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Ramy of A&F Drum Company took to social media to talk about how they built Big Bertha II. A&F Started hinting that “something big” was going to be announced soon.
Big Bertha is a bass drum used by the Longhorn Band of The University of Texas at Austin. The Big Bertha name was chosen to evoke the famous German Big Bertha howitzer.
The university claims Big Bertha to be the world’s largest drum; it measures 8 feet (2.44 m) in diameter, 44 inches (1.12 m) in depth, and stands 10 feet (3 m) tall when on its four-wheeled cart. The drum weighs more than 500 pounds (230 kg). Big Bertha is wheeled onto the field for the pre-game show during varsity football games and is used in other occasions such as parades and spirit rallies. The drum is managed by the Bertha Crew, sometimes called “drum wranglers.” The crew move the drum and play it after touchdowns. Big Bertha is nicknamed the “Sweetheart of the Longhorn Band”.
In 1922, the University of Chicago commissioned C.G. Conn Instruments to build a bass drum for the school. Its first use was in the 1922 game versus rival Princeton University. When the University of Chicago ended its varsity football program, the drum was stored under the school’s bleachers. It later became radioactively contaminated because of research for the Manhattan Project conducted at the stadium during the 1940s.
In 1954, Colonel D. Harold Byrd, a long-time benefactor of the Longhorn Band, suggested that the drum be purchased from the University of Chicago and given a new and glorious home in the heart of Texas. Mr. Moton Crockett Jr, former student, and Director of the Longhorn Band, purchased Bertha for $1.00 and transported the drum from Elkhart, Indiana to Austin, Texas using his own truck and trailer. Mr. Crockett refurbished the drum during the spring and summer of 1955 and presented it to incoming Director of the Longhorn Band, Vincent R. DiNino. Mr. Crockett established an endowment for the care of Bertha.
Ramy writes:
PART 1:
Hey all, Ramy here.
I just want to pause this morning and officially thank the team of folks that helped us Birth Big Bertha II! Let’s start with the one that brought us to the dance, the Godfather and UT Alumni, Kyle Bunting for introducing us to the UT Austin Texas Band Director which launched this whole collaboration…Big thank you brother, this wouldn’t of happened without you!
Next up, my incredible A&F Team Tiffany, Tabber, Shalyn, Rob, Richard, Josh, Danny, Chris, Taylor, Luca, and Micah who spent a couple of years with me designing, testing, testing, testing, testing, and developing what would be the final approach at Big Bertha II…Love you all deeply!!!
Once we had the design in place, I reached out to our dear friend Nathan Nathan Swartzbaugh to help us locally source and cut the metal to spec. Can’t have a Big Bertha II without the right metal and cuts…thanks dude!!
Now, the big collaboration! I reached out to a very dear friend and kindred spirit, Eric Spille of Kentex Metals and said, “I’ve got to make this really big drum and it needs a really awesome trailer, will you help me…pleeeeeeese???” Eric is one of the most proficient metal fabricators in the country, and I knew if anyone could help us do this, it was going to be him. Did I mention that I wanted the trailer that housed the drum to be able to rotate the whole drum at least 90 degrees? Guess what, I was right!!! Eric and his collaborator Peter not only helped build the drum to my heart’s content, but he also made the trailer that I could only dream of to rotate this massive drum 360 degrees effortlessly and did it all with incredible style and magnified detail! Creative highlights like the UT tower holding the turning wheel, metal cut outs of the year and long horn in the metal, AND LONG HORN HANDLES…. COME ON!!! Eric and Peter’s attention to detail, passion greatness, and unbelievable warmth of spirit all made this drum and trailer what it is! Guys I can’t thank you enough from the bottom of my heart, you are truly masters of your craft!
PART 2:
So next came the how do we make heads this big issue…we’ll you call Remo Percussion that’s how! I had long chats back and forth with Bryan and Chris at Remo, trying to convince them to make the heads we needed for this drum. Guys remember this is a 65-year-old company that has mastered the drumhead world. They know better than anyone what can and can’t be done with heads. Well after a few weeks of begging, they came to our rescue and figured out how to make the biggest bass drumheads ever made for the biggest bass drum ever made! I’m eternally grateful for you and in awe of your skills, thank you always for making this possible!
Ok so we have the drum, the trailer, the heads, now what…LOGOS!!!
How do we get the logos on these massive heads? Well we turned to one of Austin’s top street art muralists and brother from another mother Aaron Darling that’s how! Aaron jumped right in, figured out the right materials we needed, the scale, colors, and details, drew it all up to spec, and got it all on these massive heads beautifully, can’t thank you enough amigo!
Next, we needed a dust cover to sit over the drum when it’s not in use. Aaron’s mother-in-law Sara Huddon to the rescue! Folks, this sweet lady stitched a 114” black cloth dust cover BY HAND!!! So so grateful for you Mrs. Sara, you really blessed us!
Last but not least, my dear friend and right-hand film/photo collaborator Steven Gunter. Steven and I have been filming a documentary on the making of BBII from the get-go and hope to release it sometime next year. We will tell the full story of BBI and the full making of BBII through her release on the field. Steven is one of the most proficient creatives I know. When we collaborate on projects together, they always end up better then I imagined THANK GOD! Love you my brotha!
To all of those who work behind the scenes conspicuously but with no less passion and talent then the rest of us, if I knew your names, I would list them all but I do know God sees your handy work and His rewards are so much greater than ours!
Huge thank you to UT Austin and UT Alumni Band for trusting us with this amazing opportunity, here’s to another 100 years!
Big Bertha history source: HERE
