Although he’s a talented drummer who has studied with famed player/teachers Joe Porcaro, Al Lepak, and Gary Burton and whose groups Moto and Spiral have featured top New York and Boston musicians, Bob Gatzen is perhaps best known as a producer, inventor, and drumming Renaissance man whose motto is “explore—discover—create.”

For thirty years, starting in 1972, Gatzen and his wife, Jo-Ann, owned and operated Creative Music, Inc., an educational/retail operation where workshops, clinics, and live performances were regularly featured. It was during these years at Creative Music that Gatzen established himself at the forefront of drumming product innovation and video production. Bob holds numerous U.S. and international design patents for companies such as Evans, Noble & Cooley, Regal Tip, Drum Workshop, Zildjian, and DrumFrame, Ltd. In addition to winning several international Music Industry Press Awards for his designs, in 2005, Gatzen was awarded Modern Drummer’s Editors Achievement Award.

Among Gatzen’s drum instructional projects are the DVD Drum Tuning, Sound, and Design and the Inspiring Drummers series for Warner Bros. Further undertakings include the children’s program START With The Arts, a non-profit organization aimed at promoting creativity and original thinking. Gatzen has also posted numerous popular instructional videos on YouTube. Advertisement