Guide To Vintage Drums 5p3626

GUIDE TO VINTAGE DRUMS In the period between 1905-1915, many pedals carne out with a very compact design. Due to the si.ze of the bass drums (3Q-36") and the fact that a drummer had to be able to carry all of his set in one load to get it on a streetcar, anything which could lighten the load or make it easier to carry was considered useful. Bass drum pedals were no exception. There were severa! models offered without footboards which could be easily packed away. Towards the end of this period, someone attempted to manufacture a peda.l which played a pair of cymbals with the heel, and a bass drum with the toe. Due to the necessity of holding your Jeg up all nlght, this idea didn't last long.

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FIRST MODERN BASS DRUM PEDAL lt wasn't until 1909 that William F. Ludwig and his brother Theobald built a pedal that would revolutionize drumming. Their pedal had a spring (which caused the beater to come back off the head on its own), a post mounted beater (which decreased the length required for a beater shaft), and a cast .footboard. This gave the drummer the ability to play quicker tempos for longer periods of time without fatigue. As an added bonus, the all metal construction of the Ludwig pedal allowed the cymbal striker to be mounted to the beater shaft and to be pulled away from the cymbal when the dru.mmer chose to play the bass drum without the cyrnbal. A later incamation of this pedal had a mechanism which allowed the drummer to "switch off'' the cymbals with a move of his fool The Ludwig pedal spawned a number of clones. L1.1dwig Pedal (1912 Cal.alog)

1910 Ludwig Pedal

GUIDE TO VINTAGE DRUMS

The Fraser Pedal (shown above is listed In the 1914 Leedy catalog and is very similar In mecha.nism to the Ludwig, with a twist. With the purchase of an optional footboard, the pedal could be used with the pedal parallel to the batter head, (to conserve on space). Ludwig had their own version of side pedal which was offered In the 1918 catalogas well. By 1920, many variations on the Ludwig pedal were available from Leedy and Walberg & Auge, a company devoted to the manufacture ol hardware and drummers accessories. While these pedals offered the American drummer ease in playing cymbal/ bass drum sounds, Our German counterparts were cooking up a lew ideas ol their own. He:re is a shot (below) from an older Sonar catalog. Note the urper left pedal. which has a Pedal lor crash cymbals (2) and a bass drum peda which share a common heel plate. There is also an interesting Duplex pedal with two footboards In the same catalog.

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GUIDE TO VINTAGE DRUMS

---The first drum set offered by Ludwig showed up ín the 1918 catalog. lt featured a single tension bass drum (8x24), a single tension snare drum (3x12), Bass drum pedal w /cymbal stríker, suspended cymba l and hoop mounted cymbal, and hoop mounted wood block. The "Ludwig Complete "Jazz· 'Er-Up" Outfit was hailed as "the making of the party. Although not pictured with a set or sold as part of a set, Ludwig does show two sizes of single headed tunable toms attached to the Jazz·er·up accessory packages, which also included tuned cowbells, two tone wood blocks, and triangles. 1n 1919, an upgraded set appears featuríng a double tensíon snare and bass drum,wíth a Chinese tom tom added .

