Shell and Wood Specs

Owens

Junior Member
This is my first post here and like to start by saying hello to everyone. I am 17 and have been drumming for about 4 months. I have been researching different woods and factors that affect the shell. Here is what I have found so far:

EDIT: This section will updated as I find more information.
I have tried to keep every thing as accurate as possible, please let me know if anything is not dead on accurate or if you have anything to add.

IMORTANT TERMS
Punch- A lot of attack.
Bottom End- A deep sound.
Bright- Cuts through the mix, sounds focused, thought as high-pitch, but doesn't mean it is high-pitch.
Dark- Blends into the mix, sounds warm, thought as low-pitch, but doesn't mean it is low-pitch.
Cut- The ability to be noticed amongst other sounds.
Dry- Reduced tone.
Glassy- Clean and smooth.
Fundamental- The primary or most present pitch.
Overtones (Partials)- Pitches produced in addition to the fundamental.
Sustain- The length of the sound before it decays.

SHELL SPECS
Thin Shell: Resonant, a "open" sound and presents more lows.
Thick Shell: Reduced resonance, a "dry" sound and presents more highs.
Counter Hoops: Tend to have warm and controlled resonance due to a lot of head to shell contact.
Angled Bearing Edge: Sharper angle=less resonance, increased highs, and stimulates attack.
Round Bearing Edge: Rounder angle= more resonance, increased lows, and stimulates bottom end
Shallow Depth: Punchy tone with fast response and tends to sound brighter.
Deep Depth: Bottom end with slow response and tends to sound darker.
Shell Diameter: Has a huge affect on pitch, small diameter=high pitch, big diameter=low pitch


WOOD SPECS
Yellow=High Pitch
Green=Low Pitch



Cheap Woods

Poplar
-Sound: Mimics birch, but lower pitch.

Basswood
-Sound: Mimics maple and mahogany, closer to maple.

Philippine Mahogany (Lauan, Luaan or Lauan)
-Sound: Very similar to basswood.

Albasian Falkata
-Sound: Mimics Maple, but brighter attack.




Quality and Exotic Woods


Canadian Hard Maple
-Sound: Smooth, warm, well rounded tone. Good high-end punch and low bottom-end.

Canadian Birdseye Maple
-Sound: Same as hard maple. Known for its unique grain.

North American Birch
-Sound: Increased crispness, bottom-end, and higher pitch compared to maple.

African Mahogany
-Sound: Very low pitch, with a ton of bottom-end.

Honduras Mahogany
-Sound: Very Similar to African Mahogany.

South American Santos Mahogany (Cabriuva)
-Sound: Bright and powerful attack.

Bubinga (African Rosewood)
-Sound: Rich, warm, very low-pitch, and surprisingly has a ton of punch.

American Walnut (Black Walnut)
-Sound: Has a drier tone than maple, increased bottom-end when compared to birch.

North American Red Oak

-Sound: Bright and Punchy, with good sustain.

North American Ash

-Sound: Warm and controlled tone, similar to maple but decreased sustain.

North American Beech

-Sound: Between Maple and Birch, drier tone than maple.

North American Cherry (Black Cherry)
-Sound: Good attack with warm tone

African Padauk
-Sound: Crisp and clean sound, similar to ash.

Australian Lacewood (European Plane)

-Sound: Similar to maple.

African Zebrawood (Zebrano)
-Sound: Lower pitch and more punch than maple.

African Wenge
-Sound: Warm, clear, and punchy.




This info could be extremely useful to anybody that's thinking about a new set. I'll keep on updating this post as I get info, once it is complete and very accurate we could probably post it somewhere as a reference for wood and shell differences.
 
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hey nice job, this could come in handy for alot of people (including myself)
and i can help with a few questions

lowest pitch cheap wood- not positive but im pretty sure its basswood
Highest pitch quality wood- birch

PS welcome the forums
 
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Shell Specifications

Thick Shell: Low resonance, a "dry" sound and high-frequency
More head room at louder volumes (IMO)

With Counter Hoops: Tend to have warm and Controlled resonance
Dryer sound. Rerings also raise the pitch.

