origins of the drum kit
Mark Fraser
peace
mark
-- Give a monkey a typewriter and the first thing he types will be a Unix command Mark Fraser markfras at home dot com
DmHotep2
a series of articles
called "History of the Drumset", where he discussed the evolution of the
drumset and styles of drum performance in jazz.
He began with the pre-Dixieland origin of the modern drumset, development of
the "sit-
down" kit and bass pedal (among the other standard instrumentation, such as:
Turkish & Chineese cymbols, Chineese tom-tom, woodblock, concert snare, etc.).
He wrnt on to mention Tony Spargo of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band [which I
think is the first group to popularize the *word* "jazz"], but then he stated
that "Warren 'Baby' Dodds is considered to be the first "jazz" drummer, due to
his ability to support the improving soloist as well as to improvise himself...
His playing with the 'King' Oliver band and with Louis Armstrong in the early
to mid 1920's [defined] the typical 'New Orleans' dixieland style."
Breithaupt then went on to mention other drummers of the 1920's such as Zutty
Singleton, Paul Barbarin, Ben Pollack, and Chauncey Morehouse as "...helping
to develop the timekeeping nature of the instrument through 'New Orleans'
dixieland and 'Chicago-Style'
dixieland."
just a thread of information.
hotep
Hal Vickery
(DmHotep2) wrote:
> In the Fall 1989 issue of Percussive Notes Magazine, Robert
Breithaupt started
> a series of articles
> called "History of the Drumset", where he discussed the evolution of the
> drumset and styles of drum performance in jazz.
> He began with the pre-Dixieland origin of the modern drumset,
development of
> the "sit-
> down" kit and bass pedal (among the other standard instrumentation, such as:
> Turkish & Chineese cymbols, Chineese tom-tom, woodblock, concert snare, etc.).
> He wrnt on to mention Tony Spargo of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band [which I
> think is the first group to popularize the *word* "jazz"],
Two notes: Tony's name was originally Sbarbaro, but he changed it sometime
in mid-career. Also, the ODJB used the term "Jass" in their name.
but then he stated
> that "Warren 'Baby' Dodds is considered to be the first "jazz" drummer, due to
> his ability to support the improving soloist as well as to improvise
himself...
> His playing with the 'King' Oliver band and with Louis Armstrong in the early
> to mid 1920's [defined] the typical 'New Orleans' dixieland style."
> Breithaupt then went on to mention other drummers of the 1920's
such as Zutty
> Singleton, Paul Barbarin, Ben Pollack, and Chauncey Morehouse as "...helping
> to develop the timekeeping nature of the instrument through 'New Orleans'
> dixieland and 'Chicago-Style'
> dixieland."
>
> just a thread of information.
Of course any drummers prior to Dodds may have had the misfortune of not
being recorded. In addition, the full kit was generally not recorded until
around 1929-30. I have no idea how true this is, but my recollection is
reading somewhere as a teenager that the first drummer to insist that he be
recorded with the full kit (including bass drum, which went largely
unrecorded because it had a nasty habit of knocking the recording stylus
out of the groove it was making in the wax master) was Gene Krupa. (I seem
to remember that Krupa is given credit for being the first jazz drummer to
play all four beats with the bass drum pedal, but again this is a
30-year-old recollection and, like the previous one, should be taken with a
grain of salt.
I do know that one of the first (if not the first) jazz drummer to use the
high hat was Walter Johnson, best known for his work with Fletcher
Henderson.
nsmf
Tom Kelley
> but then he stated
> that "Warren 'Baby' Dodds is considered to be the first "jazz" drummer, due to
> his ability to support the improving soloist as well as to improvise
himself...
> His playing with the 'King' Oliver band and with Louis Armstrong in the early
> to mid 1920's [defined] the typical 'New Orleans' dixieland style."
> I do know that one of the first (if not the first) jazz drummer to use the
> high hat was Walter Johnson, best known for his work with Fletcher
> Henderson.