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GUIDE TO VINTAGE DRUMS

SOUND EFFECTS AND CHINESE TOMS The musical situation of the early 1900s consisted largely of "theater music". These engagements demanded that the drummer supply sound effects to accompany the action taking place on stage. As a result, the first additions to the drumset after the bass drum/cymbal and snare drum were the sound effects. From gunshots, to doors, horses hooves, va.rious bird calls, rattles and whistles, the drummer had a huge responsibility to provide accompaniment for any occasion. When I first started researchlng sound effects of the early 20th century, 1 began to think that maybe collecting effects would be a large enough hobby to preclude drum collecting. In fact, the most ardent pursuers of vintage sound effects seem to be "legit" or classical musicians. Dan Armstrong, Percussion instructor at Penn Sta te University, has this to say about old sound effects: "One of m y finds that 1 use fairly often is a set of heavy-gauge Leed y sle.ighbells which are fas tened bottom-up on a flat disk rather than strung out on a wooden handle. These old ones are loud and they stop jingling much more quickly than "Modem Sleighbells". I have also found uses for a mouth siren with what looks like the bell of a trumpet attached (greatly increases the volume) and a variety of mouth-operated effects such as train whistles, tugboat whistles, baby críes, etc. Again these are hard to find, but useful and certainly fun! " In the first Ludwig catalog (1912), the sound effects were not that prominent. A drummer"s arsenal of sound effects (if one is to believe the advertising copy of the ad) consisted of such stand-bys as the Horse trot imitation, Shot Cushion (for gunshots), a ratchet, anvil, chimes, sleigh bells, hen, rooster, baby, and All-in-one effects, sUde and Bird whistles, a Slapstick, clog maUets, and Chinese toms. Apparently Trains were still a big item, since the last item in the catalog was a large square chunk of metal suspended by a string, bearing the glorious name of Train Bell. The 1919 catalog features aU of the above sound effects, with some improvements in the Train effect. The 1919 Ludwig catalog shows the Ludwig Railroad Im.itation. The first line in the copy says "TI you are dead tired of pounding sheet iron flat, try this". It goes on to say that this new and improved model will produce Locomotive starts, stops or distant approaches with the greatest of ease. While it would take another book to detail the sound and appearance of the majority of sound effects in use up until the mid 30s, 1 will simply list all of the sound effects sold by Ludwig and Leedy through the mid-30s.

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GUIDE TO VINTAGE DRUMS

Being raised in the age of television, it is sometimes hard to envision just how difficult it might be to accompany a silent movie, or even early "talkies". U. G. Leedy, presiden! and founder of Leedy drums, described how sorne effects are produced: "The roar of the airplane motors in the "Talkies" is accomplished with the use of Timpani, or Kettle drums, and an electric motor rotating a series of straps. If the picture is to be a close-up of the plane, the motor is run at full speed and the straps beating on the drum give a terrific roaring sound. lf the plane is being shown at a distance, the motor is slowed down and the drum gives off a tone sounding like the far away purr of an airplane engine. Pisto/ shots and camwn roars are produced through the use of a small machine firing blank cartridges. "

BACK TO THE DRUMSET Aside from all of these sound effects, the drumset continued to dt:vtdop as a unit cousisting of cymbals, snare drums, bass drums and tom

toms. Up until the mid 20s, the use of tom toms was fairly limited. About the same time that sound effects carne into vogue, the Chinese tom-tom was added to the drumset. Usually only a single small tom tom was used (as an effect). These crudely made instruments had two heads, both tacked onto the shell. The heads were sometimes painted with dragons and other symbols, and there were tiny wires inside the drum (to ward off evil spirits). What began as a small tom tom hung on a bass drum lug with a wire or metal loop, soon e><panded a.c; drummer.c; became aware ol the Rntmd pnssibilitif'S of tom-

toms. Soon two or three different sizes of Chinese tom-toms began showing up on drumsets, along with rack systems to mount all the hardware on. On the cover of the 1923 Ludwig catalog, (next page) Ralph Smith is shown standing proudly by his drumset featuring 3 different sized Chinese toms, 2 timpani, wood blocks, cowbells, a bass drum, complete with hoop mounted cymbal (hit via the BD pedal) a snare drum, and a suspended cymbal. Under the picture is the caption, "The Modern Drummer". While the 1924 Leedy catalog doesn't show Chinese toms on their sets, they do appear in the accessories section of the cata 3 different sizes with floor stands (cradles).

GUIDE TO VINTAGE DRUMS

GUIDE TO VINTAGE DRUMS

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The single tensioned thumbscrew drums, which were the ''standard'' when Boulanger and Soístmann & Pepper designed their drums, featured from six to twenty tension rods, which threaded into the bottom collar hook. While the most popular sizes of the drum for dance band/Vaudeville work appear to be 4x14 and 4x15, the drums were available in 5" and 6-1/2" depths as well. Thumbscrew drums were offered for a wide range of uses. As stated in the 1900 Leedy "C" catalog: "Our St~ndard Une of drums
The sizes available in Single Tension, solid wood shell drums were plentiful, with 3x14, 3x15, 4x14, 4x15, Sx14, 6x15, 9x15, 9x17, and 10xl7 (inch) sizes offered with 14 thumbrods per drum. Band Drums listed elsewhere in the catalog went from 6x14 to 10x17 as well, for a total of 16 different size options for snare drums.

