Rock Band 2 wireless drum kit
Alesis DM6 Kit 5-Piece
Alesis DM5Pro
Electronic Drum Kit
History
In 1971, Graeme Edge of the Moody Blues pursued the idea of the
first electronic drum kit. With the help of professor Brian Groves
from Sussex University, Edge created the first fully functioning
electronic drum kit. It did not produce a salable product. The first
commercial release of one was in 1973 when Moog Music Inc
released a drum controller for their synthesizer. The first fully
independent electronic drum was released in 1976 by Pollard
Industries and was called the Syndrum. The first electronic drum kit,
Simmons SDS-V, was introduced into the market in 1981.
Significance
Edge's original invention was used for a single song, "Procession,"
on the Moody Blues' album "Every Good Boy Deserves Favor." The
single drum inventions to follow were used by professional
musicians throughout the late 1970s. The introduction of the Synare
created a brand new sound that would become associated with disco.
Without electronic drums, it is highly unlikely that the disco era
would have occurred in the same fashion.
http://www.ehow.com/about_5072992_history-electronic-drumkit.html
The Origin Of The Drum
for Djamien Finn
by Damian Finn
For a wonderful story about the origin of the drum go to the
below website and read the story by Damian Finn. It tells of
the origin, the feelings, the cause, and the characters that
originally brought to need the drum. The heart and soul of it.
http://www.ecopsychology.org/journal/gatherings3/finn.html
Game stations too are getting
into the full use of drum kits.
With the addition of the Mad Katz
Rock Band Two cymbals.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2008/09/mad-catz-rock-band-2cymbals-pictured-priced-coming-soon.ars
Yourba (Yoruba) Drum
19.5"H x 11.5"D - Collected in
the late 60's by L.L. Baron
and John Thomas
Yourba Talking Drum - See
Nigeria Today, Vol. 9, Nos
11 & 12 of 1966 - page 9
"It is the drum that turns
music into words and words
into Music." That is how
Chief Laoye, Baba Kekere
of Ede and a veteran
drummer, describe the
talking drum. Music is
an important element of the life of the people of Nigeria and as a
result the drum serves a thousand and one purposes. This drum is a
dundun (mother of the drums) and is the most important drum. It is
played by the head drummer, and takes the lead and dictates the
pace and nature of the music. It is shaped like a narrow barrel
whose infrastructure is a hollow dumb bell-shaped wooden frame.
This particular drum is an original as seen in the following picture.
http://www.lebaronsprimitives.com/NEW%20SHOPPING%20CAR
T.htm
Q: Why are electronic drums becoming so popular?
I thought that electronic drums just make strange and weird
sounds and were only used in rap music. I have noticed that
many country, jazz, rock, etc. drummers and percussionists
are using them more and more.
A: You got it right! Electronic drums can make "strange and
weird noises" along with ANY sound imaginable! These
sounds include perfectly processed acoustic drum and
percussion sounds. These sounds can also be any other
instrument sounds including keyboard, guitar, bass, horns,
vocals, burps, belches, etc. That is one of the various
reasons for their popularity. Other reasons are for practice
and studio use. You can’t "turn the volume down" on
acoustic instruments for practice. It takes a long time to
process acoustic drums in the studio -- everyone knows that
time is BIG money in the studio. Electronic drums are
already processed so they can drastically cut down on time
and headaches in the recording studio which inevitably
saves money! Electronic drums are also compact. An entire
kit including hardware can fit in my Corvette!
http://www.harmony-central.com/Drums/EDW/faq.html
The origins of cymbals can be traced back to prehistoric times.
Cymbals have been used in religious ceremonies since ancient
times. They are thought to be of Asiatic origin. Different forms of
the cymbals were used in the ancient East. They were in use in
Isreal by about 1100 B.C., but they did not appear in Egypt until
around 800 B.C.
The British Museum possesses two pairs of Egyptian cymbals
which are thirteen centimeters in diameter, and one of which was
found in the coffin of the mummy of Ankhhape, a sacred musician.
