Pre-Civil War Thomas Bringhurst (Germantown, Penn.) Drum

eBay seller debobot ( 1078) describes item no. 230459065579 as follows:

HERE IS A REAL AUTHENTIC PIECE OF AMERICAN HISTORY, TRULY ONE OF A KIND, FOUND IN THE HEART OF BUCKS COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA, THE HOME OF MANY REVOLUTIONARIES.

Genuine Civil War era field drum with paper label applied to interior "DRUMS MADE SOLD AND REPAIRED BY THOMAS BRINGHURST GERMANTOWN".

Measures 14.5" tall by 16.5" in diameter. Also inside the barrel, written in white chalk like substance is M. DAVIS MARKET & No. 64 attributing this to the owner of the drum. Skins on both top and bottom are broken. Shell looks to be ASH wood with natural finish, square head nails, red painted rims. All leather braces or ears are strung with catgut are intact. Round headed brass upholstery tacks with percussion or vent hole settled between. The design of the brass tacks was thought to be or is thought to be a trademark of the drum maker. The rope with pig tail intact.

The drum maker, Thomas Bringhurst, was from a very prominent Old Germantown Pennsylvania family steeped in Philadelphia history. From 1775 until the time of his death in 1795, the property in Germantown where he made drums, was owned by John Bringhurst, who was prominent in Germantown affairs. He erected the building and named it Bringhurst "Big House" on the corner of Bringhurst Steet. He had an extensive reputation as a carriage builder and was particularly noted for his Germantown wagons.

In 1809, the place belonged to Thomas Bringhurst, who was engaged in the manufacture of not only drums, but squares, saws and coaches. Thomas married Henry Fraley's daughter, Mary. Henry was said to be one of the first, if not the first, of the suburban town projectors of Philadelphia. He was a member of Jacob Sommer's company of Philadelphia Associators during the Revolution. His carpenter shops, which were situated at the present site of St. Stephens Methodist Church, were burned by the British during their occupation of Philadelphia.

Tradition says that these shops had been used for the manufacture of gun carriages by the Americans. His house stood at what is now the entrance to St. Stephen's Church. In later years he was a drum maker, which business was afterward carried on for many years by his son-in-law, Thomas Bringhurst.

Watson, in his "Annals of Philadelphia" mentions that Washington was a frequent visitor at Fraleys carpenter shops and that Fraley had taken part in some of Washington's campaigns. There is a lot more interesting history about the Bringhurst family not to mention their relationship with the building of Carpenters Hall where The Declaration of Independence was drafted and signed by the 13 colonies of the United States.

There is additional information to be found regarding a carriage that was built specifically for General George Washington.

Ed. Note: In active eBay bidding involving 8 bidders and 30 bids, this item sold 4/16/10 for $955.00 to h***h( 67) who outbid j***8( 676)'s $950.00 bid.

Eagle Drum (non-contract design)

eBay seller guth55 ( 206) describes item no. 160420898256 as follows:

CIVIL WAR ERA SNARE DRUM. A very nice 19th Century Drum. Bands are painted with black foliate decoration, body has decoration of eagle on patriotic shield. The top skin is in good condition and has an imprint that reads, "Joseph B. Rogers, Jr." . The bottom skin appears older and has two small tears along the border. The snare is intact. On the bottom skin, there is a manufacturers name that is very difficult to make out. The name appears to be perhaps "Rooth's", then below what looks like, "Greenville Press", then below that, "New York". The drum is in very good condition for it's age. Skins are tight. Body of the drum could used to be cleaned, but otherwise in good condition. The Eagle holding an American Flag is very nice. The hardware and tightener appear to be original. The neck strap is frayed but intact as are the ropes. The drum measures 16 inches across the top and 12 inches from top to bottom. All in all, a very nice drum.

Ed. Note: This item sold 4/12/10 for $960.00 to c***l( 1471) in an eBay auction involving 3 bidders and 3 bids over 7 days. Not an active auction for a hand-painted eagle drum in good condition.

The Timeline Of Marching And Field Percussion: Part 3

The Timeline Of Marching And Field Percussion: Part 3
[http://www.tarrani.com/marchingperc1900-1950.pdf; PERCUSSIVE NOTES • DECEMBER 1994]
By Jeff Hartsough and Derrick Logozzo

Ed. Note: We are working to bring you the other parts of this timeline article which are not currently available to the public. They are available to members of the Percussive Arts Society.

