NAMM 2004 International World's Fastest Drummer Competition

Tiger Bill and 9 Year Old Son Compete!

Since I first heard about the Drumometer, a device capable of accurately measuring drumming speed, I have wanted to try my hand (and feet) at it and so I bought one. Soon after I found out about the World's Fastest Drummer Competitions and wanted to try that too. Well I finally had the chance and had a ton of fun along with my son, Steve. Here's the story in words, pictures, and video.

First Day of the Preliminaries
The way the competition works is that you can do as many "runs" on the Drumometer as you'd like prior to the finals . The day before the finals, the top 10 fastest drummers in both the hand and foot category are chosen to compete in the finals. For my first run on the first day, I scored 1060 single strokes with my hands and 1011 with my feet. These happen to have been my top scores for the entire competition.

Steve Meligari at Finals getting lost in the huge WFD shirt!

"Tiger" Steve Performing on Hands and Feet at Winter NAMM 2004

Making the Final Cut
On the day prior to the finals, my son Steve's top score of 771 on his hands got him into the finals, making him the youngest athlete ever to qualify. My top scores qualified me as well.

Tiger Bill concentrating as Drumometer Counts Down during Finals

Tiger Bill Wins Fastest Hands at Winter NAMM 2004

D-Day
On the day of the finals, the three hour jet lag was beginning to get to me and my son, not to mention the demos I was doing at various booths during the prior three days of the NAMM show. But the finals is your last chance so you have to pull yourself together and do your best, no matter what.

When it was all over, I had won the Fastest Hands Competition and set a new record as only the 2nd person to have broken the 1000 barrier with single strokes on the feet, putting me just 19 strokes behind the current long-time champ Tim Waterson. (Now Timmy will have to start practicing again!) Steve became the youngest athlete ever to qualify for the finals. Mike Duncan won Fastest Feet with a score of 782.

All in all, my son Steve and I had a terrific time and that's really what it's all about. (Although our cut of the $10,000 in prizes wasn't hard to take either!)

Mike Duncan Wins Fastest Feet at Winter NAMM 2004

Conclusion of NAMM 2004 International Fastest Drummer Competition

Until next time: Stay loose!

Tiger Bill