Participants from as far away as Australia converged on Nashville, TN during the 2011 Summer NAMM Show (July 21-23) to compete in this year's World's Fastest Drummer competition.
The WFD contest is divided into two categories, Fastest Hands and Fastest Feet, with the goal of finding which individual(s) are able to execute the most Single Strokes (ie. alternating between the right and left hand or right and left foot) in 60 seconds. Judging is done with the Drumometer, a device created by WFD founder, Boo McAfee.
Preliminary "heats" between all of the contestants were conducted over the course of three days until the top ten Fastest Hands and top ten Fastest Feet were found. The twenty finalists then competed in the 'Finals Battle' on Saturday, July 23rd.
On hand (ba-da-Bing) to referee the event were former WFD champs and record holders, Matt Smith and Eric Okamoto, assisted by Miss WFD 2011, Sammi. Matt Smith, now 21-years-old, was a WFD World Record holder back in 2005, for "16 and Under Fastest Hands World Record" with a score of 1109, as well as the Youngest World Champion (16), Youngest to break 1100, and Youngest to break 1000. Smith currently holds the WFD World Record for "Traditional Grip" with 1,132 singles, set back in 2008, and holds the WFD Endurance Record with 5,132 strokes in 5-minutes. Eric Okamoto, winner of the "Battle of the Hands" at the 2003 Summer Finals in Nashville, with a score of 1085, is the current WFD Double-Strokes Champ (1,744) and WFD Paradiddles Champ (1,279).
So who had what it takes to be the World's Fastest Drummer? (See excerpts from each contestant's performance, as well as the full performance of the two winners, in the video below.)
In the Fastest Feet category, Kevin Bernardy took first place with a score of 860, with Isaac Harris and Leonardo Braucini both tying for second place with a score of 845, and Stephen Sparks coming in third with 791. First place in the Fastest Hands category went to Australian drummer, Joseph Moujalli, with a score of 995. Rick Alegria came in second place with 870, and Dale Batholomew took third with 812.
Grand Prizes, awarded to both of the first place winners, included a Pearl drumset, a full set of Sabian cymbals, 100 REMO drumheads, 72 pairs of ProMark drumsticks with winner’s name on them, an Axis LongBoard double Kick pedal, a copy of Sticks 'n' Skins: A Photography Book About the World of Drumming, and a one year free subscription Modern Drummer magazine.
RESULTS
Battle of the Feet | Battle of the Hands | |||
Francisco Borrios Stephen Sparks Donovan Dye Ben Chaussea Brandon Wall Cecelia Barrios Dan Laskowski Isaac Harris Leonardo Braucini Kevin Bernardy |
627 791 544 688 630 612 787 845 845 860 |
Harrison Sheffield Brandon Wall Larry Postick Justice Michael Rick Alegria Francisco Borrios Ben Chaussea Shakir Norton James Hanna Dale Batholomew Joseph Moujalli |
679 612 742 646 870 744 791 757 732 812 995 |
Clifford Marshall Van Buren, holder of the Guinness Book of World Records - Drumming for 720 hours, was 'hanging around' during the WFD World Finals 2011, setting yet another record — 6,300 single strokes in 10-minutes — while suspended upside by his feet.
Mike Mangini is the current WFD "Fastest Hands" World Champion with a score of 1,247 (Matched Grip - Singles) set back in 2005. Mangini also holds the record for "Bare Hands" with 1,138 singles, set in 2002. Mike Mallais is the current WFD "Fastest Feet" World Champion with a score of 1,034. Mallais has endurance records, such as 13,309 single strokes in 15 minutes, and 4,595 single strokes in 5 minutes.
Established in 2000, WFD-Extreme Sport Drumming has been featured on The Warped Tour, OzzFest and most major networks including ESPN, FOX SPORTS, MTV, VH1, ABC, BBC, PBS and CNN. WFD is the official ruling and certification organization for Guinness World Records. For more information, upcoming events, rankings, and more, visit www.worldsfastestdrummer.com