Drum Qualities

joshcork

I've been drumming for a good while now and i'd like to start learning something about the fundamentals of what makes drums make the sound they do. More specifically the snare, does anyone know any good sites which explain the characteristics of a snare
and what snares do you consider good and the like

Doctor J

Wooden snares have a mellower sound, metal snares generally sound brighter, sharper.

Best thing to do is go into Musicmaker and try out everything they have there. I did. Ended up getting a Pearl Masters 6 ply Birch 14"x6". It just sounded right. I tried steel, copper, brass and maple snares and just preferred the sound of the Birch. They were all fine drums. It's down to your preference at the end of the day.

Have a look here

Eoin Madsen

I found the same. My kit is Birch (I thought it sounded clearer than the maple)... But they don't do a birch shell for the Pearl free floating snare for some reason! But I was thinking of having some custom shells made for it in the future. I wonder what an oak snare sounds like? I found this interesting site in the US that make drums to order. When I remember the URL I'll post it up.

Bear in mind that the quality of the drum making is equally if not more important than what it's made of. Steel shelled snares are easier to make cheaply - so it's easy to mistake them all for being cheaper sounding than maple or birch on the weight of a naff Pearl Export one.

Baggio

Hey Doc,
..did you find the folks at MM very open to you trying all their snares?..I've nothing against the lads there at all, but have to admit I'd be very wary about asking for a go like that>?....you'v probably a stronger neck than me,,,althogh thats hard to believe!!,,,to answer the original mail:
I suppose Doc basically summed it up, I use 3 snares all for different colours in my sound: standard 5/14 wood snare that came with the kit for basically the central standard snare sound, a 5/14 slingerland Copper snare for deeper heavy hitting sounds, and a 13/3 Pearl Piccolo snare for bright crisp snare sounds. It's amazing what drum sounds best with what songs we play/try to play!!. Also you can check on the web the different home pages of drum makers, DW, Pearl, Yamaha, Slingerland, Sonor etc etc,,all have very good sites with lots of info and pix to check over.

thats my rant...ciao' amigo...Baggio...........

Doctor J

Yeah they guy was cool. I've spent big money in there before, so they knew I was for real. I just explained to the guy the type of sound I was looking for and we spent almost an hour trying different ones. He's a good lad, the musicmaker guy. He spent time with me discussing different sounds and didn't do the hard sell either... which was nice.

Eoin Madsen

http://www.smddrums.com - that's it. It's like the Warmoth of drums... kinda.

joshcork

http://www.smddrums.com - that's it. It's like the Warmoth of drums... kinda.

Those are some bad arse drums. You'd want to one hellova drummer to appreciate the sound and cost.
When I'm 50 or so and have my empire built I'll get me some

Eoin Madsen

Hmm. I'm wondering what an oak 3/4" thick stave shell snare would sound like.