You
may have seen a blip of drumming in recent ads on Comcast cable systems. They
continue to use footage from the
World’s
Fastest Drummer Compeitition to promote their upcoming programming. Well,
they had better plan on more drumming thrills because extreme sport drumming is
here to stay. According to Boo McAfee, (that's him at left), the
World Drumming
Federation President, NAMM
(National Association of Music Merchandisers) is announcing major new
initiatives with the
WFD as part of
its Music Edge Campaign,
a new initiative promoting playing music to teens. The kickoff event will take
place at this summer’s NAMM Convention in Nashville in July.
The inaugural International Fastest Drummer Contest was held at this past
January’s NAMM show in Anaheim, California. It was sponsored by NAMM and more
than a dozen music industry sponsors (including DRUM!). All contestants were
scored on playing single strokes (no bounces, presses or buzz) for 60 seconds as
recorded by the Drumometer.
Winner of The
Battle of the Feet contest went to Reno Kiillerich of Demark with a blistering
foot score of 802 single strokes in 60 seconds. Kai Katchadourian of Hawaii won
The Battle of the Hands with an astounding 907 single strokes in 60 seconds.
Boo McAfee has been the real mastermind behind these extreme drumming
competitions that employ the Drumometer to measure drumming speed. He says that
over the next year we can expect to see an increasing number of regional
competitions. It’s possible that WFD events could be held in music stores
throughout North America. We can hardly wait.
