Purdue to host celebration for Big Bass Drum

By Jamie Teibel
Senior Writer

Purdue is throwing a party almost as big as its drum to celebrate the famous instrument's 80th birthday.

Activities begin Sunday at the Long Center with the Purdue Symphony's Orchestra Pops concert. The concert begins at 2:30 p.m.

The Leedy Manufacturing Company introduced the drum, which only cost $800 to build, to the world in the fall of 1921. The idea of the monstrous instrument is credited to Paul Spotts Emrick, Purdue's band director at the time.

He wanted to make the then 100-piece band world famous and thought having a drum bigger than any other in the world would do it.

It did, and now the more than 10-foot tall drum is recognized worldwide, along with the Purdue "All American" Marching Band.

"It was a big deal, but it's become a bigger deal. The legend is almost as big as the drum," said Kathy Matter, director of public relations for Purdue bands and coordinator of the drum's birthday celebration.

She said two weeks of events will commemorate the drum's longevity. The finale is the Oct. 27 Homecoming game.

For the celebration, the drum will don a "birthday suit," designed and donated by Tim Hiestand, a 1997 Purdue graduate and former member of the Big Bass Drum crew.

He created two drumheads, which will be used for the rest of the season. The design is 8 feet in diameter with a gold wreath around the perimeter, Purdue script across the center, "80th Birthday" written across the top and "1921 to 2001" written across the bottom. All of the artwork was done in metallic gold paint.

"I designed something for everyone to know the importance of the drum. I thought it would be neat to have special drumheads to commemorate it. Everyone loves that drum. People are always in awe of it. It's fascinating that it's still the same drum from 1921," he said.

Hiestand will also be part of the Big Bass Drum crew for the game. His excitement for the celebration stems from his fondness of the band.

"When I first came to Purdue I had no musical background. I saw the band and wanted to be a part of it. From then on, I loved every minute of it."

Marc Gilbert, 96, will also attend the game as a special guest. He was a member of the first Big Bass Drum crew in 1921.

"I think it's a great honor, something I never expected. All I'm hoping is there's no rain or snow that day."

Gilbert became involved with the band by accident. He was a freshman in the then required Army ROTC program, which drilled in the armory. During a session, his drill sergeant noticed that the skinny 16-year-old was about to pass out because of the heat and ordered him to sit down. That's when Gilbert saw a sign requesting new members for the band. He went and applied, was accepted and used the band to fulfill his military requirement.

"It was quite satisfactory; I got to see all the games free, I didn't have to drill very often and it wasn't a chore pulling the drum because there were four of us."

At that time, Gilbert had no idea the drum he was pushing around would become such a popular Purdue tradition.

"I didn’t have that feeling until the University of Chicago tried to compete with a bigger drum, but didn't succeed."

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