Walter J. Light was a timpanist, percussionist, and drum

Drum

The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...

maker. At the age of 16, he was appointed to a percussion position in the Denver Symphony Orchestra

Denver Symphony Orchestra

The Denver Symphony Orchestra, established in 1934 and dissolved in 1989, was a professional American orchestra in Denver, Colorado. Until 1978, when the Boettcher Concert Hall was built to house the symphony orchestra, it performed in a succession of theaters, amphitheaters and auditoriums...

, joining his father, who was the timpanist. He began a 27-year stint as principal timpanist after his father's death in 1952.

Dissatisfied with the instruments available to him post–World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he took up drum building in order to recreate the Dresden-style timpani built in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 before the war. Eventually, other timpanists asked Light to build drums for them. In 1950, he formed the American Drum Manufacturing Co., which still builds custom timpani to this day.