Crazy Styles  Music Blog

Drums are made of drum shells.
A drum shell is:
1.Any cylindrical object (drum shell); or 2.Object with an open top.
It has a membrane normally called a head or skin stretched across it, known as a membranophone.The drum is struck on the membrane to produce a sound.

What Are Drum Shells Made of
Any material that can be formed or carved as mentioned above. But the main material used to make drum shells of reasonable quality is wood laminates from:
1. Maple; 2. Beech; 3. Birch; or 4. Lauan.

Why Wood
It has inherent characteristics that produce pleasant sounds. Other materials like metal, bamboo or plastic are used to make musical instruments but for certain instruments [such as drums], wood seems to be just the choice material.
Generally, the harder and denser a material is, the more evenly it will vibrate. Hence, the harder the wood, the better it sounds.

Wood Types
Most drums are made from Maple, Birch or Lauan.
The softest of the three types is Lauan and is therefore the least attractive in terms of sound quality. Hence, it is the least expensive. It is usually used to make low-end, budget drums which are covered in plastic as opposed to spray finish.
Maple and Birch are used to make most high end drums. Maple is being described as “warm” and Birch, bright.

Drum Shell Thickness
The thickness of the drum shell corresponds with the pitch. The thicker, the higher the sound and the reverse is true.

Drum Shell Sizes
Drum shells are measured as diameter by depth. For example, the notation for a 14” diameter drum with a depth of 5.5” will be: 14×5-1/2.
The sound and tone are affected as follows:
1.Wider the diameter, deeper the sound; 2.Deeper the shelf, lower the sound.
The depth of the shelf also affects projection. Although a shallow drum will not project as well, it has better resonance and a purer tone.

Reinforcement Hoops/Rings
Reinforcement rings or hoops were originally designed to:
1. Keep the drum shell round; and 2.Change its acoustic purposes.
These rings or hoops control the vibrations as do reins control the horses.

What Gives The Tone
The drumhead is one of the major factors in the sound of a drum. It is the tone generator. It has a major impact on the timbre, attack and sustain of the drum. As mentioned earlier, the diameter, thickness and depth of the drum shell can also affect sound quality.
The vibrations of the drum head or skin when struck gives the sound, which is primarily affected by:
Film
The material of the skin:
1. Calfskin 2. Mylar (plastic) 3. Kelvar (originally used to make bullet-proof vest)
Applications
Things added to the drum head changes it’s sound:
1. Coating 2. Dots 3. Underlays
Configuration
The number and thickness of plies affects the tone.
Drum Heads
Drum heads are the surface used to play a drum. Drums heads consist of both a batter side, which is struck by sticks or mallets, and a resonant side, which reverberates sound and is not played on. Drum heads were originally made out of animal skins, though modern manufacturing methods have improved their quality. It is said that modern drum heads are resistant to fluctuations in humidity according to Evansdrumheads.com.
Tuning Tuning drums is essentially a mechanical exercise with the aim of ensuring that the tensions across a head are as equal as possible around the head, or ‘in tune with itself’. Additionally, each head needs to be tuned sympathetically with the drum’s other head and with the other elements of your kit. Tuning is a mechanical exercise and therefore there are many varied ways of delivering an appropriate tone from a drum.
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Married with 2 beautiful daughters and wonderfully blessed!

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