Custom Mapex hanging 16-inch tom drum owned by Will Calhoun: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A custom made Mapex "Orion" 16-inch floor tom drum played by Will Calhoun in performances with the band Living Colour. The shell is highly polished silver colored metal with an overlay of etched steel featuring bands of Egyptian art designs of human figures in profile and hieroglyphs. The drum has a silver metal rim and eight gold-plated lugs for the drum heads. Between two pieces of hardware is a metal and plastic mount to attach the tom drum to a drum stand. On either side of the mount is a silver plaque reading [MAPEX / Orion Series / MADE IN CHINA] in engraved text. The plaque to the right of the mount also reads [002865]. The drumhead is a Remo Weatherking Emperor made of clear mylar film. The underside of the drum is a Remo Weatherking Ambassador drumhead made of clear mylar film, it also features the [MAPEX] logo at the top edge of the drum head.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2005
• Manufactured by: Mapex, Taiwanese, founded 1989
• Used by: Will Calhoun, American, born 1964
• Manufactured by: Remo, Inc., American, founded 1957
• Subject of: Living Colour, American, founded 1984
• Type: tom-toms
• Medium: metal, mylar, plastic
• Dimensions: 17 1/4 × 16 3/4 × 20 1/4 in. (43.8 × 42.5 × 51.4 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Popular music
• Topic: Rock and roll (Music)
• Object number: 2015.14.3
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Will Calhoun
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.