With over 40 years of experience in the music industry, as a performer and teacher, Mike Downing, an inventor and designer of musical instruments, is looking for a collaboration in the music industry with a manufacturer of musical instruments.
Having a strong background as a machinist and knowledge of mechanical drawing and patent law, Mike has successfully submitted and prosecuted U.S. patents. Downing claims that “he has developed the only fully resonant dual tension free floating drum which has received recognition from well-known publications such as Modern Drummer, Jazz Times and Drum magazine,” as well as performing master classes on the principle of physics applied in their patent of free-floating drums.
Mike has  been a guest speaker at NYU, Berklee School of Music, University of Buffalo and many other prestigious universities, and presented at trade shows such as PASIC, NAMM, Chicago Drum Show and Connecticut Drum Show. Furthermore, has numerous other designs in different degrees of completion, some of which involve solving intonation problems on fretted instruments, a new design for mounting and tuning timpani, expansion on capabilities of instruments like the melodica and tension mechanisms for snare drums.
With a strong passion for music and a realisation that some of his designs may not reach completion without the support of a research and development department and being a team player Mike feels that with proper protections for all, he can make significant changes in the music industry.
Mike welcomes the opportunity to open a dialogue to discuss future collaborations and ideas, to demonstrate what he has already accomplished and future goals and feels if you share his passion, “we can make this work and take our place as leaders in the development of musical instruments.”.