Part 3 in our series on marching and field percussion history discusses innovations from 1900 to 1960. Once again, the timeline focuses on these questions:

• How and where did our modern drum corps originate?
• How did marching equipment develop?
• Who were the innovators in marching percussion?
• How and why did the drumming styles change over the years?
• When did marching percussionists first appear in history?

1900-1950

In the 20th Century, marching percussion thrived in several types of groups, some of which were based in the military while others were supported by civic or patriotic organizations. Two of these were the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. In the 1920s, both groups sponsored senior fife, drum and bugle corps competitions for men returning from World War I who continued to play (Spalding: 122). These corps performed at many patriotic parades as well as in three forms of competition. There were corps made up of the traditional fifes and drums, those with drums and bugles, and corps using all three instruments. Some of these were standstill groups, while others, particularly the drum and bugle corps, were marching and maneuvering groups. Two further classifications existed for each group, called Ancient or Modern, determined by whether or not the group played their music at 110 or 120 beats per minute, respectively (Perilloux: 1a, 7).

In 1921, the American Legion held its first national convention in Kansas City, Missouri in which the first senior drum and bugle corps champion was the General Custer Corps from Battle Creek, Michigan (McGrath: 150). The VFW held its first national convention and competition in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1928. The winner of that was a drum and bugle corps from Lansing, Michigan (McGrath: 150). In 1936, an important addition to the contests that would soon dominate the activity was the formation of junior drum and bugle corps for the sons of World War I veterans Spalding: 122).

The rules for competition between the VFW and the American Legion events varied slightly. However, both organizations held weekly contests every summer for the corps and individuals. As a matter of fact, William F. Ludwig, Jr. won the 1933 American Legion Individual Snare Drum Championship (McGrath: 151). This individual contest was exceedingly important to the history of rudimental drumming. Dan Spalding explains why:

“One of the requirements for this contest was the performance of the long roll. Because of the discrepancies between the two standard drum books (of the day), the Bruce and Emmett and the Strube, the roll was being performed with a lack of uniformity and there evolved a great deal of controversy as to how these contests should be judged. The Bruce and Emmett required an accent on the second beat of the roll while starting and [an open-close-open manner of performing it]. Strube, however, did not advocate either of these techniques. This discrepancy eventually led to the formation of the National Association of Rudimental Drummers on June 20th, 1933 at the American Legion National Convention in Chicago. At this famous meeting, which was organized by William F. Ludwig and the Ludwig Drum Co., 13 leading percussionists from around the country adopted the 26 Standard American Drum Rudiments” (Spalding: 122-123).

Those percussionists were: Harry Thompson, George Robinson, William Flowers, William Kieffer, William Hammond, Joe Hathaway, George Lawrence Stone, Roy Knapp, William Ludwig, Sr., M.M. Gerlach, William Miller, Edward Straight and J. Burns Moore (McGrath: 151).

In remembering this first meeting, William F. Ludwig, Sr. gives some details: “I will never forget that evening. We talked and played rudiments [for] six hours well into that morning. But we felt that we had saved the drum rudiments by adopting a practical set of rudiments without deviation from any of the then…established methods … We divided the 26 rudiments into two sections by selecting...what we termed at the time, the 13 essential that each applicant had to play as a test for membership into the National Association of Rudimental Drummers” (Spalding: 123).

Also, in the 1930s and ’40s, several rudimental drummers became nationally known for their outstanding drumming and teaching systems. Two of them were previously entioned: George Lawrence Stone of Boston—who taught jazz great Joe Morello as well as threetime American Legion Champion the Akroyd Drum and Bugle Corps — and J. Burns Moore of Connecticut, who was known as a truly remarkable snare drummer (McGrath: 151,153). Their style, as that of many players of the period, resembled the common technique of the Revolutionary and Civil War drummers. A great deal of continuous high arm-to-fingers movement was used in a very fluid manner (Spalding: 124).

