Thick or thin....

[rlhubley]

... Drum shells that is. What do you guys prefer, and why?

[larrytkennedyexcite.com]

Like everything else in drumming, my preference is relative.

With "thin" being defined as about 5mm or so, "medium" being 6 or 7 mm, and anything over 8 mm being considered "thick" - I find that the drums I prefer have either thin shells for birch or other woods; but medium with maple shells.

For example, Premier's Artist Birch (a "thin" shell, 5.5mm) and Pearl's new Session Custom Maple drums ("medium" at 7.5mm) both sound great to me. Both seem to be punchy and have a controlled resonance - not dry, but "clean".

I find I don't care as much for thin maple shell drums - seems that there's too much "wasted" sound for live stage use

compared to the "punchier" sound of thin birch and medium maple.

[Dwarf]

My Brady snare drum is thick (3/4 inch) and I love it. While I like my Yamaha Recordings I would like to try something a bit different. I wish I had the money to get a kit made - I'd love to hear how toms and bass drums would sound if they were 3/4 inch thick maple.

 

--

Rob

[djarrett]

Drum Plies affect the shell's resonant quality. The thicker the shell, typically, the less resonant. This helps if you are looking for a gated sound without the use of gates or muffling devices.

I prefer a thicker bass and snare drum shell, and a thinner tom shell.

All of the above combined with the amount of hardware attached to the shell, rims, hoops, head choice, etc. will determine the resulting sound.

... and some folks think we are just drummers, ... heck, you have to be a shade tree scientist and engineer to figure this stuff out!

 

DJ