i went to this museum once in Illinois that had all kinds of John Phillips Sousa paraphanelia. i loved it. all kinds of old instruments. also, i've been to several civil war museums and there's almost always an old marching snare and drumsticks there to drool over. there's a fort under the golden gate bridge and when i lived in the Bay Area i'd go to that fort and run to where the snare was.
so where are more museums where you can see old instruments and the like?
PAS - Click Here
Maxwell - Click Here
Also the vintage drum shows that are in different parts of the country are an excellent way to view drums!
The Chicaog show is coming in May and people travel from all over the world to attend.
Rebeats - Click Here
I think this a great site (and forum), and though I lack vintage drum expertise, I found some great websites that may be of interest:
The first is a Japanese online vintage drum museum with an absolutely unbelievable collection. Check out the Gretsch kits with 18" bass drums. If a little box pops up that asks about installing Japanese language packs, just click the "never install" box.
http://www.geocities.jp/vintage_drums_japan/museum/museum.htm
Another Japanese collection:
http://www.hi-net.ne.jp/~samasa/colle_top.htm
The last link is a collection of Zeppelin tracks minus everyone in the band except John Bonham. A great way to hear just Bonham playing grooves by himself.
Wow its funny you should mention this. Ive been working on just such a project. Not just drums either. Ive been working on a MUSICEUM. I dont have a place to put it yet. But have everything needed. I have the land and need money for a building to house it all. Its has over 1 million recordings and several hundred things that make sound. Whether its Phillip Aaberg to ZZ top, Accordians to Zithers. Edison players or scores written in the 1700's to a digital recording studio. I want you, when visiting, to bang away at an old drum or pick up a guitar or listen to your fav song or sing it. Stimulating every sense in you. But now what?
I once wrote, to hear is a gift, to listen is to show appreciation for it. Music is like love, it should be shared to be fufilled. Its a passion.
Noah Webster defines music as "pleasant to the ear". Its can make you cry, it can make you laugh. Music can relate to everything that exisist or be something never heard before. It can make you recollect your fondest moments in life. It marks time like no other..
You can hear stairway to heaven, just by looking at Gibson EDS 1275 or look at a civil war fife and picture in your mind, those 3 guys in a line with the drum. I want to share this.. I dont know how to fund it anymore. I pour alot of my time and money in it till Im exhausted and broke. I dont know why..
Im open to any ideas... where should it go from here?
Interesting! I wonder if this is a semi-common dream amongst collectors of vintage drums...because I, too, have an idea for such a place.
I have an idea for a "Drumuseum" that would showcase the evolution of drums/drum sets from the early days to the present. Some of the kits would be behind glass and some would be set up for hands-on playing. I would want it to be employed by the same kinds of passionate, drum-loving people as I have come across here at this forum -people who WANT to work with vintage drums -all day -everyday.
Of course, it would have to engage enough of the general public to make it feasible, so I imagine there would have to be Drumuseum-sponsored events -like drum circles or musical performances. etc. There could also be auctions for vintage drums on occasion -a la Christy's or Sotheby's. There could be drum shows held there...etc.
Ideally, it would be located in an easily-accessible and somewhat noisy area....like an airplane hangar, for example. It would have to be attractive enough and interesting enough to generate some daily sales -maybe a drum conservation/repair shop....maybe a performance stage included....maybe some teaching rooms...maybe an eventual recording studio...things that would encompass a wide variety of drum/music related activities...a place that could present and display some of the really interesting things...Extra-special kits/drums could be behind glass on a rotating turntable an lit in different ways to really show the stuff off! There could be historical information included -a little red button could be pressed and headphones put on to hear a bit of biographical info about these drums -like a rare Billy Gladstone drum, for example.
Well...it works as an idea to ME...What the general public would think is probably a lot less enthusiastic. It would ideally be a place that was paid for...the building could be updated with solar/wind energy and pretty much be designed to be self-sufficient. The technology is already available to achieve this and there are lots a people who are looking for places to apply their expertise in all these areas. So, the Drumuseum would definitely take a co-operative effort from a lot of different facets...but it just might work!
Best one I've seen is the National Music Museum at the University of South Dakota. The drum collection includes many from WFL's personal collection.
Here's an interesting directory of musical instrument collections:
