Who invented drum set

At the turn of the century most musicians were employed in the pit area of theatres performing forvaudille. As the pit became smaller so too did the band. No longer was it possible to have three drummers. Necessity forced drummers to re-think their position, experimenting with the idea of playing more than one instrument at the same time. In the late 's the development of the bass drum pedal sparked a new generation of invention.

Suddenly the bass drum pedal enabled one drummer to play two drums at once. Initial designs had no spring and required the drummer to control both the striking action and the recoil with an exhausting and restrictive heel toe motion. Adding to the awkward playing action was the fact that the most commonly used bass drum size of the era was 26 inches or larger further compounding the sluggish nature of the heel toe action. While drummers were still adapting to this new invention it was thought that perhaps cymbals could be played in the same manner.

Early bass drum pedal designs began to include cymbal strikers. Strikers were attached to the shaft of the bass drum beater. A cymbal was mounted on one side of the bass drum hoop allowing the bass drum and cymbal to be struck simultaneously. While the first patent ever registered for a combined bass drum pedal and cymbal striker dates back to as early as , it wasn't until that William F.

Ludwig and his brother Theobald made history, revolutionizing drumming with the invention of the first spring driven pedal. Immediately drummers were able to play faster and for longer periods of time. Ludwigs new pedal designs grew to include a mechanism that allowed drummers to switch the cymbal striker on and off with their foot as desired. The idea that a drummer could play a multitude of drums, cymbals and sound effects was now plausible and in fact, reality!

The drum-kit at this point was still very much in the infant stages of development. In Ludwig began marketing arguably one of the first drum-sets ever offered. The Ludwig "Jazz-er-up" outfit consisted of a 24" X 8 bass drum, 12" X 3 snare drum, bass drum pedal with cymbal striker, suspended cymbal and hoop mounted wood block.

Ludwig later added an accessory package consisting of two single headed tuneable toms, cowbells, two tone blocks and triangles. In the mid 20's drummers began to realise the potential of tom-toms in creating and expanding the scope of sounds available to them. The development of the modern tom-tom began with the Chinese tom-tom. This crudely made drum consisted of a shell with two heads top and bottom. Each head was folded and tacked to the outer of the shell and displayed a painted traditional Chinese symbol or dragon.

Usually small in size Chinese toms were hung from a bass drum lug with wire. As their popularity grew so too did the development of the "Trap-Tree or Console". In the early 20's a craze began and lasted until World War II. Drummers everywhere began using Trap Tables, Trap Boards and Consoles designed to mount Chinese toms, triangles, tambourines, cowbells, temple blocks and cymbals.

Consoles were the equivalent of modern day rack systems aided by the convenience of wheels. While the most popular console design consisted of a curved bar which followed the contour of the bass-drum, others included trays for sticks, bird whistles and other sound effects. Consoles grew to include mounts for snare drum and tom-toms, making the drum outfit easily transportable as it rolled into and out of the pits on wheels.

As the development of mounting systems and hardware continued so too did the tom-tom. By the late 20's Ludwig, Leedy and various other companies began adding to the catalogue a range of Chinese tom-toms in sizes varying from 7 inches in diameter to 20 inches.

In the late 20's and early 30's a new tom-tom began to appear on the scene. Featuring a tuneable top head early versions of the first tuneable tom either had the traditional tacked on bottom head the same as a Chinese tom, or no bottom head at all!

Early tuneable heads were made by tacking a vellum or calf head onto a wooden counter hoop which in turn was tensioned with T-rods and claws. Ludwig first added tuneable toms to their catalogue in , but at this stage the Chinese tom-tom was still the preferred option. It wasn't until the mid 30's that tom-toms with both tuneable top and bottom heads would stun the drumming world.

The modern drum-kit was now becoming a familiar site in theatres and film houses all across the world. Up until drummers had persisted with the "Clanger" or cymbal striker as earlier covered. Drummers tired of the monotonous characteristic clanging sound of the cymbal striker turned to the Snow Shoe Sock Pedal.

