When Ryan Taylor (B.S. ’14) was in the first or second grade, he spotted a large drum set in a family friend’s basement. He sat down to try it, and the moment he started playing - he was hooked.
Taylor, a native of Midlothian, Virginia, played in nearly every band available through middle and high school, including jazz, marching, pep and concert bands.
In high school, he also developed an interest in robotics, serving as lead engineer on his school’s For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Robotics team. At the same time, he was teaching drums part-time at a local store called Just Drums.
“That kicked off the pursuit of dual paths of engineering and drums until I was able to combine them here at Ludwig,” Taylor said of his path to a career at Ludwig-Musser Percussion, an American company known worldwide for their instruments and accessories.
It was at ϲ, where his two interests merged. Taylor considered majoring in music in college.
“I wanted to be a rock star,” he said.
However, his father, an engineer, offered to help pay for college if Taylor pursued something practical, suggesting he major in engineering, minor in music and continue to play.
“That way, if your band doesn't work out, you can still get a job,” his father told him at the time.
“It’s not the worst advice I’ve ever gotten,” said Taylor.
The timing coincided with the reinstatement of ϲ’s football program and the launch of the Monarch Marching Band in 2009. Taylor was offered a spot in the band and received both music and academic scholarships.
“Old Dominion was an easy choice,” he said. “I could major in engineering and still pursue a minor in drum set performance. It was thrilling to be part of that history — the stadium was packed every game, and it was even hard for friends and family to get tickets.”
He complemented his mechanical engineering with a concentration in engineering design.
“I wanted to focus on the actual moving bits and bobs and mechanisms and vibrations,” he said. “I was able to do things that I truly have applied in my job.” He is a design engineer at Ludwig-Musser.
Taylor merged music with engineering, doing projects on bass drum pedals to fulfill class projects.
While teaching at Just Drums on the weekends, Taylor connected with the engineering team at Conn-Selmer Inc., the parent company of Ludwig Drums, which led to an engineering internship. After graduation, he worked part-time as an associate engineer and part-time as a drum instructor, while playing with bands in the Richmond area.
In 2015, Taylor joined Ludwig Drums, as one of only a handful of percussion engineers in the United States. He later expanded to include Musser Percussion.
“Ludwig is anything with a tunable head,” he said. “Musser covers instruments with tuned bars, like xylophones, bell kits, marimbas, vibraphones and chimes.”
All drums are made at Ludwig’s 150,000-square-foot factory in Monroe, North Carolina, where 50 to 70 shells are produced daily. The facility also produces hundreds of drum kits each year, along with 10,000 snare drums and 100 timpani kettle sets.
“We’re one of the few drum shell manufacturers left in the United States and the only drum company that’s U.S.-owned and operated,” he said.
On a typical day, Taylor develops new ideas or refines designs, builds 3D models, prints test parts, checks fit and function and produces final drawings for production.
Courses in design, especially finite element analysis, have been invaluable, helping him evaluate the strength of a design before it reaches production.
“I do a lot of testing to make sure the parts won’t snap if a drummer drops them, throws them in a case or hits them hard on stage,” he said. “It’s a very useful tool, and I’m glad I learned it at ϲ — it would be tough to pick up outside the classroom.”
Designing hardware that is adjustable, durable and reliable during performances presents its own challenge.
Engineering for musicians also means engineering for the player. Taylor ensures each drum tunes easily, sounds right and performs consistently, since even small changes to the shell shape or bearing edge can affect the tone. Musical style can also influence the design — for example, a heavy metal drummer needs a different setup than a jazz or classical drummer.
With the world watching, the pressure can be intense.
“You really don't want any issues with the parts or kits when there are 50,000 people in the audience,” he said.
The company provides kits for musicians like Questlove on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” replacing them about every 300 episodes.
Taylor says the team keeps in constant contact with Questlove’s drum tech to make sure everything stays in top shape.
“He’s really tall and sets his drums higher, so we have to make special stands for him,” Taylor said of accommodating Questlove. “For something that doesn't seem very complicated, there's a lot of complication.”
The most important factor for Taylor is quality. Combining his passions provides balance.
“Some days, I wish drums were more fun and less work, but it’s really nice to be able to take a prototype home and play it or walk into a school and see a timpani I helped improve or a component I designed on the front of a drum catalog or album cover,” he said.
In the future, Taylor hopes to lead a research and development team at Ludwig, creating entirely new instruments.
“We’ve talked about creating entirely new instruments—things that don’t exist yet,” he said. “When you build something like that, and partner with a composer, suddenly someone needs it. It is thrilling to offer a completely new sonic landscape, for orchestras or drummers.”
Taylor has not left performance behind. He still plays in local bands around Charlotte, North Carolina, performing blues, folk, country and funk — keeping rhythm as both engineer and musician. It was at ϲ where his two passions came together and launched a career that beats its own drum.