Another drummer, similar to Moore, was Sanford Moeller from New York who taught Gene Krupa and Jim Chapin. Moeller produced great drum lines from 1933 to about 1960 that used a system of wave motions in their playing, which was truly unique in appearance from other corps (Andrews: 1). One of these drum lines exists today under the name of the Charles W. Dickerson Fife, Drum and Bugle Corps in Mt. Vernon, New York. A fourth drummer who was extremely famous for his astounding technique was Earl Sturtze, who taught several successful groups, one of them being the Charles
T. Kirk Fife, Drum and Bugle Corps from Brooklyn, New York (Spalding: 123). Some of Sturtze’s students in the late 1930s and ’40s were Eric Perilloux, Bob Redican, Hugh Quigley and Frank Arsenault, each of whom would go on to set the standard in competitive rudimental drumming for years to come (Spalding: 124).

Instrumentation in the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s was fairly consistent.
Most drum lines used eight to ten snare drums, each of which was 12" x 15"; eight to ten tenor drums, which also were 12" x 15"; four to five bass drums; and in the drum and bugle corps, four to five cymbals (Spalding: 123). Some of the corps had gone to metal rodtensioned drums with gut strings as snares, while others, like the Moeller drum lines, used rope-tensioned drums (Andrews: 2). Also, the tenor drums, as stated by Harold Prentice in The Champion Drum Book, “are of Scottish origin first used in the Pipe Band of the…Highland and Light Infantry in Glasgow in 1912.” Tenor drums
were first used in the United States following WW I (McGrath: 157).

The “portable” German bell lyras of this era were constructed of steel bars and in the diatonic scale only—that is, a single row of bells approximately 1 1/2 octaves. The chromatic bars were carried separately in a pouch and the player had to unclip the natural bars and replace them with the necessary sharps or flats as the music required. In 1932, Bill Ludwig, Sr. came up with the idea to produce “marching” bells with aluminum bars to reduce the weight with the chromatics. It was designed to be carried in the vertical position on a telescopic staff, thus eliminating the need for the extra bars as well as the transferring of them on the march. In 1933, the production of the modern chromatic aluminum bell lyra, as we know it today, came into being (Ludwig).

From 1950 to 1960, there was a great deal of change in styles, techniques and equipment brought forth by a new generation of instructors. Essentially, marching percussion in the modern drum and bugle corps began to incorporate new ideas — different than those of traditional military drumming.

In the 1950s, the average size of a drum line in a drum and bugle corps was three snares, three tenors, two bass drums and one cymbal player (Spalding: 123). The dimensions of the leg snare drums were 10" x 15" or 12" x 15", the leg tenors were normally 12" x 16", the bass drums were 14" x 28" and the cymbals were either 14" or 16" (Spalding: 125). In the late ’50s, the scotch bass drums were becoming more popular with the marching bands since they were easier to carry than some of the wider bass drums used at the time.

Haskell Harr said that the larger tenor drums in the ’50s were being carried vertically like bass drums because they were harder to control using leg rests. Hence, the vertical tenor drum holder was developed. One of the more interesting innovations to come from the ’50s was the 6 1/2 x 18 tenor-scotch bass drum. The Slingerland drum company developed this to make crossover strokes easier. Subsequently, tenor drum players began using felt mallets, which replaced the previously used sheepskin mallets.

The most significant invention came in 1957 when Remo Belli developed his plastic drumhead, which allowed for playing in adverse weather conditions (Hurley: 1). This invention forged the way for all drumheads used thereafter.

Newer playing styles in the 1950s were being developed, especially throughout the Midwest and the East coast. During 1954, Frank Arsenault was teaching the high, fast, open technique to his Midwestern drum lines. To most everyone’s surprise, they were executing cleanly (Spalding: 124). At the same time on the East Coast, John Flowers and Les Parks started a very influential movement that required one to play closer to the drumhead, utilizing more wrist control. Their style used all-around uniformity of hand position and arm movement (Spalding: 124).

Though most people felt that this style took away from the traditional powerful sound, these gentlemen believed that they were replacing it with a more precise and better executed sound. John Flowers explains: “Several instructors found that due to the increasing difficulty of their repertoire and the faster marching cadence, execution had become more difficult in the open style manner. Therefore, various styles of drumming began to appear…[one of which] stressed drumming closer to the drum” (124).

In the mid-’50s, percussion arrangements started to evolve, due in part to the work of an outstanding rudimental drummer, Eric Perillioux, who began arranging percussion parts that did not rely solely on the standard 26 rudiments. Perillioux was also one of the first to discard the layering of the snare drum and bass drum parts and chose to feature their voices independently. In addition to this, he introduced the rudimental bass drum to the modern drum and bugle corps in 1956 (Spalding: 126).

