Can a large bassdrum cause an earthquake?

Mike Stand

Mike Stand

Silver Member
I'm just asking because, upon acquiring a new piece of hardware, the good folks at Yamaha included a nice big document containing various warnings like this one:

"Stay away from the drumset if an earthquake occurs."

But what do you do if you are the cause of the earthquake? Are there any recorded incidents of Bonham or Buddy causing tectonic plate movements?

I'm so glad I only have a 20" bassdrum, wouldn't want to be responsible for any little island sinking into the depths, Atlantis-style....
 
If they spent a lot of time in the Sunshine State or Land of the Rising Sun it might have seemed that way.
 
Mike Stand said:
I'm just asking because, upon acquiring a new piece of hardware, the good folks at Yamaha included a nice big document containing various warnings like this one:

"Stay away from the drumset if an earthquake occurs."

But what do you do if you are the cause of the earthquake? Are there any recorded incidents of Bonham or Buddy causing tectonic plate movements?

I'm so glad I only have a 20" bassdrum, wouldn't want to be responsible for any little island sinking into the depths, Atlantis-style....
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Roaring with laughter!
 
Stroker said:
Roaring with laughter!
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This earthquake idea is going down like a lead weight... I must have that kind of humour that only appeals to north americans that are not american. A people whose esprit bridges the gap between the old world and the new world...
A people quirky enough to have a flag in honour of.... maple syrup? I love maple syrup...

Damn, I feel a minor tremor coming on.... now how do I not stand close to my drumset whilst packing it away? Yamaha could have given some clearer instructions...
 
Mike Stand said:
This earthquake idea is going down like a lead weight... I must have that kind of humour that only appeals to north americans that are not american. A people whose esprit bridges the gap between the old world and the new world...
A people quirky enough to have a flag in honour of.... maple syrup? I love maple syrup...

Damn, I feel a minor tremor coming on.... now how do I not stand close to my drumset whilst packing it away? Yamaha could have given some clearer instructions...
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Don't forget poutine! :)

My question is, why has Yamaha failed so egregiously in coming up with a trap-door design for their reso heads, allowing for a drummer to dive directly into the kick (head-first) in the event of a tremor? Do they not teach, drop, cover, and hold-on anymore?
 
Mike Stand said:
But what do you do if you are the cause of the earthquake? Are there any recorded incidents of Bonham or Buddy causing tectonic plate movements.
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I think Bonham stayed away from double bass kits because he could potentially cause an earthquake...
 
In chaos theory the Butterfly Effect is the claim that a butterfly flapping its wings in New Mexico could ultimately cause a hurricane in China through numerous unknown progressive knock-on effects.

So if a butterfly's wings can cause a hurricane, I like the chances of a 26" bass drum causing all sorts of mayhem :)
 
Nikola Tesla, now that guy knew how to cause an earthquake.

If the Butterfly Effect is really a thing, who can say drummers aren't the cause of natural disasters?

Don't soundwaves keep going like radio waves?
 
If an earthquake occurred in my vicinity I would without hesitation Duck and Cover underneath my nearest drum kit and I would play the bass drum as loud as I could in an effort to ward of the forces of nature by neutralizing them with the sonic vibrations that were generated by my bass drum. :)
 
BenjaminCamelot said:
I think Bonham stayed away from double bass kits because he could potentially cause an earthquake...
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Although history records that he didn't actually stay away from them at all. It was more a case of being forcibly removed from them........or them being forcibly removed from him, as the case may be.
In true Bonham fashion, his excessive nature determined that he couldn't help himself. In fact, it was only the ensuing 'bandquake' he caused, that put an end to the madness.

Christ. Can you imagine the low end rumble?? Between John Paul Jones and Bonzo, the absolute last thing that band ever needed was more bottom end.
 
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bobdadruma said:
If an earthquake occurred in my vicinity I would without hesitation Duck and Cover underneath my nearest drum kit and I would play the bass drum as loud as I could in an effort to ward of the forces of nature by neutralizing them with the sonic vibrations that were generated by my bass drum. :)
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Yeah, fighting fire with fire... I like it.

But the question is, do you strike the bass drum head in the centre or just off-centre in this case?

Now we really have a true DW discussion going on guys! And finally some completely unchartered waters...

Let me just check which other wisdoms Yamaha are imparting in their health and safety warnings...
 
larryace said:
Nikola Tesla, now that guy knew how to cause an earthquake.

If the Butterfly Effect is really a thing, who can say drummers aren't the cause of natural disasters?

Don't soundwaves keep going like radio waves?
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If there is no friction then they could travel forever. Unfortunately sound waves can only travel through substances like the air and water which do have friction, so in reality no sound wave travels forever.
 
GruntersDad said:
If there is no friction then they could travel forever. Unfortunately sound waves can only travel through substances like the air and water which do have friction, so in reality no sound wave travels forever.
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Now I'm going to think of you as the Mad Scientist, John! Roaring with laughter!
 
That is not my work but from wiki on sounds....Laugh on. Google is your friend. No sound in space becasue nothing to transfer it.

well, there is friction in air, and it reduces the amplitude until they fade completely. Not to talk about the fact that sound waves emitted by a point source have an intensity decreasing like the square of the distance (like gravity, or electrostatics)


Sound waves are just vibrations. As sound waves travel further and further they get quieter and quieter (the vibrations get smaller). Eventually the sound waves will be so quiet that you wouldn’t even call them sound waves (the vibrations would be so small you wouldn’t be able to tell them apart from atoms vibrating due to heat energy). So the energy from sound waves will carry on moving about, but as for a sound you could hear, no that wouldn’t travel forever.
 
Anon La Ply said:
In chaos theory the Butterfly Effect is the claim that a butterfly flapping its wings in New Mexico could ultimately cause a hurricane in China through numerous unknown progressive knock-on effects.
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I guess I live in just the right place, then!!
 
My Gretsch 22 (diameter) x20" cannon kick with a double pedal will shake my house. The girlfriend thought it was a 'quake at first. =-D
 
No it can cause an earthquake but can stop one. If you feel an earthquake coming on you can beat your bass drums out of sync to the quake so you neutralize the propagating wave with turbulence. But it's like a nuclear bomb and you have to have a critical mass of bass drum or many bass drums in synchrony to neutralize the quake. My "crack" team of scientist are testing the hypothesis but we've had difficulty waiting around for a quake to get us all in synchrony. LOL.
 
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