Does the shell material really matter?

Do you really think there is much difference in sound between drums of various wood shells, all other things being equal? Could anyone actually tell the difference, especially when played with other instuments. Personally, I can't here any difference in my drums when I hit a drum with or without someone holding onto the shell.

Among wood shells, the differences in sound have more to do with the thickness and how the plies/staves/segments are glued or if the shell is solid, than the wood itself. But the wood does affect the sound, as can be heard in the differences between maple, birch and definitely oak.

In the context of a band, can those differences still be heard? Not as easily, no. But we still choose drums based on how they sound as a solo instrument, so the differences come into play.

Bermuda

fess said:

Do you really think there is much difference in sound between drums of various wood shells, all other things being equal? Could anyone actually tell the difference, especially when played with other instuments. Personally, I can't here any difference in my drums when I hit a drum with or without someone holding onto the shell.

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Then either you need a new hobby or you have so much tape on the head it can't resonate anyway. Thats the only way I can see someone 2 handing a shell and it not being plainly obvious

Yes, the shell material matters. A lot.

TheArchitect said:

Then either you need a new hobby or you have so much tape on the head it can't resonate anyway. Thats the only way I can see someone 2 handing a shell and it not being plainly obvious

Yes, the shell material matters. A lot.

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I would actually disagree. In the grand scheme of things, ply shells don't tend to sound much different from each other. Take into account head selection, tuning, hardware (to a lesser extent), bearing edge differences and the amount of wood vs. glue in ply shells and really to me it only makes a small percentage difference. In shells with more 'wood' content (eg. stave, steambent, segmented) I could see the argument for wood type making a massive difference, but in ply shells I don't think it would honestly make *much* difference, all other factors being equal. The most important factor is shell quality. If a shell is well made and the bearing edges well cut, then the shell can be made to sound 'good' regardless of the other factors. A recent example? StickTrick's videos on a relatively cheap kit, after tuning it properly (even with old heads) it sounds great. The late FinnHiggins - another example with his Rydeen samples that sounded GREAT (he did use another snare, but snares have more variables).

With non-ply shells I can see the argument, but ply shells? Wood type? Least important given all other factors.

The same arguments are made with guitars. With acoustic guitars, wood type DOES matter, but then you're playing with solid woods (usually) and no processing. String type can also make a difference as well, but with electric, after all the other factors (pickups, outboard effects, amplifiers, construction type) wood type takes a backseat. Strings do matter in electric guitars too, but they work along with pickup type (my PRS sounds radically different from my Strat) and wood plays little part.

In the grand scheme of things:

No.

As much as I might obsess over gear, wood types, plies, etc, at the end of the day, in a band setting, a lot of of it ends up not mattering.

Look how many great drummers have made great albums using a wide variety of drums, and in many cases, the same drummer has used a wide variety of drums over their career, but still get a great sound.

Yes, we drummers can tell when hitting drums by themselves, but add in a full band, with the drums mic-ed, being run through compressers, reverb units in the studio, or a large PA at a live show, I don't think the average person is going to notice the difference. Heads, tuning, the room are also all going to alter the sound, possibly even more than the wood type.

As long as one has a good sounding kit, the difference between woods is a personal choice.

Look at the 1980's Tama Imperialstar, Tama never disclosed what kind of wood it was even made from, but numerous name drummers used them and made albums with them, and they sounded good in the context they were used in.

Or look at how made drummers loved Yahama recording customs (Birch) but now use maple shells. It doesn't discount their time using birch. And then when you get into vintage drums, many shells were not pure maple, but mixes of maple and poplar, and/or mahagony.

And even with in wood types, there are different grades.

Even as a devoted gear-addict and all around picky bastard, I would have to say NO as well. Tuning, head selection, and tuning.... And tuning....

Oh, if you didn't catch that, I believe tuning makes more of a difference.


TUNE!

Most of the difference comes from other factors (thickness, bearing edges, heads, tuning, etc...). When you have a couple of drums that you've personally tweaked with a LOT, that's when you can start to hear the sonic differences between them.

Garvin said:

Even as a devoted gear-addict and all around picky bastard, I would have to say NO as well. Tuning, head selection, and tuning.... And tuning....

Oh, if you didn't catch that, I believe tuning makes more of a difference.


TUNE!

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Any chance you can repeat that? Not sure I entirely heard...!

Yes, there is a slight difference in the resonance of wood types. I have been playing for over 35 years and I have to strain my ears to hear it but an oscilloscope would show that it is there! The bottom line is, If you take a drum made from compressed glued sawdust and tune it properly, It will sound almost as good as a top of the line maple kit. The difference is slight! The frequency that the heads vibrate at creates most of the sound. As was pointed out in earlier post, Most drums are made from multiple plies of various wood types that are glued in layers. Only a thin portion of the drum is made from a premium wood veneer. This gives the drum strength and durability. Most drums are clad in a plastic coating. This further dampens any resonance from the shell. It is the tuning that makes the kit sound good or bad.

There are so many factors. The poorly constructed kits are usually made with cheaper woods, whereas the higher quality kits are constructed with more "ideal" woods. This quality of construction/bad sound is usually associated with the type of wood.

Bottom line: You can make a high quality kit out of poplar, and you probably won't know the difference, but if you were to build your dream kit, it's probably worth it to get the higher quality wood.