Also in 1956, two of the last stylistic changes to occur were the
introduction of drum solos staged at the front of the field and the use of rolls on the bass drums, both of these having been accredited to Perillioux (Spalding: 126). All of these innovations in drumming systems and equipment set the stage for another evolution in marching and field percussion in the 1960s.

Part 4 of the Timeline will include 1960 to the present.

WORKS CITED

Andrews, Thomas. “Moeller Memoirs.” Unpublished narrative. Columbus, OH: 1992.
Ashworth, Charles S. A New, Useful and Complete System of Drum Beating. Washington, D.C.: (George Carroll–revised, 1974) 1812.
Blades, James. Percussion Instruments and Their History. London: Faber and Faber, Ltd., 1970.
Bruce, George and Emmett, Daniel. The Drummer’s and Fifer’s Guide. New York: Wm. A. Pond and Co., 1865.
Carroll, George. “Proposed Narrative for PASIC ’93.” Unpublished script. Yorktown, VA.: 1993.
Engel, Carl. A Descriptive Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the South Kensington Museum. 2nd ed. London: G.E. Eyre and W. Spottiswoode, 1874.
Hart, Col. H.C. The New Improved Instructor for the Drum. New Haven: W.C. Baldwin, 1862.
Howe, Elias. United States Regulation Drum and Fife Instructor for the Use of the Army and Navy. Boston: Elias Howe, 1881.
Hurley, Marty. “The Evolution of Competitive Drum Corps Percussion.” Pearl Percussion Educational Resource.
Ludwig, William F., Sr. The Ludwig Story. U.S.A.: Ludwig Industries, Inc., 1987.
Marcuse, Sybil. A Survey of Musical Instruments. New York: Harper and Rowe, 1975.
McGrath, William. “The Contribution of Senior Drum and Bugle Corps to Marching Percussion.” Percussionist. Spring/Summer 1980. Vol. XVII, No. 3.
Peters, Gordon. The Drummer, A Treatise on Percussion. Wilmette, I.L.: Kerper-Peters Publishing, 1975.
Perilloux, Eric. “Memoirs.” Unpublished narrative. Denton, TX: 1993.
Rumrille, J.L. and Holton, H. The Drummer’s Instructor. Albany: Van Benthuysen, 1817.
Sadie, Stanley, ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. Vol. 1. London: MacMillan Press, 1984. 3 vols.
Schietroma, Robert and J.B. Smith. An Introduction to Percussion Literature. Denton, TX: North Texas Percussion Press, 1990.
Spalding, Dan. “The Evolution of Drum Corps Drumming.” Percussionist. Spring/Summer 1980.Vol. XVII, No. 3.
Stainer, John. The Music of the Bible. London: Novello and Co., Ltd., 1914.
Strube, Gardner. Drum and Fife Instructor. New York: Gardner A. Strube, 1869.
White, Charles T. Drums Through the Ages. Los Angeles: The Sterling Press, 1960. PN

Jeff Hartsough is a member of the PAS Marching Percussion Committee and former caption head of the Magic of Orlando Drum & Bugle Corps. He is president of Perfection in Performance, a percussion consulting, arranging and instructing business in Columbus, Ohio, and Percussion Educational Specialist and manager for Columbus Pro Percussion, Inc. Hartsough has studied with Robert Breithaupt at Capital University and holds two Bachelor of Science degrees from Franklin University. He has marched with the 27th Lancers and Suncoast Sound Drum & Bugle Corps, is an adjudicator for the Ohio Music Educators Association and has radio, recording and touring experience with several regional groups.

HELLCATS DRUMMERS FEATURED AT CONVENTION

HELLCATS DRUMMERS FEATURED AT CONVENTION
In March, the drummers of the Hellcats were showcased at the Kentucky Percussive Arts Society “Day of Percussion” at the University of Kentucky. While in the area, the musicians also performed and conducted master classes at Belmont University and Middle Tennessee State University.

See Percussive Arts Society Kentucky Chapter Home Page.









