I gave up on Snom

[Quai34]

I gave up on Snom.

As you may remember, I was astonished by the Tama Star Reserve Volume 2, the Maple Bubinga 15"X8". I was really close to buy it but was advised by CBphoto on Drummerworld that, while it was a very nice snare, he never found a real use for it, even on its left side of the hat and warned me that, due to being a very specialized snare, it was always going to be a compromise if you want to use it as a 15" Floor/Tom.

So, I asked Summit drums to make one for me, in Walnut, as it's a very low/deep wood and because it was cheaper as well. I was able, after a lot of time of tuning, to get a very good Tom Sound and a good "marching snare" sound. That said, while being interesting' I'm not sure i will use that kind of snare sound a lot.
Actually, I was never able to tune it in E2 as I had planned, like a 14" Tom, between my 16" Tom in C2 and my 13" Tom in G2, just because it meant a very sluggish snare sound. Even in C3, it was good but you have to really pay attention at every change in weather as it could really loose its tuning easily.

In fact, it was 289 to 299 snare side and 150 to 178 batter head. The best Tom sound was 289/150, with almost an octave between both head for a very good resonance, but that need to be tamed a lot with 2 large drumtak, one small one and a Snareweight m80 to get a useable snare sound. So, finally, as I was told, a lot to do for a good result but still, a mix result.

I miss the power of this snare tuned like a real snare. Before receiving it from Gary at Summit, I had asked him how it was and he said: "Massive!". Furthermore, I'm happy with my 4 Toms, 16", 13", 12" and 10", tuned, C2, G2, B2 and C3, they sound very well together and on top of that, in order to be able to go behind he kit, I needed to have the 15" snare AFTER the 16" so, kind of weird to get an upper Tom after a low one, after the 16", going from left to right. Plus, even with it at C3, it was close to B2, my 12" Tom, by only half a step and was generated quite a lot of sympathetic buzz between them.

So, in considering that a snare could be tuned from E3 to B3, with my 15" snare tuned C3, I'm not far from E3 in fact. Thus, I decided to tune it in E3, it will be my lowest tuned snare, it will let my Sendan on the left side which was dedicated to low tuning with a F3, free to find another tuning more appropriate for a 14X6.5 only.

So, bye bye Snom, that was a good test, funny and tough at the same time but I think a Summit single ply walnut 15X8" deserves better than a compromise, don't you think?

 

[Larry]

Ack lesson learned. I never wanted one. I did want a marcher, but jut for fun. Never got one.

I don't even like the word snom. I'll never speak it.

 

[Winston_Wolf]

Big, deep snares have never sounded good tuned low in my experience. Plus in this application tuning the snare side too low doesn't really lower the overall pitch much, but it prevents the snare wires from behaving normally. Just the opposite, I get my low pitch ballad snare sound from from a steel shell 14x5. Shallower drums have less sustain so there are fewer "extra" sounds that need to be muffled away. I also tune the snare side pretty much like I normally would, around a G or G# and get all of the low pitch sound just from batter head tuning.

I used to play a 14x10 marching snare as my main snare. Cranked up, top and bottom, it had an amazingly full sound you wouldn't get from a shallow snare tuned to the same overall pitch. I think a lot of folks fall into a kind of trap with big or deep snares, which is a shame because I think they shine when tuned up high.

 

[B]

I have my snom adventures as well, and ended up with a 6 1/2 x 15 Slingerland drum from the 50s after trying probably 2 other drums, including a 70s 10 x 14 Ludwig marching snare.

At the time I wanted it, I was doing a lot of soul and R&B, and was able to use it for the modern stuff, or contrast it between the verse and chorus. But then I moved to a different city, and have fallen into a different scene and didn't have any use for it whatsoever. None, and I realized I was using the Slingerland so little that I could probably tune a Ludwig 402 Super loose with a hydraulic head if I ever needed it.

I get it.

