The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a vibraphonist,vibraharpist, or vibist.
Chester Thompson is an American drummer best known for his tenures with Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Weather Report, Santana, Genesis and Phil Collins. Thompson has performed with his jazz group, the Chester Thompson Trio, since 2011.
In rudimental drumming, a form of percussion music, a drum rudiment is one of a number of relatively small patterns which form the foundation for more extended and complex drumming patterns. The term "drum rudiment" is most closely associated with various forms of field drumming, where the snare drum plays a prominent role. In this context "rudiment" means not only "basic", but also fundamental. This tradition of drumming originates in military drumming and it is a central component of martial music.
Leigh Howard Stevens is a marimba artist best known for developing, codifying, and promoting the Stevens technique or Musser-Stevens grip, a method of independent four-mallet marimba performance based on the Musser grip.
Stephen Kendall Gadd is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1984. Gadd's performances on Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" (1976) and "Late in the Evening", Herbie Mann's "Hi-jack" (1975) and Steely Dan's "Aja" (1977) are examples of his style. He has worked with other popular musicians from many genres including Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, Chick Corea, Chuck Mangione, Eric Clapton and Michel Petrucciani.
Bill Bachman is an American percussionist and music educator. Bachman has worked with several drum corps including The Cadets, Blue Knights, Carolina Crown, and the Magic of Orlando, among others. He studied at Berklee College of Music and the University of North Texas.
Mitch Markovich is an American percussionist, composer, educator, and clinician in the areas of rudimental drumming, marching percussion, drum and bugle corps, and marching band. He is best known for his intensive marching snare drum solo compositions and record-setting performances, entitled "Tornado" and "Stamina", and for his percussion quartet composition entitled "Four Horsemen". Markovich's contributions to the style, notation, composition, and performance of percussion have endured over the last five decades.
Frank Arsenault was an internationally known American percussionist, teacher, and clinician in the areas of marching percussion, rudimental drumming, drum and bugle corps, and marching band. He was a full-time Staff Clinician and Educational Field Representative for the Ludwig Drum Company. He is also well known in his field for his signature playing style, for his many championship titles, and for his recording of The 26 Standard American Drum Rudiments and Selected Solos.
Peter Charles Magadini was an American drummer, percussionist, educator and author. He is known for his body of work concerning the comprehension and execution of musical polyrhythms, especially the books The Musician's Guide to Polyrhythms and Polyrhythms for the Drumset. Magadini has recorded and performed with George Duke, Diana Ross, Bobbie Gentry, Al Jarreau, Buddy DeFranco, John Handy and Mose Allison.
Charles "Charley" Wilcoxon was an American drum teacher and drum method book writer. He wrote several influential books on rudimental drumming that are still used by drum teachers today. He is a member of the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame.
Daniel Glass is an American drummer, author, historian and educator. He is recognized in the drum industry as an authority on classic American drumming and the evolution of American Popular Music.
William F. Ludwig was an American percussionist, drum-maker, and founder of Ludwig Drums. He helped to create the National Association of Rudimental Drummers and is a member of the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame.
John Wooton is an American percussionist, drummer, and professor of percussion. He is the director of percussion studies at the University of Southern Mississippi and has written two books on rudimental drumming.
The National Association of Rudimental Drummers is an organization created to encourage the study of rudimental drumming. NARD is responsible for the creation of the Standard 26 American Rudiments.
Alfons Grieder was a Swiss rudimental drummer who spread awareness of the Basel Drumming style in America during the mid to late 20th century through his traveling, teaching, and publications.
Jay Wanamaker is a percussionist and the president and CEO of Roland Americas and formerly held executive positions at Fender and Guitar Center. He also worked for Yamaha, Alfred Publishing, and the University of Southern California, and was chair of the Percussive Arts Society rudimental committee that published the 40 PAS Drum rudiments. He has also published over 50 music books and instructional DVDs.
John Sterling "Jack" Pratt (1931–2020) was an American Army drum instructor at West Point as well as a celebrated rudimental book author. Pratt produced several volumes of rudimental solos and instructional materials and was also the founder of the International Association of Traditional Drummers (IATD), a member of the National Association of Rudimental Drummers (NARD), a member of the United States Association of Rudimental Drummers (USARD), and was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society (PAS) Hall of Fame and the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame.
John Patrick Noonan was an American percussionist, music educator and musical instrument retailer. He wrote for several publications including DownBeat, Metronome, The Instrumentalist, The School Musician and The Ludwig Drummer. Over his career, he performed under several prominent conductors including John Philip Sousa, Edwin Franko Goldman, and William Revelli.
John H. Beck is professor emeritus of percussion at the Eastman School of Music and was principal timpanist for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1962 to 2002.
The Leedy Manufacturing Company was an American manufacturer of percussion instruments headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Leedy was highly successful in the early twentieth century, and was at one point the largest manufacturer of drums and other percussion instruments in the world.
