The drum set as we know it today is only 100 years old.
The earliest surviving examples of drums date back to the 6th century B.C.
In 1918, the Chicago-based Ludwig Drum Company debuted the Jazz-Er-Up, an all-in-one set with a single-bass drum and pedal, a snare, two cymbals and a woodblock
Stewart Copeland from the Band ‘The Police’ (with Sting and Andy Summers)…has a great documentary on the BBC about the last 100 years of Kit Drumming.
Stewart Copeland explores the drums as the founding instrument of popular modern music. Beats that travelled from Africa via New Orleans and across the world are the consistent force behind musical evolution.
Stewart plays with some of the most inspiring drummers of the last 50 years, including John Densmore of The Doors, Chad Smith of The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Prince’s musical director Sheila E, New Order’s Stephen Morris and Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins. He goes dancing in New Orleans, builds his own bass drum pedal and checks out hot new bands on Santa Monica beach.
I urge you to watch Stewart charismatically present the history of drumkits.