Remo Belli, musician who pioneered synthetic drumheads, dies

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) ' Remo Belli, who pioneered the synthetic drumhead just in time to help a generation of rock-and-rollers shape their sound, has died.His death was announced in a statement by Remo Inc., the California-based drum manufacturer that Belli founded and ran for six decades. It did not disclose the location or cause of death.Belli was a young professional drummer when he grew frustrated with the limitations of animal skin drumheads, which could wilt or expand depending on the weather. In 1957 he perfected and began marketing one of the first artificial drumheads made of a durable polyester film.A few years later Ringo Starr used Remo drumheads when the Beatles played on the "Ed Sullivan Show." Synthetic heads are now standard on kits of drummers in all genres.Join the conversation about this story
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