Kevlar snare shells?

markdrum

Silver Member
I've looked through the forum and I haven't seen anything on this. Has anyone heard or played a snare where the shell is made of Kevlar? I tried YouTube also with no luck. I would think that the sound be a little dull but my curiosity is killing me and no one around here has one.
 
Thanks Pyro! I saw this one and several others that were a composite of carbon fiber and Kevlar. I was just wondering how Kevlar sounds on it's own. God knows I don't need any more snares, or maybe I do.
 
Because both Carbon Fiber and Kevlar would be set in acrylic, I think they'd sound pretty similar, and not too different than any other acrylic shell. Yes, the density of the fabrics will cause some sonic differences, but what goes on inside the drum - between the Mylar heads and acrylic shell - is pretty much the same.

I had a Rocket Shells CF snare a while back, it was a truly wonderful drum. But, I have a LOT of truly wonderful drums.

Bermuda
 
I built one out of carbon fiber a while back. I don't think Kevlar would sound any different. I had many drummers play it and they all said the same thing: it was LOUD, but in a good way.
 
Because both Carbon Fiber and Kevlar would be set in acrylic, I think they'd sound pretty similar, and not too different than any other acrylic shell. Yes, the density of the fabrics will cause some sonic differences, but what goes on inside the drum - between the Mylar heads and acrylic shell - is pretty much the same.

I had a Rocket Shells CF snare a while back, it was a truly wonderful drum. But, I have a LOT of truly wonderful drums.

Bermuda

Oh sure, rub it in why dontcha8^).
 
I agree with what Bermuda said below about Kevlar sounding like Carbon fiber. They are both to be used as reinforcement inside a polymer.

There is this relationship that I remember that is way of testing a materials Young Modulus through a sonic method.

I have to wonder then, how does the reverse work out? if you look at some of the materials used to make snare drums and compare the Young's Modulus (line below), you can see that the snare drums of aluminum, steel and brass, are closer to being a similar sound than another group of similar sounding drums of wood and PVC. I am saying similar, and grouping the metal shells together and then the softer shells together.

If I can make a prediction, the carbon fiber shells would sound more analogously like a dense maple compared to Kevlar that I think would sound more analogously like a mahogany shell.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/young-modulus-d_417.html
 
I've got Maple and Mahogany shelled drums. When the Kevlar comes in I'll do a comparison betwixt the three. Man, we've got a nice array of physicists on this forum! Reminds me of my school days.
 
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