Is this possible?

[randomhero243]

After looking at te thread about the new cherry stave drum set (which was gorgeous) some of the posts referred to "stave" drum building. and hows its better and uses less glue and such.

but then i thought to myself why use any glue at all. would one think its possible to just cut down a fairly good sized tree of choice. cut it into a good sized log. then as is lays horizontal on the ground cut out a section of it 20 inches from the bottom. of that hunk then carve out a 22 inch diameter. would that not make a rough bass drum design if you hollowed it out. thinned it to proer specifications and added bearing edges? not only would it use no glue but with the hunk of wood you used to hollow out you could make each tom and snare??

i drew a daigram in paint ahah. no need to glue. or steam bend. or do w.e.

[TTNW]

I have heard that the solid wood hollowed out log drum (instead of the steambent solid wood shell) is actually a weaker shell; so much so that steambent is the preferred and superior solid shell manufacturing method.

Stave shells would probably be stronger too. I have a set of Toca Congas (stave shell design) and you could put them out on a football field as tackling dummies and they would survive it.

[catlover]

Yes, it is !

http://www.oregondrum.com/
http://www.lukapercussion.com/

[GRUNTERSDAD]

If I am not mistaken DeathmetalConga's drum set is a solid wood set made from Ironwood.
Check his set out at his persoanl page. If I am wrong he will correct me and chime in. I think it would depend on the wood, and how it was aged as to its strength

Edit. I looked and was correct. Here is the link.
http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18719

[randomhero243]

now wouldnt youthink this would produce the best sounding shells?

[joshisaces]

now wouldnt youthink this would produce the best sounding shells?

Definitely eliminating the variables that go into the shelll making.

[Naigewron]

A hollowed-out log would definitely be prone to cracking or warping. I've seen a few snares online that have been made using this technique, but I'm guessing it takes a lot of know-how to properly treat the wood before making the drum.

I believe the most common way of constructing one-piece shells is steam-bending, as mentioned earlier in this thread.

Another reason why this isn't done more is probably that a lot of the wood is completely wasted. You'd probably also only be able to use the very best cuts, with not damage, dark spots or other "weak" spots.

[GRUNTERSDAD]

Steam bending and solid shells are two different things. A solid shell is just that, a shell made by hollowing out a large piece of lumber. It may not be vertical right down the center of a log but may be cut from a solid cube of wood. If you go to www.ghostnote.com you can find pictures of the process.


edit: here is an explanation of all of the shell types.
http://www.drumjunction.com/drum_shells.html

heres another
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/polarizedlight/acoustics/

[trkdrmr]

Steam bending and solid shells are two different things. A solid shell is just that, a shell made by hollowing out a large piece of lumber. It may not be vertical right down the center of a log but may be cut from a solid cube of wood. If you go to www.ghostnote.com you can find pictures of the process.


I have seen many companies call steam bent "Solid" which is erroneous. It's 1 thick ply with a glue seam, not a continuous (seamless) piece of wood. I suppose it's more "solid" than plies of wood, but not truly "solid."

I am not sure if a stave construction is stronger than solid wood. I'd have to see pressure/weight tests from top to bottom and side to side.

[TTNW]

Who was it that offered a solid shell (hollow out) snare? Craviatto or Longo, I can't remember. I have a djembe that is a solid hollow out and it sounds great.

[hoytdrums]

I've read about this a little bit and it's not as wasteful as you might think. If you do it right, you can get a whole kit's worth of shells out of one log. The real problems occur when you are drying the shells, because as the moisture leaves the wood it becomes unstable and warps and cracks. The people who make drums like this have certain ways of preventing the shells from splitting while they dry, and they also make the shells oversized and then finish them off on the lathe once they're dry enough to work with.

