Drum History
A podcast all about the rich history of the drums - and how they became what they are today! Join Bart van der Zee as he speaks with experts about the curious journey of the ever-evolving drum set.
(The Vault) The History of Cocktail Drums with John Mettam
(EP 80 - 12/2020) Cocktail drum kits date back to post World War 2 in an orchestra pit in England where space is at a premium and the drums needed to grow taller, as opposed to wider. the "stand up drum set" evolved from there and became a staple of jazz lounges, street performers, comedy acts and many great drummers who wanted a unique look and feel to the drums they play.
John Mettam is the founder of cocktaildrum.com and a longtime performer and cocktail kit enthusiast. He shares the full story of these iconic drum sets with us year by year as we go through the catalogs of Slingerland, Gretsch, Leedy, Rogers, and Ludwig. This is a great history filled episode with tons of fun stories throughout.
follow along at www.cocktaildrum.com under the catalogs tab
Enjoy this episode!
Podcast Episodes
The Ultimate Guide to Syncopation (New Book) with Bruce Becker - EP 193
Bruce Becker has written a brand new book that takes the iconic "Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer" by Ted Reed to the next level and gives Bruce's signature teaching approach to one of the top sell…
The History of Drumeo with Jared Falk
Jared Falk is the founder of Drumeo which has grown to be one of the top platforms for online education in the world. Drumeo is not only a great source of online education on drumeo.com, but the brand is also a giant acr…
Rhythmic Therapy: Using Drums to Help Kids Through Trauma with Rob Leytham
Rob Leytham uses Neuro-Rhythmic Trauma Therapy to help children regulate their emotions with the power of drumming. He uses brain science and his 35 years of drum teaching skills to help kids avoid the normal punishments…
The History of ASBA Drums with Damien Rabillon and Saúl Ramíez
ASBA Drums is an iconic French drum brand that dates back to 1927 with a very interesting history. Damo and Saúl share the full story of this brand which began as just an accessory company, and grew to be a fully formed…
Drum Shells: From Forest to Factory with Sahir Hanif (Masters of Maple)
Sahir aka Sai teaches us the process of building drum shells from foraging for the perfect tree in the forest all the way to processing the ply's to create beautiful drum shells. We talk about the modern technology that…
The Art of Improvising on the Drums with JP Bouvet
JP Bouvet takes us on a deep dive into the concept of improvising on the drum kit. We discuss things like how to practice improvisation, the misconceptions that come with it, how you can break out of your "go-to beats" a…
The History of Black Swamp Percussion with Eric Sooy
Eric Sooy founded Black Swamp Percussion nearly 30 years ago and has built the brand from the ground up by creating extremely high quality orchestral and band percussion instruments. Eric teaches me the nuance that goes…
The Next Chapter of Modern Drummer with David Frangioni
David Frangioni, CEO of Modern Drummer, makes an exclusive announcement about the future of Modern Drummer right here on Drum History! Not only do we learn about the exciting news, we also get an update on what has been…
The History of Drum Magazines in America with Earl Bennett
Earl Bennett has been a collector and enthusiast of US drum magazines for the last 40+ years and he shares his vast knowledge of known magazines like Modern Drummer, Drum!, and Rhythm plus other lesser known ones like Tr…
The Drummers of Late Night with Eric Leiderman
Eric Leiderman is a producer of NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers and is the man behind the rotating drummer program which has given drummers of all styles the chance to perform with the 8G band on national American tele…
