John Bonham, drummer for Led Zeppelin, would have been 61 today. Unfortunately he had an untimely death on September 25, 1980. It is said that his death precipitated the end of the band.
I tend to agree, as I don't think anyone could have replaced him.
I'm not going to wax on about him here. I did it last year on the anniversary of his death:
RIP John Bonham
Instead, I'm going to wax on about 26 inch diameter bass drums and potato ricers.
I'm sitting here in my home office, enjoying a late breakfast, and looking at my little Tama Stagestar kit. It's got the smallest kick drum I've ever owned: a 14x18. In drum lingo, that means it's got a diameter of 18 inches, and a cylinder depth (exclusive of hoops) of 14 inches. It also includes an 8x10 "rack" tom (the one sitting on the kick drum), and a 12x14 floor tom (with legs). I am also using a Rogers 5x14 Powertone COB (chrome over brass) snare drum, from about 1967 (It's a Dayton for you drum nerds).
This kit is a lot of fun to play, and it fits in this postage stamp office quite well. I paid $240 for the kick and toms (there's a 9x12 I don't use too) the snare, and hardware. It was a smokin' craigslist deal, because the snare is in great shape, and is worth at least $150 on the vintage market. I've taken it out on a bunch of jazz gigs, and it has worked great, especially considering the Stagestars were meant to be "entry level" drums for adolescents.
Most of the time, I just use these to play right here. I use a Presonus Firepod as my sound card in the computer so it's always hooked up, and I have an MXL condenser mic hanging from the ceiling ready to go as well. I put on the Vic Firth isolation headphones, and play to music on iTunes. I find it to be just about as satisfying as going out on a gig, and generally more satisfying than going out jamming.
For example, I went to an outdoor jam put on by a music teacher from a nearby junior college. He's a fantastic player on keys and guitar, and there were a couple of outstanding players who came too, notably a great violinist and a trumpet player everyone calls "Stretch" because he can really stretch out on any song. However, we had only one person willing to play bass (besides me), and then a whole bunch of "blues" guitarists. Now I know many different ways to play a shuffle, but these guys just didn't, and there's only so much "broom dusting" in the key of E I can take over a 5-hour period. After the 174th time hearing "na-na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na nah nah," I was about ready to jam a pair of nylon-tipped 7As into my ears and end it all.
There was something else I noticed. Although the little Tamas work great in here, I felt that at times (generally when there were more than 3 guitarists playing at once, a particular form of musician Hell), I found myself wishing the little 18" kick had a little more "oomph." I didn't feel it should have required a mic in this setting, and I'm not sure it would have helped. There's something about not only the sound, but the feel that you get from the lower fundamental tone.
I guess that's why all my other kits have "bass" drums (to me, anything smaller than a 24" diameter is a "kick" drum). I think I should have brought the Slingerland 70s kit, with the 24, 13, 16 (Buddy Rich) configuration. The only downside is it is covered in a chrome metal wrap and I would have gotten the bottom of my nose and chin badly sunburned before the sun went behind the trees in the afternoon. That 24 is one of the best basses I've ever had, and I paid $25 for it. Next time.
I also have 3 other kits, each with a 14x26 bass drum:
A "FrankenRogers" kit, consisting of a Rogers mid 70s (a 9/72 model) bass that I think was a converted marcher that I picked up from Rockin' Rita's liquidation sale, and 10x14 and 16x16 fiberglass toms made by Fibes and Pearl which I rebuilt to look like the Rogers bass, all covered in green sparkle (like John Bonham's famous green sparkle Ludwigs now owned by Prairie Prince that I believe are displayed in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame). I have a 16x18 Fibes floor tom that I'm going to build up to match as soon as I get around to it. Once that's done, it will be a monster kit.
A 1949-50 Leedy kit in Black Diamond Pearl finish, with a 14x26, 9x13, 16x16 combination. It's my favorite, with the warmest sounding toms ever. I love that kit, will never let it go, and I certainly would not take it to an outdoor jam with no shade. It really wants to be played with a 17 piece big band.
Finally, a 1943 Leedy Dreadnaught kit in cream-gold Duco lacquer. This is a WWII kit that was built with wooden lugs and hoops to comply with wartime restrictions that limited the use of copper based metals in manufactured goods that didn't kill people to 10% by weight. All the manufacturers came out with different designs to comply, the most famous being the Slingerland "Rolling Bomber" kits. The bass drum from this kit is perhaps the best sounding drum I've ever played, much less owned.
Anyway, I have so many of those big drums because of the influence of John Bonham. The story goes that Bonham was interested in an endorsement deal, and Carmine Appice introduced him to the Ludwig company. Appice (of the Vanilla Fudge) was using 2 26" Ludwig basses in the maple "Thermo-Gloss" finish, and that's exactly what Bonham got for himself. He actually played two bass drums for a short time, but legend has it that the band got him to stop because they said he was drowning them out onstage(!)
Back then, I had the typical "rock" sized kick drum, a 14x22. I decided to move up, and got myself an old Slingerland Radio King bass drum. I was hooked. In the early 80s, I purchased a Ludwig set that was owned by Myron Grombacher that had a 16x26 bass (it was white, naturally, but didn't have the Japanese symbols on it - I think it was surplus from his endorsement deal). That was a nice drum, but I always felt the 16" depth pushed the sound too far away from me.
Later on, I got a red Slingerland kit that had a 14x28 bass drum. It was a monster, but I think I finally went too far. The pitch was a bit too low (almost subsonic), and it didn't have as much "punch" as I wanted (I know to many drummers, the idea of "punch" in a 26 is probably a foreign concept). I keep ending up with the 14x26.
I really don't get the trend to the "deep" bass drums now. As I said, the 16x26 was to deep, and pushed the sound too far away for my taste. Also, in Southern California, many of the stages and drum risers are simply too shallow for me to use an 18" or 20" deep drum, unless I were to cut off some of my legs. I've had some shallower kick drums too, but they are just too unstable, and can tip over.
I would also note that Gene Krupa set a trend in 1936 when he got his Slingerland Radio King endorsement kit. He had a 14x26, 9x13, 16x16 setup. Besides creating the tom-tom with adjustable tuning on both sides (before then the bottom side skin was usually tacked on), he bucked the normal practice of using the 14x28 in the dance drum. The 14x26 became the standard for pop music until the Be-Bop era, and the advent of the "Subway" drum (small enough to take on the subway).
A lot of the rockers from the 70s liked the 14x26 as well, such as B.J. Wilson, Cozy Powell, Ian Paice, and Tommy Aldrich. It's not just the sound, it's the way it feels to your foot. The 14x26 is just the right size for me too, even if I can't use it in the office.
I think that a little later today, I'm going to put together a playlist with some Led Zeppelin, like Communication Breakdown, Heartbreaker-Living Loving Maid, No Quarter, The Ocean, Custard Pie, The Rover, Fool in the Rain, and maybe even Moby Dick (without breaking my fingers). As for the bass, I'll do what Darby Rove probably does: pretend it's bigger.
Happy Birthday Bonzo.
UPDATE: I thought it might be nice to let you all hear a little "pure" Bonzo. Here he is, all by himself, playing some parts from various recordings, before the compression was added to the recordings.Bonham "Outtakes"
UPDATE II: There are a lot of great drummers out there, and for no other reason than it's my diary, I just wanted to feature another great one: Joe Morello. This is just one great solo:
UPDATE III:I forgot to mention the potato ricer! Anyway, here's a cooking tip. If your hash browns come out soggy, put the grated potatoes in your potato ricer, and sqeeze out the water. Your hash browns will now come out crispy. Mmmmmm.