Searching for the first bass drum pedal
Rock harmonicas to Viennese pianos
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v9i3.28432Keywords:
bass drum pedal, drum, drumming, drum kit, drums, Janissary pedal, Viennese piano, organologyAbstract
The drum kit is an instrument of great importance to most forms of popular music ever since its conception in the late nineteenth century. The bass drum pedal is key to bringing the drum kit together; utilizing the player’s foot gives freedom for both hands to be used elsewhere. This device is considered to have been invented for the first trap drummers, and it is true that the drum kit was truly born when the bass drum pedal became adopted amongst early percussionists. However, this article presents a history of the bass drum pedal that predates the drum kit far earlier than previously considered.
References
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Woodcroft, Bennet. 1871. Patents for Inventions, Abridgements of Specifications Relating to Music and Musical Instruments, AD.1694–1866 [Facsimile ed. 1984]. London: T. Bingham.
Agstner, Rudolf. 2006. ‘From Apalachicola to Wilkes-Barre: Austria (-Hungary) and its Consulates in the United States of America, 1820–1917’. Austrian History Yearbook 37: 163–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0067237800016829
Ahrens, Christian. 2006. ‘New Sources on the Invention of the Janissary or Turkish Music Stop’. Galpin Society Journal 59: 241–42.
Badura-Skoda, Eva, and Paul Badura-Skoda. 2008. Interpreting Mozart: The Performance of his Piano Pieces and Other Compositions. New York: Routledge.
Beaulieu, Rudolph. 1961. Interview by William Russell. Oral History. Summary Transcript. Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University, 31 May.
Berger, Matthew R. 2014. ‘A Cultural History of the Drum Set: Proliferation from New Orleans to Cuba’. PhD dissertation, Prescott College, AZ.
Berlioz, Hector. 1858. A Treatise upon Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration, trans. M. Cowden Clarke. 2nd edn. London: Novello, Ewer and Co.
Blades, James. 1982. Percussion Instruments and their History. London and Boston: Faber & Faber.
Blades, James, et al. 2016. ‘Drum’. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/51410 (accessed 6 July 2016).
Boeringer, James. 1989. Organa Britannica: Organs in Great Britain 1660–1860: A Complete Edition of the Sperling Notebooks and Drawings in the Library of the Royal College of Organists Vol. 1. Plainsboro, NJ: Associated University Presses.
Brown, Theodore Dennis. 1976. ‘A History and Analysis of Jazz Drumming to 1942’. PhD dissertation, University of Michigan.
Bugg, D. Doran. 2003. ‘The Role of Turkish Percussion in the History and Development of the Orchestral Percussion Section’. PhD dissertation, Baylor University.
Burnett, Richard, and William Dow. 2004. Company of Pianos. London: Third Millennium Information.
Bush, Douglas Earl, and Richard Kassel. 2006. The Organ: An Encyclopedia. New York: Routledge.
Charters, Samuel. 1963. Jazz: New Orleans, 1885–1963: An Index to the Negro Musicians of New Orleans. New York: Oak Publications.
Ditson, Chas. 1915. ‘Heavy Demand for Drums’. Music Trade Review 60/3: 57.
Edward, Bill. 1907. ‘National Music Show Aftermath’. Music Trade Review 45/13: 9.
Farmer, Henry George. 1950. Military Music. London: Max Parrish.
Goldston, Christopher. 1959. Interview by William Russell. Summary Transcript. Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University, 13 January.
Greff, Jacqueline. 2005. Fell's Point. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Pub.
Grove, George, and John A. Fuller-Maitland. 1895. Dictionary of Music and Musicians: (AD 1450–1889). Vol. 2. London and New York: Macmillan.
Harding, Rosamond Evelyn Mary. 1978. The Piano-forte: Its History Traced to the Great Exhibition of 1851. Isle of Wight: Gresham Books.
Hazel, Monk. 1959. Interview by William Russell. Oral History. Transcript. Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University, 16 July.
Hopkins, Edward John, and Edward Francis Rimbault. 1870. The Organ: Its History and Construction. London: R. Cocks.
Howard, Avery. 1958. Interview by William Russell. Oral History. Summary Transcript. Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University, 22 June.
Keswick Historical Society. 2006. Keswick Characters: Volume 1. Carlisle: Bookcase.
Laine, Jack. 1957. Interview by William Russell. Oral History. Transcript. Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University, 26 March.
Ludwig, William F. 1909. Drum and Cymbal Playing Apparatus. US Patent 922,706, filed 8 February 1909; issued 25 May 1909.
—1965. My Life at the Drums. Chicago, IL: Ludwig Drum Company.
Olney, George R. 1887. Drum Pedal. US Patent 357,093, issued 1 February 1887.
Palmer, Julian A. B. 1953. The Origin of the Janissaries. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Powley III, Edward Harrison. 1968. ‘Turkish Music: An Historical Study of Turkish Percussion Instruments and their Influence on European Music’. PhD thesis, University of Rochester.
Sbarbaro, Tony. 1959. Interview by Emile Christian. Oral History. Transcript. Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University, 11 February.
Spillane, Daniel. 2010. History of the American Pianoforte, its Technical Development, and the Trade. Charleston, SC: Nabu Press.
Stanton, John Pierce. 1905. Musical-Instrument Beater. US Patent 800,509, filed 17 January 1905; issued 26 September 1905.
Steffen, Charles. 1984. The Mechanics of Baltimore: Workers and Politics in the Age of Revolution 1763–1812. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Steinert, Morris. 1893. The M. Steinert Collection of Keyed and Stringed Instruments. With Various Treatises on the History of these Instruments, the Method of Playing Them, and their Influence on Musical Art. New York: C.F. Tretbar.
Strange, Thomas. 2011. ‘Restoration of an Andrew Reuss Square Piano with “Grand Viennese” Action’. Squarepianotech. http://www.squarepianotech.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Restoration-of-an-Andrew-Reuss-square-piano.pdf
—2012. ‘Janissary Pedals’. Squarepianotech. http://www.squarepianotech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Janissary-Pedals.pdf
U.S. Census Bureau. 1998a. Population of the 33 Urban Places: 1800. http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027/tab03.txt
—1998b. Population of the 46 Urban Places: 1810. http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027/tab04.txt
—1998c. Population of the 61 Urban Places: 1820. http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027/tab05.txt
—1998d. Population of the 90 Urban Places: 1830. http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027/tab06.txt
—1998e. Population of the 100 Urban Places: 1840. http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027/tab07.txt
—1998f. Population of the 100 Urban Places: 1850. http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027/tab08.txt
Williams, Alfred. 1961. Interview by Richard B. Allen. Oral History. Transcript. Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University, 3 February.
Williams, George. 1959. Interview by William Russell. Oral History. Summary Transcript. Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University, 17 May.
Woodcroft, Bennet. 1871. Patents for Inventions, Abridgements of Specifications Relating to Music and Musical Instruments, AD.1694–1866 [Facsimile ed. 1984]. London: T. Bingham.
Published
2016-09-08
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Archibald, P. (2016). Searching for the first bass drum pedal: Rock harmonicas to Viennese pianos. Popular Music History, 9(3), 285-305. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v9i3.28432
