What makes drums make different sounds

[rapscallion]

I'm trying to make a good reference on how different drum attributes make different sounds.

things like shell materials and shell construction

I don't know what all to include in this, in terms of what the attributes should be (so far I have: Pitch, Sustain, and Attack) and what the differences in construction should be (so far I have: Shell material, and shell thickness)

plus I really don't know much about how to arrange the whole thing, I've started it in a word document, If we could all collaborate and figure out how to finish this, I think it could be a useful tool, for people like myself to learn all about drums and the different sounds they make.

(with the shell materials one, I'm looking to put them in order, We'll probably end up using only a fraction of the list i have in there)


... ok.... turns out I can't attach the word document... and it doesn't work very well at all to just copy it into the message as there are tables and such... I'll just put this out there for now.

[elron]

I am sure doomy will be happy to put such a document up on emd servers for you.

[Hibernus Mortis]

Here is a little 101 by moi on different shell types.

Maple = Fatter tone, big and open with nice low end. Great in a live setting.

Birch = Sharper cutting tone with faster attack, a bit more high pitch and perfect for the studio.

Bubinga - Very musical wide open tones...great for live as well as studio. Expensive but worth the money.

Oak - Very loud with nice tone as well but lacking a little bit on the low end.

Ash - Punchy and very focused, similar to Oak but with a wider tuning range.

Mahogany - Punchy and even lower in pitch than Maple, also lacking a bit in the attack department.

[slaughterofdreams]

follow what hibernus mortis said (although i have to disagree about the oak...mine's fat as hell )

but also the glue, different companies use different glues, some glues are greatly heavier than others, you can typically see the glue between the shells (just look for something different than the wood color) the glues really have just as much of an effect on the tone of the drum as the wood does itself. sometimes factories will use more glue which focus's the tone a little bit, but because of that deading quality the drums resonate less, other high end kits use a lite, and very thin glue to hold the shells together to get the full tone of the shell itself. think about it like this - the less there is on a drum, the better the tone is going to be (which is why they have like isolation mounts, floating toms, smaller lugs etc) the more a drum has on it the less it's going to sustain, but also remember it might make it a punchier shell (if the wood is right). so some hardware looks badass, but it might be aversly effeting the drums sound, and the same goes for the finishes, wraps and the glue they use will deaden the sound just a bit, but in some cases (such as my pearl) they can actually sound better as a wrap vs a lacquer finish because of the tonealities of the shells.

also look at the quality of the wood, you dont want a lot of greens or browns, just try to get a very well rounded over all wood color, not all shell plys are the same, so if you have a lot of green wood it's going to be softer, thus a warmer tone, yet it sounds kind of mudded at times.

the bearing edges are the most vital part of any kit. this is what actually touches the head that transfers the vibrations from the head to the shell. the more wood you have touching the head, the faster the vibration will transfer and the more "woody" and warm the tone will overall be. but in some instances , such as metal, where you really need that cut, you'll want a sharper bearing edge on your drum so that you get a bit more attack as the vibrations focus a bit more on the heads...but that also makes head selection very important into the overall sound of your kit.

shell thickness is also important, the thinner the shell the more air is in the drum, and the more the wood will willing vibrate. thus the deeper/warmer the tone, as well as a bit more resonance. the thicker the shell the more bright/higher pitched the drum will sound.

the next thing i can really think of is the size, the deeper the drum the more thuddy it will be, shallower drums will resonate and more sinsitive they'll be because the two heads are closer together, and there's less air between them. if you want a low pitched drum, get a bigger diameter, if you want it to resonate longer get a bit shallower of a shell. but the thing is, is too shallow makes it to be a very thin sound, but also the deeper the drum, you'll get nothing but a thud. the whole reasion vinne paul and those guys use those hugeass toms is to get that distinctive thuddy kick sound. the same shells a bit thinner would have the same tone and attack, just resonate longer.

but really overall, it just depends on what the factory produces, if it sounds good it sounds good...the end. to me, since i've been working in the drumshop though i can pretty much tell a peral is a pearl, a yamaha is a yamaha, a tama is a tama etc. not only by looking at shell construction, but how the drums sound.

[anarchist_tomato]

there are actually a number of guides already written abou this, you may be re-inventing the wheel. some also have no glue and are one thick shell, they sound awesome

[slaughterofdreams]

[Hibernus Mortis]

Oh yeah, by the way Spaun's double 45 degree bearing edges kick major ass.

[devildriver_drummer]

[Hibernus Mortis]

[devildriver_drummer]

Yeah I just heard differently, that's all

[rapscallion]

[slaughterofdreams]