So the common "vintage" design of the modern drum set used somewhat rounded bearing edges with simple unmuffled mylar heads. Rounded edges dampen the sound of the head somewhat on heads which would naturally be highly resonant and tonal. And certainly, additional muffling could be added (with the felt strip being a traditional method).
Contemporary drum sets often use sharp chamfered bearing edges (the "double 45" being typical), which is a design that offers the most amount of resonance and tonality. But the modern drummer also has a wide selection of drum heads with varying amounts of builtin muffling to reduce resonance and overtones.
So it seems like you end up in the same place. Though I guess the modern method has a certain convienient flexibility, as it's a lot easier to change heads or add moongel than it is to recut your bearing edges.
I'm contemplating buying parts and assembling/finishing my own set of drums, so this is running though my head. And it's all really meaningless in the end, because drums will sound like drums no matter what. But I was curious if anyone wanted to comment on my rambling...
Contemporary drum sets often use sharp chamfered bearing edges (the "double 45" being typical), which is a design that offers the most amount of resonance and tonality. But the modern drummer also has a wide selection of drum heads with varying amounts of builtin muffling to reduce resonance and overtones.
So it seems like you end up in the same place. Though I guess the modern method has a certain convienient flexibility, as it's a lot easier to change heads or add moongel than it is to recut your bearing edges.
I'm contemplating buying parts and assembling/finishing my own set of drums, so this is running though my head. And it's all really meaningless in the end, because drums will sound like drums no matter what. But I was curious if anyone wanted to comment on my rambling...