The international drum industry is launching an innovative meet-up concept for drummers and percussionists from all parts of the world: Home of Drums will combine product presentations, knowledge transfer, concerts and performances, and will give visitors an opportunity to get in touch with professionals. The event’s premiere will take place on 3 and 4 April in the grounds of the Frankfurt Fair & Exhibition Centre during Musikmesse. In future, on the accompanying online platform homeofdrums.com, percussion enthusiasts are invited all year long to network with each other, to take part in video lessons with well-known artists, and to keep up to date with the latest news of the event.  Â
Home of Drums will feature practical use cases and personal exchanges between manufacturers and musicians. Standardised complete packages will give exhibitors an opportunity to showcase themselves at small expense jointly with their colleagues in the industry. The concept is gaining traction: thus brands such as DW, GEWA, Gibraltar, Gretsch, Latin Percussion, Mapex, Millenium, Natal, Paiste, PDP, Pearl, Protection Racket, Remo, Roland, Sabian, Sonor, Toca Percussion, Vic Firth, Yamaha, Zildjian and Zultan have already registered to attend Home of Drums.
Numerous exhibitors will be bringing themselves and their artists to contribute directly to the event and workshop programme, making the event a fully packed playground for the drummer scene. In addition, Home of Drums will be offering a large number of mixed test stations, at which visitors will be able to try instruments out live and compare them with each other. Thus, for example, sets from leading manufacturers in categories such as “Basic”, “Jazz”, “Fusion”, etc. will be presented, directly next to each other and irrespective of their brand affiliation, in areas acoustically designed for them. The joint partner in charge of realisation will be Onlinelessons.tv GmbH. The minds behind the web-tutorial community will be contributing their superb networking on the international musician, artist and manufacturer scene and will be taking a leading part in the organisation of the programme.Â
“The idea of creating an innovative meeting point for percussion brands and percussion customers, which will promote the exchange of information and be continued in digital space, comes directly from the industry. We are highly enthusiastic about the project and are sure that Home of Drums at the Frankfurt Fair & Exhibition Centre will create an ideal home. Our partners at Onlinesessions.tv have already achieved great things to imbue the concept with life and will function as the ideal interface between ourselves as the organiser, the manufacturers and the drum community”, says Michael Biwer, Group Show Director in theEntertainment, Media & Creative Industries division of Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH. Â
“It is time for a new form of collaboration in the drummer scene, which will put the focus on the visitor – and I am happy that the industry has recognised this. The manufacturers are very interested in shifting their focus to the interaction with visitors instead of maximum-opulence brand showcasing. Through Home of Drums the community is finally getting an event of its own, plus an online platform with a clear practical orientation. A particular feature is the way in which the project will be alive not just during Musikmesse but will also have much to offer on the net both in the time before and afterwards”, says Florian Alexandru-Zorn, founder and managing director of Onlinelessons.tv GmbH.
Among the highlights on the programme for Home of Drums will be a special concert evening in collaboration with the Baden-Wurttemberg Pop Academy, at which world-famous percussionists will perform jointly with a house band. As a complement to the percussion brands, the event will also be offering exhibition facilities for manufacturers of drum-relevant products and accessories, such as microphones, music-software, in-ear equipment and more.
During the Home of Drum event days (Friday and Saturday, 3 – 4 April) the programme at Musikmesse will focus on end-customer music enthusiasts. On these days, as a supplement to the exhibition halls, the second Musikmesse Plaza will be taking place, at which visitors can try out instruments, sound carriers, equipment and further music-related products and purchase them directly. On the first two days of the fair (Wednesday and Thursday, 1 – 2 April) the main direction of the event will be towards trade visitors.
The online platform www.homeofdrums.com will launch in August 2019 and every month from this time will be announcing the names of new artists who will be taking part in the event. Further information at www.musikmesse.com
