Ralph Hardimon is a percussionist, teacher, composer, and clinician. He is best known for his work in the areas of

marching percussion Marching percussion instruments are percussion instruments (usually drums, such as snare, bass, and tenor drums) specially designed to be played while moving. This is achieved by attaching the drum(s) to a special harness (also called a carrier ...

, rudimental drumming, drum & bugle corps, and

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military sty ...

Career

Hardimon's performance experience started in the late sixties with the Los Angeles Police Band, and later the Velvet Knights and

Anaheim Kingsmen The Anaheim Kingsmen Drum and Bugle Corps, commonly referred to as the Anaheim Kingsmen, were a competitive junior Drum and bugle corps (classic), drum and bugle corps. Based in Anaheim, California, the corps was a charter member corps of Drum ...

drum & bugle corps. He taught and studied with Fred Sanford and studied with Charles Dowd at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. Following Fred Sanford's departure after the 1980 season, Hardimon became Director of Percussion for the Santa Clara Vanguard from through . During this time, SCV won four High Percussion awards (1978, 1979, 1988, 1989) and three DCI World Championships. Hardimon served as a consultant for SCV from 1997 to 2000. He has scored music for many other corps (including Blue Knights from 1990 to 2001) as well as college

percussion ensemble A percussion ensemble is a musical ensemble consisting of only percussion instruments. Although the term can be used to describe any such group, it commonly refers to groups of classically trained percussionists performing primarily classical ...

s and

s. He has worked for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

and bowl games such as the

Citrus Bowl The Citrus Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group that also organizes the Pop-Tarts Bowl and Florida Classic. The g ...

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

, and

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

. Hardimon received

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nominations for

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

Rhythm and Blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

. He was inducted into the DCI hall of fame in 2000, inducted into the Santa Clara Vanguard Hall of Fame in 2014, and received the “Life Time Achievement Award” from

Sabian Cymbals Sabian ( ) is a Canadian cymbal manufacturing company based in New Brunswick. It was established in 1981 in the village of Meductic, which is now part of Lakeland Ridges, where the company is still headquartered. Sabian is considered one of the ...

in 2005.

Fraternity

Ralph Hardimon is also a member of Mu Phi Sigma national percussion fraternity, and an Honorary Member of

Snare Si Phi SNARE proteins – " SNAP REceptors" – are a large protein family consisting of at least 24 members in yeasts and more than 60 members in mammalian and plant cells. The primary role of SNARE proteins is to mediate the fusion of vesicles ...

percussion organization.

Endorsements

The popular drum stick company

Vic Firth Everett Joseph "Vic" Firth (June 2, 1930 – July 26, 2015) was an American musician and the founder of Vic Firth Company (formerly Vic Firth, Inc.), a company that makes percussion sticks and mallets. He was also known for his association ...

manufactures multiple signature Ralph Hardimon drumsticks. These sticks include the standard SRH and SRHN models, the Ralphie Jr., Ralph Hardimon Indoor, Ralph Hardimon "Hammer," Ralph Hardimon "Chop-Out," Ralph Hardimon Tenor Stick, and Ralph Hardimon Tenor Swizzle.

External links

*Esprit de Corps: An Interview with Percussionist Ralph Hardimon
Ralph Hardimon Interview

DCI Hall of Fame: Ralph Hardimon- 2000
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardimon, Ralph American percussionists American male composers 20th-century American composers Living people 1952 births 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians Drummers from Oklahoma