Corroborating Haynes Labels

A drum in my personal collection manufactured by J. C. Haynes & Co. bears a fantastic label inside which reads in part: "Manufacturers and Importers of Brass and German Silver Musical Instruments. / J. C. Haynes & Co., / Importers, Wholesale and Retail Dealers in / Musical Instruments, Strings, Sheet Music, and Musical Merchandise. / 33 COURT ST., opp. the Court House. / John C. Haynes.   Oliver Ditson.   C. H. Ditson.   J. E. Ditson."   Left incomplete, however, are the blanks where the date and owners name can be filled in. Even upon close inspection, no handwriting can be made out. One theory as to why this information isn't present is that the ink has simply faded over time. It now appears more likely that these blanks were never filled in at all. We can say this with a bit of confidence after comparing it with another similar instrument.

J. C. Haynes & Co. Drum, ca. 1870s - 1880s

J. C. Haynes & Co. Drum Label, ca. 1870s - 1880s

The example seen below was recently offered up on ebay by a seller from Texas with the username "all_things_peacock". The drum is quite similar to mine, especially upon viewing the shells from the inside. Both drum appear to be made of a dark hardwood and have narrow reinforcing rings made of a lighter colored wood at each bearing edge. The labels on these two instruments are a perfect match which helps solve a bit of a mystery as to how old my own drum is. Past research showed that the address on a Haynes label by itself was not enough to accurately date a drum beyond a decades wide window spanning most of the later half of the 19th century. But this new label, complete with a hand written date provides a firm point on the timeline. September 9th, 1880 it reads, which happened to be a Thursday for what it's worth.

J. C. Haynes & Co. Drum, 1880

J. C. Haynes & Co. Drum Label, 1880

For more information on John C. Haynes and their parent company Oliver Ditson, please visit BostonDrumBuilders.com. And as always, I love hearing from folks about old drums so feel free to drop me a note at lee@vinson.net.

Lessons with George Lawrence Stone

In a recent email correspondence, Jim from Massachusetts was kind enough to share his memories of studying with George Lawrence Stone in the early 1960s. Jim's recollections provide a fascinating first hand account of what Stone was like as a man and as a teacher. By this time, George Lawrence Stone would have been in his mid 70s and in the twilight of his long and distinguished career as a teacher, author, and businessman. The family drum manufacturing operation, George B. Stone & Son, had long since been shuttered and his performing days were behind him. George Lawrence would have been best known in the 1960s as a sort of grandfather figure in the percussion world having been an accomplished drum corps instructor, a founding member of the National Association of Rudimental Drummers, and a regular columnist in a variety of widely circulated music publications including the International Musician. Today, he is of course remembered above all else as the author of the ever useful resource on drumming technique, Stick Control. The following is an edited together version of Jim's words. And below is an exercise written out by George Lawrence Stone in one of Jim's lessons entitled "Hand Velocity".

I studied with him in 1961-62. He had just published Accents and Rebounds and was writing a manuscript containing "Personal Conditioners". His secretary would announce before each lesson "the doctor will see you now." He wore a three-piece tailored suit including a breast pocket handkerchief and a watch fob. His office/studio included a custom built practice desk built for two. There were permanent gum rubber practice pads built into the desk top with a pad on his side and a pad for the student on the other. The pads were elevated 30 degrees to accommodate the traditional grip. Mr. Stone always used hand-crafted rosewood sticks. Each lesson began with Mr. Stone setting a wind up alarm clock. My lessons were 30 minutes. Often times the metronome and the clock would be ticking at the same time. He loved chewing tobacco and would take a break mid-lesson relating stories of his life such as from his time playing xylophone with a vaudeville company. Mr. Stone's favorite/most often used expression to emphasize or clarify a direction was "Don't 'cha know?" Mr. Stone gave me undivided attention on every detail of my playing for the full lesson. He would often do "stop action" checks on my sticking positions by saying "freeze!" Most of the time my stick tips would be out of the two-inch circle he would allow you for error. He would assign three to four hours of homework. My assignments were to learn to "open and close" all 26 rudiments, and the usual "Stick Control" exercises. He recommended lengthy exercises averaging 15-30 minutes each. They were near torturous! He would say "Don't stop playing. If you need a rest, go out by the rim and play softly." His ideal student was the one that would and could improve, challenge, and enhance his teachings. Joe Morello is the most obvious example. Stone had his students agree to a three month trial after which he would let you go or keep you on. I kept on for a year. Joe Morello did three. Mr. Stone always used a straight edge to title his exercises and solos. I watched him do this several times. He took care with what he wrote and said. I recall "the Doctor" telling me he prepared the manuscript for Stick Control literally by hand. At one of my lessons he asked if I would mind stepping out of the studio and waiting twenty minutes while he met with a "musician from out of town" who dropped by to see him. It was Lionel Hampton in for a consultation.