 

[cbphoto]

I suppose if I recorded all the time I –might– have one, but the music I’ve been playing just doesn’t need that sound.

I tried one of these at Dale’s Drum Shop when passing through town and thought this video pretty much matched my brief experience.

 

[Deleted member 526375]

If it doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work. No harm, no foul. I have one… a 10”x16” DW ballad snare (silly name, just like snom) that I almost always use as a floor tom. Since its primary job is floor tom, I have it set up to maximize that sound. To use it as a snare the way I have it set up now requires judicious tuning, muffling AND the understanding that it is absolutely not a “normal” snare sound suitable for everyday use.

In this pic, you can see the DW mag throw off in the off position and the drum in use as a floor tom only.

 

[B]

If it doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work. No harm, no foul. I have one… a 10”x16” DW ballad snare (silly name, just like snom) that I almost always use as a floor tom. Since its primary job is floor tom, I have it set up to maximize that sound. To use it as a snare the way I have it set up now requires judicious tuning, muffling AND the understanding that it is absolutely not a “normal” snare sound suitable for everyday use.

In this pic, you can see the DW mag throw off in the off position and the drum in use as a floor tom only.

View attachment 130998

Digging that bass drum. Size and series ?

 

[Deleted member 526375]

Digging that bass drum. Size and series ?

Thanks! 10x20 is the size and Collectors something series. It’s not the regular Collectors build with reinforcement rings. This one is 9-ply with no rings.

EDIT: Just looked it up… the series is 333. I kept the front head intact and mic from the batter side.

 

[Z]

Ack lesson learned. I never wanted one. I did want a marcher, but jut for fun. Never got one.

I don't even like the word snom. I'll never speak it.

It's not a Snom it's a Baritone Snare, that's all I got.

 

[B]

Thanks! 10x20 is the size and Collectors something series. It’s not the regular Collectors build with reinforcement rings. This one is 9-ply with no rings.

EDIT: Just looked it up… the series is 333. I kept the front head intact and mic from the batter side.

I knew you'd have some custom unobtainium from John Good, wood sourced from Uzbeckastan by Borat's uncle kinda thing

 

[Deleted member 526375]

I knew you'd have some custom unobtainium from John Good, wood sourced from Uzbeckastan by Borat's uncle kinda thing

Close! Just some good ol' Michigan maple in the case of this drum. You'd probably never believe me if I told you the whole story about how and why I ended up playing the hype-machine brand, but it's surprisingly very simple and old school.

 

[Quai34]

Big, deep snares have never sounded good tuned low in my experience. Plus in this application tuning the snare side too low doesn't really lower the overall pitch much, but it prevents the snare wires from behaving normally. Just the opposite, I get my low pitch ballad snare sound from from a steel shell 14x5. Shallower drums have less sustain so there are fewer "extra" sounds that need to be muffled away. I also tune the snare side pretty much like I normally would, around a G or G# and get all of the low pitch sound just from batter head tuning.

I used to play a 14x10 marching snare as my main snare. Cranked up, top and bottom, it had an amazingly full sound you wouldn't get from a shallow snare tuned to the same overall pitch. I think a lot of folks fall into a kind of trap with big or deep snares, which is a shame because I think they shine when tuned up high.

Well, thanks for the info and experience and yes, after having realized that this snare was awesome tuned like a real snare like when it came from Summit, I found myself in love with a deep snare and bought a second one from him that he had in stock for a while, the Beech/Mahogany/Beech 14x8".
So,m I will try to crack it a bit but walnut is still a wood that has a lot of deep low end so, even cracked, I should have a lot of nice body from it, thanks again.

 

[Quai34]

I suppose if I recorded all the time I –might– have one, but the music I’ve been playing just doesn’t need that sound.

I tried one of these at Dale’s Drum Shop when passing through town and thought this video pretty much matched my brief experience.

Yes, I was close to buy it, they had it at the shop but I didn't like it at all, too...Poufff poufff...It was on sale so, maybe, that was the reason...

