WORLD’S BIGGEST DRUM

We often see huge drum kits such as that of Terry Bozzio, Thomas Lang orJoey Jordison but who actually owns the biggest single drum?

In 1922, the University of Chicago commissioned the building of a huge bass drum for the football team. It was first used in a match against Princeton University. It now belongs to the University of Texas at Austin and is played by their Longhorn Band. Colloquially known as Big Bertha, this bass drum stand 96 inches in diameter and 44 inches deep.

In Japan the large barrel drums known as o-daiko hold the record. One in particular was made for the Festival Forest Art Museum in Takayama City which possesses a head diameter of over 81 inches and 106 inches at the widest part of the barrel. It sits upon a wooden stand with wheels that have disc brakes in order to cope with the colossal four ton drum. Here they boast to have the world’s largest drum. As well as being a temple drum and museum piece, this drum occasionally makes appearances in orchestral pieces.

But even bigger than that is a drum in Ireland. The 2001 the Guinness book of records described the biggest drum in the world as Brian Fleming’s Millennium Drum for the Millennium Drum Carnival. It stood 308 inches in diameter and 75 inches deep and was designed to resemble a bodhran on one side and a lambeg on the other to represent harmony between the protestant and Catholic fraternities of Ireland.

So next time you’re whinging about carting your little 22 inch bass drum to gigs, just remember…….it could be a lot worse!

If you know of any bigger drums, let me know in the comments box below.

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