Is there a concert snare strainer guide I can read?

topgun2021

Gold Member
I am looking into purchasing a concert snare drum for (mostly) home use and I am only interested in snare drums with multiple strainers.

I pretty much have it down between the Pearl Masters Symphonic or the Majestic Prophonic.

Anyways, I was looking at all the strainer options and I have no idea how to A/B them. I figure a guide explain the sound/texture of the strainers could help.

Thanks.
 
I have played one. Didn't like it that much. They don't have an individual throw off for each strainer, so that is another reason why I am not looking at them.

One of the clips that I presented shows the strainer that has 5 options, all adjustable individually, all at once, or in combination. The Pearls are nice too, but I would look at the symphonic line.
 
One of the clips that I presented shows the strainer that has 5 options, all adjustable individually, all at once, or in combination. The Pearls are nice too, but I would look at the symphonic line.

The one you showed: you have to disengage all strainers in order to form a new combination (as far as I think). I would prefer each strainer to have it's own mechanism to engage it.

I played the Pearl Masters and I enjoyed it, also costs less.
 
I recently tried the Black Swamp MultiSonic and the strainer worked rather well (much better than older generations of MS mechanisms). That said, in the past 20-25 years of playing orchestral literature, I've only had to change sounds maybe a small handful of times without having time to reset an entire mechanism.

Personally, I don't like multi-strainer mechanisms because there are too many moving parts for me to worry about. I have a Bison concert snare drum with Patterson cable/wire snares as my workhorse, and it has all the sensitivity that I need.
 
The multi snare throw offs are a nice selling point, but I am not sold that they are necessary. Have all of the snare drums used in symphonic music for the last 100 years been sub standard? I hardly think so. Musicians for all of the major orchestras have been using single throw offs for many years, and recordings attest to the great sound that they produce. Now that there are different head configurations, as well as snare wire set options, any well made snare can sound great. I know of one orchestral musician who has used Ludwig COB with super-sensitive strainers for years, with great success.
 
Musicians for all of the major orchestras have been using single throw offs for many years, and recordings attest to the great sound that they produce.

This argument is flawed. Just because something isn't broken, doesn't mean you shouldn't improve it. If OP thinks it is necessary for him, then it probably is.

Anyways, my vote is for the Majestic. Especially the walnut version.
 
The multi snare throw offs are a nice selling point, but I am not sold that they are necessary. Have all of the snare drums used in symphonic music for the last 100 years been sub standard? I hardly think so. Musicians for all of the major orchestras have been using single throw offs for many years, and recordings attest to the great sound that they produce. Now that there are different head configurations, as well as snare wire set options, any well made snare can sound great. I know of one orchestral musician who has used Ludwig COB with super-sensitive strainers for years, with great success.

That's cool and all but I like the multiple throw offs because of the ease of changing strainers without having to use the fine tune knob to totally loosen the strainer off the reso head. And I am into percussion ensemble and contemporary selections of music.

Besides, if I wanted the standard from 100 years ago I would buy a drum from that period. However, I don't have the $$$ for it.
 
Please, buy whatever you like! Most friends that I have in concert settings admit to me that they rarely have to change the snare set up during any single piece, or for that matter, during a whole concert presentation. I never had to, and I never had a conductor that requested a change. Sometimes a field drum was more appropriat, and one was present for that purpose. Usually, a change of snare configuration was not enough for the music. I know, there are occasions for change, but that is more likely in percussion ensembles, rather than in orchestral play.
 
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