drum shell size listing

[jazzer1951]

I have noticed that the listings of sizes for drums are not at all consistent. Some companies & people list drum sizes the older way (my way) depth by diameter, 5x14, 8x12, 9x13, etc., while others do it backwards, diameter by depth, 14 by 5, 12x8, 13x9, etc. I just got a catalog from a MAJOR retailer, & one page had listings one way & the very next page had the listings the other way, utterly confusing !!!
How are people who are just starting out to play expected to make a choice between a 10x14 drum or a 14x10 drum (they make both sizes !!!).
It also, I feel, makes us all look less than smart. We can't even get our specs together so we're all on the same, understandable, page.
I teach, & some kids (& their parents) have asked me where to get a 5" drum head for a 14x5 snare drum !!!
It's silly to have two, unmatched & confusing systems for one product, & no body else does it that I know of.
We need to go to the system that was developed & utilized for decades= DEPTH BY DIAMETER...

[Pocket-full-of-gold]

Originally Posted by jazzer1951

We need to go to the system that was developed & utilized for decades= DEPTH BY DIAMETER...

Only in your part of the world. In mine, for decades it's been diameter x depth....until the internet and the emergence of the global community that is.

There's been several thrads here on this. Check 'em out.....you'll note that here on DW, as with drum manufacturers, there is no general concensus. Some prefer it one way, some prefer it the other. I'd love to see some uniformity too (diam. x depth, fwiw), but while drummers can't even agree which way they'd like to see it written, what hope has anyone else got.

Originally Posted by jazzer1951

How are people who are just starting out to play expected to make a choice between a 10x14 drum or a 14x10 drum (they make both sizes !!!).

It's less common for drums to be deeper than they are wide. Whilst it happens (eg octobans, marching snares and perhaps Steve Jordan's specialty bass drum)....generally speaking, on a standard drum kit, drums are either shorter in depth than they are in diameter or "square" sized. I'm yet to see a 9 inch diameter tom that is 12 inches deep on a non-custom kit.

[audiotech]

For years now I've used diameter x depth. In my opinion, the diameter of the drum is predominately the most important aspect, so I usually put that first. I agree that visually a 12" x 9" rack tom may look better when seen as a 9" x 12" rack tom, only because the lower number comes first in these equations, but I still feel the diameter of the drum is much more important than the numerical succession of the numbers.

Dennis

[harryconway]

First off, welcome to the forum.

Really, I think it's pretty simple. If a company is talking about a 14x10 drum, it's probably gonna be 14" in diameter, and 10" deep. Not 10" in diameter, and 14" deep. Square and over-square are pretty much not the norm, anymore. Except floor toms. 14x14, 16x16. I've been playing drums since 1966, and I have yet to be "confused" by this.

I, too, like diameter (first) .... then depth. But if someone is talking about a 8x12 rack tom, hey, I know what that is. I own several. I just happen to call them 12x8's.

[MikeM]

I agree: diameter x depth. Got a 12" tom? Great! By the way, how deep is it? Not: oh cool a 9" deep tom ... is that a 12" or a 13"?

But yeah, you can almost always tell which is which by assuming the larger of the two numbers is the diameter.

Just to make sure the confusion gets properly maintained, I still refer to snare drums as depth x diameter! I think that's because 14" is still more or less the standard size for snares, so the depth becomes the primary variable.

[Bo Eder]

Originally Posted by harryconway

First off, welcome to the forum.

Really, I think it's pretty simple. If a company is talking about a 14x10 drum, it's probably gonna be 14" in diameter, and 10" deep. Not 10" in diameter, and 14" deep. Square and over-square are pretty much not the norm, anymore. Except floor toms. 14x14, 16x16. I've been playing drums since 1966, and I have yet to be "confused" by this.

I, too, like diameter (first) .... then depth. But if someone is talking about a 8x12 rack tom, hey, I know what that is. I own several. I just happen to call them 12x8's.

And Harry and I are in the same state! I call them 8x12's. I think until Sonor started making 16x17 floor toms, no one was confused as to what number came first. But I always liked the smaller number first, and that had always been the depth.

[AJ3000]

There was a massive thread on this a few months ago. Fwiw, I'm diameter x depth. It just seems more sensible. However with a second of looking at it, you can usually work it out!