Ongoing History Daily: The birth of the modern drumkit

The modern drum set comes with an interesting history. Its roots go back to the 1890s to a guy named Dee Dee Chandler, who kept time for a New Orleans outfit called the John Robichaux Dance Orchestra. Looking for a way to use both his hands and feet at the same time, he figured out a way to play a big bass drum (made out of a Magnolia Milk Company carton) with his foot using a pedal made of a chain and a spring.

Around the same time, John MacMurray fashioned the first snare drum by putting a banjo head on a chair. In 1909, the Ludwig brothers of Chicago patented the first-ever factory-built drum pedal.

By 1917, the modern drum kit had taken shape. Today, some people still refer to these setups as “traps.” That’s short for their original word from over a hundred years ago. Back then, these drum sets were called “contraptions.”