Bass Drum

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Overview

The bass drum frame is made of rolled wood (possibly pine), 70cm in diameter and has skin drum heads attached with fixed metal rods. The drum cylinder is made of rolled plywood with a leather coating on which the "Busselton Brass Band" and "Advance Australia" and the Australian Coat of Arms are painted. No makers name appears on the Drum and it has been modified over the years with the original rope bindings removed with fixed metal rods replacing them.

Historical information

When the Bass Drum was first introduced it was called a Turkish drum, because it was derived from the instrument used in the Turkish Janissary bands that inspired many late 18th-century European composers. Initially it was used for special effects, as in Joseph Haydn's Military Symphony (1794).

Mozart is thought to be one of the first composers to use a bass drum in an orchestra in 1782.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-124-2024.31

Item type

Musical instruments

Themes

Music

Material

Combination-tanned Leather

Metal

Wood

Contextual Information

Busselton Brass was established in 1871 and has served the Busselton community continuously excepting for short breaks during WW1 and WW2. The Band has competed (and won on many occasions) at the Queen’s Cup, which is a local South-West Band Competition, as well as at State and National Championships and the International Music Festival in Sydney.

Whilst this drum is not believed to be the first bass drum used by the Busselton Brass Band it is present in a 1925 band photograph where it is showing signs of considerable use by then.

Keywords

Busselton Brass Band

Drum

BANDS, Music

Primary significance criteria

Social or spiritual significance

Comparative significance criteria

Well provenanced

Busselton Historical Society

Organisation Details
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