Rhythm Traders

The Drummers Toy Store

By Marc Fairfax Stevens

Rhythm Traders? It’s still there, helping you make some noise!

Right in the heart of the City of Roses, Portland, Oregon, Rhythm Traders is a multidimensional percussion store that has roots and a mission beyond that of the average instrument peddlers. With instruments, instruction, outreach and a social conscious to boot, Brad Boynton and his crew of percussive masters have created an environment not just for musicians, but for everyone, regardless of race, color, creed, gender or age.

Whether you’re a serious, internationally recognized musician, or a beginner who just wants to bang around and make noise, Rhythm Traders has something for you. Furthermore, they have a comprehensive stock of drumming supplies and materials to make drums: and if your instrument should break, they have a full repair facility as well.

After studying anthropology, Boynton spent a year in Ghana with the Ashanti tribe. While there, Brad learned every facet of drumming and drum making from the tribesmen. Starting with a log and ending with the finished product, Brad in fact “graduated” and was given an amazing opportunity. The villagers decided that Brad would be the best conduit for the tribe to sell their drums in America. Thus, Rhythm Traders was born. 

Now in its 15th year of operation and at its second location, the Ashanti knew what Brad could not have know: when you have the spirit of the drum deep inside, anything is possible.

Throughout the world, drumming is used for more than just making music. In Africa, drumming has been used for centuries to communicate, declare war, celebrate life and death, and to motivate workers in the fields. In Cuba and throughout the Caribbean, drumming is an integral part of the mystic religion, Santeria.

Here in America, studies have found drumming can be an aid in therapy for those with mental and physical maladies. Alzheimer's patients are receptive to drumming and more companies are using drumming as a replacement for retreats, cocktail parties or even a round of golf.

Through drumming, individuals can come together as a group and learn team building, sometimes exposing vulnerabilities. Drumming is indeed the great social equalizer. Anyone can sit down with the most primitive of percussion instruments and make a sound—put 20 people together and make a beautiful rhythmic symphony. In almost any major city in the world, you can find a park with a drum circle. Truly, percussion is an international equalizer.

The staff of Rhythm Traders travels the globe extensively to learn, teach, discover and spread the word of percussion. If they have it in their store, one of the staff can play it, teach you to play it, and fix it when it’s broken. Education is the cornerstone of the Rhythm Traders mission, and weekly lessons, clinics, as well as special classes by master percussionists from around the world all can be had within these four walls. From age eight to 80, no one is too young to learn to play. All you need is desire and to feel the beat in your soul.

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This article was originally published in Flossin Magazine #1. The original author of this article is Fawn Aberson. This article is edited by Edna Waters. This article is optimized for web by Steven Christian (Artist | Author | Podcaster).