[GrooveSuperfly]

Braddy have made a few hollow log snare.
Luka Percussion too.
There is even Zelokva, probably most known hollow-log nsare ( its made on same recpet sicnce 80:),
Spirit Drums made snares, and I think he even made one set,
and finaly there is Antonio Drums, he even made a entire drumset from hollow-log.
I acctualy those days waiting to recieve my new snare ,made of Elm, from Antonio.
Here is picture I got few days ago from his workshop:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-WGwbIbNzuP8/Tv38ixbcDqI/AAAAAAAAAok/VI1kdtD0Vns/s576/Antonio%252520snare%2525202_2.jpg


When it come to sounds, people says that Ply drums is one class.
Steam-bend and Stave segment is much better than ply
And people that have been play on hollow-logg drums says - they beat it all.

Hollow log drums is a holy grail of drums.

If they do right, there is no other dums that can sound as well as hollow-log. Ply drums have a lot glue, that harm wood vibrate free.
(
Stave segment hanve less glue attached, in contact to the to heads , so you can get out more original wood sound from a drum , and vibrate from heads is easiser trasport in to the wood shell. Stave segment have one more benefits - wood grain have same directions as air pressure from head to reso-head , giving them more attack , and better responsibility.

Steam-bent have less glue sicne its one woodpiece rolled round in to a drum. There is a minimal of glue, just one ( but big) glued seam, and glue in to the reinforcemt rings. Steam bent easy get out of roundnes. And wood grain is not foloowing sound/air directions.

Hollow log - everything is made out of one piece of wood,Reinforcemnet rings are integrated with shell. Wood grain is in "right directions". Bearing edge is one piece starting from outerside, top, down and finnishing in to reinforcemnet rings. You get unbelivible fast, responisbitility, a wood true reverb in to the chamber, and ther is nothing that can harm wood sound .
Wood must dry inf ew years before craftman can start work with it. Lot of parts can crack during drying period, since when drum get hollow, in bigger pieces, tree wants to take a new shape and looking for new tension. Lot of piece is impossible to use during dark spots in to the wood, and so on. Hollow log drums are very very storng, but drying period is a criticall moment, destroying lot of potential drum.

[Deathmetalconga]

If I am not mistaken DeathmetalConga's drum set is a solid wood set made from Ironwood.
Check his set out at his persoanl page. If I am wrong he will correct me and chime in. I think it would depend on the wood, and how it was aged as to its strength

Edit. I looked and was correct. Here is the link.
http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18719

True, thank you.

There are a few reasons this is not done more. A solid shell is more prone to warping and cracking as it dries. My shells are made of ironwood which is drier than most woods even when it is freshly cut. So there is a reduced risk of warping and cracking with ironwood. Honestly, I do not even think ironwood could be shaved into plies, it is so tough.

Lathing whole logs takes a great deal of effort and time and does waste a lot of wood. After lathing, shells must be cured for a year or more and some of these will be warped/cracked and unusable.

Plywood is superior to natural whole wood in many ways, which is why it is preferable for drums and even general construction. Many musicians, however, are prejudiced against it. An acoustic guitar made of plywood, for example, is considered cheap and inferior, no matter how good it sounds.

[Deathmetalconga]

Braddy have made a few hollow log snare.
Luka Percussion too.
There is even Zelokva, probably most known hollow-log nsare ( its made on same recpet sicnce 80:),
Spirit Drums made snares, and I think he even made one set,
and finaly there is Antonio Drums, he even made a entire drumset from hollow-log.
I acctualy those days waiting to recieve my new snare ,made of Elm, from Antonio.
Here is picture I got few days ago from his workshop:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-WGwbIbNzuP8/Tv38ixbcDqI/AAAAAAAAAok/VI1kdtD0Vns/s576/Antonio%252520snare%2525202_2.jpg


When it come to sounds, people says that Ply drums is one class.
Steam-bend and Stave segment is much better than ply
And people that have been play on hollow-logg drums says - they beat it all.

Hollow log drums is a holy grail of drums.

