Sonor is a German musical instrument manufacturing company headquartered in Bad Berleburg. Established in 1875, it is one of the oldest percussion companies in the world. Sonor currently manufactures drum kits and hardware.

Apart from drum kits, Sonor also manufactured a wide range of other percussion instruments through its history. Some of them were frame drums, bongo drums, djembes, Cajons, timbales, congas, tambourines, maracas, guiros, glockenspiel, cymbals and mallets.

History

The company was founded in 1875 as a percussion instruments manufacturer. One of the oldest existing models of drums manufactured by Sonor is a 1942 Johannes Link Parade Snare, a very heavy snare drum with an aluminum shell and thick tension rods.

thumb|left|A drum-set made by Sonor, [[cymbals by Meinl and Paiste]]

In the 1980s, Sonor's tagline was "The Rolls of drums". The drums were made of very thick (13 mm) and heavy shells that were beech wood, with an innermost and outermost ply of furniture-grade veneers, such as rosewood and bubinga. Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden was one of the most prominent Sonor artists of the 1980s and 1990s, along with Mikkey Dee of Motörhead, Steve Smith of Journey, Phil Rudd of AC/DC, Danny Carey of Tool, Thomas Haake of Meshuggah, Glenn Kotche of Wilco, Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree, jazz/fusion artist Jojo Mayer and jazz legend Jack DeJohnette.

Sonor invented the modern screw thread drum-construction and the metal snare drum in the early 20th century.

References

  • Sonor Museum