Other people affected

Another person besides me that is obsessed with drums is Jeffrey Moore. After getting his Bachelors degree in music education, he earned his Master’s degree in solely percussion performance. After receiving this, he went on to become the percussion director of the Madison Scouts. Jeff has also traveled around the world and left his mark on some famous drum corps groups in locations such as Europe, Japan, and Indonesia.


Someone else that is very much affected by Yamaha Drums is Matt Savage. He is very much dedicated to his work. He was involved with the legendary drums corps known as the Bayonne Bridgemen (“Matt Savage”). While in this top of the line drum corps, he played mostly snare drum. This is because the snare drum is usually the hardest instrument to play in groups like that. After being in the Bayonne drum corps, he then took up teaching other people how to be good at drums. He has taught at many different levels ranging from elementary to collegiate. He was once the percussion director for the USC Trojan marching band. Nowadays, he is instructing students at the University of North Carolina. Here, he readies future drum corps members for what they will face when they leave college.

Madison Scouts

The marching snare drum that I use was actually one of the ones used by the Madison Scouts. After a few years, the decided to get rid of the custom green ones and buy new drums. This means that the drums we use are one of a kind and can only be bought through custom order. The Madison Scouts have been using Yamaha equipment for the past 20 years. They are always 2 time world champions in the DCI class of drums corps. This is a very prestigious thing to do because of the amount of competition and dedication throughout the other groups (“Madison Scouts”).

Importance of Drums

Personally, I think that drums stand for 2 things. One is that you should always be heard. While other instruments like the guitar require a separate device to make it loud, drums are just naturally very noisy. A single snare drum could probably break through all of the noise in a place such as the stock exchange where everyone is yelling. And person can all of a sudden have their own sound that everyone hears. While out on the field, I can hit on rim shot on my drum and almost everyone will turn towards me. The others that don’t are the ones that are close by and will most likely be deaf for a few minutes.

The other thing that it stands for is dedication and discipline. To be a good drum player, you have to practice. Without practice, you can never be good. Drums aren’t like your math class where everything is easy and you never have to study. I also believe it requires discipline to become a good drum player. The discipline in a professional drum corps can probably be compared to the discipline that the samurais of Japan once had. In short, discipline means doing what you are instructed to do instead of what you’d rather be doing (Merriam). It requires a lot of willpower to overcome what you would naturally want to do. This really relates to high class drum groups because most of them would rather not be marching up the field 50 times in a row playing the same exact beat over and over. They need to overcome the physical strain and program their minds to do a certain thing.
I think that the drummers don’t receive the amount of credit that they deserve. Whether it be a marching band or a rock band, drums are usually second to other instruments. Take a rock band for example, I bet the average person could name hundreds of famous singers and guitarists. If you then asked them to name a few famous drummers, they most likely couldn’t. Some might try to argue this by saying that the guitar and vocals are more noticeable but if you feel that way, try listening to music without drums and then see what you think. They are just as important as any instrument in a band.

Technology

Modern day marching snare drums are made from a variety of different woods. A large number of drums today use birch, maple, or oak wood. All of these woods produce a distinct sound. That is why it’s important that the right wood is chosen for the right purpose. To shape the wood into a hoop, highly trained professionals must use a process of steam heating. What they do is heat the wood to a level to where it can be bent. After the water inside the drum dries out, it hardens in that shape. This process is repeated many times until they get the desired shape (How it’s Made).

After the wooden shell is made, all of the other parts are added on. First, the lugs are screwed on to the sides. Most snare drums have either 10 or 12 of these. Next, the actual drum head is placed on the rim. A metal hoop is then set on top of the head. Aluminum tension rods usually hold the hoop down which will in turn tension the drum head. The snare mechanism is then strung through the bottom of the drum which gives the distinct sound of a snare drum.

History

In 1964, Yamaha Music went from being an organ producing company to a world renowned drum manufacturer. In the beginning of Yamaha drums, they didn’t have many original designs and most of them were knock offs of higher brands such as Ludwig (Atkinson). But after a few years, they started producing their own original products and they were then considered one of the greats. Today, they have a factory located in Osaka, Japan. This factory is where all of Yamaha’s very high quality drums are made. The other low end drums are made in their enormous Indonesian factory.


Snare drums on the other hand, originated hundreds of years ago. Around 1300, an ancient version of the snare drum called the Tabor was used to accompany the three holed pipe flute in European folk music. The Tabor was a double headed drum that had one snare strung across the bottom (Robinson). It wasn’t until the 1400s that the snare drum was starting to be used as a military device. The Swiss armies used it to relay signals to other regiments. In the 17th century, the snare drum was refitted with different hardware to allow for the popping sound we now have today. It was no longer a loose rattling from the snare’s gut (Robinson). By the 1800s, it became the classic military sound and everyone new that an army was approaching if they heard this song.

Work cited

Atkinson, David. “Yamaha Drums – History of Yamaha Drums and Musical Instruments .” Rock Drumming System. 1 Mar. 2009 http://www.rockdrummingsystem.com /underground/drum-manufacturers/yamaha-drums.php.

“Discipline.” Def. 3-5b. merriam-webster.com. 14 Mar. 2009http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discipline.

How it’s made- drum shells. Youtube.com. discovery.com. 13 Mar. 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmY04CeAh4g.

“Jeffrey Moore.” Yamaha. 15 Mar. 2009 http://www.yamaha.com/Artists/ArtistDetail/0,,CNTID%25253D33305%252526CTID%25253D501409%252526CNTYP%25253DARTIST,00.html#.

Drummer, Joe . Personal interview. 7 Mar. 2009. Guitar Center, 26635 Brookpark Road Extension
North Olmsted, Ohio 44070

“Madison Scouts.” Yamaha.com. 1 Mar. 2009 http://www.yamaha.com/drumcorps/dc_scouts.asp

“Matt Savage.” Yamaha. 1 Mar. 2009 http://www.yamaha.com/Artists/ArtistDetail/0,,CNTID%25253D32786%252526CTID%25253D501409%252526CNTYP%25253DARTIST,00.html#.

Robinson, David. “History of the Snare Drum.” Drummuffler.com. 5 Mar. 2009 http://www.drummuffler.com/history-of-the-snare-drum.html.

"stock exchange photo" http://www.new-york-city-travel.net/images/attractions/stock-exchange.jpg

"tabor picture" http://www.drummuffler.com/history-of-the-snare-drum-tabor.jpg