Percussion Facts

The Steel Drum was created in Trinidad and Tobago after the British banned African percussion music and traditional stick-fighting after the Canboulay Riots in 1890. Steel Drums later emerged made from frying pans, dustbin lids, and, of course, oil drums due to the country's oil resources. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ste…

The percussion cap was invented by a Scottish reverend whose guns were too slow for goose and wild game hunting. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ale…

Even though the piano creates sound using strings, it is usually classified as a percussion instrument because the strings are hit by hammers to generate the sound, rather than plucked or bowed. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pia…

Soundgarden's song "Spoonman" was about a Seattle-based street performer named Artis who has traveled the world playing the spoons since the late 1960s. He played spoons and various other percussion "instruments" throughout the song. youtube.com/watch?v=wmkn1…

Prince used the heartbeat of his unborn son as part of the percussion in one track on the 'Emancipation' album. By the time the album was released, his son had died of a congenital birth defect. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ema…

On almost all of his albums, Lenny Kravitz not only sang his songs, but did everything else: played the guitar, bass, drums, percussions and produced them all himself. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len…

Engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel had to design and build his own percussion device to remove a gold sovereign that became lodged in his airway after attempting a magic trick for his kids. alaricstephen.com/main-fe…

During the recording sessions for Steely Dan's Gaucho in 1980, audio engineer Roger Nichols built a percussion sequencer he named Wendel. It was insanely expensive—one crash cymbal cost twelve thousand dollars worth of RAM. theparisreview.org/blog/2…

Paul McCartney is credited for chewing celery as percussion in a Beach Boys song en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veg…

Prince used the heartbeat of his unborn son as part of the percussion in his song Sex in the Summer on the album Emancipation. One month before the album was released his son died of a congenital birth defect shortly after birth. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ema…

The drummer for Static-X also played percussion for Blue Man Group. nickoshiro.com/profession…

The percussion of Everyday by Buddy Holly and the Crickets was performed by Jerry Allison slapping his knee and using a typewriter. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve…

The Blanks, an acapella group, were known as The Worthless Peons on their dozens of cameos on TV's Scrubs. They use talking toys as percussion, rather than traditional instruments. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The…

Paul McCartney is credited for the raw vegetable chewing used as percussion on the track "Vegetables" by the Beach Boys en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veg…

On most of his albums, Prince not only wrote and sang his songs, but did everything else: played the guitar, bass, drums, percussion and produced and arranged them all himself. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pri…

All the vocals and percussion in 'The Longest Time' are performed by Billy Joel. He recorded and mixed 14 tracks of himself singing. The only instrument on the track is a bass guitar songfacts.com/detail.php?…

Franz Ferdinand used a human skeleton as a percussion section on their song "No You Girls" theguardian.com/music/200…

[] The .22 LR evolved from a percussion cap with a BB added. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rim…

There is a percussion instrument called a Hang recently created in Switzerland, which looks like two steelpans glued together and sounds like a harp or bells. youtube.com/watch?v=mS8ei…

Santana DVX was actually a real thing – Not only did Carlos Santana produce an expensive sparkling wine, but also percussion instruments and a line of women's shoes ultimatesantana.com/Santa…

The popular 60's band Lovin' Spoonful's most iconic hit song 'Daydream' utilized a mechanical typewriter for percussion. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The…

Paul McCartney ate celery during the song "Vega-Tables" by the Beach Boys to provide percussion for the song en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veg…

Footballer Dion Dublin invented a percussion instrument, which he called "The Dube" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dio…

There's a percussion instrument called a hang drum that uses the same concept as a steel drum. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han…

Paul McCartney chewed celery and carrots as percussion in 2 different songs: Vegetables by the Beach Boys (1967) and Receptacle for the Respectable by Super Furry Animals (2001) mtv.com/news/articles/145…

Avedis Zildjian and Vic Firth, two of the biggest names in percussion, merged. Article Inside.