If they do right, there is no other dums that can sound as well as hollow-log. Ply drums have a lot glue, that harm wood vibrate free.
(
Stave segment hanve less glue attached, in contact to the to heads , so you can get out more original wood sound from a drum , and vibrate from heads is easiser trasport in to the wood shell. Stave segment have one more benefits - wood grain have same directions as air pressure from head to reso-head , giving them more attack , and better responsibility.

Steam-bent have less glue sicne its one woodpiece rolled round in to a drum. There is a minimal of glue, just one ( but big) glued seam, and glue in to the reinforcemt rings. Steam bent easy get out of roundnes. And wood grain is not foloowing sound/air directions.

Hollow log - everything is made out of one piece of wood,Reinforcemnet rings are integrated with shell. Wood grain is in "right directions". Bearing edge is one piece starting from outerside, top, down and finnishing in to reinforcemnet rings. You get unbelivible fast, responisbitility, a wood true reverb in to the chamber, and ther is nothing that can harm wood sound .
Wood must dry inf ew years before craftman can start work with it. Lot of parts can crack during drying period, since when drum get hollow, in bigger pieces, tree wants to take a new shape and looking for new tension. Lot of piece is impossible to use during dark spots in to the wood, and so on. Hollow log drums are very very storng, but drying period is a criticall moment, destroying lot of potential drum.

You've done a lot of good research. Yes, I play Spirit Drums. In speaking with one of the drum makers, he said he made about a dozen kits and I am honored to own one of them.

That is an amazing looking snare! You are fortunate to own such a beautiful instrument. Solid shell drums have a very dramatic appearance - the appearance of wood exactly as it existed in the living tree. There is nothing else like it. The sound of a solid shell drum is also complex. Some parts of the shell will be more or less dense than others and have other irregularities, as it was in nature. Solid shells are the most ancient way of making drums, since plywood didn't even show up until the 1850s I believe. Ply drums are made in an industrial fashion, emphasizing consistency and regularity in sound and appearance.

[GrooveSuperfly]

I have acctualy order a complet hollow-log set from mr Antonio.
10, 12 and 14 tom and 20 (or 22 kick - not for sure yet), since his wood is drying over 2 years before he start build a drums of it. So he have to check out first what sizes he have and meterial to start work on my basdrum from ( and of course, trunk decited how big kick can be).
http://www.antoniodrums.com/content/page/catalog_truesolid/true-solid-shell-drums.html (http://www.antoniodrums.com/content/page/catalog_truesolid/true-solid-shell-drums

.html)

Snare is ready, and on the road. It was realy fun to get pictures all the tíme from his workshop, and follow how he build my snare.
He told me (e-mail) how he goes out in the wood an knocing with a hammer on wood to find bestsounding woods. To me, first i sound a little bit like woodoo / abracadabra, but after I read around on internet ,aboud wood for musical instruments, I find that some custom guitar ( accoustic) builder goes round in a forrest with a hammer, and listening for "good-sounding wood". So ther may-be something.
Antonio have start for 30 years ago build his own drumsets and snares , steam-bend, and he build for him self few hollow-log snares and sets, an experiment with differnt technik for a long time. He have some realy intressting ideas , a woodsnare with a copper or aluminium inlay. He suggesed me first snare like that, with copper inlay, when I describe music I want to play with it - but I order a "usualy" snare.

After I while, I bag to get a soundclip of entire true hollow drumkit, and he send me 2 mp3 recorded with a Zoom in his living room, on bop-set 10/14 and 18 kick! Hi and low tuned. And then , there was no more wondering - if drum can sound like that, big, punchy, fat hi tuned, low tuned, singing for a 10-15 seconds after he smashed that 14 tom, that deep sound , from those small size´s when low tuned... wooow !?!?
So now I am waiting. He is not taking more than 1 or 2 order/year for hollow drums ( he usaly build Steam-bend ), .

Your set is looking fabulos. Do you have some recording with those drums on internet?