Without Counter Hoops: Tend to have more attack and high-frequency resonance
Actually, the resonance is lower in pitch. See "John Good and Drum Pitch" for this.
http://www.dwdrums.com/videos/default.asp?videoList=shells&video=dwNamm08SEG7_npXshlsSnAkit

Round Bearing Edge: Generally the rounder the angle, the more soft and mellow.
And more contact between head and sheel means more shell resonance - but you're right, it mellows the attack.

Good summary of attributes. I don't know as much about the wood types, except that no self-respecting drummer would've been caught dead playing mahogany 10-20 years ago. That wood would have been in your cheap category. How things change!
 
Good summary of attributes. I don't know as much about the wood types, except that no self-respecting drummer would've been caught dead playing mahogany 10-20 years ago. That wood would have been in your cheap category. How things change!

man, i wish mahogany would become popular again
 
Good summary of attributes. I don't know as much about the wood types, except that no self-respecting drummer would've been caught dead playing mahogany 10-20 years ago. That wood would have been in your cheap category. How things change!


There are different types of Mahogany. Cheap beginner sets are sometimes made of Mahogany, but not "true" Mahogany such as the kind grown in Africa, Honduras, or the US. They are Asian red woods such as Philippine Mahogany. The African, Honduras, and USA Mahogany are very high quality but short in supply, so if you want good Mahogany drums, you better make sure the set uses the good Mahogany and not some cheap substitute; and yes they will try to trick you so do your research.

man, i wish mahogany would become popular again

Good Mahogany is hard to come by, making it expensive. It's available but most people are not willing to pay for it.


In my opinion Mahogany is the BEST wood for Bass Drums and Floor Toms, it is very low pitched and has a lot of bottom end(Very Deep sounding). Howerver I don't like a whole lot of it in the Rack toms because I like my Rack Toms to have a lot of attack. In my opinion birch is not good for Bass Drums and Floor Toms, it is very high pitched and has a lot of attack (punch). I like some of it in the rack toms because it has a lot of attack, but not to much because I don't like high pitch sound from any of my drums. Maple seems to be the best all-round wood to me, it has good bottom end and good attack with a medium pitch.


I have done a ton of research and I still havn't found out everything I need to know to be 100% accurate on how certain woods will sound together but I feel pretty confident that most of my assumptions will be close. First off I think no matter what genre of music you play, It is a good idea to keep your floor toms deep and your rack toms shallow. It gives you a way more diverse and interesting sound when your floor toms "boom" and your rack toms "pop". I'd never want my rack toms to go as deep as the standard size (12x9,13x10,14x11,15x12,16x13). I perfer about two inches under the standard because it will give you a much faster and cleaner response as well as a more punchy tone. If you had a drumset that used only one type of wood, you would probably want to keep each tom diameter at least two inches apart(10,12,14,16,18) for an interesting sound. However if you could add a lower pitch wood to the toms as they get bigger you could have an interesting sound difference between toms one inch apart(12,13,14,15). As for Bass Drums, I think deep is a nightmare. By increasing the depth your going to have to really pound it to get a good sound out of it. If you play fast it is imposible to get a solid sound out of it, I like the shallower depths because it gives you a responsive punch even when you play fast. When it comes to Bass diameter I like 20", sounds very consistant when you play fast and gives you a great fill on the pedal. In my opinion the ultimate blend of woods in a set for a heavy metal player such as myself would be something like this:
Woods are listed from outer to inner ply
Rack Tom (8Ply Total)
12"x7" 1ply Maple, 5ply Bubinga, 2ply Birch
13"x8" 1ply Maple, 6ply Bubinga, 1ply Birch
14"x9" 1ply Maple, 7ply Bubinga
15"x10" 1ply Maple, 6ply Bubinga, 1ply Mahogany
Floor Tom (9Ply Total)
16"x16" 1ply Maple, 4ply Bubinga, 4ply Mahogany
18"x16" 1ply Maple, 3ply Bubinga, 5ply Mahogany
Bass Drum(x2) (10Ply Total)
20"x16" 1ply Maple, 1ply Bubinga, 8ply Mahogany
 
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All very interesting, but it's worth remembering that heads and tuning simply dwarf all the parameters you mention.

