Bass Drum History

The Akan drum comes from the Akan culture in West Africa which is now present-day Ghana. The drum was not only used as a musical instrument and for celebrations it was also used for communication between villages. The Akan people would use the instrument as a “talking drum”, they would create different tones and sounds using the Akan language that would tell the villagers whether is was time for celebration or whether it was time for them to go to war.

2. What is a modern drum set? A modern drum set consists of a bass (or kick) drum, 2-3 toms, 1 snare drum, a hi-hat and 1-2 cymbals.

The main instruments that they played were the drums they had a lot of different kind of drums. They other percussion instruments that they had

As we have seen in class, primary documents extend far beyond diaries and records of battles that fill dusty tomes, and everyday objects often provide a window through which historians can glimpse at life in the past and draw relevant conclusions. Whether it be a piece of eight that ties together social, political, and economic forces, or an astrolabe that unifies cultural and religious systems that are often pitted against each other, common objects often tell a story of their own. Rather than using a similar item, I chose to go through slave databases in an effort to find an object used by slaves, allowing me to get a sense of life through the eyes of those who often lacked the opportunity to record their experiences. The primary document I settled on was the “Talking Drum” from the “Asante of Ghana” (‘Talking Drum’, Understanding Slavery), since it was a cultural item from the African mainland, but served a variety of purposes on European plantations.

College essay “ Life is about rhythm. We vibrate, our hearts are pumping blood, we are a rhythm machine, that’s what we are “ Mickey Hart. I’ve always been inspired by music ever since I was younger. I started drumming when I was four years old. This is when I received my first drum set. I’m sure my parents regretted the decision of buying it because ever since then, I have not put down my drum sticks. It’s also safe to say that my sisters absolutely hated that drum set, and the process of me teaching myself how to play. Over the years I progressively got better and better, and my drum set grew bigger and bigger.

The drum set is an important part to a song. It’s common for anyone to listen to music these days. You might listen to rock, pop, country, rap, classical,or any other genre of music. The drum set is commonly used in music. The drum set’s job is to slow down, speed up, or keep the tempo in a song. As reported by thehubmusicians.com “A four piece drum set consists of a snare drum, bass drum, a single mounted tom, and a floor tom.” And “The snare drum has a crisp sound and it keeps the song going.”

“Harvey Mason is probably the most recorded and most influential drummer /percussionist in this genre." proclaims Nathan East, member of fOURPLAY, prominent Jazz, R&B, and Rock artist. Mr. Mason was born February 22nd, 1947 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He is international known as a drummer. Harvey Mason can play the Canopus Drums, Sabian cymbals, Remo drumheads, DW pedals, Vic Firth drumsticks, and Roc N Soc drum thrones. To add to that astonishing list, he even has his own signature drumstick and Vic Firth Harvey Mason Chameleon signature drumstick. In past years, he used various instruments such as Gretsch Drums, Premier drums, Rogers Drums, Tana Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Toca percussion and Gibraltar Hardware. I do not know what those are but Harvey Mason had to be a great musician to master all those instruments.

During the 1920s, the device known as the low boy was invented. The name was appropriate because it stood approximately one to two feet off the ground (2). Like the bass drum pedal, the low boy was a contraption that would be triggered by the foot. When it was triggered, it would bring two cymbals together to create a "chink" sound. Before this invention, drummers would accent certain points in the music by holding two cymbals together in one hand and creating the noise that way. Now, with this invention, a hand was freed, and the percussionist could use his hand to do other activities (2). The development of the lowboy also encouraged four-way independence. Four-way independence is the practice of having each limb on one 's body play something different. This encouraged more syncopated rhythms which encouraged better music (2). As time went on, the lowboy slowly became taller and taller, and it soon developed into the hi-hat cymbal. Steve Fidyk summed the evolution of this mechanism perfectly.

What is its purpose? Drums are one of the most important forms of art and music in Africa. This artifact was used as a musical instrument and as a sculpture, which was significant for numerous ceremonies such as dance, rituals, story - telling, and communicating messages. Devotional songs were also sung throughout the night (Ancient Artifax).

