Musician, drumstick maker Vic Firth dead at 85

Vic Firth, musician and founder of the Vic Firth Company, passed away over the weekend at the age of 85. The musician and teacher was 85 years old.

Beginning as a performer for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Firth opted to design his own sticks when he felt the ones he had weren’t up to par.

Competitors gradually emerged and Firth in 2010 merged his business with the Avedis Zildjian Company, the cymbal maker founded by an Armenian in 17th century Istanbul and now based in Massachusetts.

Vic’s spirit and legacy will continue to live at the core of the Vic Firth Company. “Thank you, Vic, for all you have contributed to the world of drumming”, tweeted Chris Fryar of country stars the Zac Brown Band. He will be missed beyond words.

Interviewed in 2006, the company’s vice president of manufacturing, Mike Gault, says Firth made a discovery that would change the way drumsticks were made.

Maine’s Portland Press Herald reports that Firth’s trumpet-playing father introduced him to music when he was young. They are the world’s “largest producer of professional drumsticks”, as said by the Portland Press Herald.

Vic Firth prided himself on looking at the science of drumsticks, teaming up with forestry researchers at the University of Maine.

As news begins to spread, other musicians have begun sharing similar sentiments and testimonials via Twitter, as well.