Our Day with Rick Beato

Earlier this summer, we had the good fortune of welcoming Rick Beato and his team to the Noble & Cooley factory.

We’re still pretty excited about it.

Rick spent the day with us getting a firsthand look at how we make our drums, meeting the people behind them, and asking a whole lot of really good questions along the way. We’re proud of what we do here, and it’s always a special thing to have the opportunity to open the doors and share a little bit of our world with someone who is genuinely interested in drums, music, and the craft behind the instruments.

And Rick definitely came prepared. He asked questions about everything from the wood and the manufacturing process to the details that can make one drum sound and feel different from another. We love talking about this stuff, and it’s hard to imagine a better person to spend a day talking shop with.

The timing of his visit was especially fun because we were right in the middle of production on the Buffalo Trace 250th Anniversary snare drums. The factory was buzzing, and Rick got to see the project firsthand as these very special drums were taking shape. There’s a lot that goes into each one, and being able to show him the process—from the barrel staves to the finished drum—was a great opportunity for us.

Most of all, we appreciate Rick taking the time to come to Granville, walk around our factory, meet our team, and tell the Noble & Cooley story in his own way. We’ve been making drums here for a long time, and we never take it for granted when someone wants to take a closer look at what we do.

If you haven’t watched the video yet, we hope you’ll check it out. And if you enjoy it, give it a like and leave a comment. It’s a great way to show Rick your appreciation for taking the time to visit—and to help introduce a few more people to what we’re doing here at Noble & Cooley.

Thanks again, Rick. It was a great day, and we’re grateful you came to hang out with us.

Buffalo Trace 250th Anniversary Snare by Noble & Cooley

Every material carries a history. Some materials carry entire experiences.

The Buffalo Trace Limited Edition began with an idea that fascinated us from the very beginning: what happens when a material that helped create flavor is asked to create sound?

Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels spend years in a constant exchange between wood, spirit, temperature, and time. During that process, the bourbon changes, but the wood changes as well. It absorbs. It releases. It expands. It contracts. It becomes an active participant in a transformation that leaves a permanent record within the material itself.

When these barrels arrived at Noble & Cooley, we were not interested in building another White Oak drum. White Oak drums already exist. What interested us was understanding how the history contained within a Buffalo Trace barrel could become part of a musical instrument.

Each barrel is carefully dismantled and evaluated. Particular attention is given to the sections that show the deepest evidence of interaction between the bourbon and the wood. Those are the sections selected for the instrument, because they represent the most complete expression of the barrel’s history and character.

As the project developed, another idea became increasingly important: Human beings do not experience the world through isolated senses. We associate sounds with memories. We describe instruments as warm, sweet, rich, dry, aggressive, complex, or refined. Interestingly, master distillers often use remarkably similar language.

When people describe Buffalo Trace Bourbon, they speak about warmth, sweetness, depth, balance, complexity, spice, character, and a finish that continues revealing itself over time. Musicians often describe extraordinary instruments in much the same way.

That observation became one of the foundations of this project. Not because a drum should imitate a bourbon. But because both experiences pursue many of the same qualities: character, complexity, balance, depth, and emotional connection. The question then became how to build an instrument capable of expressing those qualities. The answer required solving an acoustic challenge and a structural challenge simultaneously.

Throughout the development of Buffalo Trace, structural and acoustic decisions were never treated as separate disciplines. Every structural decision was evaluated according to its acoustic consequences, and every acoustic objective had to be solved structurally.

The foundation of the instrument is the Stave-Bent shell design developed by Ricardo Parra, combining vertical and horizontal grain structures within a single shell. The upper and lower sections are constructed from authentic Buffalo Trace barrel staves, while the center section is formed from a North American steam-bent maple shell. This configuration was chosen because each structure contributes something fundamentally different to the instrument’s response.

