The phone’s been ringing a lot lately at Explorers Percussion, a backbone of Kansas City’s drumming community for the better part of the last 40 years. In February, Lorene Faulconer and her husband, Wes, announced they would wind down operations at their Waldo shop at the end of March. Longtime friends and customers have been checking in to say goodbye, and many others have been calling in search of deals on percussion instruments and other equipment as the Faulconers drain their existing inventory. Independent retailers of musical instruments were more common in Kansas City in Explorers’ early days, but the shop has always been unique on the local landscape. It is a specialty music store catering to percussionists — no guitars or keyboards here — that also offers drum repairs, drum rentals and studios in the back for drum lessons. (“The kids taking lessons, they usually start with AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black,’” Lorene said. “I’ll bet you I’ve heard that beat coming from the back studio...