# Drummers, Jazz enthusiasts:  The history of brushes?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drummers-jazz-enthusiasts-the-history-of-brushes/210087>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 28, 2003, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drummers-jazz-enthusiasts-the-history-of-brushes/210087 "2003-10-28T19:49:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\
**Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drummers-jazz-enthusiasts-the-history-of-brushes/210087/1 "2003-10-28T19:49:06Z")

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It has occurred to me only recently that while I know the history of most any other trap, implement, etc. used as part of the drumset, I don’t know how brushes came to be. Is there anyone out there who might know how such a unique prop evolved?

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**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drummers-jazz-enthusiasts-the-history-of-brushes/210087/2 "2003-10-29T00:34:22Z")

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Odd, I was just thinking the same thing the other day…I remember my brother taking lessons a few thousand years ago, and he had a set of retractable wire brushes for the snare drum.

I think a few things were in play then…first of all, there were no zillion watt speakers attached to guitars and mikes. The wire brushes were just another sound effect to be used for quiet rythmn in the background…sounded “cool” on the snare or cymbols.

As far as who invented them, or when they first started to be used - I haven’t a clue.

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**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drummers-jazz-enthusiasts-the-history-of-brushes/210087/3 "2003-10-29T00:43:34Z")

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Odd, I was just thinking the same thing the other day…I remember my brother taking lessons a few thousand years ago, and he had a set of retractable wire brushes for the snare drum.

I think a few things were in play then…first of all, there were no zillion watt speakers attached to guitars and mikes. The wire brushes were just another sound effect to be used for quiet rythmn in the background…sounded “cool” on the snare or cymbols.

As far as who invented them, or when they first started to be used - I haven’t a clue.

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**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\
**Post date:** [October 29, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drummers-jazz-enthusiasts-the-history-of-brushes/210087/4 "2003-10-29T01:12:06Z")

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As you can see from my double post, I was also a big fan of the echo machine when it came out.