Hellcat drummers: SGM Eric Sheffler, SSG Andrew Porter, SSG Willie Calohan, SSG Jeff Prosperie, and SSG Bill Cuthbert

The Hellcats, an ensemble comprised of buglers and rudimental drummers from the West Point Band, has played an influential role in over 220 years of musical tradition at The United States Military Academy. Their legend began early in the American Revolution, when units of George Washington’s Continental Army, including fifers and drummers, established the garrison of West Point in January of 1778. Following the Revolution, West Point remained an active federal garrison upon the formal establishment of the United States Military Academy in 1802. During this period, fifers and drummers assigned to artillery and engineer units at West Point perpetuated the pragmatic nature of field music.

During the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the War Between the States, the drum was the primary source of battlefield communication. Throughout the day it signaled various orders, and its steady beat established the cadence for road marches and troop movements. The bugle served an increasingly important role starting in the 1800’s. Army commanders grew more dependent upon the bugle's bold, brilliant sound to present commands both in camp and over the din of battle.

The Hellcats' mission today is to provide musical support to the U.S. Corps of Cadets. In addition to sounding Reveille and Retreat at the garrison flagpole, the Hellcats perform a myriad of ceremonial functions, including military reviews and parades. Each weekday they provide music as the cadets march into the mess hall. As the football season nears the annual Army vs. Navy game, special Hellcat arrangements of traditional West Point gridiron songs fan the Army fighting spirit. Hellcat buglers and drummers also have the honorable task of performing muffled drums and Taps for West Point funerals. Annually, a bugler plays Taps at the tombs of presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Franklin D. Roosevelt on the anniversaries of their births.

Pride, intense esprit de corps, and a sense of historical continuity inspire the distinguished service of today's Hellcats. With their precise marching, embellished by the twirls of silver bugles and intricate rudimental drumming, the group delights thousands of spectators each year. In 1994, the Hellcats participated in the deactivation parade of the Allied Strike Force as it made its final departure from the city of Berlin. The Hellcats have also been featured at various military tattoos throughout the United States and Canada.

In 2002, the group performed in Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops Orchestra and for the Fourth of July with the Boston Pops Orchestra. In 2004, the ensemble traveled to Orlando, Florida to participate in festivities honoring Flag Day at Walt Disney World. Recently, the ensemble performed with the Virginia Grand Military Band and was showcased at the Blossom Festival, the summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra, as a part of its Fourth of July festivities. Members of the Hellcats have also been showcased on The Today Show, Fox and Friends, 60 Minutes, Dateline NBC as well as on documentaries occurring on The History and Discovery Channels.

Equipped with instruments designed and hand-made specifically for them, the Hellcats enable the West Point Band to maintain faithful renditions of traditional American military music while providing the Corps of Cadets with a piece of living history.

Source: Website of the West Point Band.

WE'RE BACK After a Successful Migration to Google's Blog Servers

Well, this has been a trying experience. Our blog has been off-line or partially impaired (no photos) for about a week. Like many other blogs, we migrated to Google's blog servers as instructed by Google (Google hosts Blogger). And like many other blogs, we ran into a mountain of problems.

However, thanks to the near genius efforts of Edd Schillay who has a passion for solving the unsolvable, we're back, fully loaded and operating just fine.

You shouldn't notice any difference (other than perhaps an improvment -- faster loading).

You should will still be able to access the site at the familiar URL of www.FieldDrums.com.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://fielddrums.blogspot.com/atom.xml.

1861 Abner Stevens Drum Reappears After Not Selling 18 Months Ago

Jerseyrebel ( 1247) apparently wasn't listening in September 2008 when the market told him (by not buying his 1861 Abner D. Stevens listed with a starting price of $875; see 1861 Dated Snare Drum by A.D. Stevens, this blog, Sept. 6, 2008, that his starting price of $875 was too high.

So he's back now as jerseyrebel ( 1389), some 142 ratings later, with the same drum offered as eBay item no. 260562251973 and an even higher starting price of $975.

Uh, perhaps he's unaware of the recession?