For snares, the difference is obvious when they are unmiked. For toms and kick and for miked and processed snares, it is pretty far down on the list of contributing factors

How about wood vs metal, acrylic or fiberglass?

Jeff Almeyda said:

How about wood vs metal, acrylic or fiberglass?

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I think that's where you start to get into obvious differences in tone rather than "birch vs. maple vs. mahogany".

I bought my son a Mystery Mahogany drum kit by Sound Percussion for $200. I tuned it up really well with good heads and it sounds fantastic. I'd play that kit myself if my drums disappeared tomorrow. I'm not crazy about the cheap wrap and flimsy hardware...but the sound is great!

I think for snares it's definitely important. I play drums in my church and have triad several snares. The drums are almost never amplified. The difference between the stock steel snare and my 60's Gretsch snare is like night and day. As far as toms, not so much. They are so restricted with o-rings it really wouldn't matter. I think as far as toms, there is a noticeable difference between say mahogany and acrylic.

Jeff Almeyda said:

For snares, the difference is obvious when they are unmiked. For toms and kick and for miked and processed snares, it is pretty far down on the list of contributing factors

How about wood vs metal, acrylic or fiberglass?

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Jeff Almeyda said:

How about wood vs metal, acrylic or fiberglass?

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Good point Jeff, Fiberglass, metal and acrylic drums are different animals when compared to wood. These materials are so different in density to wood that the sound varies a great deal more. As an example I will use a steel vs brass snare scenario. If I play a steel snare with the throw released and a brass snare of the same dimensions in the same manor. The materials are so similar to each other that they react in a similar way. The two drums sound almost the same. A wood snare will also sound different from metal snare for the same reason. Apples to oranges! Similar materials sound similar to each other.

Just for the sake of devil's advocacy...

You ask if shell material matters. I think the best answer is a question: "Well, to whom?" If it is the audience or a sound engineer, two equally well tuned drums of dramatically different construction are probably equally good sounding and it probably isn't going to matter to them one bit.

But my guess is that you are asking if it matters to you, and the answer to that is in all likelihood, yes. Material does effect tone to a degree and everyone has their own tastes. Generally speaking, the more developed your ear becomes and the more different types of drums you are exposed to, the more you are likely to prefer one thing over another.

That said, there is an important follow up question: "If it does matter, then how much?" And I think the answer to that has more to do with your own level of pickiness relative to your ability to picky about it. E.G., material matters not to a beginner with a $400.00 in pocket, while it might be critical to a pro with an endorsement deal.

fess said:

Do you really think there is much difference in sound between drums of various wood shells, all other things being equal? Could anyone actually tell the difference, especially when played with other instuments. Personally, I can't here any difference in my drums when I hit a drum with or without someone holding onto the shell.

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That's a great question which I've wondered myself. I'll defer to the experts who have more experience comparing different types of wood shells, but it would seem to me that too much emphasis is placed on wood type, and not enough on head type since the drumhead is what actually produces the initial sound. I've been amazed at the different types of sounds I've gotten just by trying 3 or 4 different drumheads.

Pavlos said:

I've been amazed at the different types of sounds I've gotten just by trying 3 or 4 different drumheads.

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There is no truth greater than that! The head makes the sound. The drum resounds it.
The batter head is stricken, the sound travels to the reso head, the reso head makes a sound of its own and sends the sound waves back to the batter except they are slightly modified . Rinse and repeat. The two drum heads make the sound in harmony until they stop vibrating. The shell contains the sound waves, Traps them so to speak.

"Does the shell material really matter?"

Yes. Just not as much as the drum companies and TheArchitect would have you believe.

Heads, tuning, bearing edges, number of plies, glue, type of joinery, shell depth, shell thickness, type of hoops, hardware, mounting system--all contribute. Wood is in there somewhere, way after heads and tuning.

Ray Ayotte figures it's about 15% of the sound. I think that's about right.

bobdadruma said:

The two drum heads make the sound in harmony until they stop vibrating. The shell contains the sound waves, Traps them so to speak.

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That is a tad bit shy of the truth. The drum shell also vibrates on its own and contributes its own frequencies both within and without the drum. It also plays a role by absorbing some frequencies throughout the process. This contribution isn't massive but it isn't insignificant either. How much you end up caring about it is probably a matter of taste and, as I alluded to earlier, your ability to be choosey about it.

The reason manufacturers put emphasis on shell material is that they don't often have other knobs to twist, so to speak. It's one of the few things that they can actually mess with. Well... it's an easy thing for them to mess with. And some of those names make for great marketing, like Cocobolo.

That said, I think people tend to get off on the wrong foot when they compare one type of wood against another and assume that one makes for a bad drum while the other makes for a good one. Given all the other things that contribute to the sound of a drum, material is probably one of the last things you should care about. But that doesn't me you shouldn't care about it. Just prioritize it appropriately.

Various woods used in shell construction

Aside from current poularity, personal preference, and price -
can anyone specify the PARTICULAR TONAL QUALITIES supposedly attributed to each of the woods used in making shells?

* ash
* birch
* mahogany
* maple
* oak

Knowing if and what specific tonal qualities are associated with each of the woods would be useful in making decisions.