MLT Club Member Jürgen
MLT Club MemberForum Replies Created
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I was looking for an interesting overview of the development of drums in modern music history. As always, there is plenty of material on this. Some contributions are too long for posting here in the forum others are presented in several parts. Real pitty. I found the following presentations or contributions quite interesting:
- “Die Geschichte der Trommel / The history of the drum” by Katarina Dunstmann. An interesting contribution about the natural historical development of the first drum and rhythm instruments. Beginning in the Stone Age. Unfortunately only in German. However, English subtitles can be selected.
- “History of drum set” by Daniel Glass. An entertaining and amusing article about the development of the drum set in modern times. Beginning in 1865. A total of five short episodes.
- “150 Years of Drum Set Evolution” by Nolan Pettersen. This article was created as part of a scientific university thesis. Informative and very detailed.
- „The drums / 1935-2022” (by Rick Beato). Presented very entertaining. Just like we are used by him.
… and many, many more…
The following videoclip gives a brief overview of how the use of the drum set has changed in modern music history:
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An impressive performance by Swiss jazz drummer Charly Antonini. The original piece “Caravan” was written by Bernard “Buddy” Rich in the year 1962. He was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. Rich is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Known as a virtuoso with phenomenal power and speed, he had his own big band.
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Martin Grubinger is an Austrian drummer and multi-percussionist. He is considered one of the world’s best marimba players. Martin received his first lessons from his father, a percussionist and teacher of percussion instruments at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
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This track charted in the 80s and won a Grammy Award:
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Several years ago I had the pleasure to see a Japanese “Taiko” ensemble during a live concert. An impressive spectacle. The stage shook and the musicians radiated a lot of energy and charisma.
“Taiko” means something like thick drum. The history of Taiko goes back over 2000 years. Archaeologists have found that the drums were used for communication or even for religious rituals. However, it is believed that the instrument has changed over time. It is also likely that the taiko came to Japan in about the 5th or 6th century, namely from India. Initially, the Taiko was used in court music. Then, in the 11th century, taiko found application in Noh Theater (a traditional theatrical performance in which the actor is accompanied by music). Taiko drums also played an important role in religious ceremonies, as well as in dancing at folk festivals.
Fun Fact: Playing taiko is not only a passion for musicians, but also determines their life rhythm and everyday life. For example, the Japanese drummers of the taiko ensemble "Yamato" begin their training every day at 6:30 a.m. with a 10-kilometer run (originally 20 kilometers /round about 12,4 miles), followed by strength exercises by pounding the shime daikos (a smaller traditional drum). A single member spends an average of 3,600 hours a year just drumming. That's up to 10 hours a day. In a year, up to 200 drumsticks fall victim to the anarchic sound game. Each member of Yamato makes all of their own drumsticks. Per show, a drummer loses between 2 and 3 kilograms of body weight.
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I know, Sina is no longer an insider tip here in the forum. But seeing her play is always a lot of fun:
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Hi Jacki,
thank you for your “Congo picture”. Do you play the drums just for fun or to specifically train your hand and eye coordination? Could you imagine playing drums in a band?
I find it interesting that you can borrow musical instruments from the public library. That’s a nice idea. I don’t know if we have this option too. But we have so-called music schools for that. These are state-funded institutions where courses are offered that are intended to serve musical education. In addition to music lessons at school (which I experienced as very theoretical), children and young people should have the opportunity to learn instruments or singing. But I personally think it would be nicer if you could try out different instruments in regular music lessons at school to find out which instrument suits you best. In my class, only those students who already mastered an instrument were actually encouraged. For the rest of us (including me), the music lessons were boring. It’s a pity, since childish curiosity can be aroused so quickly. I would have liked to learn an instrument. But it’s been a few years since I went to school… 🙂. Maybe the music lessons have changed in the last decades. Maybe it was just because of my music teachers at the time. Who knows.
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„Eight Days a Week”: Handclaps only
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I find it interesting that modern music still features one of the oldest beat instruments: our hands. Simply rhythm, which can move so much in us.
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When I stumbled across this music video by chance, I got the idea that this could be a nice topic: Drums and rhythm. So I would be interested to know which percussion instruments you particularly like and which favorite music titles you can think of on this topic. Maybe there is a nice memory or a specific experience that you associate with drums, percussion and rhythm.
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Thanks Dave. Lots of material. That should be enough to get me started. 😀 I’ll take a look at it then.
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Hi Tobias,
thanks for the post. I find it impressive what kind of effort is put into such major events. Until all the instruments are set up and then the coordination of the many musicians…, already fascinating. I don’t think anyone who has taken part in such a major event won’t soon forget it.
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Thanks Dave, I’m familiar with King Crimson by name, but haven’t really looked into the band yet. I really like the drummer solo in Elstree. The three drummers harmonize well and complement each other. That’s great. I still have a concert in mind (I think on the occasion of the death of George Harrison) where all the stars came out. Among others, Ringo Starr and Phil Collins drummed there at the same time. That was creepy. The two dueled on drums instead of playing together. The three drummers here can clearly do that better. Which King Crimson album would you recommend as a start?
Yes, the drum set in Come Together is very distinctive and characterizes the entire song. As for the instrumentation on Mona and Lisa, this is a reflection of their personalities. Lisa is sometimes a little more in the foreground, she seems a little bit more extroverted and assertive to me (I don’t mean that in a negative way). Maybe it’s because she often does the lead vocals and lead guitar. With the percussion and the rhythm guitar, Mona forms a solid foundation for the songs and gives the whole thing a perfect structure. An ideal complement. Perhaps this is the secret of their success. But before I start an avalanche of protest here: this is just my humble opinion.
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Hi Fred,
thanks. No, not too many drummers 😀. Your dutch stuff is pretty cool. I like the performance of golden earing, of course, 1000 drummers wow. And Slagerij van Kampen, that’s the kind of presentation I had in mind when I started this topic. Great.
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Hi Jung,
yeah “Let ’em in” begins with the world-famous chime of Big Ben and the drum of the marching music runs like a red thread through the song, accompanied by the characteristic melody of the transverse flutes. It’s an idiosyncratic composition, but that makes it unique.
You’re right, what would “We will rock you” be without the dominating beat of the drums? In general, Queen liked to use dominating rhythms in their songs. Like the bass at the beginning of “Another one bites the dust” or the kick drum and pounding piano in „Flash Gordon“.
And of course Songbird: the drums add a special sophistication and elegance to the song. I can’t describe it exactly, but due to the excellent work of the drums (Mona I suppose) in combination with the cenbalo, the whole piece gains an airiness and lightness that highlights the theme of the song. Grandiose work.
