Washer Bottle Foot Drum

Here is the latest finished piece of the project: a foot drum, made from a Mercedes Benz washer fluid reservoir. This reservoir was replaced because of a small crack in the bottom of the tank. It had potential so I saved it from the dumpster. I was not sure if it should be played by hand with drumsticks or if it should be played with a foot pedal. I decided it was more interesting to try and mount it for a foot pedal.

The reservoir while still in the vehicle.

The mount for this drum was somewhat involved. I wanted to be able to attach it to a foot pedal adapter that I already had. It took several different size pieces of scrap metal, but I managed to make the mount and it worked out quite nicely.

This is the finished foot drum.

Overall I am pretty happy with this drum. I like the sound and I like that it is foot operated. The mount was a little challenging, but it worked out in the end.
I have three other washer and coolant reservoirs, but I think those are going to be made into drums that are played by hand with sticks.

The Forgotten Foot

The Forgotten Foot is the title of the drum method that I co-wrote with Kofi Baker. Kofi is the son of legendary Cream drummer Ginger Baker. The purpose of the book is to highlight the importance of left foot independence and 4-way coordination . The book goes through beginner to advanced lessons. There are six chapters which include Fundamentals, Rudiments, Rock Beats & Fills, Jazz & Shuffle, Double Bass and Foot Patterns. A CD is also included with the book. It is being published by Hal Leonard, and it is scheduled to be released this fall. I will post updates when I know more.

Bell Gong

This piece started out inside of the automatic transmission of a Dodge Dakota. It is actually called a 'drum'. This part was damaged and had to be replaced when the transmission was overhauled.

It did not take many modifications to use this 'drum'. I only had to weld a large washer on the top to have something to hang it from. It has a resonant sound, much like a bell or a gong. I hope to find two or three more of these to have a multi pitch set.