The vertically oriented barrel staves provide exceptional projection, articulation, sensitivity, and immediacy. The steam-bent maple center section contributes warmth, body, sustain, and harmonic complexity. The objective was not to choose between those qualities, but to unite them.

Achieving that balance required years of research into wood behavior, grain orientation, shell proportions, adhesives, joinery systems, vibration management, and long-term structural stability.

One of the most significant challenges was creating a seamless transition between the vertically oriented stave sections and the horizontally oriented steam-bent center shell while maintaining structural integrity and allowing vibrational energy to move freely throughout the instrument. That solution became one of the defining elements of the design: the Curly Maple reinforcement rings.

Curly Maple was chosen not for appearance alone, but because of the unique wave-like structure found within its grain. Unlike straight-grained wood, Curly Maple contains a complex three-dimensional fiber pattern capable of interacting with energy in multiple directions. This structure creates a natural bridge between the different grain orientations present within the shell.

Structurally, the reinforcement rings help integrate the entire shell into a cohesive and highly stable system. Acoustically, they help guide vibrational energy across those transitions, contributing to consistency, balance, harmonic development, and long-term reliability. They are not decorative elements. They are a fundamental part of why the design works.

The result is an instrument that combines the immediacy and projection of stave construction with the warmth, body, and complexity of a steam-bent shell. Its attack is crisp and articulate. Its response is immediate and sensitive. Its character continues to unfold long after the initial note. Like a great bourbon, it reveals itself in layers. The more deeply it is explored, the more it gives back.

For the player, it offers exceptional expression and control. For the producer, it offers depth, texture, and remarkable tonal flexibility. For the collector, it preserves a material, a process, and a design that can never be recreated in exactly the same way.

Production is limited by the availability of authentic Buffalo Trace barrels. Each instrument begins with a material that can only exist in finite supply, making every drum part of a naturally limited edition.

What remains is the work itself. A design developed to solve a complex acoustic challenge. A material transformed by years of service. A meeting point between engineering, craftsmanship, sustainability, and musical expression.

The Buffalo Trace Limited Edition is not simply a drum built from a bourbon barrel. It is the result of understanding a material deeply enough to reveal what it was capable of becoming.

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About Buffalo Trace:

More than 200 years ago, buffalo carved a pathway followed by American pioneers. The trail led to the banks of the Kentucky, where a world-class distillery and a flagship bourbon was born. Buffalo Trace defines what a bourbon should be. Aged nearly twice as long as competitors – in new charred oak barrels – and bottled at 90 proof, it’s the perfect bourbon to be enjoyed in any way, anywhere.

Buffalo Trace Oak staves go through their ’100 Year Process’ - 80 years of tree growth and 20 years of distilling - before moving onto have additional life, in this case, being part of a snare drum that will last forever.

Announcing Ricardo Parra as Master Craftsman

We’re proud to welcome Ricardo Parra as Master Craftsman at Noble & Cooley.

From the moment we met him, we were impressed by his exceptional drum building and deep understanding of the materials and design behind great sound. After staying in touch for several years and collaborating last summer, Ricardo relocated to Massachusetts to join our team full-time.

In just over six months, he’s become an integral part of Noble & Cooley. Read his statement to learn more—and please join us in officially welcoming Ricardo to the team.

Left to Right: Luke Garro, Ricardo Parra, Rob Walbourne, Nick Holtz, Ian Haas

Statement from Ricardo Parra:

*"More than 20 years ago, when I committed my life to building drums and founded Parra Drums, brands like Brady and Noble & Cooley represented the highest level of craftsmanship in my world. They were the standard I measured myself against.

Learning that Noble & Cooley, founded in 1854, is the oldest drum company in the United States expanded my understanding of what this craft truly means - a 170-year legacy built on discipline, precision, character, and innovation.

That origin resonated deeply with me because I also began through play. Between the ages of eight and twelve, I built my own drums simply because I wanted to play. As a teenager, when my mother gave me money to buy clothes, I often chose instead to buy snare drum parts so I could keep building.

