antichef
pornk rock
My wife's grandfather is pushing 90 years old - he's been drumming since I guess the 1920's, and he's *still playing*. I'm not sure how often he plays at gigs, but he still gets out a lot and plays his kit at home. He played for USO during WWII, I believe.
Anyway, I don't get over to see him very much, and so this time I made sure to bring a camera - we were rushed, unfortunately, and so I didn't get nearly as much time to talk to him as I could have used. What I brought back for you all are some photos of some of his old drums. What I should be focusing on is him - it's not easy for me to find 70+ years of musician experience - maybe I'll try and do some interviews / techniques / lessons learned, etc. on video next time.
I was half expecting to see some marvelously preserved antique kit - but think about it - he's a player - he got his current kit in the early 1990s. Most of his older stuff is warped or otherwise not all that usable, but here goes:
I'm pretty sure he called this a cowtom, and he used it all the time way-back-when - it sounded pretty good for how old it was - calfskin head:
Here's his first snare (or an early one - I wasn't sure) - he held onto it for sentimental reasons, but says it's warped and beyond restoration. Not sure what brand it was, and I didn't see a logo. We were so rushed that I didn't have time to ask much about it:
Here's a later Slingerland snare - he wasn't using it, but it was still serviceable:
and a close-up on the logo:
He had one old tom as part of his current kit - it was a "Leedy" - it had a calfskin head and sounded pretty good. Here's the logo:
Here are two of the cymbals on his current kit - not sure how old they are - perhaps not very:
He had some older cymbals put away, and we were starting to break them out when we ran out of time. We talked a little bit about drum heads. He said he had always used calf skin (because that's all there was), but said that maintenance was a pain - particularly in the humid south, where he lives - one trick was to put a dehumidifier in the drum to keep it from going flat. He had a combination of calf skin and plastic heads on his current kit. He used electrician's tape (on top) and cut pieces of felt (underneath) to mute.
Anyway, I don't get over to see him very much, and so this time I made sure to bring a camera - we were rushed, unfortunately, and so I didn't get nearly as much time to talk to him as I could have used. What I brought back for you all are some photos of some of his old drums. What I should be focusing on is him - it's not easy for me to find 70+ years of musician experience - maybe I'll try and do some interviews / techniques / lessons learned, etc. on video next time.
I was half expecting to see some marvelously preserved antique kit - but think about it - he's a player - he got his current kit in the early 1990s. Most of his older stuff is warped or otherwise not all that usable, but here goes:
I'm pretty sure he called this a cowtom, and he used it all the time way-back-when - it sounded pretty good for how old it was - calfskin head:
Here's his first snare (or an early one - I wasn't sure) - he held onto it for sentimental reasons, but says it's warped and beyond restoration. Not sure what brand it was, and I didn't see a logo. We were so rushed that I didn't have time to ask much about it:
Here's a later Slingerland snare - he wasn't using it, but it was still serviceable:
and a close-up on the logo:
He had one old tom as part of his current kit - it was a "Leedy" - it had a calfskin head and sounded pretty good. Here's the logo:
Here are two of the cymbals on his current kit - not sure how old they are - perhaps not very:
He had some older cymbals put away, and we were starting to break them out when we ran out of time. We talked a little bit about drum heads. He said he had always used calf skin (because that's all there was), but said that maintenance was a pain - particularly in the humid south, where he lives - one trick was to put a dehumidifier in the drum to keep it from going flat. He had a combination of calf skin and plastic heads on his current kit. He used electrician's tape (on top) and cut pieces of felt (underneath) to mute.
