Kick It

Acknowledgments Introduction: Hanging around with musicians Chapter 1: Clever drummers, primitivism, entrepreneurialism, and the invention of the trap drummer's outfit · The transatlantic slave trade · The snare drum, bass drum, and cymbals come together · The birth of highbrow and lowbrow music · Being a drummer in nineteenth century America · Tinkerers, inventors, and entrepreneurs · The trap drummer's outfit Chapter 2: Noisy drummers, ragtime, jazz, and the avant-garde · Ragged time · "Instruments of a lower order" · Trap drummers, sound effects, and moving pictures · Noisy women, immigrant cultures, and Tin Pan Alley · The birth of jazz · Quiet in the studio! · Drums and noise conquer the classical world Chapter 3: Studious drummers, selling drum outfits, standardization, and stardom · Fakers versus readers · Selling the drum kit · The drum outfit travels the world · Cymbal making and the invention of the hi-hat · Swing bands and star drummers · Slingerland and the standardization of the drum outfit Chapter 4: Creative drummers, artistry, virtuosity, and playing time · Prodigies and showmen · Bebop and the melody of the drum kit · Drummers and drum makers in dialogue · The rise of the backbeat · The drum kit in Britain and the birth of beat groups · The recruitment of Ringo · Theorizing creativity on the drum kit Chapter 5: Working drummers, musical labour, role playing, and authorship · The job of a session drummer · The job of a rock star drummer · The globalization of drum kit production · Credit where credit is due · Song authorship and getting paid Chapter 6: Indispensable drummers, drum machines, and record production · The drum kit on record · The multi-track recording studio · Diasporic drumming practices and dance records · Rise of the machines · From the margins to the centre of the mix · Drummers as producers · Augmenting the drum kit and drumming without drummers Conclusion: The tyranny of the snare drum Endnotes References Index