Over the decades, drums became my life’s focus. My approach has been rooted in a deep understanding of materials—from mineral composition and cellular structure to shell architecture, tension systems, and acoustic behavior. For me, a drum is not only shaped; it is engineered from the inside out, with intention and respect for the material.

Early in my journey, Bob Gatzen’s clarity on tuning and design gave me my first real insight into how a drum should respond. Around that same time, Johnny Craviotto became a personal inspiration along my path.

That perspective was further refined in the recording studio. Working across hundreds of recordings as a drum technician and producer allowed me to evaluate instruments not only in the workshop, but through microphones, monitors, mixes, and ultimately on finished records. Designing with that full sonic journey in mind - from raw material to recorded music - continues to define how I build.

In the United States, my work with Dynasty Percussion strengthened my understanding of structural integrity, projection, and performance under demanding conditions.

As a Venezuelan craftsman who began this journey in my home country with limited resources but deep determination, I carry that origin with pride. It shaped my discipline and the way I listen.

Today, I have the honor of announcing that I have joined Noble & Cooley as Master Craftsman. Contributing to a company with a 170-year legacy is a responsibility I approach with respect and gratitude.

Parra Drums remains my life’s work, my foundation, and my signature. It continues with strength and clarity. This new chapter does not replace it; it expands it.

I am sincerely grateful to Luke Garro, John Keane, Travis York, and my colleagues Ian and Nick for welcoming me and for the trust they have placed in me. It means a great deal to be part of this family.

My commitment is clear: to honor the Jones family legacy, preserve what makes Noble & Cooley historic, continue its spirit of innovation, and design instruments artists can trust."*

Music City Drum Show 2025

There’s a reason Nashville is known as “Music City,” and its drum community continues to live up to that reputation. We had a great time at this year’s Music City Drum Show, connecting with players, builders, and friends throughout the weekend.

As part of our ongoing commitment to innovation, we were proud to unveil a new drum design we’ve been developing—quite possibly the first of its kind from Noble & Cooley.

The drum was created in collaboration with the talented Ricardo Parra of Parra Drums. The shell features a hybrid construction combining a steam-bent maple center with stave rings of American white oak on either side. Ricardo’s concept brought together the strengths of both approaches in a single design.

The result allows sound to move seamlessly through the shell, blending the focused energy of stave construction with the open, resonant character of a steam-bent drum. It was exciting to hear the instrument come to life in the room and share it with so many of you in person.

Over the years, we’ve been fortunate to collaborate with companies like Zildjian and Ludwig on special projects, and this latest collaboration represents another meaningful step forward—working directly with individual makers whose ideas challenge and inspire us.

At Noble & Cooley, we believe drumming is about sharing ideas, learning from one another, and building something greater together as a community.

We’re grateful to everyone who stopped by our booth, and we’re looking forward to sharing more of what’s coming next very soon.

@officialsnaregeek (Instagram) with Luke at the Music City Drum Show, July 2025

Chicago Drum Show 2025

We had a fantastic time at this year’s Chicago Drum Show, reconnecting with friends in the drum community and meeting plenty of new ones along the way. Events like this are always a great reminder of why we do what we do—there’s nothing like getting out from behind the bench and talking drums in person.

This year, we brought a mix of new and unseen pieces that highlight where we’re pushing things forward. A standout was our Special Edition collection of solid shell snares, featuring hickory, sassafras, hackberry, and the unveiling of ambrosia maple—each with its own distinct character and voice.

We also introduced new custom powder coat finishes for our Alloy Classic, including a textured option inspired by our black alloy finish, offering a fresh visual take while staying true to the instrument’s core sound and feel.

And of course, one of the biggest highlights of the weekend was our Special Edition Canary Wood solid shell snare—the first of its kind from Noble & Cooley. It turned heads throughout the show, and for good reason. Even better, it lives up to what you’d expect when you hear it: it sounds just as good as it looks.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth, shared a conversation, and spent time with us. We’re always grateful for the chance to be part of such a passionate and creative community.

