Brady Drum Company was an Australian manufacturing company who specialised in handcrafted drums since 1980. The designs and workmanship was predominantly the duty of the company's creator, Chris Brady. The firm used native Australian hardwoods, particularly jarrah, sheoak, spotted gum, marri, wandoo and lemon scented gum for the drums they manufactured. The business was based in Armadale, an outer suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Chris Brady introduced the world's first solid wood (hollow tree trunk) modern snare drum, and revolutionised the ply shell and block shell method of construction. He possibly created the world's first 10", 12" and 16" snare drums, and is credited with their popularisation in modern music.[1]
Drum Construction
Brady's original micro-marquetry style of badge construction
Brady Drums were notable for several factors of their drum construction. Firstly, the original badge was hand-made using a meticulous micro-marquetry technique using at least 31 different wood species to create the image of the drummer, drum, and trade mark.[2] Secondly, Brady Drums first used a single ply drum shell made not from bent wood, but a hollowed out trunk which was also an industry first, and likely helped Brady propel in notoriety.
In April 2015, Brady Drum Company ceased production of their instruments, following Chris Brady's ongoing health complications. In November 2015, Brady Drum Company announced the closure of the company via its official website and Facebook page.[4]
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a percussion mallet, to produce sound. There is usually a resonant head on the underside of the drum. Other techniques have been used to cause drums to make sound, such as the thumb roll. Drums are the world's oldest and most ubiquitous musical instruments, and the basic design has remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years.
The snare drum is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used in orchestras, concert bands, marching bands, parades, drumlines, drum corps, and more. It is one of the central pieces in a drum set, a collection of percussion instruments designed to be played by a seated drummer and used in many genres of music. Because basic rhythms are very easy to learn to play on a snare drum even for children, the instrument is also suitable for the music education for young children and a rhythm band.
James Joseph Chamberlin is an American drummer and record producer. Described as "one of the most powerful drummers in rock," he is best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. Following the 2000 breakup of the band, Chamberlin joined Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan in the supergroup Zwan and also formed his own current group, the Jimmy Chamberlin Complex.
Sonor is a German musical instrument manufacturing company headquartered in Bad Berleburg. Established in 1875, it is one of the oldest percussion companies in the world. Sonor currently manufactures drum kits and hardware.
Rogers Drums is an American multinational drum manufacturer. It was founded in 1849 and originally based in Covington, Ohio. During the twentieth century, their drums enjoyed popularity with musicians spanning from the Dixieland jazz era in the 1920s to classic rock in the 1960s and 1970s, but was particularly associated with big band and swing drummers of the 1940s and 1950s.
Pearl Musical Instrument Company, simply known as Pearl, is a multinational corporation based in Japan with a wide range of products, predominantly percussion instruments.
Slingerland is a United States manufacturer of drums. The company was founded in 1912 and enjoyed several decades of prominence in the industry before the 1980s. After ceasing operation in the early 1980s, Slingerland was acquired by Gibson, who briefly revived it and owned it until November 2019, before selling Slingerland to DW Drums, who announced the intention of re-launching the brand. Slingerland is strongly associated with jazz drummers, such as Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, who played signature instruments made by the company. Although primarily known for its drums, in the 1930s Slingerland also produced electric and acoustic guitars, violins, mandolins, banjos and ukuleles.
Vistalite drums were a line of acrylic drums produced by the Ludwig Drum company, introduced in 1972. The name Vistalite refers to the translucent plastic that the shells were made out of. Vistalite and acrylic offered a synthetic alternative to wood shells and were popularized by rock drummer John Bonham of Led Zeppelin.
Pacific Drums and Percussion is a musical instrument brand established by the Drum Workshop Inc., in 1999, with the purpose of providing its percussion instruments at more affordable prices.
Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumheads, drums, and hardware, and various percussion instruments.
Mapex Drums is a Taiwanese brand of musical instruments established by KHS Musical Instruments in 1989. Instruments manufactured with the "Mapex" name include drum kits, snare drums and hardware.
Pork Pie Percussion is a US musical instrument manufacturing company based in Canoga Park, California. Established in 1987, it has been producing handmade Drum kits and hardware since then. Part of the products are manufactured in Taiwan.
ddrum is an American-based Swedish company, currently a division of Armadillo Enterprises, Inc. that manufactures acoustic drum sets, electronic drum sets, and Electronic Triggers.
Noble & Cooley is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based out of Granville, Massachusetts. Having been established in 1854, it is the oldest drum company in the United States and is one of the oldest in the world. Having manufactured toy drums at the beginning, Noble & Cooley soon entered the professional drum market.
The Camco Drum Company is a musical instrument brand currently owned by Japanese company Hoshino Gakki. Camco was originally a drum hardware manufacturing company which began producing drums after a hostile takeover of the George H. Way drum company in 1961. Camco was active until its closure in 1977, with its assets purchased by Drum Workshop while Hoshino Gakki took over rights over the Camco name.
Ayotte Drums, a drum manufacturer based in Bedford, Quebec, was founded by Ray Ayotte in 1974 and has been manufacturing drums since 1982. Their drums feature wooden hoops made of Canadian maple. The drums are also known for their Tune-Lock tensioning system, which both protects the drums' tuning and provides a quick-release when changing drum heads.
Fibes Drum Company was a US musical instrument manufacturing company that produced drum kits. Founded in 1966, it was acquired by guitar manufacturing company C.F. Martin in 1970 which it sold the Fibes assets to Jim Corder in 1979, who subsequently established his own company, Corder Drums. The "Fibes" name was sold to another party, remaining for a brief time as a drum stick brand, which use ceased in 1994.
Everett Joseph "Vic" Firth was an American musician and the founder of Vic Firth Company, a company that makes percussion sticks and mallets. He was also known for his association with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
A tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language. It was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century. Most toms range in size between 6 and 20 inches in diameter, though floor toms can go as large as 24 inches (61 cm).
Craviotto Drums is a drum kit manufacturing company, based in Nashville, Tennessee.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