And one must consider the type of hoops and the mounting system, both hugely influential and probably ahead of wood type in your list.
 
All very interesting, but it's worth remembering that heads and tuning simply dwarf all the parameters you mention.

And one must consider the type of hoops and the mounting system, both hugely influential and probably ahead of wood type in your list.


Heads and Tuning can only take you so far. To get the sound you want you must have the shells you want.

The hoops dont have near as much affect as wood on the overall sound, They do affect tuning though (how you tune not the tone).

Mounting System- Suspending your toms will allow them to resonate freely, nothing else.
 
Rack Tom (8Ply Total)
12"x7" 1ply Maple, 5ply Bubinga, 2ply Birch
13"x8" 1ply Maple, 6ply Bubinga, 1ply Birch
14"x9" 1ply Maple, 7ply Bubinga
15"x10" 1ply Maple, 6ply Bubinga, 1ply Mahogany
Floor Tom (9Ply Total)
16"x16" 1ply Maple, 4ply Bubinga, 4ply Mahogany
18"x16" 1ply Maple, 3ply Bubinga, 5ply Mahogany
Bass Drum(x2) (10Ply Total)
20"x16" 1ply Maple, 1ply Bubinga, 8ply Mahogany

good luck on getting that kit :p
 
Welcome to the Forum! Nice undertaking on your information and quest to find this all out so early on in your drumming career...best to you as your pursue the details.
 
1st thing i though was "he can just get a pearl masterworks"

but even that has limits. i dont think pearl masterworks offers bubinga

Going by Pearl's 08 Product Booklet you are limted to Birch, Maple and Mahogany, and can only specify the plies in groups of two (4 plies maple, 2 mahogany. 2 plies maples, 2 plies mahogany etc...).
 
Some drum shell manufacturers do custom work. So contact each of them you find and ask them for a list of woods they can get, If they don't have the woods your looking for ask if they can get it. Find the ones that use the woods closest to your needs, try to substitute. It will probably be expensive but you would have the BEST drums for your style. If you don't want to do the drilling or cut the bearing edge their are plenty of places that will do it for you. You also get to have the exact wraps/finish, hoops, lugs, rods, etc. that you want.

I haven't looked at metals enough to post info about them. I have been focusing on the bass drum and toms, once I get all the info on bass and toms I could possibly want to know I will look into snare stuff. I could use info on those metals if you got it though.
 
Heads and Tuning can only take you so far. To get the sound you want you must have the shells you want.

The only point I was making is that heads/tuning = ca. 80% of your sound, wood = < 10%. Most drummers ought to concentrate more on the former than the latter. If you're a good enough tuner and are doing a gig where wood matters so much, great!

The hoops dont have near as much affect as wood on the overall sound, They do affect tuning though (how you tune not the tone).

Have to disagree. The differences in sound among 1.6, 2.1, and die cast hoops is profound, easily dwarfing the kind of wood used in the shells. All you have to do is swap out all three types of hoops on the same drum and listen, as I have. An eye-opener.

Mounting System- Suspending your toms will allow them to resonate freely, nothing else.

Not all suspension systems work equally well. And your choice among them may have as much to do with physical concerns (i.e., toms bouncing around when you play them, ease of setup, etc.) as how much sustain they provide.

I am not trying to belittle your efforts, they are valuable. I'm just trying to put a little perspective into the mix. Most drum companies would have you believe--and some drummers drink the KoolAid--that wood is all. Yet there are several parameters that count for more in the final sound.
 