Harry A. Bower Drumline

From a reader in Maine comes pictures of a Harry A. Bower field drum in a white finish with the American Legion Logo applied to the shell. More interesting is that this drum is reportedly one of EIGHT in a complete set which was at one time used to outfit the local Legion's drum & bugle corps. The drums have consecutive serial numbers in the very low 1100 range, an extremely high number for Bower. It is doubtful that he actually produced that many instruments even over the long span of time during which he was active as an assembler of drums. In the late 1920s Harry A. Bower relocated from Boston, where the Vaudeville scene was drying up, to California where there was a burgeoning music and entertainment industry. Most of Bower's drums date from the late 1910s and early 1920s which appears to have been the height of his success as a drum builder. He largely disappears from the manufacturing and retailing scene after about the late 1920s. The label inside of this drum appears to date the instruments to 1932 which would be very late for an instrument of this design. Bower's patented tensioning system was an odd one where both heads were tuned concurrently by turning the nuts on the side of the drum. The major disadvantages of this system were that the heads could not be adjusted independently, and that there was nothing holding the rods in place. Should one set of claws lose tension for whatever reason, the drums tended to literally fall apart! What makes these particular instruments so strange is that not only are they of an outdated design, but they were apparently produced well after Bower had left Boston and his musical instrument building operation behind. Is it possible that the parts for these drums were left sitting around back in New England where an associate was able to build out a full set of drums for an American Legion corps? Or did Bower take his remaining stock with him to California only to later sell them to an old connection back on the east coast? There are questions to which answers are not likely to be found, but it is interesting to ponder how Bower came to outfit an entire drumline in 1932. Do you have a drum by Harry A. Bower? I want to hear from you! Send Lee an email at lee@vinson.net

Savage & Sons Rope Drum

From Ellis Mirsky's Field Drum Blog comes an interesting early 20th century Boston-made rope drum labeled with the name of a little known musical instrument dealer. The hoop mounted metal badge reads "HENRY H. SAVAGE & SONS / MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS / 166 Hanover St., BOSTON, MASS.". The characteristics of this drum are all typical of the Boston Drum Builders of the early 1900s, but information on Savage & Sons is hard to come by. Henry Harrison Savage was born in North Bridgton, Maine on September 12th, 1839. Savage was married with three children, including two sons, and in his early life was involved with farming and the grocery business. He moved to Boston in the 1860s working as a clerk in a broker's office for several years before going into business for himself about 1878. Savage would go on to have diversified business interests including real estate, development, and banking, and was active as both a Mason and an Odd Fellow. Savage passed away in Wakefield, MA at the age of 92 on March 22nd, 1932. During the late 1910s and early 1920s, Savage & Sons advertising appeared in college newspapers including MIT's "The Tech" and Boston College's "The Heights". The business obviously dealt in more than just musical instruments as their advertisements listed an eclectic array of wares for sale including everything from "Talking Machines and Records" to "Diamonds, Watches, Clocks, & Jewelry". It also says something about Savage's target audience when advertisements are running in college newspapers but not the prominent music trade publications at the time. All of these clues suggest that Savage was more of a lower level musical instrument dealer than any sort of high end drum manufacturer. The drum pictured here, which appears to be fairly common in design and construction, was likely bought and relabeled by Savage & Sons. The biggest tipoff that this is a relabeled drum is the four extra holes around the savage hoop-mounted badge. A different, larger badge was obviously in place here at one time. The other major clue is the deteriorated paper label inside of the drum. There is very little left of the original label, but what is still present would appear to correspond with a late Nokes & Nicolai label circa 1920 - 1926. The way the original badge was removed and replaced suggests that this instrument wasn't even a contract build so much as it was either repaired or bought by Savage and then quite literally relabeled for sale.

Savage & Sons Rope Drum, circa early 1920s The Heights, Volume IV, Number 15, February 8th, 1923

Compare the pictures below of the Savage & Sons drum to a Nokes & Nicolai instrument from the same time period. And for more photos of the Savage & Sons drum, visit Blog.FieldDrums.com.

Savage & Sons Drum Badge	Nokes & Nicolai Drum Badge, ca. 1920 - 1926
Label appearing inside of Savage & Sons Drum	Nokes & Nicolai Drum Label, ca. 1920 - 1926

Do you have an instrument from Henry H. Savage & Sons? I want to hear from you! Send Lee and email at lee@vinson.net.

Military and Art Drumming, by Enes J. Nokes

Enes J. Nokes, one half of Boston's Nokes & Nicolai, was also an active performer and teacher. Below is an interesting article by Nokes comparing and contrasting rudimental and concert snare drumming. This essay was published originally in THE METRONOME on September 15, 1926.

