From Dream to DrumBot

Robot Drum Co. founder, Jonathon Kennemer, built his first drums in late 1999, right around the time when companies like Orange County Drums and Percussion were inspiring drummers around the world to buy some Keller drum shells and try to be the next OCDP. The drums he made were fine, but nothing special. It was clear to him that he would not be the next OCDP and decided to focus on playing drums for fun while building a career in tech. After 20 years working as an engineer in computer and software companies, his life would forever be changed by a dream.

On the evening of Thanksgiving, 2019, Jonathon had a dream about a computer-controlled machine that could automatically drill holes in drum shells. This could be a big deal, as there are dozens of holes that must be accurately drilled, and automating this could greatly reduce the amount of time required to build a high-quality drum. As he thought about the concept for a few days, it became clear that not only would it be possible to build a computer-controlled machine to drill holes in a drum shell, it would be able to machine designs or patterns into the surface of the drum shell. By the middle of December, a basic design for a minimum viable product (MVP) was far enough along to start ordering parts. The timing was perfect as just a few months later the entire world would shut down for Covid, and he'd have plenty of time to devote to this new project in his garage. On July 1, 2020, the machine he dubbed "DrumBot" had its first test and was able to successfully machine a stave drum made from MDF, including all of the holes! It was not perfect, but it proved that the concept worked. Over the next 5 years, Jonathon continuously iterated and refined the hardware and created a suite of software that enables DrumBot to complete several parts of the drum building process.

The first snare drum. circa 1999

The first machined shell. July 1, 2020