Why the change in drum sounds over the years?

[Galen]

I'm not a percussionist, so excuse my ignorance in this matter. What caused the change in battery sounds, in terms of the quality of snare sounds in particular, from the 80's to the 90's and today? I remember in the 80's that snares tended to have a full, rich, thick sound to them, whereas today's drums tend to sound pretty hollow and not really project as much. Compare the pretty solid "BOOM" of most 80's lines (BD and SCV in particular) to today's sounds, which, as Fred Fennel described, sounds like "drumming on marble". Is it the style of drums themselves, the heads, or something else that's changed?

[Toby]

I'm not a percussionist, so excuse my ignorance in this matter. What caused the change in battery sounds, in terms of the quality of snare sounds in particular, from the 80's to the 90's and today? I remember in the 80's that snares tended to have a full, rich, thick sound to them, whereas today's drums tend to sound pretty hollow and not really project as much. Compare the pretty solid "BOOM" of most 80's lines (BD and SCV in particular) to today's sounds, which, as Fred Fennel described, sounds like "drumming on marble". Is it the style of drums themselves, the heads, or something else that's changed?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

didn't they change the material that they used for the drumheads?

[Eggbert]

That would be Kevlar. In the quest for ever tighter snare drum heads, the old mylar heads pulled out and broke way too often and it was costing corps a lot of money. Kevlar is what bullet proof vests are made of, so now the heads don't break. But, Kevlar doesn't stretch at all, so when cranked up it responds like playing on a table top.

The added shock to the hands of the players is really not a good thing and in the early days of kevlar there were a lot of carpal tunnel (sp?) type injuries. Raising the overall stick height has helped that somewhat by keeping the muscles from binding up. Of course it looks pretty goofy to see the players start a stroke up by their eyes and come down with tremendous force only to have the drum go "tick, tack, tappa tappa." It's really pretty funny and I would personally be embarrassed to sound like that.

The odd thing is that while the horn guys are moving toward a more symphonic and "pure" brass sound, the drums sound more artificial and less like drums every year. Go figure. (with the possible exception of SCV who does a little better. Did they use mylar this year?)

Snare drums also use what is called a free floating shell, meaning the tension lugs are no longer affixed to the wood shell but instead are attached to a metal ring around the drum. This allows the shell to resonate more freely. That's the reason for the hollow sound. The heads don't resonate at all. They can't because they don't stretch. So, the shell has to be free to vibrate or there is no tone whatsoever.

It also has to do with shifting the judges from down on the field to up in the box. The tighter and shorter the drum sound, the easier it is to hear the individual strokes. But, the sacrifice is tone and power. Tappa tappa tappa...

[Jason]

Yep, kevlar has changed the sound of a line a LOT. However we are getting mellower tones out of the drums now thanks to experimentations with different materials. White Max drum heads have won me over considerably in the past year, maintaining the duribility of Kevlar with a mellower tone and easier tunibility.

I've taught lines using Mylar, Kevlar, and the White Max. Each has their strenghths and weaknesses.

The mylar, for instance, added a lot of weight so the sound. And for some reason, worked VERY well in the clostrophobic dome in Fargo. We tried Kevlar but the sound was just swallowed up in the Fargodome with the NDSU drumline. Kevlar carried much better in there. So the NDSU line switched back after my first few gigs teaching there.

However, it doesn't project NEARLY as well as the White Max heads do outdoors. Man, I can hear my snare line from about a mile and a half away when we're playing on the White Max (about the same for Kevlar..but it's a little closer to a mile :P).

NDSU's snares sound...well...rather weak outdoors on the Mylar. There is nowhere NEAR the projection of my summer and winter drum line programs on Kevlar and White Max. Of course, it could all be the players

I've never experimented with Mylar heads on an indoor setting (read..basketball court). I'ld go through FAR to many of them with my winter line to even consider it.

Edited September 26, 2004 by fmcorps

[ACustom19]

So we have a fan of mylar...as I expected...

[Eggbert]

Not a fan of any particular material. The sound is what's important. A drum that sounds good sounds good regardless of what's on top.

[LuvsPAisTe]

Maybe it's got something to do with drums needing to be lighter? Now that the battery is expected to do more than elevator drills up and down the 50-yard line, the abilty to march whiplash moves is essential. That would be impssible to do with the heavier drums of the 70's and early 80's (not to mention with a strapped snare resting on your left leg). But yes, I do like the sound of the older snares better. Those old marching tympani projected much better too, even though they didn't stay in tune very well.

Edited September 27, 2004 by LuvsPAisTe

[Weaklefthand4ever]

Kevlar has it's place. We don't have to double rim snares anymore to get to not sound like a wet paper towel hitting concrete.

Tom Float has a nice article at the Vic Firth site in which he says something I never really thought about in regards to this. As the material changed from Mylar heads like the Striders, Powerstroke 3's and Resonators to Kevlar, the spacing between notes shrotened. Tom states, and very truthfully I might add, that it's much easier to play harder rudiments on Mylar in a line because the spacing of the notes is broad enough to hide imperfections. With Kevlar, you hear everything.

Free floating snares have also changed the timbre of the drums somewhat. Less hardware in contact with the shell gives a much less "choked" sound like we used to have with the old Slingerland TDR's and Ludwigs.

Erich

EDIT: Didn't read Cliff's post 1st and he sid most of what I said. So yeah...what he said. Uh huh.

Edited September 28, 2004 by Weaklefthand4ever

[mobrien]

Free floating snares have also changed the timbre of the drums somewhat. Less hardware in contact with the shell gives a much less "choked" sound like we used to have with the old Slingerland TDR's and Ludwigs.

Course the funny thing is that the shell was liberated to resonate better, but the head is a material that doesn't resonate at all, thereby killing whatever tonal benefit the free floating shell design was supposed to deliver. Ach, progress....

Edited September 29, 2004 by mobrien

[RickCogley]

Well, the techs and caption heads these past couple years have got at least a reasonable sound out of the snares. I like Cadets and Phantom's snare sound, and dislike BDs. Phantom even had decent sounding rimshots this year. Amazing. There was a Bridgemen sounding gock! at one point, which was like that famous honker of a 'shot from Battle Hymn.

I think it is a function of equipment, technology and just how hard they work to get it. We used to have a formula for how we'd tune the (mylar) heads and even the guts of the snares to get a particular sound. Perhaps repetition has led to some insights about how to get the things not to sound horrible.

PS: Please don't let this thread die; lately, it's like my posts "curse" threads and cause them to die.