taiko
Senior Member
Another thread in this forum closed today that had asked people to list the five "best" drum companies. Many people did so, while many others pointed out that this was a useless endeavor. The fact that the thread had quite a few comments suggests that drummers give this a fair amount of thought. I find myself wondering if this is really a useless exercise and, if so, why? Here are a few things that came to mind:
1. Ranking on the basis of sound seems rather useless. This is subjective and different people like different sounding instruments. That said, I do think some cheaper drums simply sound bad--and I think some expensive drums sound bad. I don't like the sound of DW Performance series (and some of their other series as well) drums at all and think they sound bad, not just different. I know, if you put the right head on it, you can make any drum sound "good." I'm not sure that's true. Can there be a bad sounding drum?
2. Ranking on the basis of quality of construction seems more productive. Is there truly a difference in quality between DW, Sonor, Yamaha, Gretsch, Ludwig, etc.? Are any of these of higher quality in terms of construction, manufacturing techniques, etc. than others? Or are they just different?
3. Drummer seem to spend a great deal of time being brand conscious. Perhaps it is because we often put the label of the company right on the front of the bass drum. Is all of the talking drummers seem to do about different brands really about quality/sound, etc. or is it about brand name and conspicuous consumption?
4. Is there any valid basis for comparing different drum companies and their products other than subjective criteria that, in the end, are nothing more than personal preference?
I'd be curious to hear any intelligent thoughts on this (as opposed to snide comments--although those can be fun, too).
1. Ranking on the basis of sound seems rather useless. This is subjective and different people like different sounding instruments. That said, I do think some cheaper drums simply sound bad--and I think some expensive drums sound bad. I don't like the sound of DW Performance series (and some of their other series as well) drums at all and think they sound bad, not just different. I know, if you put the right head on it, you can make any drum sound "good." I'm not sure that's true. Can there be a bad sounding drum?
2. Ranking on the basis of quality of construction seems more productive. Is there truly a difference in quality between DW, Sonor, Yamaha, Gretsch, Ludwig, etc.? Are any of these of higher quality in terms of construction, manufacturing techniques, etc. than others? Or are they just different?
3. Drummer seem to spend a great deal of time being brand conscious. Perhaps it is because we often put the label of the company right on the front of the bass drum. Is all of the talking drummers seem to do about different brands really about quality/sound, etc. or is it about brand name and conspicuous consumption?
4. Is there any valid basis for comparing different drum companies and their products other than subjective criteria that, in the end, are nothing more than personal preference?
I'd be curious to hear any intelligent thoughts on this (as opposed to snide comments--although those can be fun, too).