The only point I was making is that heads/tuning = ca. 80% of your sound, wood = < 10%. Most drummers ought to concentrate more on the former than the latter. If you're a good enough tuner and are doing a gig where wood matters so much, great!

That sounds WAY off to me. You didn't even leave a percentage for the shell depth, diameter, thickness and bearing edge. According to your your percentages you could take a pearl forum, just upgrade the hoops and tune them well, and you would have a great sounding set. I know that's not the case.



Have to disagree. The differences in sound among 1.6, 2.1, and die cast hoops is profound, easily dwarfing the kind of wood used in the shells. All you have to do is swap out all three types of hoops on the same drum and listen, as I have. An eye-opener.

There is a difference, but it's not half as big of a difference as going from a birch to a mahogany shell.

Not all suspension systems work equally well. And your choice among them may have as much to do with physical concerns (i.e., toms bouncing around when you play them, ease of setup, etc.) as how much sustain they provide.

There are many suspension systems that don't let the toms bounce around, easily setup, and allow good shell resonance. So as long as you get one of those, it won't vary much in the sound you get.

I am not trying to belittle your efforts, they are valuable. I'm just trying to put a little perspective into the mix. Most drum companies would have you believe--and some drummers drink the KoolAid--that wood is all. Yet there are several parameters that count for more in the final sound.

I know there is more to the sound than just the shell material and shell size but that is the FOUNDATION of your sound. You can't just put a certain type of hoop and suspension mount, then tune a 8-ply birch shell to sound like a 6-ply mahogany shell.
I'm not trying to belittle your efforts either, but please don't include percentages that are very inaccurate in defense of your points; It weakens your credibility.
 
M.Owens,

As a drum builder I will try to help a little bit. It's only to help other to understand a little more of it.
In a shell, the thickness is more a variable than the wood is. For exemple, a 1/4" thick Shell Maple will be a lot different then the same Maple shell but 1/2".

Tulipewood from brazil and Eucalyptys (australia, Jarah) are not cheap wood, these are actually exotic wood. African mahogany is very affordable 3$/board feet compare to Maple 4$ board feet. Another variable and it's an important one, in case of a ply shell maker, the thickness of the ply, the glue type and the internal pressure they will use will also be a important varialble in the shell resonance, these are all important facts not to be unconsider.

Hardware have another impact on the sound, depends on the lugs choice, the hoops choice and suspension system. The most important variable on a drum is the head choice and the tunning. Wood choice is less than 50% of the equation.
 
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M.Owens,

As a drum builder I will try to help a little bit. It's only to help other to understand a little more of it.
In a shell, the thickness is more a variable than the wood is. For exemple, a 1/4" thick Shell Maple will be a lot different then the same Maple shell but 1/2".

Tulipewood from brazil and Eucalyptys (australia, Jarah) are not cheap wood, these are actually exotic wood. African mahogany is very affordable 3$/board feet compare to Maple 4$ board feet. Another variable and it's an important one, in case of a ply shell maker, the thickness of the ply, the glue type and the internal pressure they will use will also be a important varialble in the shell resonance, these are all important facts not to be unconsider.

Hardware have another impact on the sound, depends on the lugs choice, the hoops choice and suspension system. The most important variable on a drum is the head choice and the tunning. Wood choice is less than 50% of the equation.

Great points, terrific post.

That sounds WAY off to me. You didn't even leave a percentage for the shell depth, diameter, thickness and bearing edge.

I assumed that you would understand that I meant "all other things being equal." Actually, I was being generous; Ray Ayotte (no stranger to the sounds of various woods) pegs it at more like 85%.

According to your your percentages you could take a pearl forum, just upgrade the hoops and tune them well, and you would have a great sounding set. I know that's not the case.

Well, I have heard modest kits--from the standpoint of wood, at least--handily outshine expensive kits with poor head choices and tuning. I know which I'd rather play.

I know there is more to the sound than just the shell material and shell size but that is the FOUNDATION of your sound.

My point, of course, was in regard to wood type, not shell size. All things being equal, heads and tuning remain the "foundation" of your sound; wood type--along with many other variables--is "color."

