Big Bertha (drum)
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Big Bertha is a
bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter usually greater than its depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The head ...
used by the Longhorn Band of
The University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...
. The Big Bertha name was chosen to evoke the famous German Big Bertha howitzer and has been used for two Texas bass drums, with the second debuting in 2022. Both Big Berthas have laid claim to being the largest bass drum in the world. Big Bertha is wheeled onto the field for the pre-game show during varsity
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
games, and is used in other occasions such as
parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...
s – including the
London's New Year's Day Parade The London Parade (formerly the London's New Year's Day Parade or LNYDP) is an annual parade through the streets of the West End of London on 1 January. The parade first took place in 1987, as the Lord Mayor of Westminster's Big Parade. The par ...
accompanied by the Longhorn Alumni Band – and spirit rallies. The drum is managed by the Bertha Crew, sometimes called "drum wranglers", who move the drum and play it after
touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...
s, and it is nicknamed the "Sweetheart of the Longhorn Band".


The original Big Bertha


Description

The university claimed the original Big Bertha to be the world's largest drum; it measures in diameter, in depth, stands tall when on its four-wheeled cart and weighs more than .


History

In 1922, the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
commissioned C.G. Conn Instruments to build a massive bass drum for the school following a home game where
Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...
's All-American Marching Band brought the Purdue Big Bass Drum. Chicago's drum was first used in the 1922 rival game versus
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
. When the University of Chicago ended its varsity football program in 1939, the drum was stored under the school's
bleachers Bleachers (North American English), or stands, are raised, tiered rows of benches found at sports-fields and at other spectator events. Stairways provide access to the horizontal rows of seats, often with every other step enabling access to a ...
. It later allegedly became radioactively contaminated as a result of research for the
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...
conducted at the stadium during the 1940s, though it passed a Geiger test before it was returned to Conn. In 1954, Colonel D. Harold Byrd, a long-time benefactor of the Longhorn Band, suggested that the drum be purchased from the University of Chicago and given a new home at Texas. Mr. Moton Crockett Jr, former student and Director of the Longhorn Band, purchased Bertha for $1.00 from Conn and transported the drum from Elkhart, Indiana, to Austin, Texas, using his own truck and trailer. Mr. Crockett refurbished the drum during the spring and summer of 1955, and presented it to incoming Director of the Longhorn Band, Vincent R. DiNino. Mr. Crockett established an endowment for the care of Bertha. In 1961, the University of Texas and Purdue University chapters of
Kappa Kappa Psi Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity (, colloquially referred to as KKPsi) is an honorary Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for school band, college and university band members in the United States. It was founded on November ...
pledged to bring their respective drums to a showdown to decide the title of "World's Largest Drum" at the fraternal national convention in
Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...
; however, as only the Purdue branch of the fraternity showed up, with the Purdue Big Bass Drum, UTA lost its self-claimed title to own the "World's Largest Drum". As of 2018, The Guinness Book of World Records lists a Korean drum as the largest. In March 1980 a Kappa Kappa Psi pledge class hand-scraped years' of toxic
lead paint Lead paint or lead-based paint is paint containing lead. As pigment, lead(II) chromate (, "chrome yellow"), lead(II,IV) oxide, (, "red lead"), and lead(II) carbonate (, "white lead") are the most common forms.. Lead is added to paint to acceler ...
from the body of the drum and the drum's trailer, returning the finish to a high luster. The six pledges' names are inscribed on the inner wall of the drum and can only be seen when the drum heads are removed. In 2005, the university celebrated the 50th anniversary of Big Bertha. In 2015, Big Bertha appeared in Season 17, Episode 13 of A&E's ''
Shipping Wars ''Shipping Wars'' is an American reality television series that aired on A&E from January 10, 2012, to April 29, 2015. Season 9 premiered on November 30, 2021, with a new cast of shippers. The show follows various independent shippers who have ...
'' as part of its journey to appear in
London's New Year's Day Parade The London Parade (formerly the London's New Year's Day Parade or LNYDP) is an annual parade through the streets of the West End of London on 1 January. The parade first took place in 1987, as the Lord Mayor of Westminster's Big Parade. The par ...
in
London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
.


Big Bertha II

On October 15, 2022, during halftime of Texas' game against Iowa State in its 100th year of service, the original Big Bertha made its final appearance before entering the school's Frank Denius Family Athletics Hall of Fame, but its successor, Big Bertha II, was also unveiled as it was wheeled to the center of the field at
Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium (formerly War Memorial Stadium, Memorial Stadium, and Texas Memorial Stadium), located in Austin, Texas, on the campus of the University of Texas, has been home to the Texas Longhorns football, Longhorns football ...
alongside the original. Made by Austin-based A&F Drum Co., Big Bertha II claims to be the largest bass drum in the world, measuring just over 9.5 feet in diameter and 55 inches in depth in comparison to other drums. The Purdue Big Bass Drum's original 1921 dimensions are 7 feet and 5 inches in diameter and 41 inches in depth, as confirmed in 2013 by Hayleigh Colombo of the ''
Indianapolis Star Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County. Indianapolis is situated in the state's central till plain region along the west fork of ...
'' using microfilm stored at the Tippecanoe County Public Library in Lafayette, Indiana. However, the
Leedy Manufacturing Company The Leedy Manufacturing Company (also known as the Leedy Drum Company) was an American manufacturer of percussion instruments headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Leedy was highly successful in the early twentieth century, and was at one po ...
(the Purdue Drum's original manufacturer) increased its size by "several inches" in 1937. Big Bertha II is larger than the
University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...
's Big Mo measuring 9 feet in diameter and 54 inches in depth. Big Bertha II was manufactured with a proprietary material with aluminum, is wired with an internal mic system that will allow it to wirelessly connect to the stadium sound system and plays the lowest note ever played on a bass drum.


See also

* Purdue Big Bass Drum


References


External links


The University of Texas Longhorn Band: Big BerthaTexas Traditions: Big Bertha
{{Chicago Maroons football navbox Texas Longhorns Chicago Maroons football History of Chicago North American percussion instruments