This week I made a 
suitcase kick drum, something I’ve been wanting to do for some time but kept on putting off since I didn’t have a suitcase. However just last week the art gallery I work with in Zürich asked me if I could come play for their open house (next week – more on that soon), and it seemed the perfect type of event since a drum set is pretty much out of the question.
I was fortunate to find a perfectly sized suitcase at only the second second hand shop I visited which gave me time that afternoon to figure out how to attach an old broken kick drum pedal that I had recuperated some time ago. The first step was to give it a decent batter since the original synthetic fur was worn through in 3 spots. I tore it off, exposing the cork interior but wasn’t that keen on how that sounded. A good look at it made me think a tennis ball might do the trick (thank you Bill) and sure enough, although it was pretty hard to get on, it fitted perfectly and sounds okay too.
Then I had to figure out how to attach it to the suitcase so that: 1: It was easy to set up. 2: The suitcase didn’t fall over when hit. 3: It fit inside the suitcase and didn’t make it a nuisance to carry.
On my old pedal the clamp to attach the foot pedal to the base of a kick drum was broken and couldn’t be used so I cut two groves into a piece of wood so that it fit over the pedal’s “front feet” and attached it by drilling two holes in those and screwing it on from underneath. I then bent a piece of metal to make a “cradle” for the pedal, using that piece of wood, and the suitcase.
That almost worked but the suitcase would fall over backwards when hit hard so as you can see in the above close up picture I thought to use a thinner piece of wood to hold the suitcase in place by squeezing it just above the thicker sewn edge. The back side has a similar wood block as you can see in the picture to the right. This seems to work fine although I may consolidate it with some duct tape because I can see how much squeezing the suitcase into the cradle rubs at the cheep fake leather edge. It probably won’t resist that kind of treatment very long. Otherwise besides the rattle made by the plastic handle (hence the foam) playing with Dave this afternoon left us both satisfied with visions of busking gatherin’ round our heads…
Last but not least, the foot pedal, two washboards, cymbal, horn and other odds & ends fit perfectly. I’ll be adding a tambourine too, placed flat on the ground it makes a pretty good “hi-hat” for the other foot.
Updated March 24th to add: I’m adding a couple of small spikes underneath the foot pedal (since there are two convenient threaded holes) to keep it all from moving forward when kicked. I also have a small rug to prevent scratching the floor.