The question often arises as to what differentiates military drumming from art drumming and why military drumming may not be considered art drumming as well. Another question which has been raised is why an art drummer is said to be able to play any military beat whereas even an excellent military drummer might not always be able to qualify as an art drummer. Military drumming represents a skill developed originally for signaling purposes in the army and marking the step of soldiers on march whereas art drumming represents an adaptation of drum beats to musical figures. From these widely diversified sources two separate schools of drumming came into being. In some respects they were similar, in others, dissimilar. Each demanded much technical facility but the paths of the two schools diverged. One coordinated physical technic and dexterity with musicianship at every point whereas the other developed the physical technic and dexterity with musicianship at times a secondary consideration. The laurels lay with the art drumming because while in many cases it made no greater physical demands it adhered closer to true musical concepts. For the reason that military drumming frequently ignores musical principles the thoroughly schooled and musicianly drummer sometimes experiences difficulty with some of the military beats in that they violate his musical sense. The physical dexterity can soon be developed by any well schooled drummer but the unmusical attributes of certain of the beats can quite conceivably baffle the musician who possesses a well developed rhythmic sense. An analysis of that military beat the single paradiddle will help to illustrate the foregoing. This beat consists of two alternating single strokes and one double stroke. Such a combination cannot produce the correct normal rhythm when applied to even notes of equal mathematical value with their accompanying relative stress values. In particular, there is a peculiar lilt to the paradiddle - a rhythm which does not coincide with natural musical rhythm. To discover the reason for this requires an analysis of the manner in which a paradiddle is produced. In a rapid sequence of notes, the fourth stroke of the paradiddle must necessarily be a bounce of the third stroke and in this respect is to more or less extent beyond the absolute control of the drummer. We therefore obtain three strokes under perfect control and one under limited control with a consequent sacrifice of perfect temporal evenness. Similarly, the proper stress values are to an extent beyond the control of the drummer. The Six and Ten-Stroke Rolls are musically unrhythmical and are, therefore, seldom found in art music. The nearest approach to such "rolls" to be found in art music is what might be termed a "feint off" a stroke roll. This occurs when a stroke roll (five, seven, or nine) ends upon an accent and is followed rapidly by a single stroke. The single and double drags and the single, double, and triple ratamacues are names only for combinations in rhythms characteristic of military drumming. Grouped as they are in these rhythms they are likely to be musically awkward especially the characteristic rhythm of the double drag. The nearest approach to a rhythm in art music similar to the triple ratamacue is to be found in Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. Here the snare drum repeats a figure very similar to the triple ratamacue and requires the same technic. (The drum part of this composition was analyzed recently in an issue of THE METRONOME.) The reader should not infer from the foregoing that because certain beats in military drumming are musically unrhythmical that this applies to all. For instance, the so called ratamacues are not inconsistent with the rhythmical demands of art music and while it is conceivable that the double drag would similarly not defy musical laws it nevertheless remains an awkward sounding rhythm. The paradiddles, however, are to musical rhythm what slang is in English. This will be clearly understood if the reader will compare the paradiddle to a similar effect produced on the trumpet. Let us suppose that a first class trumpet player is asked to play a sequence of rapid notes in double rhythm. For this he will use single tonguing unless the rhythm is extremely rapid in which case he may resort to double tonguing if he has not developed his single tonguing sufficiently. Ask him, however, for the sake of producing an effect similar to the paradiddle, to mix the tonguing by playing two singles and one double upon a group of four equal notes and he will produce a rhythm which is not legitimate even though it may be pleasing in its lilt. Such a combination of tonguing would surprise a good performer and would sound equally surprising to the trained listener. If the drummer will but bear in mind the significance of these military beats together with the musical shortcomings of certain of them he will find in the rudimentary practice of them much valuable material for developing his technic. Many drummers feel that because military drumming is not wholly compatible with art drumming that it should be discarded. This is a misunderstanding of the case. Military drumming is distinct from art drumming and has a legitimate place. It is only when the military drummer without discretion and without musical education takes the technic of his military school "bodily" and indiscriminately into his orchestra playing that he errs and brings disparagement upon military drumming. Because the drum so lends itself to faking, it is with difficulty that a high standing of drumming is maintained. Added to this is the regrettable fact that worthwhile literature upon the instrument is scarce. Composers, too, frequently err in writing for the drum and this in itself adds to the general chaos of misunderstanding surrounding the instrument. One may say that it is drawing the line to finely to differentiate between certain military beats and art beats but it is only by maintaining a strict line of demarcation between that which is musically legitimate and that which only approximates it that the technic of the drum and the literature concerning it can be raised to the level and standard existing for other orchestral instruments.