The history of a drum key might seam insignificant, but it does give a great accounting of some of our early drummers and the items they invented to make life easier for them. Here is one example of a drum key invented in 1966 by a drummer. Later the invention was sold to the Ludwig Drum Company.

This excerpt was from the inventor of the Sta-Set Drum key also known as the 4 in 1 Drum Tool.

In 1964 Armen had been playing the drums for over fifteen years. He used to carry all kinds of tools around with him so that he could make all the numerous adjustments on the drums. You know, tightening the wing nuts and thumb screws, adjusting the beater, the cowbell holders etc. He finally decided to do something about this problem of having to use so many tools to fix up his set, All he wanted to do was to just get down to playing music. The idea came to him to create just one tool that would do everything. So he cut a screw driver, a drum tool and a socket wrench all apart. He then designed a wing nut tightener according the the shape of his fingers to serve as a pliers device. He put the design of all these parts on paper first. After much trial and error he came up with a practical design for an all purpose single tool that would do everything I needed.

He then found a mold maker who was able to cast a stainless steel form that was later chrome plated and turned into the final product. This tool combined the drum key, a screw driver, a socket wrench and a pliers-type tightener all in one.

After the final tool was created he sold them in music stores and drum shops. In 1966 he received his United States "Sta-Set 4-in-1 Drum Tool" patent. This product was endorsed and used by Louie Bellson, Art Blakey, Roy Hanes, Elvin Jones, Max Roach, Ed Shaughnessy and many other drummers.

Later on in 1979 the Ludwig drum company bought the patent, molds and the rights to the tool. The Ludwig name was put on the tool and it was then sold through their catalog. The original "Armen" Sta-Set 4-in-1 drum tool is now considered a collectors item.

Source - Armen Halburian Web Site