Home of Drums
John Riley, Alex Landenburg and other artists to attend the new Community Event at Musikmesse
The international drumming scene has a new meeting place: the ‘Home of Drums’ will be celebrating its launch at the Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Centre on Musikmesse’s public open days (3 and 4 April 2020). The event combines product demonstrations by top brands, knowledge transfer and performances by international artists. The presence of the first artists to sign up has already been confirmed. They will be there to perform live on some of the drum sets and to pass on their expertise to the drumming community at large – both at the show and on the accompanying online platform, www.homeofdrums.com.
The organisers are delighted to be able to welcome John Riley, one of the international greats of modern and fusion jazz. The US American has worked with the scene’s biggest stars for more than four decades: his studio credits include artists such as Miles Davis, Woody Herman, John Hart, Milt Jackson and Kenny Werner. Metalheads can also look forward to seeing Alex Landenburg: a drummer with Axxis and Rhapsody for many years, he has, more recently, delighted fans and critics alike as a member of the rock group 21Octayne. Originally from the Saarland in Germany, he has also swung the drumsticks for the Swedish metal band Cyhra and for the prog group Mekong Delta. Claus Heßler, a well-known exponent of ‘open-handed playing’ is also confirmed as one of the artists attending Home of Drums. The German has made a name for himself not only through his collaboration with Mike Stern, Herb Ellis, Randy Brecker and other greats of the jazz world, but also through numerous publications and through his teaching work at several international universities. Also on board is the multitalented Daniel Schild. Born in the rural Vogelsberg region, he is a musician who has drummed his way through all musical genres, in the studio, on stage and at various drum festivals. He created a particular stir among the community with his successful workshop tour with drumming legend Dave Lombardo (Slayer). Schild has graced more than 40 albums of a hugely diverse range of musicians with the delicate precision of his playing.
Home of Drums – Innovative community hub combines online networking and face-to-face meetings
The launch of Home of Drums opens up new communal pathways for both the drum industry and Messe Frankfurt. The focus is on direct communication between manufacturers and musicians – during the show in Frankfurt, as well as before and afterwards in digital space.
Companies will have the opportunity to present themselves alongside their sectoral colleagues and, with minimum investment of time and effort, be able to demonstrate their products, present their endorsers and get direct feedback from practitioners. By using the web platform, the community will be able to stay in touch 365 days a year. There will be regular courses in video format on advanced playing techniques, drum hacks and DIY tips, comparative testing, news of and stories behind products and artists. Moreover, homeofdrums.com grants an inside look behind the scenes of participating manufacturers: from documentaries on production sites and methods to exclusive interviews.
Another feature of the digital strategy involves dedicated media rooms on site at the event. They offer fully equipped AV production studios, where manufacturers and artists can produce video content for their channels directly and, if they so wish, stream it live.
The concept has been extremely well received by the sector. Brands who have already signed up to join us at Home of Drums include DW, GEWA, Gibraltar, Gretsch, Latin Percussion, Mapex, Millenium, Natal, Paiste, PDP, Pearl, Protection Racket, Remo, Roland, Sabian, Sonor, Toca Percussion, Vic Firth, Yamaha, Zildjian and Zultan.
Many of the brands will be attending the Events and Workshop Programme directly with their endorsers. This programme will take place in Forum.0 and Forum.1 of the Fair and Exhibition Centre. Included in the event, moreover, are plenty of mixed trialling booths, where visitors can try out and compare various instruments in several different categories, irrespective of the brand. On top of that, a variety of highlights include a dedicated concert evening, to be held in collaboration with the Baden Wurttemberg Pop Academy, at which world-famous drum stars will perform with a house group. Partners cooperating with Messe Frankfurt in the Home of Drums project are Onlinelessons.tv GmbH, who bring to it their many years of experience of networking with both musicians and manufacturers, and curate the video content at homeofdrums.com.
Home of Drums is part of the public event, ‘Musikmesse Plaza’. This will take place on 3 and 4 April (Friday and Saturday) as a complement to Musikmesse and includes products and services for amateurs, interested non-specialists and music lovers. The centrepiece of Musikmesse Plaza is Hall 4.1, where end-consumers with an interest in music can try out instruments, audio equipment and lifestyle items and purchase them on the spot. Another of the highlights is, moreover, a special event entitled the ‘International Vintage Show’. Here, visitors will find guitars and basses with much tradition and history and will be able to take part in Fender and Gibson workshops. Reduced-price tickets will be available for the public on the Musikmesse Plaza days.
Musikmesse is open to trade visitors from 1 to 4 April 2020. The event also offers admission at reduced prices for the general public on 3 and 4 April, when there will also be an extended range of events.