Designed as an alternative method of independently playing cymbals the player would simply slip his foot into the toe strap and press down to hit the top and bottom cymbal together. Aided by a spring loaded hinge the top and bottom cymbal would recoil and hit together as desired similar to the hi-hat action familiar to us all today. Although the snow shoe sock pedal, in all its variations and models, was an improvement on the clanger, it soon gave way to the Low-Boy. The low-boy sat approximately 9 inches off the floor and utilized 10" and 12" cymbals with very large bells.

The low-boy was only playable with the foot and at this stage could not be played by hand in the cross-over manner that is used today. In Leedy, Ludwig and Slingerland all offered a conventional Hi-Hat stand along side the low-boy in their catalogues. The conventional hi-hat stand as we know it today did not become readily accepted when first released in the late 20's. The low-boy was still the drummers first choice until the mid 30's.

Many drummers played these low-boys for a bit, but Dodds asked Ludwig to raise the low hats up to make them easier to play, hence creating the modern hi-hat cymbal. As individualism took hold of America and the world, drums sets ended up being much more popular. In the s people started taking drums from traditional settings and combining them to play them together.

Constraints on budget and space in theatre orchestras led bandleaders to pressure fewer percussionists to cover more percussion parts. They developed stands that would support Chinese tom-toms, snare drums, and cymbals. On top of these gadgets was a tray that would hold klaxons horns , cowbells, and whistles.

These kits were eventually dubbed as 'trap sets' due to them holding a number of percussive items. This is because, before the modern drum set, various percussionists would play these instruments separately in military and orchestral music settings. This is to say that if a piece of music needed a bass drum, triangle, and cymbals, three percussionists would be employed to play these 3 instruments. A drum kit—which can also be called a drum set, trap set or just drums, is just that—a collection of drums, percussion instruments i.

The great jazz drummers of the 30s and 40s helped solidify the set and make it a standardized item. Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich were absolutely fundamental in standardizing the drum kit. Although the drum kit was pretty much in its form, it was still not quite as popularized as an instrument of desire that it would become after it would be on a special day in On Feburary 9, , The Beatles played on the Ed Sullivan show which was the most widely viewed performance in the history of television at the time.

They say that crime even dropped significantly during that hour. It is no doubt that Ringo Starr is one of the forerunners in popularizing the modern day drum kit. And many famous drummers today of jazz and rock site their influence from that performance. The Jam Addict team is a revolving door of writers who care about music, its effects on culture, and giving aspiring artists tools and knowledge to be inspired and keep on creating. Elvis became a big cultural icon, bringing more fast-paced, blue-collar music to the mainstream.

Over the next 20 years, the fact that the electric guitar, bass, and drums were basically a staple of any successful band has contributed to different variants of this basic setup. This resulted in a lot more genres, and a lot more variations creating great professional drum sets. Metal, in particular, has made arguably the most use out of the bass drum.

Because of the fast-tempo nature of metal songs, a lot of drummers have deemed one pedal as insufficient, adding another drum and pedal combo to the setup and playing blazing-fast rhythms which electrified crowds all over the world.

Today, instruments are still used in producing music, but not at the same extent. Technology has made an instrument of itself, with synthesizers slowly gaining ground over traditional bass and drum sounds.

Today, rhythm is merely kept by lines of code highly-distorted sounds. Tech music is slowly gaining ground over the traditional band, which is the natural evolution of events in the music industry. That being said, the modern drum kit is still getting plenty of work, live bands being hailed as the true form of music over the world.

Hip-hop, all genres of metal and even pop music use the drum kit, launching hit after hit, year after year. What are some percussion instruments you ask? Your email address will not be published.

Search for:. The 20th Century: A Big Leap towards Modern Day Music As the music progressed, the industry has started focusing more on catchy, rather than impressive. How the Modern Band Started to Shape Out Over the next 20 years, the fact that the electric guitar, bass, and drums were basically a staple of any successful band has contributed to different variants of this basic setup.