Ironwood drum set

Still waiting for some sound clips... *nudge nudge*

Yeah, I know [looks down, kicks one toe with the other].

I've tried recording some of my stuff but the mics I'm using just don't capture it all. I have a couple of Behringer ECM-80s, a Shure Beta 58 and 57, an Audio-Technica PRO 25 bass drum mic and a buch of AT 5280 tom mics. The problem is that I have a small mixer, a Behringer Eurorack MX-602A, with two mic and two instrument inserts. I have the mixer going to a CD recorder. It works good for band practice, but it doesn't evenly capture the sound spectrum.

Maybe I should experiment some more or just record with what I have and get it done finally. I can always put up something better when I go into the studio.
 
very nice
where abouts in australia was the wood from?

Thanks for your interest.

Cooktown ironwood grows only one place in the world: Queensland, Australia, which is the little horn that sticks up from the north and almost touches Indonesia (actually the area is about the size of Texas).

Obtaining ironwood is very difficult as the area is primarily wild (see www.spritdrums.com for an explanation). The area is very dry so the wood grows slowly and is so dense it sinks in water. The tree from which my set was taken was about 300 years old. So far, only about a dozen Spirit kits have been made, although many djembes, congas and snares have been made. They purchase the logs from a couple of Crocodile Dundee-type loggers.

The Australian government encourages timber cutting in the area and has very stringent environmental laws. Most of the ironwood gets turned into fence posts and railroad ties and decks and a tiny bit gets turned into very high-value items like musical instruments (it is also prized for flutes and guitars) and sculptures. Ironwood leaves and suckers are extremely poisonous to cattle and must be cleared from areas where ranching is permitted.

Spirit drum makers do all their manufacture locally, using local labor and fabrication for their hardware, and the money for the kit directly supports their families and local merchants. So this kit was made in a socially sustainable way, not just an environmentally sustainable way.
 
Thanks for your interest.

Cooktown ironwood grows only one place in the world: Queensland, Australia, which is the little horn that sticks up from the north and almost touches Indonesia (actually the area is about the size of Texas).

Obtaining ironwood is very difficult as the area is primarily wild (see www.spritdrums.com for an explanation). The area is very dry so the wood grows slowly and is so dense it sinks in water. The tree from which my set was taken was about 300 years old. So far, only about a dozen Spirit kits have been made, although many djembes, congas and snares have been made. They purchase the logs from a couple of Crocodile Dundee-type loggers.

The Australian government encourages timber cutting in the area and has very stringent environmental laws. Most of the ironwood gets turned into fence posts and railroad ties and decks and a tiny bit gets turned into very high-value items like musical instruments (it is also prized for flutes and guitars) and sculptures. Ironwood leaves and suckers are extremely poisonous to cattle and must be cleared from areas where ranching is permitted.

Spirit drum makers do all their manufacture locally, using local labor and fabrication for their hardware, and the money for the kit directly supports their families and local merchants. So this kit was made in a socially sustainable way, not just an environmentally sustainable way.

It's not exaclty dry right now...
flood2004_3.jpg
 
I'm not sure if this has already been mentioned in this thread, but I'll put it out there anyways. I was briefly talking about exotic woods with a carpenter this past week on a mutual job. He mentioned iron wood, and how it is one of the densest woods out there. So dense you need a metal cutting blade to work it.

So what does this equate in terms to drum sound with this kit DMC, in comparison to other commonly used drum woods?
 
I'm not sure if this has already been mentioned in this thread, but I'll put it out there anyways. I was briefly talking about exotic woods with a carpenter this past week on a mutual job. He mentioned iron wood, and how it is one of the densest woods out there. So dense you need a metal cutting blade to work it.

So what does this equate in terms to drum sound with this kit DMC, in comparison to other commonly used drum woods?

My bet is on incredible attack (note that Oak is denser than Maple and has more attack(at least I think so...))
 
My bet is on incredible attack (note that Oak is denser than Maple and has more attack(at least I think so...))

Yes, you are right, these have plenty of attack and volume due to the density of the wood. At the same time, the drums are square sizes, so they have plenty of resonance but that tempers the attack. Also, the grain is all parallel to the height of the drum, so each grain acts as a mico-resonator and very efficiently conducts sound from the bearing edge, into the shell, and out to the bottom head. Cross-lamination in ply shells diffuses the movement of sound through the shell.

The result is lots and lots of the most sought-after qualities of drums: attack, presence, projection, sensitivity and richness of tone. That's not suitable for all playing situations, however, especially where the drums need to sound more subdued. These drums are very lively and call attention to themselves. They're also difficult to tune perfectly, as there is no glue to absorb overtones and everything you put into the drum, you get back out.

I am going to get my act together soon and post some sound clips, I promise. In the mean time, there are sound samples at www.spiritdrums.com.
 
Ya, I was going to assume they had great attack because of the density. But I had wondered if it was a double edged sword at the cost of resonance.

I'm listening to a sound clip on that website and they sound nice.

Ordinarily, a dense shell gives attack and projection at the expense of richness and resonance. However, because of the solid shell construction and uniform grain direction, you get the richness and resonance of a mellower wood. Each grain of wood acts as a tiny micro-resonator.

One of the drawbacks is that tuning is difficult. The drums produce lots of tones and they must all be carefully balanced or else they will sound really, really cacophanous, particularly for the toms.

I have found these ironwood drums do not appear to have many acceptable tuning settings. They sound good low, then there is another midrange tuning region, and finally a high one. Between these ranges, however, you really can't tune the drums to a pleasing set of frequencies. In a traditional maple or oak drum, you wouldn't be getting as many tones to deal with, so there is less potential for conflict. In a softer mahogany drum, you have more frequencies, but they're not at such high volumes, so there is less conflict. Also, traditional drums contain glue, which absorbs some of the tones.

These drums toss back at you everything you put into them - which has its own set of trade offs.
 
I thought you'd like this DMC; Paul Warry at Metro Drums (in Queensland) sent me a pic of a drum he just did. It's a 13x6" Cooktown Ironwood stave. I'm assuming it's a cheaper yet similar alternative to the Spirit Drums solid shells.
 

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I thought you'd like this DMC; Paul Warry at Metro Drums (in Queensland) sent me a pic of a drum he just did. It's a 13x6" Cooktown Ironwood stave. I'm assuming it's a cheaper yet similar alternative to the Spirit Drums solid shells.

Way cool! What's this fellow's Web site?

I don't know if it's easier or cheaper to do it with staves. Assuming you have a large metalworking lathe, solid shell boring might be easier than cutting a few dozen staves and gluing them together, then lathing them smooth. Ironwood is very hard to work with (dulls saw blades in no time flat) and it would be interesting to hear from the drum maker what it's like to work with ironwood for staves.

I think if you want an ironwood drum, solid or stave or block would be the only way to go. I think it's too ornery to be steam-bent or shaved into veneers for ply. It's so dense there is virtually no room for water to penetrate and soften it.
 
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