Tyehimba Kokay, was in traditional costume, played a drums to welcome everybody to the Ancestral Voice concert. Drum was a traditional instrument that was performed at various events in African. Using drums to begin the concert was a traditional welcoming in the African Yoruban traditions. As Tyehimba Kokay mentioned in the concert, our ancestors used the drums to communicate to each other. That was why he used the drums to communicate and send the messengers to his audiences. The drums not only caught audience’s attention but also presented their homage to the ancestors. The beat of the drums was considered as the heat-beat of the ancestors. From the fast to present, drums always played a significant role in spiritual and emotional African

For the last ten years, drums have been ringing in my ears. When I started I was a little bored out because I only knew basic beats, until middle school. I don’t know how but I got into heavy metal, with the band named ‘Avenged Sevenfold’. The drummer was phenomenal, so I was inspired to get behind the drumset and learn the songs. So I would consider myself a self-taught drummer.

Cymbals were first introduced to Europe in the Middle Ages by the Saracens. They were the ones who brought them to Spain and southern Italy. During the 17th century, cymbals returned to Europe, due to the eruption of the Turkish wars. Turkey had long been known for the excellence of

Rock music has been very popular for years. Now-a-day’s rock has blended in with the other types of popular music like pop, country and rap. However, none of these other types of music seemed to have as big an impact on people that rock did. Rock ‘n roll, basically controlled the most of the twentieth century, with an entire era of children, teens and young adults to follow. But, where did rock come from? What is rock music, what started it? How did parents react?

In past, the oud had only two strings, then it had four and it ended with five and six. Lebanon musician Far hat Hasher put seven strings and this helped us to have both the low and the high levels. The strings that were used on the past were made of gut and the plectrum (key) was made of cherry tree cortex or horn of animals. Today they are replaced by plastic. Today Oud is popular to almost all over the world. Since 9th century the musical tradition of the Mediterranean Sea was based oud practically. At Medieval times, the Crusaders brought this instrument from the Holy Lands to Europe, where it became the Renaissance Lute and Lute in Minor Asia, where it remains like this. The strings that were used in the past were made of gut and the plectrum was made of cherry tree cortex or horn of animals. Today they are replaced by plastic. Oud is one of the few instruments of the East and the only one for Arabs, which played and transformed the music levels, which are known as makams. A makam is composed out of a four-stringed "4 notes" and from a five-stringed 5 notes where they alternate from makam to makam. The number of makams is extensive and different from country to country. For example, in Turkey - Egypt it differs mostly to the style and less to the musical scales. Many times the musical scales are the same but they are played with different style and it seems they change makam, while in reality it remains the same. I believe that the bloom of music makam was around 1850 because at these times there was composed and played a big number of makams. Nowadays the musicians do not compose such amounts of makams and the basic reason for this is that a musician of 1850 had a brighter mind than from a musician of nowadays. The depth of the makam is so big that you need to live twice in order to say that you have learnt or played or understood all

The Janissary instruments find their roots in the Turkish military bands of the Ottoman Empire. The term Janissary refers to the Turkish Yeñi-çeri, or “new troops”. Sultan Orkhan I, of the Ottoman Empire, created The Janissaries, but his successor, Murad I, officially established the corps circa 1360’s CE. Furthermore, they were originally an elite corps of troops made up of the Sultan’s loyal slaves. The corps eventually picked up the use of military bands, which was a highly esteemed military tradition. These military bands are even documented in a 1237 CE manuscript inscribed during the Crusades, which depicts two “long trumpets” and a pair of mounted “kettledrums” with battle flags and standards. The date of this manuscript indicates the Arabic and Persian heritages of one of the major instruments in the Janissary classification, the Timpani. In addition, the Ottoman Expansionism throughout the 1600’s gave the Western world a large amount of exposure to the Turkish military band music and instruments. Countless militarily effective instruments were carried into Western armies, such as the Cavalry Kettledrums, or Timpani.