WILLIAM ZICKOS — DRUM SET PIONEER
BIOGRAPHY, DRUM SET COMPOSITIONS, Photo ROll
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WILLIAM ZICKOS
First and foremost, William Zickos was a jazz drummer. In addition, he was an accomplished teacher, composer, inventor, businessman, and an incredibly spiritual human being. Born in Fulton, Missouri in 1929, he attended Western Reserve University in the pre-med program. A fateful encounter with Buddy Rich led to him sitting in with Buddy’s band. Afterwards, the praise he received from Rich encouraged him to switch careers from medicine to being adrummer, and he never regretted it. He soon began touring with popular big bands, including those of Ray Anthony, Tommy Dorsey and Vern Byers. But it was while traveling with Stan Kenton and performing his Latin-influenced music that Bill began to see some of the vast potential of drums and percussion ensembles. At the same time, he was studying music with Pete Rugolo, Kenton’s chief composer/arranger who encouraged him in his compositions and to think outside the box, musically speaking. Eventually, Bill settled in the Shawnee Mission area of Kansas City, Kansas and for many years had an active private teaching studio and was a beloved drum teacher to numerous students. |
One of his primary pedagogical tools was having his students play original drum set solos that he composed specifically for them. In addition, he composed works for drum set duets through quintets that were performed by ensembles of his students. These groups and Zickos’ compositions were well known around the region and his students won many top awards at state music competitions. In addition to compositions for drum set solo and drum ensembles, he wrote drum set ensemble concerti that featured drum set soloists with wind band accompaniment. Two of these compositions were the featured centerpiece of a combined half-time performance with two of the Shawnee Mission high schools at a Kansas City Chiefs’ football game in 1968.
William Zickos is considered the father of acrylic drums. He first experimented with clear acrylic drum shells in 1959. He invented, patented, and produced the first clear drum shells along with other innovations in drum set and hardware design. His drums were an instant success and were played by Keith Moon of The Who, Ron Bushy of Iron Butterfly, Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, Floyd Sneed of Three Dog Night, Buddy Miles, and many, many others.
William Zickos was one of the earliest pioneers of original concert-style drum set composition. Not content to simply write drum set pieces that featured jazz-ride patterns with improvisation, Zickos composed pieces that explored the nexus of the newly emerging percussion ensembles with an ensemble of drum sets as the main instruments. His compositions were so groundbreaking, that there was no system for the notation of large drum set. This led Zickos to create his own drum set notation system involving letters with numbers above the notes to indicate various tom toms and cymbals.
Episode 105 of the Drum History Podcast is titled The History of Zickos Drums. It is an interview with Wes Faulconer who knew William Zickos well and shares many stories about Zickos’ inventive techniques of making drum shells and drum hardware. Give it a listen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB-fGZ2NVes
William Zickos is considered the father of acrylic drums. He first experimented with clear acrylic drum shells in 1959. He invented, patented, and produced the first clear drum shells along with other innovations in drum set and hardware design. His drums were an instant success and were played by Keith Moon of The Who, Ron Bushy of Iron Butterfly, Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, Floyd Sneed of Three Dog Night, Buddy Miles, and many, many others.
William Zickos was one of the earliest pioneers of original concert-style drum set composition. Not content to simply write drum set pieces that featured jazz-ride patterns with improvisation, Zickos composed pieces that explored the nexus of the newly emerging percussion ensembles with an ensemble of drum sets as the main instruments. His compositions were so groundbreaking, that there was no system for the notation of large drum set. This led Zickos to create his own drum set notation system involving letters with numbers above the notes to indicate various tom toms and cymbals.
Episode 105 of the Drum History Podcast is titled The History of Zickos Drums. It is an interview with Wes Faulconer who knew William Zickos well and shares many stories about Zickos’ inventive techniques of making drum shells and drum hardware. Give it a listen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB-fGZ2NVes
Drum Set Solos
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DRUMFIRE
Drumfire was originally composed for snare drum and bass drum. Most of William Zickos' students played Drumfire as their first solo. Once it was mastered on the snare and bass, the student was encouraged to improvise the composition "around the drums", incorporating tom toms and cymbals as desired. |
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MYTON
MYTON (also called Pete's Dilemma) is a drum set solo that is scored for snare drum, bass drum, three tom toms, hi-hat cymbals, and ride cymbal. This solo has a very clear structural organization with an introduction, quazi-Latin section, triplet section, sixteenth section, and a coda. |
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ARTISTRY IN DISPLAY
Artistry in Display is one of Zickos' most advanced solos. It is scored for snare drum, bass drum, three tom toms, and two cymbals. This composition features a unique poly-rhythmic section where the bass drum has an ostinato passage in 7/8 while the other instrument float through a variety of changing time signatures. |
Drum Set Duos
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CO 2
CO2 was composed in 1964. CO2 is scored for snare drum, bass drum, two tom toms, ride cymbal, crash cymbal, and hi-hat cymbals. This piece features the opportunity for both players to solo with precisely notated passages as well as exploring their improvisational skills. The work also features an extended passage that highlights the bass drums. |
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META 2
Of the three drum set duets, Meta2 is perhaps the one that is the easiest to perform. It is scored for a simple four-piece drum kit: Snare Drum, Bass Drum, High Tom Tom, and Low Tom Tom. This is not to say that this duet is "easy". There is a great deal of interplay between the two musicians that requires careful listening to balance the composite melodies and musical dialogues that make up much of this duet. |
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OZONE 2
Ozone2 was the duet that was featured at PASIC 2024 in Indianapolis, performed by the William Zickos Drum Set Quartet with Doug Auwarter, John Brazelton, Ron Vaughn, and Norman Weinberg. Scored for a five-piece kit, it requires snare drum, bass drum, three tom toms, ride cymbal and crash cymbal. This one is exciting to play and features a good deal of "back and forth solos". It also has a contrasting slower section in the middle of the piece. |
Drum Set Ensembles
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AN OPERATIONAL VARIABLE
An Operational Variable has several unique features that make this ensemble unique. Player two's kit includes a set of bongos along with the standard four-piece kit. Additionally, the use of brushes and mallets by the players helps to create sonic variety during the piece. An Operational Variable is available as a drum set quartet and as a drum set quintet with the addition of two timpani. |
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EVOLUTION IN ERUPTION
Evolution in Eruption, is only available as a quintet ensemble with drum set, suspended cymbal, four tom toms, bass drum, and timpani. It was a favorite of many of William Zickos' students who had the opportunity to play this piece. |
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POLYIDEAISM
Polyideaism is an extremely exciting piece with a tempo of Quarter = 300! It was always performed with Player One counting off the piece by yelling "1,2,3,4" just about as fast as they could! Both the quartet and quintet versions are a blast to play and feature Players One and Two in a number of solos passages. Polyideaism is available as a drum set quartet and as a drum set quintet with the addition of two timpani. |
Artistry in Creative Drumming (Method Book)
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ARTISTRY IN CREATIVE DRUMMING
f the three drum set duets, Meta2 is perhaps the one that is the easiest to perform. It is scored for a simple four-piece drum kit: Snare Drum, Bass Drum, High Tom Tom, and Low Tom Tom. This is not to say that this duet is "easy". There is a great deal of interplay between the two musicians that requires careful listening to balance the composite melodies and musical dialogues that make up much of this duet. |
William Zickos Photo Roll