To tilt or not to tilt...

[BozzlyB]

I'm curious on opinions on tilted snare drums. Personally I love the look and I'm glad the Blue Stars have adopted this. Anyone ever play in a line with tilted snares and is there a big adjustment to playing flat?

[perc2100]

I'm curious on opinions on tilted snare drums. Personally I love the look and I'm glad the Blue Stars have adopted this. Anyone ever play in a line with tilted snares and is there a big adjustment to playing flat?

Tilting the snare is more ergonomically correct for a snare line playing traditional grip, and theoretically seems to be a more natural playing environment for the hands. At my HS when we brought in a new battery percussion coach he put the snare at a slight tilt, and the veteran students really seemed to prefer it. They said that it felt like the tilt helped their left hand have more power/match the power of their right hand, and they seemed to feel more comfortable with the tilt than with regular straight snares. For high school kids (we did it in a year where half the snare line was freshmen), it makes sense as a means to help the younger students develop their chops & technique with such a radical playing adjustment as middle school concert band - HS drum line. There was a minor adjustment for the vet students, but nothing too radical: it was more of a confidence boost for the vets, who had to work less to match stroke velocity from left to right hand & had to work less to get a strong accent

Edited May 7, 2014 by perc2100

[BozzlyB]

Interesting. I wonder why more corps don't go this route.

[DrumManTx]

Tilting the snare is more ergonomically correct for a snare line playing traditional grip, and theoretically seems to be a more natural playing environment for the hands. At my HS when we brought in a new battery percussion coach he put the snare at a slight tilt, and the veteran students really seemed to prefer it. They said that it felt like the tilt helped their left hand have more power/match the power of their right hand, and they seemed to feel more comfortable with the tilt than with regular straight snares. For high school kids (we did it in a year where half the snare line was freshmen), it makes sense as a means to help the younger students develop their chops & technique with such a radical playing adjustment as middle school concert band - HS drum line. There was a minor adjustment for the vet students, but nothing too radical: it was more of a confidence boost for the vets, who had to work less to match stroke velocity from left to right hand & had to work less to get a strong accent

Beat me to it. I was gonna sound smart for once! Just kidding. But yes, it's just more natural. And it looks sick as ####.

[actucker]

Disclaimer: All of this is based on my personal experience with the flat and tilted drums. I've taught both at the high school and the independent level. I'm a native tenor player, so I've never had to perform on a tilted drum. I DO tilt my snare drum on my drum set when I'm playing jazz, as it gives me a better surface for brush playing. When practicing rudimental playing, I play on a flat surface.

I personally don't buy the "its ergonomically correct" argument, as for every left hand advantage a tilt creates, there is a right hand disadvantage that goes with it. The fact is, good drumming can be done on any surface, and no matter how you set things up, there will be something that isn't ergonomically perfect for something else. The way modern snare drums are set up, playing matched grip is difficult, as the drum doesn't sit far enough from the body to allow the arms to relax to the sides as you would want them to. This is why snare lines typically hold the right shoulder out slightly from their rib cage in order to match left hand bead placement.

I also don't agree that it looks good. Its incredibly difficult to get consistent, and can often look junky in my opinion if its not maintained regularly. Flat drums are much easier to clean visually, as you have an obvious reference to the player on either side as to whether the rims are straight.

Finally, while I understand the idea that for young players it might be easier to develop the left hand, I feel that developing the right hand correctly is even more important, and at the beginner level, teaching a slice in the right hand can be very hard to correct down the line. In my experience, it is easier to learn to play well on a flat surface, and adjust TO a tilt, than it is to learn on a tilt and adjust to flat. I consider my job at the high school level to prepare kids for opportunities beyond high school, so I choose to use flat drums knowing that the majority of the groups these kids will want to audition for will have the drums flat. If they never develop the extension required to play on a flat surface, then they will be at a disadvantage auditioning for a drum corps.

At the end of the day, its a style choice. Nobody is right or wrong. I get a little tired of the "tilt is correct" argument. Its not that black and white.

[perc2100]

Disclaimer: All of this is based on my personal experience with the flat and tilted drums. I've taught both at the high school and the independent level. I'm a native tenor player, so I've never had to perform on a tilted drum. I DO tilt my snare drum on my drum set when I'm playing jazz, as it gives me a better surface for brush playing. When practicing rudimental playing, I play on a flat surface.

I personally don't buy the "its ergonomically correct" argument, as for every left hand advantage a tilt creates, there is a right hand disadvantage that goes with it. The fact is, good drumming can be done on any surface, and no matter how you set things up, there will be something that isn't ergonomically perfect for something else. The way modern snare drums are set up, playing matched grip is difficult, as the drum doesn't sit far enough from the body to allow the arms to relax to the sides as you would want them to. This is why snare lines typically hold the right shoulder out slightly from their rib cage in order to match left hand bead placement.

I also don't agree that it looks good. Its incredibly difficult to get consistent, and can often look junky in my opinion if its not maintained regularly. Flat drums are much easier to clean visually, as you have an obvious reference to the player on either side as to whether the rims are straight.

Finally, while I understand the idea that for young players it might be easier to develop the left hand, I feel that developing the right hand correctly is even more important, and at the beginner level, teaching a slice in the right hand can be very hard to correct down the line. In my experience, it is easier to learn to play well on a flat surface, and adjust TO a tilt, than it is to learn on a tilt and adjust to flat. I consider my job at the high school level to prepare kids for opportunities beyond high school, so I choose to use flat drums knowing that the majority of the groups these kids will want to audition for will have the drums flat. If they never develop the extension required to play on a flat surface, then they will be at a disadvantage auditioning for a drum corps.

At the end of the day, its a style choice. Nobody is right or wrong. I get a little tired of the "tilt is correct" argument. Its not that black and white.

Good points; FWIW I'm not 100% sold either way, and you're correct that it's not a black & white thing, and you can obviously produce great players with tilted or flat.

[MikeN]

I've always been in favor of the tilt. I think it looks great in a "throwback" sort of way, and I've always found it very comfortable to play.

Mike

[perc2100]

I've always been in favor of the tilt. I think it looks great in a "throwback" sort of way, and I've always found it very comfortable to play.

Mike

It's not too comfortable to play from the instructor's side...

[Stu]

Answer these two simple questions (for yourself) and all will be resolved: 1) Why was left hand ‘traditional’ grip invented in the first place?; and 2) What real purpose, other than echoing a day gone by with slings, is there in playing with left hand ‘traditional’ grip on a snare drum that is on a carrier, whether it is tilted or flat?

[tesmusic]

Answer these two simple questions (for yourself) and all will be resolved: 1) Why was left hand ‘traditional’ grip invented in the first place?; and 2) What real purpose, other than echoing a day gone by with slings, is there in playing with left hand ‘traditional’ grip on a snare drum that is on a carrier, whether it is tilted or flat?

You bring up a great point. I think that it's the "right" thing to do, meaning playing with traditional grip because playing matched grip seems to be looked down upon as not cool, or not bad ### enough.

Personally, I can't stand when most high schools play traditional because their technique is usually not good enough in matched grip to even try traditional, which is more challenging.

Matched is also better for being a versatile percussionist, as it transfers more to other instruments.

I remember in 2005 when SCV went back to it and so many people blasted them before they heard a single note.

As for playing with the tilt, I say if you're going to play traditional grip, you pretty much have to tilt. Unless you don't care about proper technique, then have the drum flat. By correct technique, I mean not moving your arm in a way that is not healthy physically, which is what a player is doing if they're playing traditional on a flat drum.