Noisy drummers, ragtime, jazz, and the avant-garde

Abstract

This chapter examines the early drum kit and how it challenged preconceptions about the relationship between noise and music. First, it explores the development of ragtime music. Second, it examines the negative impact of the early music scholarship on the status of the drum kit and drummers. Third, it discusses the profession of trap drummers and their role in performing sound effects for silent film. Fourth, it discusses the challenges facing women who wished to become professional drummers, the association between percussive noise and immigrant cultures, the influence of Chinese instruments on the early drum kit, and the origins of Tin Pan Alley. Fifth, it examines the role of the drum kit in the birth of jazz. Sixth, it explores the drum kit and drummers in 1920s recording studios. Finally, it examines the influence of the drum kit and other percussion instruments in classical music.