Until next year.

In Search of the Lincoln Drum

At Noble & Cooley, our history is filled with instruments that tell a story—but few are as remarkable as a drum we built in 1860 for Abraham Lincoln’s presidential campaign.

Crafted during a pivotal moment in American history, this drum was made from fence rails that Lincoln himself had split years earlier—directly connecting it to the “Rail Splitter” image that became central to his campaign. At the time, supporters embraced this identity as a symbol of hard work and self-reliance, creating one of the earliest examples of political storytelling in the United States.

Our records describe how the rail was sent from Illinois, cut into strips, and carefully formed into the drum’s hoops. It was then finished with sterling silver hooks, silk cord, and a painted likeness of Lincoln. In August 1860, James Cooley wrote in his diary: “Finished the Lincoln drum today. The finest thing ever made.”

The drum was used at rallies throughout Connecticut and Massachusetts before being presented to the 10th Massachusetts Regiment. It was later believed to be housed at the United States Patent Office—but from there, the trail disappears.

For decades, we’ve hoped to rediscover this piece of our history. Even with assistance from the National Geographic Society in the 1960s, its whereabouts remain unknown.

We’re sharing this story in the hope that someone, somewhere, may have a lead. If you’ve encountered this drum or have any information that could help us locate it, we’d be grateful to hear from you.

This instrument represents more than our craft—it’s a tangible connection to a defining moment in American history. We’d love the chance to find it again.

Thank you to the team at Chronicle 5 for helping us share this story.

Watch the video and read the full story on ABC Boston.

Batch Processing the 'U Snare'

We’re thrilled to bring you a new era of Noble & Cooley - an era in which we have our first signature snare drum.

Introducing: The ‘U’ Snare, a collaboration between us and Ulysses Owens Jr, a three-time Grammy Award winning drummer and Juilliard educator.

The story of how it came to be is pretty simple. We’ve been working with Ulysses for over three and a half years now as a snare drum artist. He’s a wonderful person to work with and he’s the perfect fit for us as a company. We appreciate artists like him that understand what it means to be a boutique custom drum shop in an industry where it’s tough to compete with the artist programs of the behemoths. Couple that appreciation with our shared desire to favor ‘sound above all else’ when it comes to the instruments we choose to play, and you have a match made in heaven. Now back to the story - Ulysses approached us one day to see if we were interested in collaborating with him to make a signature snare. Within days we were on a Zoom call together hashing out what we’d all be excited to achieve with this project, and by the end of the call there was strong consensus on how to move forward.

The vision for the U Snare was pretty straight forward - create a drum that is:

1. Great sounding and versatile

2. Well made using quality parts & craftsmanship

3. Accessible to both professionals and aspiring professionals at the collegiate-level.

Now we have to admit that the third part of that vision was the most challenging for us. In the instrument world, the term ‘accessible’ is easily a synonym for ‘affordable’, and we’re very aware that our drums are not known for being the most affordable snares on the shelves at your local drum shop. This is by design. We want to make great drums, we want to use high quality parts, and we want to make them right here in our factory in Granville, Massachusetts. We don’t think of a price point and then make drums to fit that price point. We do the opposite. We make amazing instruments and then calculate a price that allows us to continue to be an operational business. The prices that we sell our drums for allow us to continue to be a company governed by principles.

So we challenged ourselves to think of all the ways we could achieve a level of accessibility. After all, this snare doesn’t need to be the most accessible snare drum out there. It just needs to be a more accessible Noble & Cooley snare drum.

There were a few things we first played around with, such as less parts and a simple finish. Those were small levers to play with, but levers nonetheless. So we worked on an 8-lug design, chose a Woodburn logo over badges (less materials), and gave it a natural satin finish. Those moves were a good start, but we needed something more profound to significantly alter the price. And that’s when we turned to the manufacturing process in general.

