Bob Gatzen isn’t just a drummer. He’s a percussion-inventor.

On his way to a Gatzen’s diverse career as a drummer and producer, Gatzsen studied with Jo Porcaro throughout grade school, with Al Lepak at the Hartt College of Music, and then with world renowned Gary Burton at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston.

From 1972 to 2002, Gatzen and his wife, Jo-Ann, owned and operated Creative Music Inc., an innovative educational/retail business featuring workshops, clinics and live performances. He also promoted jazz performances in local clubs, enlisting a veritable “who’s who” of the New York and Boston jazz scenes to guest with his own jazz group, Moto.

Gatzen established himself as a pioneer in percussion through groundbreaking work in product innovation and video production. He holds U.S. and international patents for Evans Drumheads, Drum Workshop, Noble & Cooley, Zildjian Cymbal co., Regal Tip Drumsticks and DrumFrame Ltd., and has received a number of Music Industry Press Awards for his design accomplishments.

Gatzen also led the improvisational percussion ensemble Spiral, which was awarded grants from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts by virtue of their innovative program, “Music in Museums.”

Today, Gatzen is a BMI recording artist and music publisher, producing DVD projects for Warner Bros. Music and Alfred Publishing. He composes music for his DVD and CD projects in his home studio, located in Connecticut, under the label Redeye’s Music Publishing. Gatzen created and produced the “Inspiring Drummers” series for Warner, and his latest endeavor is a children’s program “START with the Arts, a nonprofit organization established to develop creativity and original thinking in children from ages 8 to 12.