Those used by the Assyrians were both plate- and cup-shaped,
those of the Ancient Persians large-sized plates, made of brass,
known as Sanji. The Greek cymbals were cup- or bell-shaped, and
may be seen in the hands of innumerable fauns and satyrs in
sculptures and on painted vases. The word cymbal is derived from
the Latin cymbalum, which itself derives from the Greek word
kumbalom, meaning a small bowl.
They have been known in Europe since the Middle Ages.
Cymbals were traditionally produced in Turkey and China. They
were made two different ways. One method was producing an
almost flat cymbal, and the other contained a high central dome.
Small finger cymbals were also made. They have a bell-like tone
and are still used today.
Cymbals appeared intermittently in Europe from the 13th century
on, although they are believed to have been imported earlier. Their
orchestral debut was in the 17th century, but they did not last.
Turkish military music contained cymbals parts during the 18th
century. This aided in the introduction of the cymbals into the
orchestra. They gained a permanent position during the late part of
the century.
By World War I drum kits were characterized by very large
marching bass drums and many percussion items suspended on and
around it, and they became a central part of jazz music. Hi-hat stands
appeared around 1926. Metal consoles were developed to hold
Chinese tom-toms, with swing out stands for snare drums and
cymbals. On top of the console was a "contraptions" (shortened to
"trap") tray used to hold whistles, klaxons, and cowbells, thus drum
kits were dubbed "trap kits."
By the 1930s, Gene Kruna and others popularized streamlined trap
kits leading to a basic four piece drum set standard: bass, snare, tomtom, and floor tom. In time legs were fitted to larger floor toms, and
"consolettes" were devised to hold smaller tom-toms on the bass
drum.
In the 1940s, Louie Bellson pioneered use of two bass drums, or
the double bass drum kit. With the ascendancy of rock and roll, the
role of the drum kit player became more visible, accessible, and
visceral. The watershed moment occurred in 1964, when Ringo Star
of The Beatles played his Ludwig kit on American television; an
event that motivated legions to take up the drums. The trend toward
bigger drum kits in Rock music began in the 1960s and gained
momentum in the 1970s.
By the 1980s, widely popular drummers like Neil Peart. Billy
Cobham, Carl Palmer, Bill Bruford, and Mike Portnoy were using
large numbers of drums and cymbals and had also begun using
electronic drums. Johns Bonham of Led Zeppelin also helped to
revolutionize the drum kit and master new unheard of beats. Double
bass pedals (Often used in heavy metal) were developed to play on
one bass drum, eliminating the need for a second bass drum.
In the 1990s and 2000s, many drummers in popular music and
indie music have reverted back to basic four piece drum set standard.
In the present, it is not uncommon for drummers to use a variety
of auxiliary percussion instruments, found objects, and electronics as
part of their "drum" kits. Popular electronics include: electronic
sound modules; laptop computers used to activate loops, sequences
and samples; metronomes and tempo meters; recording devices; and
personal sound reinforcement equipment.
http://www.mathcs.duq.edu/~iben/cymbals.htm and
http://ahmaddrummer.blogspot.com/2009/04/drums-from-to-z.html
Additional drum facts information can
be obtained at the following web site.
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com
/topics/Drum
Drum Sets
Italian one-man band. Bells on the
hat, pan pipes, bass drum,
side drum, cymbals and
melodeon. An Italian commercial
postcard posted in Italy in 1929, but
further provenance not
known. From the Reg Hall
Collection.
http://www.forensicgenealogy.info/c
ontest_54_results.html
History and development
Drum sets were first developed due to financial and space
considerations in theaters where drummers were encouraged to
cover as many percussion parts as possible. Up until then, drums
and cymbals were played separately in military and orchestral
music settings. Initially, drummers played the bass and snare
drums by hand, then in the 1890s they started experimenting with
foot pedals to play the bass drum. William F. Ludwig made the
bass drum pedal system workable in 1909, paving the way for the
modern drum kit.