Jump to content

"Ergosonic" angled shell basses


Jim Nevermann

Recommended Posts

I don't know.

You or anyone else here ever play Stingray? I'm told the snares & tenors were VERY heavy. Although how much heavier could Stingray tenors have been than most other manufactures today are? To me they're all absurdly heavy.

We had Stingray drums for several seasons, in that exact red/white combination., though not the wedge model. Yes, they were very heavy for 14" drums. We/I replaced them in favor of the 15" Ludwig metal shell drums we currently use. They are not only lighter, but we feel they have a more authentic look and sound for an alumni corps.

Reilly Raiders still have Stingrays, though a different model from those that we had. Yankee Rebels also had them until their disbanding in 2009, though they were using some of the small wedge snares for parades, so that will tell you something about the weight of the Stingrays.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why 99% of the drum manufacturers continue to make [and corps & bands continue to buy] such ridiculously heavy drums --especially tenors-- is completely beyond me. I hope Al Murray's able to steer Ludwig away from their "us too" heavy-drum design mentality.

Edited by Jim Nevermann
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I think it would be pretty cool to have a uniform look of the drums across the entire battery.:thumbup: I saw an ad in the "Halftime Magazine" and they are apparently all the same size (relatively small) and can be tuned to all the pitches of the bass drums.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Technically, single horizontal marching basses [even in the form of Ergosonic's semi-tilted ones] are not a new concept.

A very few weeks after the Boston Crusaders premiered their revolutionary, single-headed, horizontal double-bass set in 1967 --THAT long ago?!-- many corps quickly turned some/all of their normally vertical carried single basses horizontal [with or with out both heads] as a sort of "Hey, us too" move. Here, two such basses in the very sharp looking 1969 Des Plaines 'Vanguard'.

Des Plaines also expanded their marching tympany section that same year, though I'm not sure they're in this photo. Note also their red sparkle REMO snare heads, and -- very progressively -- *three* sets of Ludwig timp-toms which replaced their former single-shell tenor section of 1968. Des Plaines was the first corps to make that pivotal instrument switch. Yet, for at least one more year, practically everyone else continued using their single tenors along with [if they had them] one or two sets of timp-toms, promoted in Ludwig ads of the day as a "tonal bridge between (single shell) tenors and bass drums".

drumlineDesPlaines269.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just wish my school could afford all new drums :rock: We use basses 0-4 because bass 5 is broken

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why 99% of the drum manufacturers continue to make [and corps & bands continue to buy] such ridiculously heavy drums --especially tenors-- is completely beyond me. I hope Al Murray's able to steer Ludwig away from their "us too" heavy-drum design mentality.

Generally speaking, the heavier drums tend to sound better. Thicker and deeper shells = more projection.

Edited by old skool drmmr
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

I saw these bass drums at N.J. music educators conference in New Brunswick. These are cool. Wooden shell not like sting ray or north drum. Pretty light and the way they are made the smaller drum can play a lower pitch. A great product. Time to update bass drums. I talked to a guy who used them for his parade band and he said it was the first time in 12 years of teaching that he could really hear his bass drums during a parade. I love all these guys who rag on the look of these drums and say they don't look traditional. Probably the same guys who voted for electronics and vocals in drum corps. Gimme a break !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everett (MA) H.S. winter percussion line is using them this year. They're a PSO line and will be at Dayton this week. I'm not sure they project like a traditional bass drum does, though with only having 3 snares the balance seems to be okay.

I guess if you're teaching your students to play match grip, these drums may have an advantage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally some vids of these basses are showing up online

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...