Mekarer, who may be the MacGyver of the music world, has turned a sponge into a snare drum, using a guitar pickup and a piece of string:

Here’s his English explanation:

“I use Reaktor to translate the signal with its amplitube to snare drums. Each punch, with sound a snare drum (not the same snare all the time, it changes after every puch) and it has a the amplitude of the punch. It is very sensitive and there are some great stuff I can do with the Reaktor, like setting the dynamic range.”

Authorities in Scotland are racing against the clock to locate more than 30 people feared to be at risk from anthrax after they attended the wake of a man who apparently died from the disease.

Pascal Norris, an artist and musical instrument-maker, died in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary on 8 July. He had been using untreated animal skins to make drum heads, and public-health officials believe these skins are the most likely source of the infection.

Friends said Norris had been using roadkill badgers to get skin for the drum heads because, as a vegetarian and a Buddhist, he would not have wanted to buy skins from a commercial supplier.

Ten friends of 50-year-old Pascal Norris - believed to be the first person in Britain to die from anthrax in 30 years - are already being treated with antibiotics as a precaution after they attended the ceremony at his home in Hawick in the Borders.
Continue reading ‘Killer Head Takes Life of Scotsman; 30 More at Risk’

Bloomberg, of all places, has an interesting discussion of steel drums and the love/hate relationship that Shell Oil has had for the instrument.

Notes William Rosales, Shell Trinidad’s 36-year-old engineer charged with overseeing the manufacture of more than 42,000 Shell oil barrels annually: “Let me state for the record that our used drums are disposed of properly and that Shell health and safety regulations prevent the use of empty drums for anything but Shell oil products.'’ Continue reading ‘The Strange History of Steel Drums’

Vado Diomande, the African dancer and drummer who was struck with inhalation anthrax last month, is recovering and plans to dance and drum again.

In his first public comments since falling ill, Diomande praised his doctors.

“They do very good job,” he said. “Because if not them, maybe I’m not here today.” Continue reading ‘African Drummer Struck With Anthrax Doing Well’

Vado Diomande, 44, a New York drum maker and performer, has contracted inhalation anthrax. Authorities believe that he may have contracted the illness from raw animal hides that he imports from Africa to build drums.

Diomande had recently travelled to Africa and became ill shortly after returning to the US. He had brought goat hides with him when he returned. Goat hides are used in the construction of djembe drums.
It’s not clear yet whether he came into contact with Anthrax in Africa, or was exposed to it though the skins he brought back.

Several others are believed to be exposed to anthrax spores and are being treated with antibiotics.
Continue reading ‘African Drum Builder Contracts Anthrax from Hides’