It's interesting to note that the idea of the high hat (sock cymbal) was
proposed to Baby Dodds by William Ludwig around 1919, while Dodds was
performing with Louis Armstrong on a steamboat. Ludwig saw that Dodds
stomped his left foot and made the device just for Dodds. Dodds rejected
the sock cymbal, saying it, "Wasn't any good" and that "I didn't like the
sock cymbal, I didn't like any part of them and I still don't. Now it's a
big novelty for drummers. Some drummers can't drum without them. I can't
drum with them." (quote from "The Baby Dodds Story" as told to Larry
Gara).
--
Tom Kelley
datap...@earthlink.net
Clay Moore
>
> Just curious if any of you jazz drumming historians could tell me who
> is credited with the first use of the drum kit. I had a music prof
> tell me a couple of guys who were responsible for its evolution but I
> forget who they were (I thought one was Grady Tate). Any info or
> referances to check would be cool too.
Grady Tate was bron too late to have been "one of the first." "Baby"
Dodds, as some have mentioned here, was one of the pioneers. The drum
set was not recorded in the early days because it overpowered the
primitive equipment used to record, and hence drummers compromised by
using wood blocks in the studio. Years later, when American musicians
went to Europe, they found percussionists using wood blocks on gigs,
because they thought this was how "authentic" jazz was supposed to be
played.
--
Clay Moore
Buy my new CD, Meeting Standards!
http://home.earthlink.net/~guitarbuddy/
From a book called "Disorder in the Court."
---------------------------------------------------------
Q: Did you blow your horn or anything?
A: After the accident?
Q: Before the accident.
A: Sure, I played for ten years. I even went to school for it.
---------------------------------------------------------
ENIGVAR6
-----
>The drum<BR>
>set was not recorded in the early days because it overpowered the<BR>
>primitive equipment used to record, and hence drummers compromised by<BR>
>using wood blocks in the studio.
Zutty Singleton always sounds like he's working out on a teacup and saucer in
the Armstrong Hot Fives and Sevens. I always wondered if this was an artifact
of transfer to cd. Perhaps it *was* wooden blocks...
----Jerry
Howard Peirce
> It's interesting to note that the idea of the high hat (sock cymbal) was
> proposed to Baby Dodds by William Ludwig around 1919, while Dodds was
> performing with Louis Armstrong on a steamboat.
I remember seeing a photograph of an early sock cymbal, where the bottom cymbal was
mounted on a board, and the top cymbal had a cloth loop you could stick your foot
through--no foolin', I'm not making this up. It made me wonder if the term "sock"
cymbal referred to the fact that you couldn't play this thing with your shoes on.
HP
Gary Milliken
>Zutty Singleton always sounds like he's working out on a teacup and saucer in
>the Armstrong Hot Fives and Sevens. I always wondered if this was an artifact
>of transfer to cd. Perhaps it *was* wooden blocks...
I believe that in the early days of recording, the engineer's apparatus
was very sensitive and drummers were prohibited from using their loudest
items. Of course, that accounts for the snare and bass drums, but does it
also account for the cymbals? Good cymbals can be very loud, so I think
that is the reason for those weird-sounding things that Zutty plays.
"Whip up them cymbals, Pops!"
GM
Arova
some 40s big bands.
Mike Stillman
: that "Warren 'Baby' Dodds is considered to be the first "jazz" drummer, due to
: his ability to support the improving soloist as well as to improvise himself...
: His playing with the 'King' Oliver band and with Louis Armstrong in the early
: to mid 1920's [defined] the typical 'New Orleans' dixieland style."
: Singleton, Paul Barbarin, Ben Pollack, and Chauncey Morehouse as "...helping
: to develop the timekeeping nature of the instrument through 'New Orleans'
Why did he omit Sonny Greer of the Ellington orchestra? He sounded a lot
more "modern" than Baby Dodds during the same time period.
--
_.,-*~'`^'*-,._ _.,-*'`^'*-,.
'*-,._ Mike Stillman '*-,
'*-,.__.,-*' Chicago, IL _.,-*~'`^'*-,._
mik...@rci.ripco.com '*-,._.,-*'`^ '