Those of you that know Noble & Cooley well know that every drum we make is to order. Meaning, we don’t have drums sitting on shelves. We make each drum one at a time based on a customer’s order. This approach is great in the sense that we allow customers to customize almost every part of their drum, but it’s a more time-consuming process that ultimately gets factored into our costs. 

So the answer became clear: in order to achieve a higher-level of accessibility, we had to batch process this drum. We had to make them in bulk doing each step for the batch all at once throughout every part of the process. This probably doesn’t seem like a novel idea if you have images in your mind of a Henry Ford-style factory assembly line, but for a boutique drum company, this is a completely novel thing for us to do. There’s 4 drum makers here and upwards of 80+ stations they could be working at on any given day. So doing one step over and over is completely out of rhythm (pun-intended) for how we normally build drums.

The key to doing a batched process approach for us was in the planning. We had to decide a specific number: 30 drums for the first batch - 25 for customers and 5 for promotional purposes. We had to acquire any parts we needed up front. And then we had to schedule when each step would happen without compromising our flow of making custom drums (yes… we still had to make many other drums during this process). So we chose a month-long window, averaging 2-3 steps in the process per week. Here is a glimpse of what the process looked like, condensed into a nice short and palatable video for you.

And of course, the result is one of our most accessible snare drums available without a single principle compromised. We invite you to reach out to your dealer to pick up one today.

Best Job Ever

Written by Luke Garro, GM

Luke Garro, here. For those of you I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting, I’m the General Manager of Noble & Cooley.

In Fall 2020, I joined the Noble & Cooley team to take on what’s very likely the hardest, most rewarding, best job I’d ever experienced -- helping to lead the next chapter of growth for a historic – yet boutique – drum company I’ve been a fan of since the 90’s.

Why am I reinforcing the word “boutique” you ask? (Maybe you didn’t, but let’s talk about it anyway.)

Because the truth is, we’re as boutique as “boutique” can get. And a lot of people have the impression that because Noble & Cooley has been around forever, we’re a lot bigger than we actually are. (For better or for worse. Hopefully more for the better.)

And to us, “size matters” when it comes to the companies and people crafting drums for the next generation of drummers. To be fair, there are benefits to both sides of the equation – with behemoth parent company-owned drum manufacturers providing scale, speed or pricing perks, and boutique independent makers offering customization, innovation and intensely personalized service solutions. The balance of having both small and large options for drum enthusiasts can make the market and product innovation perpetually exciting and enticing.

But back to Noble & Cooley, I don’t think most people know that there are five individuals that come to this factory every day to work. Four of them make drums, and then there’s me. As the GM, I get to wear many hats. Many, many, many hats. In fact, a wise friend of mine once said, “You wear so many hats, you need another closet to keep them all in.” My role typically requires getting as many things done as I can in a day. From speaking with our amazing customers, to organizing the team, to inspecting or prototyping products, to managing marketing efforts or online order fulfillments, and more – I can confidently say that “a day in the life” of a General Manager at a boutique drum company sure looks a lot different than it would within our much-larger brethren.

Here’s a sampling of what any given day could look like, and the quick shifting of gears and juggling that occurs to be able to bring our very best to Noble & Cooley fans at all times:

If there’s any doubt in your mind why someone would sign up to do all these things in a day – it’s because I love it and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Our powerhouse team of five have never been ones who’d want to get caught up in the jurisdiction of a bigger company, and several of us have even run away from that. We love the benefits of being boutique and it’s our mission to keep those alive -- the agility to pivot from one thing to the next, the personalized attention we can offer, the way we can innovate on the fly, and the niche expertise we have and continue to develop. These drums – these works of art – and the people who love them as much as we do, fuel our drive and efforts every day.

