982) with Rob ...
This is a very fun episode where Rob Hart plays us multiple clips from a Tony Williams clinic that he tape recorded in 1982 in Boston. We break down each segment and Rob gives us his first hand experiences from being a student of Tony in the early 90's in the San Francisco Bay Area. We hear tony talk about his famous ride patterns, setting up his kit, hi-hat work, using brushes, and much more - and then each topic has a great explanation and discussion with Rob.
70 min
164
20 years of Prologix Percussion with Jason Edwards
Prologix is celebrating 20 years of creating innovative and high quality practice pads that have become an industry standard. I sit down with company founder, Jason Edwards, about the origins of starting the company in his garage, then slowly growing the business, up to winning multiple "best in shows" at NAMM, to the modern days where Prologix are an international company that has some of the biggest names in the industry as endorsers.
68 min
165
Before Ringo and Best: The Colin Hanton Story
Colin Hanton was the original drummer for the Quarrymen which featured John Lennon, Paul McCarney, and George Harrison in Liverpool circa 1956. He shares the amazing story of first meeting John Lennon and then the group evolving and growing gig by gig and adding the other future Beatles as time went on. It is amazing to hear the difficulties they faced trying to scrape together money to buy instruments and afford a 2 song EP which is an incredible story all in itself. We cover when Colin left the group and Pete Best became the next Quarrymen drummer and then when things exploded with Ringo. Enjoy this great piece of musical history with a living legend!
59 min
166
The History of A&F Drum Co. with Ramy Antoun
A&F is celebrating their 5 year anniversary and Ramy Antoun, founder of the company, joins me to discuss the history of the company, his personal background as a successful drummer both on the road and in the studio. A&F is a one of a kind brand that has exploded in popularity in a very short time and stands out with the unique art deco designs and timeless inventions that Ramy is bringing to the drum world. Enjoy this great conversation with a true innovator in the community!
61 min
167
100th Episode Special - Get to know Bart with S...
In this special 100th episode, Bart gets interviewed by his brother, Spencer, and discusses his background in drumming, audio engineering and the podcast in general. I figure after 100 episodes I should probably let people know some more info about me and how I got to this point. Thanks so much to everyone who has enjoyed the show over the last few years and shared it and sent me such great messages. I am just getting started and have a long way to go!
70 min
168
The History of Cable Tension Drums with Bryan B...
Bryan is the founder of Dialtune drums and he tells us about some examples of cable tension drums that he discovered in his journey to create a modern day drum that is easily tuned with just two knobs. A cable tension drum by definition is a drum that uses a system of pulleys with cable or string/rope to make it possible to tune the drum using one point of tension, typically a knob or a key. The drums that Bryan teaches us about from his patent search are really remarkable, and I share my experiences with the amazing Dialtune snare drum that I have been using for the last few months.
66 min
169
The Roots of Reggae Drumming with Gil Sharone
Gil is a world renowned drummer who shares his deep passion and knowledge for Reggae drumming in this great episode, He takes us through all the sub genres such as ska, rocksteady, dub, and dancehall. Plus he teaches us about the legends in Reggae drumming such as Lloyd Knibb and Carlton Bennett, and the gear that these Jamaican drummers would use when playing with icons such as Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Lee Perry and many more.
53 min
170
A Look at Rope Tension Drums with Bill Whitney
Bill takes us back over a thousand years to learn the origins of rope tension drums and how the technology evolved over the centuries. We learn about shell construction, head types, guts and snare history, and much much more. Bill is a wealth of information and is the man behind Calderwood Percussion. He is a master drum builder and an all around great musician on many instruments.
65 min
171
The History of Acrylic Drums with Jim DeRogatis
Jim is an extremely respected music critic on the radio, but he is a drummer at his core. He shares his passion and knowledge of acrylic drums with his starting in 1959 with Zickos, into the 70's with Fibes, and the explosion of popularity with the Vistalites thanks to John Bonham. We discuss the evolution of acrylic shell construction construction, the color varieties of the extremely unique Ludwig stripe kits, the players who made these drums famous like Billy Cobham and Karen Carpenter, and tons of other great info!
57 min
172
The History of Ludwig Bass Drum Pedals with Ste...
Steve takes us through all the decades of Ludwig bass drum pedals starting in 1909 with the iconic first commercially produced bass drum pedal that completely changed the world of drumming, up to the modern re-introduction of the Speed King. Steve is a passionate collector of Ludwig bass drum pedals and wrote a new book called "The Ludwig Line: Bass Drum Pedals" that is full of detailed descriptions and photos of his collection that covers most everyLudwig pedal that was ever made. He is only missing a few "holy grail pedals" that he describes in this episode.
50 min
173
Legendary Teachers: Alan Dawson with John Ramsay
John was a student of Alan Dawson for many years and shares many of his experiences with Alan and a great spotlight on the life of this truly legendary teacher. We hear what it was like to walk into the room and learn from Alan Dawson using his extremely musical and innovative techniques. Alan would squeeze the absolute most out of books such as Syncopation and Stick Control, along with countless other ways that teaching Alan became the icon he is today.
66 min
174
Debunking Cymbal Myths with NickyMoon
Nick and I discuss 11 different popular cymbal myths in this episode, many of which were submitted by listeners of the podcast! We cover things such as "old cymbals are always better", "hand hammering is automatically good", "covering my cymbal in ketchup makes it sound better", and many more. This is a really fun episode where I learned a ton from my pal Nick Margarite aka NickyMoon.
76 min
175
The History of Military Tattoos with Mark Reilly
A Military Tattoo is a ceremony that dates back to the early 17th century in the Netherlands when Drummers would notify the soldiers at the local bars at 9:30pm that it is time to return to the barracks. This was known as "Doe Den Tap Toe " or "Turn Off The Taps". This tradition continued and evolved over the centuries to be a nightly ceremony that was designed to entertain in the summer months, Fast forward to modern days and it is a worldwide, mega event that celebrates the best drummers and musicians around the globe.
71 min