An 1864 A. Rogers Civil War Field Drum (and a Repro)

Looks like eBay buyer j***8( 655) (well-known to CW enthusiasts, drummers and drum collectors) sniped in at the last second (actually the last 5 seconds) to snatch this beauty for only $5,850.00 a mere 5 seconds before bidding closed. (Note: see EZSniper and you can do that too, assuming you have the financial wherewithall to actually pay the winning amount.) Congratulations Jim.


eBay seller esoldauctions ( 10421) posted this beauty as eBay item no. 400105283043, described as follows:

1864 A. Rogers Civil War Field Drum w/ Eagle WOW!

This drum measures 16 1/2" round from across outer ring and about 14" high (this dimension is difficult to determine, because the bottom ring has seperated from the drum and I am not going to force it back into place) The drum is handpainted and says "U.S REGt Infantry" The skins are totaly shot, and the tension ropes are gone. You get what you see. I am including a picture of a restored drum that looks just like this should. More info on this drum can be found by Googling "Rogers Field Drum Civil War"

The Sticks appear to from the same era, but they are different from each other. One measures 17", the other 16 1/4". The inside label is fully intact and in great shape. The wood on this drum is not brittle at all and looks to be a great restoration candidate!

Label says "Manufactured by A. Rogers Flushing L.I."

This belonged to the 60 year old owners Mom before she passed away. He said it was in the house, in this condition, as long as he can remember. Unfortunately no other information is known about this fine piece of U.S. History.

The drum received a lot of attention (29 bids) and sold for $5,850.00. I spoke with the seller (who was really an eBay consignment store). He told me that the owner found it in his house and was considering junking it. Neither of them had any idea what it was worth. The bidding on eBay shocked them.

-----

And here's a pretty good-looking reproduction offered by johnc7253 ( 13) as eBay item no. 170454638557 and described as follows: "Like new condition, Rope Tension Drum. New synthetic heads, nice brass work, leather strap, custom set of sticks. Hand painted Pennsylvania regimental insignia." This one has a buy-it-now price of $750.

British Drum in Norway

[Ed. Note: We travel far and wide to bring information to our blog readers. This morning we went to Norway (virtually) and picked up these images. Of interest are:

a. a familiar tack pattern -- 10 ratamacues to the person who can identify the tack pattern on this drum and tell us where we've seen it before;
b. a typically Swiss J-hook snare strainer with curlique wing nut;
c. dowels (wooden pegs) pinning what appears to be an internal reinforcing hoop;
d. a neatly overlapped counterhoop pinned with an iron tack;
e. a neatly overlapped flesh hoop;
f. a half-round snare bed carved into the drum shell and bottom internal reinforcing hoop; and
g. repair patches.

The half-round snare bed looks a bit crude in comparison with the finer workmanship evident in the construction of the overlapped hoops. I wonder whether the snare bed had originally been a more subtle depression in the shell to allow for a press fit (no snare hardware at all), later modified in Europe to accommodate a European J-hook snare strainer. That's my guess because the tack pattern seems inconsistent with the snare strainer. I could be wrong though.]


Kjell Tore Innervik, activities
The old military drum from the 19 century.
Probably used in "Drangedal", western Telemark, Norway
The drum was bought in an auction in Skien in 2002. The owner was living in a farm i Drangedal in Telemark, Norway. No more history was not possible to get.

It was restored in 2003 by Ingvald and Kjell Tore Innervik. New hoops, "ears" and dear skin from the western part of Norway shot by Dr Stene from Fredrikstad made the drum sound again. The string is the original hors tail.

The drum is probably British. I sough a similar drum in Büchler trommelbau in Basel, and they had bought it from a museum witch operated with a dating from around 1780. I similar drum is also at the Castle of London.

More info from Warren Simpson are soon to come about old military drums

These three really heavy sticks came with the drum.



The string is the original hors tail.



More pictures of the drum: Inside

As you can see it has been prepared several times



Metal nails and carved hole for the snare



Original rim



Rim used inside the skin [fleshhoop]



Wooden Nails [dowels]



Note: Terry Cornett wrote us: "That is the same tack pattern Cooperman call 'Kings Landing' as it was found on a Loyalist drum in Kings Landing, Nova Scotia." Terry gets 10 ratamacues and a subscription for life to www.fielddrums.com. Terry is a talented drummer, drum historian, drum maker and drum restorer. Terry is also is principal percussionist for the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra. Terry is also the sole propietor/maker of Heritage Drums, which specializes in historically accurate, custom hand-crafted, rope-tensioned drums patterned after 17th- through 19th-century models. He also performs restorations for National museums. Drums built by Mr. Cornett have been used in films such as "Last of the Mohicans," "The Class of '61," "The Blue and The Grey," "Gods and Generals" and several Smithsonian productions. Turner Broadcasting Company purchased a drum for use in advertisements for the NBA play-offs.