As I’m writing this, I also can’t help but reflect on the strong parallels between drumming and business and the sheer amount of multitasking that needs to happen in both areas. With both, you have many individual things happening simultaneously, with the goal of it all working together in a symphony of sorts. Whether that means performing several tasks on the job all at once, or having all four limbs (and brain) working in unison to create a successful outcome. And that success comes from finding the right rhythm, staying focused, and maintaining a high level of performance in all that you do.

So, from one multitasker to another, cheers to all our drumming fanatics out there, especially those who have chosen to be part of something different with Noble & Cooley. I hope you’ve enjoyed a glimpse into our days and what it means to be boutique.

About Luke Garro

Luke is a seasoned entrepreneur, drummer for 25+ years, and the General Manager at Noble & Cooley. Having founded and run two successful boutique marketing agencies beginning in 2000, he now brings his creative and operational experience to the oldest drum manufacturer in America. Luke grew up as a touring and recording drummer for various bands in Connecticut and Massachusetts, which in 2001 led him to his current gig as the drummer for indie rock staple, Piebald.

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You can follow Luke at:

Instagram: @lukegarro

Come Geek-Out with us

When I was growing up, if someone called you a geek, it was definitely an insult. It meant you were a pocket protector, eyeglass wearing, socially inept loser who was ostracized for the unpardonable sin of being smart.  The movies at the time used these poor souls as routine, comic butt ends of jokes.  Fortunately, these days, the association with these terms have changed.  Now, people frequently refer to themselves as “photography nerds” or “fitness geeks”.  It seems like self-derision but really has become a source of pride that they have expertise in a particular topic or, at a minimum, are proud of their hobby. 

So, what does this have to do with Noble and Cooley?  Well, certainly drums and drum gear fall squarely into the category or specialty talk and there are fewer of us than there are car nuts and guitar players.  And our instrument is different than the rest of the band’s string-based gear which focuses on melody, whatever that is.  So, yeah, we can definitely claim to be drum nerds. 

Which brings me to a conversation I had with our new General Manager, Luke Garro, the other day.  Although Luke has been involved with Noble and Cooley on some level for a few years, he really started full time in toward the end of 2020.  In his role, he has taken on responding to the many inbound emails and phone calls we get from drummers deciding on a snare or kit purchase.  He said, “You know for many of the drummers deciding on a kit or snare, it is the most important thing in their lives.   Like literally the most important thing.  More than their jobs, houses, cars, family, whatever, this decision is at the top of the list.   I realize that obviously won’t always be the case, but in the moment, it is.” 

I had never thought about it on this level, but I think this is really cool.  I realize some people might think this is an incorrect focus or an obsession and family should come first and all that.  But I don’t think that’s what’s going on here.  I think that, for the most part, we have people with full lives who do value all of those other things but who take music and their craft very seriously.   A drum kit is a big purchase and most drummers will have their kit for a long time.  That will be that player’s voice for a long time.  They should take it seriously.   So, my feeling is, geek out all you want.  You should.

In fact, geek out with us.  For those of you out there who have not thought about contacting us directly, please do.   Luke, Lou, Rob, Ryan and I are all drummers.  Nick is a bass player and will likely be making your drums.  Jay is not a drummer but is an expert craftsmen.   We are all available, via phone or email.  You can get to any of us indirectly by calling the factory.  We will gladly nerd out with you, get you to a dealer and give you a contact if you don’t have one and we will all give you whatever time you need.   We have no problems with indecision, analysis paralysis, or waffling on your way to a final result.  It’s part of the process and part of what we can offer you.  But in truth, it’s not difficult because we enjoy it.  I know in speaking with drummers directly from inbound calls or meeting up at shows, they are all glad to be speaking to musicians when talking to us.  So please, give us a call.  Become part of the extended Noble and Cooley Family.  Geek out with us.

BTW, if you call me, we can also talk about my radio controlled, model airplane collection.  Wait, that actually is nerdy.