Need ATTITUDE? Play a Trixon Drum Kit!
History is a passion for me! It may be antique furniture, family geneology, or even Vintage Drums. I came across Trixon Drums while surfing for old jazz band pictures from Philadelphia when I was researching my grandfather. Trixon, ironically was manufactured in our sister city, Hamburg Germany. The story behind the company and the quality through German innovation is incredible! The "style" is downright...cool!
"Near the end of WWII in Germany a G.I. named Bob was on a patrol with a U.S. infantry squad. The squad entered a building and found several men seated, dressed in civilian clothes. They offered no resistance and declared that they were not with the German army. The sergeant of the squad immediately noticed that although the men were dressed as civilians, they were all wearing regulation German Army hobnail boots.
The sergeant determined that if the captured men did not have a plausible reason for wearing German Army boots, under regulation they could be shot as spies. G.I. Bob apparently knew enough German, and one of the prisoners knew enough English, to conclude that although the men had been attached to the German Army, they were musicians, not soldiers. The sergeant noticed an accordion in the room and he told Bob to tell the men that if they were musicians, somebody better know how to play it. Bob and the English-speaking German conveyed the message to the others.
One of the Germans picked up the accordion and began to play “The Yellow Rose of Texas.” Perhaps the sergeant was a Texan, for this gesture convinced him to spare the prisoners. Some years later, G.I. Bob and one of the Germans recognized each other at a banquet in Frankfurt, Germany. G.I. Bob is Robert Zildjian, the founder of the Sabian Cymbal Co., and the German was Karl Heinz Weimer, founder of the Trixon Drum Company." (http://www.drummagazine.com/gear/post/a-strange-tale-of-an-odd-drum-set/)
"In the late 1950s Trixon produced its most recognizable product, the ellipsoidal bass drum, dubbed the "Speedfire". Resembling a cylinder flattened on one side into a trapezoidal-like shape, the drum was designed to be fitted with two bass drum pedals side-by-side. The interior of the drum was divided into two sections, and the unique shape of the shell allowed each pedal to produce a different pitch. Another innovation was the "Telstar" series, which featured conical shaped tom-toms and bass drums, tapered so one end was narrower than the other. The tom-toms were played from the narrow end of the shell, while the bass drum was played from the wide end."(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trixon_Drums)
Trixon kits are highly collectable and an "Icon for Cool" that represents an era in music that produced some of the most accomplished jazz drummers of our time! Check out the Trixon site in Germany if you get a chance. (http://www.trixondrums.de/) They have tons of pictures of kits and jazz drummers that played them! All Trixon pictures and content are copyrighted and used with permission from my new friend Ingo at (http://www.trixondrums.de/) .
Need ATTITUDE? Play a Trixon drum kit!
