The thunderous rumble that blasted through the Northwest at 2:45 p.m. and lasted six minutes Sunday was not another rainstorm.

It was a sea of more than 3,000 drummers banging their drum sets in sync – setting a world record – and creating a new one for the first time.

The event, the Sixth Annual Woodstick/Big Beat drumming and fundraising event, took place at Juanita High School Field House in Kirkland. It is the brainchild of Donn Bennett Drum Studios in Bellevue.

Northwest drummers hold the Guinness World Record of 533 drummers playing drumsets simultaneously, set at Qwest Field in 2005.

This year, the local drummers combined with more than 3,000 drummers at other Big Beat events in eight other cities across the United States and Canada and created a new world record for drummers playing simultaneously via live Internet connection.

Novice and veteran drummers pounded alongside of celebrity drummers, including Matt Cameron of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, Joe Plummer of Modest Mouse, BB King’s Tony Coleman and Michael Derosier, the original drummer for Heart.

The Woodstick event began in 2003 by Chris Kimball of Tacoma as a Rotary fundraiser. Kimball partnered with Bellevue’s Bennett and together they turned the event into the largest and longest-running event of its kind. To date, the event has raised nearly $70,000 for charity.