You can't just put a certain type of hoop and suspension mount, then tune a 8-ply birch shell to sound like a 6-ply mahogany shell.

Never said you could and I would never maintain that an 8-ply shell is ever directly comparable to a 6-ply shell. What I maintain is that, all other things being equal, the difference is relatively small, especially compared with heads and tuning . . .

I'm not trying to belittle your efforts either, but please don't include percentages that are very inaccurate in defense of your points; It weakens your credibility

. . . therefore, please do not ascribe to me statements I haven't made--it weakens your credibility.

Here's the bottom line, then I won't strain my credibility even more. There are a multitude of factors that influence drum sound, as Unix has pointed out. Yet when we compare drums we are almost always comparing apples to oranges: this birch kit has thicker shells, sharper bearing edges, diecast hoops, and a superior mounting system to this maple kit with thinner shells, rounder edges, 1.6 hoops, and a mediocre mounting system--yet drummers are quick to claim that the differences they hear is a result of the wood used.

If we could magically create a set of, say, 12" toms that were all exactly the same with regard to shell size, shell thickness, number of plies, type of glue used, type of joint, manner of construction, bearing edges, identical hardware, hoops, mounting systems--plus identical heads and tuning--in other words, precisely identical except for the wood--and lined them all up, I submit that the differences between them would be smaller than most drummers think. Not inaudible--not neglegible, even--smaller.

Anybody can "believe" what they want, but unless they're comparing apples to apples they aren't making a valid comparison.
 
I have done a ton of research ........ In my opinion the ultimate blend of woods in a set for a heavy metal player such as myself would be something like this:
Woods are listed from outer to inner ply
Rack Tom (8Ply Total)
12"x7" 1ply Maple, 5ply Bubinga, 2ply Birch
13"x8" 1ply Maple, 6ply Bubinga, 1ply Birch
14"x9" 1ply Maple, 7ply Bubinga
15"x10" 1ply Maple, 6ply Bubinga, 1ply Mahogany
Floor Tom (9Ply Total)
16"x16" 1ply Maple, 4ply Bubinga, 4ply Mahogany
18"x16" 1ply Maple, 3ply Bubinga, 5ply Mahogany
Bass Drum(x2) (10Ply Total)
20"x16" 1ply Maple, 1ply Bubinga, 8ply Mahogany

Research me this.....what company is going to build you these shells? And how much are they gonna cost?
 
I assumed that you would understand that I meant "all other things being equal."

Since you didn't specify "all other things being equal," I assumed you were talking about everything.

Well, I have heard modest kits--from the standpoint of wood, at least--handily outshine expensive kits with poor head choices and tuning. I know which I'd rather play.

If you were to compare two kits that were identical in every aspect besides wood, one made of poplar and one made of mahogany; I think the difference in sound would be very noticeable.

Heads and tuning are the biggest factor in sound and I will not argue that. My bottom line is the shell matters the most to me. Shells are expensive, heads are cheap. I can go buy a bunch of different heads to experiment with, but I wouldn't do that with the shells unless I was filthy rich. I can tune pretty well, so if I get the shells I want all I have to do from their is experiment with different heads and tunings.




As a drum builder I will try to help a little bit.

What woods do you use? Do you build your own shells or do you buy shells from a manufacturer?

Tulipewood from brazil and Eucalyptys (australia, Jarah) are not cheap wood, these are actually exotic wood.

Can you tell me how they sound?

Research me this.....what company is going to build you these shells? And how much are they gonna cost?

I didn't say that is exactly what I am going to get, but I would be willing to bet their is a shell company that would do it, or something similar.
 
I didn't say that is exactly what I am going to get, but I would be willing to bet their is a shell company that would do it, or something similar.
And I'm willing to bet that you won't be able to find a shell company that will build you drum shells to this "particular" configuration. Or anything remotely similar. There are plenty of "botique" custom shops, sure, but they mostly all use Keller shells.
 
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