Sabbar's Big Drum By Harmon Harrison
The birth of the seven foot big drum began on a cold,
wintry night in the kitchen of the Harrison home where
two good friends were enjoying an exciting card game
of "Old Maid". The 1979 conversation turned to the Drum
& Bugle Corps performance in the Tombstone Parade the
prior weekend. I had played the bass drum for several
years and a friend, Roger Biede, remarked how great the parades in his native Chicago were when the Units included a monstrous drum drawn by two men pulling a drum cart.
I telephoned Medinah Temple in Chicago the next day and learned that not only had they just obtained a new giant parade drum but they also had an old large drum which might be available at a price of $800.00. Subsequent investigation revealed the old drum was on display as a temple treasure and could not be bought at any price. Thus the drum topic died...a paradoxical situation of a too expensive musical instrument that could not be bought at any price.
Dr Biede joined Sabbar Shrine Temple in 1993 and quickly became an outstanding member of the Clown Unit. The giant drum project had been dormant for 14 years but it was never out of mind.
Finally, in 1997, Dr. Harrison brought his two-foot bass drum home from a Drum & Bugle Corps practice session one evening and took it completely apart. The two friends were shocked at what they found! A drum is just two membranes (the drumheads) mounted upon wooden or metal round frames and held in place with adjustable clamps. The clamps can be tightened or loosened to change the tone of the instrument. The two friends decided that a seven-foot giant drum could be built in a couple of months in their spare time at a cost of around $200.00. Why spend $800.00 for a used drum when we could build a brand new one for a mere $200.00 and a little spare time?
A work plan was developed and a Los Angeles Drum Company consulted to supply the drumheads at a nominal fee. A list of construction materials was devised and included wood glue, woo clamps, pine and oak wood, screws, epoxy adhesives, sandpaper, wood sanders and a wood router. A place was cleared in a carport in Dr. Biede"s garage next to a vintage car he was rebuilding and the work began.
The giant wooden carcass was constructed--carefully glued together and clamped into place. Five days later when the clamps were removed, the whole thing fell apart. After six months of work by many members of the Drum Unit and assorted friends, the circular drum body emerged as a sound, many-layered reality.
Over two dozen volunteer workers toiled to sandpaper and smooth the drum down to a tolerance of a few thousands of an inch. Four 500-mile round trips to the Los Angeles Drum Company were required to obtain the drumheads and then fit them to the drum. Several sets of special drumhead clamps were carefully constructed and discarded until the right ones were found for the job and the drum tone was satisfactory.
The drumheads are made of mylar---a tough, synthetic substance which can withstand the rigors of drum transportation and pounding by the enthusiastic drummer. Many Tucson, Chicago and California drum stores, drum makers and musical instrument technicians were consulted and hundreds of hours of sanding, painting and polishing were required to complete this phase of the work.
Sabbar Temple's expert metalsmith, Bob Langmead, appeared on the scene to design and build the 400 pound drum cart upon which the musical giant is permanently anchored. At last the day arrived to mount the drum on the trailer and it was found to be an imperfect fit so Bob completely rebuilt the cart with five shiny chrome motorcycle wheels and good, functional trailer brakes.
A large, four-wheeled, sealed, custom-made trailer was delivered by a local trailer company and the drum was rolled into its' final home and stoutly secured in place just in time for it's first public appearance in the February 2000 Tucson Rodeo Parade.
The drum was pulled through the 2 1/2 mile parade with four husky Shriners who spelled each other for the long parade route. They all had an exhausting workout.
A few months later a local artist lettered the trailer and drum which now bears the fine Shrine emblem. The completed drum, in all it's finery, appeared in the annual Fourth of July Parade in Patagonia, Arizona three months ago. It was proudly pulled by the six-foot, five inch tall Shrine Clown, Dr. Roger Biede, who is largely responsible for the giant drums' existence.
A little six-year-old boy stood by the drum following the parade an said, "Mama, this man won't tell me how much he paid for this big drum. I want to start saving for one when I am a big man." The mother replied, "Darling, I don't think the man knows how much the drum cost." The mother was right... the little boy had a smile on his face, the mother had an even larger smile on her face but the largest smile was on the face of the tall Shrine Clown
