World's Biggest Drums

Big Bertha

Big Bertha, is the world's largest bass drum. It is used by the band of the University of Texas at Austin, known as the Longhorn Band. Big Bertha measures eight feet in diameter, 44 inches in depth, and stands 10 feet tall when on its four-wheeled cart. The giant drum weighs more than 500 pounds. It is wheeled onto the field for the half time show during varsity football games, and is used in other occasisons such as parades and spirit rallies. The drum is managed by the Bertha Crew, sometimes called drum wranglers. The crew moves the drum, but the drum is rarely played. Big Bertha is nicknamed the Sweetheart of the Longhorn Band. As of 2005, Big Bertha is celebrating 50 years of service at the University.

In 1922, the University of Chicago commissioned C.G. Conn Instruments to build a big bass drum for the school. Its first use was in the the 1922 game versus rival Princeton University. When the University of Chicago ended its varsity football program, the drum was stored under the school stadium and later became contaminated by research for the Manhattan Project conducted at the stadium during the 1940s.

Colonel D. Harold Boyd, a former Longhorn Band member, brought the world's biggest drum to the University in 1955. He purchased the drum from the University of Chicago for $1.00 USD. The drum had to be decontaminated before being used by the University.

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Big Bertha, the largest bass drum in the world, became the "SWEETHEART OF THE LONGHORN BAND" in 1955. Although she is more than seventy-five years old, her dimensions have remained the same year after year: eight feet in diameter and fifty-four inches wide. When mounted on her trailer, she stands over ten feet tall.

Bertha was created by C.G.Conn, Ltd., for the University of Chicago, and began her long and famous career at the Princeton - Chicago football game on October 23, 1922. When the University of Chicago dropped varsity football, the band was also disbanded and Bertha went into seclusion for a number of years. It was when a movie about the life of the great John Philip Sousa was to be made that Bertha made her comeback. She was offered a role in the film, "Stars and Stripes." Then, in 1955, Colonel D. Harold Byrd, a long-time benefactor of the Longhorn Band, purchased Bertha from the University of Chicago and gave her a new and glorious home in the heart of Texas. Mr. Moton Crockett, former Director of the Longhorn Band, constructed a special trailer for her storage and transportation. Life for Bertha since she has joined us has been luxurious and exciting. Her permanent dwelling is in the comfort of our large Band Hall. For her performances at football games, she is graciously escorted by a group known as the "Bertha Crew".

Big Bertha after her make-over. During the spring and summer of 1998, Mr. Crockett headed an effort by Kappa Kappa Psi and the Longhorn Alumni Band to renovate Big Bertha. She received a fresh paint job, newly chromed clamps and screws, and a new set of eight-foot Remo drumheads. Entering her 78th year, Big Bertha stands tall, booms loud, and proudly exhibits a storied and colorful history as the world's largest marching drum.


Guinness World Record : Biggest DrumThe Ireland Millennium Drum, designed by Brian Fleming and Paraic Breathnac and constructed by Bill Wright and Seamus Purcell, has a diameter of 15 ft. 6 in. and a depth of 6 ft. 3 in. Made from birch plywood and sailcloth, it was first played at the St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin, Ireland's Millemmium Festivals.


The largest drum ever made in the history of the World
Designed and built by Lou Dias & Frank Cahill
First played at the Royal Festival Hall, London, England, on Sunday 31st May 1987.

Vital Statistics
Diameter 13 Feet
Depth 4 Feet
Shell 6 Ply Birch
(1 inch thick)
Lugs 35 Rods & Claws
Head Sail Cloth
Flesh Hoop 40' of 1" Rope
Counter Hoop 4" x 1" Birch
The largest drum ever made in the history of the World
Designed and built by Lou Dias & Frank Cahill
First played at the Royal Festival Hall, London, England, on Sunday 31st May 1987.

Vital Statistics
Diameter 13 Feet
Depth 4 Feet
Shell 6 Ply Birch
(1 inch thick)
Lugs 35 Rods & Claws
Head Sail Cloth
Flesh Hoop 40' of 1" Rope
Counter Hoop 4" x 1" Birch
largest Drum Kit???

That's Terry Bozzio's (ex-Frank Zappa and Fantomas) kit, but if you look at it closely you'll see they're mostly only shells - no heads on them.

Terry: "The photos show just rough shells and mock-up stuff. But the cool thing is the arrangement of the melodic toms: chromatic on the left side - diatonic on the right. Hopefully I'll learn how to play this sucker someday!" (from drummerworld.com)

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