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How do you get that good corps snare sound?


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How do you get that good nice snare sound corps have (especially blue devils and cadets)

We use Remo White Max heads on the top and pearl st (i think?) heads on the bottom.

We've cranked the #### out of them on the top head and tried different tape configs., adjusted snares, etc.... any ideas or suggestions?

What's a good bottom head? I know most will say go Falam bottom head... but my experience with those is they don't last as long as they should, plus many corps don't use them anymore... so what's the secret?

lets here it!

and oh yea... one more question, what are the new evans top snare head like? I know Cadets and many others use them..... are they a lot like the White Max as far as feel goes?

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Well you might want to double hoop the bottoms...it makes the guts cut so much better to the stands. Remember, the trick is not to hear the snare sound clearly when you are listening or playing right next to the drum, but hear it from the stands.

You might want to keep the snare strands just a little tighter then then you normally would, then crank the bottom until it almost breaks. This allows you to have a short snary sound rather then a really wet sound, which isn't what you're really going for...and if you know how to tune a top head, you should be fine.

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More and more, corps are moving away from the "crank the #### out of the top head" mentality. Tune the top head so it feels good to play on--your bottom head has just as much influence on the pitch of the drum as the top head does. Overcranking the top head doesn't allow it to vibrate as much, so it moves less air inside the drum, so the snares don't respond well, so you get an extremely dry, staccato sound that doesn't carry across the field very well.

When you are tuning the drum, remember that how it sounds near the drum is often completely different from how it sounds from a distance. Have someone stand at least 20 or 30 feet away when you're tuning the drum so you know how it will sound. Also, realize that if you get one drum sounding nice, a whole line of those drums may not sound quite so good. Tune individual snares slightly drier than you'd tune them for solo use and listen to how they blend as a line.

I wouldn't really recommend the falam bottom head--it's a lot drier than a remo ambassador, for example, and while it will last longer, it won't give you as effective a snare response as an ambassador. My recommendation--a white or black max head on top--tuned to feel nice--tight but smooth, and a hazy ambassador on the bottom, tuned relatively high, but experiment with bottom head tuning, snare positioning, and individual gut tuning until you hit the sweet spot and find the sound you want.

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Mylar Silver Dots and Ambassador snare heads always worked for me. After all, you DID say you were looking for a snare sound, not a Formica tabletop, right?... B)

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Try White max heads on the bottom, too. We do that here in my Corps and the Snares (When properly tuned) sound sweet

...for mosquitos! How long will it be before someone comes up with the "innovation" of 15" drums with silver dot heads. Snare drums never sounded better.

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Try White max heads on the bottom, too. We do that here in my Corps and the Snares (When properly tuned) sound sweet

hmm interesting.. I have heard about this from someone else as well... putting a white max (top head) on the top and bottom and as long as the snare touch, they get good vibration enough to produce a nice corps sound. May give this a shot....

Edited by DCIFanOfAllDivisions
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