James BladesOBE (9 September 1901 – 19 May 1999) was an Englishpercussionist.^[1][2]

He was one of the most distinguished percussionists in Western music, with a long and varied career. His bookPercussion Instruments and their History (1971) is a standard reference work on the subject.^[3][4]

Blades was born inPeterborough in 1901.^[5] He was a long-time associate ofBenjamin Britten, with whom he conceived many of the composer's unusual percussion effects.^[6] In 1954, Blades was appointed Professor of Percussion at theRoyal Academy of Music.

As a chamber musician he played with theMelos Ensemble and theEnglish Chamber Orchestra.

Blades' pupils included the rockdrummersMax Sedgley,Carl Palmer, andRichard James Burgess as well as percussionistEvelyn Glennie.

His most famous and widely heard performances were the sound of the drum playing "V-for-Victory" inMorse code, the introduction to theBBC broadcasts made to the European Resistance duringWorld War II, and providing the sound of the gong seen at the start of films produced by theRank Organisation. Blades played this sound on atam-tam. On screen Blades's sound was interpreted by an actor miming a character called the "Gongman".

His autobiographyDrum Roll: A Professional Adventure from the Circus to the Concert Hall was published byFaber & Faber in 1977.

• Orchestral Percussion Techniques (Oxford: University, 1961)ISBN 978-0-19-318801-3
• Percussion Instruments and their History (London: Faber & Faber, 1971)ISBN 978-0-571-08858-4
• Early Percussion Instruments from the Middle Ages to the Baroque (Oxford: University, 1976)ISBN 978-0-19-323176-4 (with Jeremy Montagu)
• Drum Roll: A Professional Adventure from the Circus to the Concert Hall (London: Faber & Faber, 1977)ISBN 978-0-571-10107-8
• Ready to Play (London: BBC, 1978)ISBN 978-0-563-17610-7 (with Carole Ward)
• From Cave to Cavern (London: Sussex, 1982)ISBN 978-1-86013-138-7
• A Check-List of the Percussion Instruments in the Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments (Edinburgh: Reid School of Music, 1982)ISBN 978-0-907635-07-9
• How to Play Drums (London: Penguin, 1985)ISBN 978-0-241-11670-8 (with Johnny Dean)
• These I Have Met... (London: Music Sales, 1998)ISBN 978-0-905210-77-3

• Obituary fromThe Guardian

• 1901 births
• 1999 deaths
• Academics of the Royal Academy of Music
• Officers of the Order of the British Empire
• 20th-century English classical musicians
• 20th-century English drummers
• British classical percussionists

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