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Severa! drum companies such as Duplex (Boulanger) and the George B. Stone Drum Company, offered 16, and even 20 lug, double tension snare drums. By mounting stu.ds (which functioned as casings for tuning rods) in the side of the drum; and offsetting the top and bottom studs, a double tension drum was constructed with ample room to mount the studs. The Stone Master Model snare d!rums were constructed of solid maple,. and occa· sionally walnut and mahogany, with as many as 16 tension rods per head on a 14" drum. The shell as well as hoops were constructed of Birds-eye maple. The Stone drum required a wrench to tune it, and thus caused a lot of incon· venience. The snare tensioning device offered on the Pepper drum was rather primitive, and didn't offer much throwoff, but the tension rods could be operated by a screwdriver, which made it more convenient than the Stone drum. When Boulanger introduced his single post, 16 lug snare drum with strainers under the top & bottom heads in 1898, which even had square tension rod heads, the Pepper drum had no advantages. Even though both of these drums were pio· neering masterpieces, they eventually féll out of favor wheñ llie double post Tube Lug was invented in 1910, re· placing nearly every other method of tuning.

Tube lug snare drums became the industry standud very shortly after they were introduced by the Ludwig & Ludwig Drum company in 1910. However, the first Ludwig drums were offered with threaded studs, simi.lar to a drum ("Tom Milis Drum" now on display at Drum Center of lndíanapolis) manufactured in probably made by Sonor® which Mr. Ludwig purcha~d oM day on the street. The Milis drum shared some símilarities with the Stone Master model tensioning system, but had a metal shell.

GUIDE TO VINTAGE DRUMS

This was almost the same concept as the Stone drum, except that the tension rod was manipulated much more easily, and a "new" brass shell made its appearance. Ludwig only produced this drum for a year or so before adding a tube between the two studs to add strength to the lugs and prevent the studs from bendi.ng the shell. Their design for a separate tension lug casing became so popular that every manufacturer of the day copied the design with minor differences, or bought the lugs from Ludwig. The tube lug revolu· tionized snare drums around 1910, a.nd remained the in dustry standard until Leed y introduced their pressed metal lug casing which held a swiveling lug nut. Although Leedy introduced and developed the pressed metal lug around 1912, it was severa! years before any of the other percussion manufac· turers carne out with non-tube lugs. Ludwig and Slingerland began producing cast lug casings around 1934. Leedy had already introduced a casi lug casing around 1931, which really placed their drums "ahead of the game" for a while. These casings, although similar in function, were designed so that a drummer could identify the company by lhe casing. It seems thal the only flaw with tube lugs was that they aU look the same from a dislance, and that made il difficult lo seJJ the look of the drum. So in order lo differentiale lhemselves from each other, each company changed its look. Slingerland carne out with the Scalloped "Radio King" lug in 1935, Ludwig in· troduced the Imperial lug in 1935, and Leedy switched from the pressed lug to the square/"x" lug in or around 1934. The firsl attempls by Ludwig and Slingerland to produce casi lugs resulted in casings with the threads lapped directly into the casing. Oue to the inferior quality of metal used (usually either aluminum or pot metal), the threads soon gave out. Only a few drums were made with these casings, and surviving models are rarely fully intact. 1914 Leedy Drums featuring the 2 hole lug design with swivel nuls

GUIDE TO VINTAGE DRUMS

After the abysmal failure of these first lugs, both Slingerland and Ludwig finally took the idea Leedy had been using on their drums for the past 10 years, and with sorne minor variations, namel¡• swivel nuts, introduced it as their own design. The following pictures show the introduction of the Ludwig Imperial Lug

Ludwig Silver Anniversary Super-Sensitive models and accompanying catalog test 1'l