 

[Quai34]

If it doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work. No harm, no foul. I have one… a 10”x16” DW ballad snare (silly name, just like snom) that I almost always use as a floor tom. Since its primary job is floor tom, I have it set up to maximize that sound. To use it as a snare the way I have it set up now requires judicious tuning, muffling AND the understanding that it is absolutely not a “normal” snare sound suitable for everyday use.

In this pic, you can see the DW mag throw off in the off position and the drum in use as a floor tom only.

View attachment 130998

Well, yes, i see it and I'm like you, not enough use for me.

 

[Bo Eder]

So what was your original application for this snare supposed to be? The ultimate Eagles snare or?

 

[makinao]

I have an old Pearl Competition mahogany 8-lug 14x10 snare as a snom. It took me a year of experimenting to get it right. Right now it has an Evans hydraulic red batter and Remo ambassador snare side with everything tensioned low, and the 20-strand snares at medium tightness. Lastly, I stuck a 2” piece of cushion tape parallel to, and halfway between the snares and the hoop on the snare side. It’s very dry as a floor tom. OK for recording but noticeably dead live compared to my ambassador coated toms.

 

[GetAgrippa]

I got an LP Trash can snare a couple years back and the rim attachable snare was fun to play with but now it sits in a closet. Attaching the snare to reso of my 10 in tom was fun. A true Snom if there ever was one.

 

[Quai34]

So what was your original application for this snare supposed to be? The ultimate Eagles snare or?

In fact, at first, i was not thinking about an application, remember, in 2018, I had no kit and no snares and in 4 years, well, almost 5, I have one kit, 34 cymbals and 20 snares. So, the goal was to get the same kind of use as the one in the Tama demo by Robert Sput searight because I like him very much...
But price was also a main factor, so, I went with Summit instead...So, I assume, the goal was to have a different snare and to "maximize. the use of it in having as well a second Floor tom on top of the 16X16 that i have,,,but well, it appears that CBPhoto was right, tough to check all the boxes at the same level and yesterday, i went with a tuning in E3 and it,s still a super good floor tom sound, higher pitched of course than C3 but way better with snares wires.
In fact, as i have always wanted to tune my kit like an arpeggio (Hey, you see where I come from...), having the 16" in C2 up to G2 with the 13" was a big gap...So, my idea at first was to have it tuned at E2, so, C2, E2, a third and G2, a minor 3rd, like C, E, G, the arpeggio of a C major scale...
But in E2 all was horrible, especially the snare sound...Then I went to C3 but was too much close to the B2 of my 12" Tom, thus a lot of sympathetic resonance...
So, well, my goals changed with the results of my experience..

 

[Quai34]

I have an old Pearl Competition mahogany 8-lug 14x10 snare as a snom. It took me a year of experimenting to get it right. Right now it has an Evans hydraulic red batter and Remo ambassador snare side with everything tensioned low, and the 20-strand snares at medium tightness. Lastly, I stuck a 2” piece of cushion tape parallel to, and halfway between the snares and the hoop on the snare side. It’s very dry as a floor tom. OK for recording but noticeably dead live compared to my ambassador coated toms.

Well, I tried for 3 months and then, you have the story..I have too much snare to tune and to learn how to tune them at their best to fiddle for one year, I'm not that patient...And I prefer to play but I'm also super picky with music so, everything needs to be perfect before I play...But when I have found the perfect set up, I'm done...I have not changed my keys set up for the past 10 years!!

 

[Quai34]

I got an LP Trash can snare a couple years back and the rim attachable snare was fun to play with but now it sits in a closet. Attaching the snare to reso of my 10 in tom was fun. A true Snom if there ever was one.

Well, the sound is good...But still of too much specific for me...maybe the fact that it was a stunning Summit snare pushed a lot for me to not use it only as a snom so, to have very high expectations with it.