The drummer and drumstick manufacturer Vic Firth has died aged 85. After becoming the youngest member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra as timpanist aged 21, he continued to play with the orchestra for an impressive 50 years, also making him the longest serving member, too! During that tenure, he became dissatisfied with the quality of the sticks available at the time. Noticing that string players might spend thousands on a bow, he wondered why a quality range of sticks for symphonic percussionists was not available. He whittled a prototype from a bulky stick, had them manufactured and began selling them himself in the Sixties. This business quickly grew, and now sells millions of sticks Worldwide to all kinds of performers, from symphonic percussionists for which the sticks were first invented to rock drummers. http://www.musicradar.com/news/drums/vic-firth-1930-2015-625434 RIP Vic. A great musician and a great inventor, whose products have featured on many great albums.