GUIDE TO VINTAGE DRUMS

BASS DRUMS With the exception of the advent of double tension, bass drums remained unchanged other than cosmetically through the 20s and 30s. From the early teens up through the mid 20s, a lot of bass drurns were made of solid Maple, Walnut, and Mahogany, however, sorne were constructed from plywood (then referred lo as "veneer"). In the 1900 Leed y catalog, every drum in the catalog is either solid maple, mahogany or walnut. Early bass drums were kept in place when playing by hoop mounted spurs. And since the average size of bass drurn was anywhere from 24" to 32", the weighl of the drurn was sufficient lo keep it in place. There were attempts to transform lhe bass drurn into a trap case from severa! cornpanies. Barry Manufacturing introduced the "trap·door" bass drum and the Collapsible, or folding bass drum, in addition to the Perfection (Walberg & Auge) Drum Cornpany's bass drum which "is hinged and opens like a trunk to hold your snare, hardware and all of your traps!" The relative scarcity of these drum todny points to their short life spnn. Bnss Drum Hends did provide n Jot of inter-

est however. The number of choices in hand painted bass drurn heads, although offering standardized designs, really left us with sorne neat artwork, simila.r lo the engraving on sorne snare drurns in that no two are exactly the same. The use of lights inside these bass drums (to make the head illustrations stand out and keep the heads taut in humid conditions) resulted in rnany extra holes being drilled in shells, as did the addition of heaters (once electricity became readily available to make them a viable option). Despite aU of these changes and the addition of Lug casings instead of single tension or tube lugs, the bass drum basically stayed the same.

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GUIDE TO VINTAGE DRUMS

LOW BOYS AND HI HATS Somewhere in the m id 20s, the cymbal "clanger" which was attached to the bass drum beater apparently lost its charm to sorne drummers. One of the first attempts made to alleviate the monotony of a constantly clanging cymbal whenever the bass drum was played, was to offer a damper. The first dampers were pads which could be brought in with the cymbal by taking the foot off of the pedal. Such a limited use invention was bound to spawn other, more creative ideas. The fust dampers were followed (and made obsolete) in 1919 by the "'New Ludwig Alternator" which was an extra pedal assembly with two functions. If one pedal was depressed, the snare throwoff was engaged. If the other was depressed, a muffler was held against the cym· bal. The "Aiternator", which was connected to the snare and cymbal by way of cables, acted independently of the bass drum pedal, but met its demise when the Low boy was invented. The first cymbal playing devices made separate from the bass drum were very crude indeed, and ludicrous by todays stan· dards for Hi-Hats. Nicknamed the Snowshoe-a pair of shoe shaped boards with cymbals attached and a spring loaded hinge, this extremely crude setup, allowed the drummer could play closed cymbal accents with his left foot. The advent of the snowshoe and its sound soon inspired others to created a more convenient and controllable model. The first Low-boys, as they were called, stood about 10 inches off the floor, had a spring loaded direct pull mechanism, could be folded up for transporting and were probably built by Walberg and Auge. No one is quite sure how the Hi-hat grew out of the Low boy, but by 1928, Ludwig, Slingerland and other companies showed both Hi-hats and Low boy stands. Papa Jo Jones stated that he had invented the Hi-Hat in 1926 out of necessity (he couldn't reach the cymbals on the floor), in his 1984 Modem Orummer interview. Since the 1924 Leedy Catalog shows both low-boys and

hi·hat stands, perhaps Mr. Jones has his dates confused. The Hi·hat didn't really take over until the mid to late 30s, due to a need to integrate it with the hands as well as the feet, but endless variations were invented, including the "Twinsok" which had two sets of cymbals operated by the same foot pedal; the "Perfection Extra" which had holders for two crash cymbals and two Chinese toms attached; the Gladstone cable Hi-hat; and the Slingerland WOW

GUIDE TO VINTAGE DRUMS Pedal).

THE EVOLUTION OF THE HI-HAT BY CHET FALZERANO Reprinted from the Not So Modero Qrummer

The Hi Hat as we know it had a humble beginning largely due to economics and space. At the turn of the century, Vaudeville orchestra pits were notoriously small. To accommodate this lack of space and to cut costs, percussion sections were reduced from a snare drummer, bass drummer and cymbal player to a single person. Out of necessity, the trap set was bom. Bass drum pedals of various designs we.re constructed, however, most included a second beater that struck a cymbal mounted on the bass drum hoop. This apparatus was often called a "clanger", and rightly so. The resulting tone was a rather monotonous clanging sound. Drummers desiring the more pleasant sound of two cymbals played together first developed the snow shoe sock pedal. Its construction was simply two cymbals mounted between two foot shaped boards with a spring hinge. The player slipped his foot into a toe strap (hence the term "Snowshoe") and could either execute a crash or "chick"sound depending on the attack.

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