Snare drum: clamped or parked?

Zaxx

Member
Setting up very late at a recent gig (I had about a minute to spare before the first tune kicked in!), I didn't have time to tighten my snare basket properly, so I just sat the drum on the three plastic grips, snug but not clamped, assuming I'd manage for one song then tighten it during the pause before the second one. In the event, not only did the drum not shift at all (my snare is always exactly horizontal, which may help) but I'm convinced it sounded much better for not having the basket tightened against it.

I'd always assumed that the idea was to tighten the basket up - certainly every other kit I've seen looks as though that's the case - I think... but I plan to deliberately set up my snare without tightening the basket to the grip point from now on. The only other example I've knowingly seen is an orchestral percussionist who switched drums between pieces by just lifting the drum out of the basket, so obviously it wasn't clamped in place.

My question is: is it just me? Do you clamp your SD tight or just let it sit there? Or is it common or even normal and I've just not noticed it before?
 
I'm no Jed Clampett :)

I try and eliminate any restrictions from the drum. Clamping the drum in my mind stifles the ring, which I like.

If you muffle your snare, it's probably doesn't make a sonic difference, clamping.

I don't know if it makes a sonic difference the way I do it, but I feel better about it because my logic tells me that it's the right way to mount the snare drum...any drum.

Free to vibrate.

Heck, hanging a stick bag from the floor tom robs half the tone/resonance/sustain. Andy proved that with a video he made.
 
I think it’s quite well known that tightening the SD basket kills the drum tone and resonance ; and it’s no use, there is no way the drum can fall of.
I used once the 13” tom in a snare basket (tightened otherwise I would have fallen) and it killed the tone quality.
I would be curious to try out the star cast snare stand.
 
I've never ever clamped the snare basket. Just place and go
Clamping - Kills tone, requires one to reach down again in odd places, yet another adjustment to do, prevents me from easily rotating drum to perfect nirvana orientation
 
My snare sits very loosely in the triad of holders, as did my rack tom when I used a stand that way.
 
I only tighten the basket enough to keep the drum from falling out, or shifting around. Generally there is still enough slack in the basket to pull the drum out without needing to loosen it.

This is me. I tighten the basket just enough that the tips are touching the drum - but not applying pressure. I never have to loosen it to remove the drum.
 
Thanks for the replies - maybe it was just me overtightening the thing all along! So, you live and learn. That Tama Star stand looks wonderful, but I need to use a Gibraltar monopod stand these days due to my preposterous array of pedals. Wonder if the Tama basket section would fit the Gibraltar foot section?
 
Another loose basket guy here. I don't bother tightening it down.
 
(Strokes chin) Interesting... Now, does anyone have a snare drum stand with a lockable basket and/or some kind of memory lock that prevents it 'adjusting' its basket spread by accident? If the idea is to simply park the drum loosely on the basket, such a thing would be logical - you'd get to set the basket once for drum size and to allow for variations in rim profile and you're done. None of my snare stands have anything like this, but do others?

(In passing: I plan to invent one by putting a thin nylon zip tie around the thread of the basket spread adjustor underneath, so that the adjustment nut can't spin out of position. Another one for the book of drumkit hacks. : ) )
 
That's my rule. Never tighten the clamps on the snare stand OR the tom stand. Tightening the clamps kills the tone for sure! I have tested this theory many times in the past 60 years.


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Crikey, I never thought about hurting the tone by clamping... I'm parking from now on.
 
(Strokes chin) Interesting... Now, does anyone have a snare drum stand with a lockable basket and/or some kind of memory lock that prevents it 'adjusting' its basket spread by accident? If the idea is to simply park the drum loosely on the basket, such a thing would be logical - you'd get to set the basket once for drum size and to allow for variations in rim profile and you're done. None of my snare stands have anything like this, but do others?

(In passing: I plan to invent one by putting a thin nylon zip tie around the thread of the basket spread adjustor underneath, so that the adjustment nut can't spin out of position. Another one for the book of drumkit hacks. : ) )

My snare stand, and many others have a threaded knob underneath that is turned to adjust the distance. I have never had it adjust by itself. If that was a problem a bit of tape would solve it. Or one with a drum key threaded allen type screw could be added.
 
For me, I try to compromise. I like being able to shift the placement of my snare by grabbing onto the drum and lifting the whole thing. With that said, the way the basket works on my Pearl 800 series stand, you don't have to actually clamp it in the basket to do that. I do not tighten it - only until it's just tight enough where I can still pick up everything to move it.

And I agree with everyone else - I stopped clamping tight when I noticed how much clamping kills the tone.
 
Interesting that we're pretty much all parkers rather than clampers (with a couple of new converts, including me), yet the typical basket design seems intended for clamping, otherwise the adjustment would be lockable.
 
Im a clamper. I like to be able to position the snare by just grabbing the drum and moving the whole thing stand and all. I never seem to get it set right initially so I always have to move it after the first song. Im not saying I torque on it, but its tight enough to pick up the drum and stand together.
 
It depends. I clamp it on my own gear as I have *never* noticed it to be a tone suck with any of my snares. I want to be able to pick the whole damn thing up and move it during the gig or when moving it on or off stage. I go ahead and park it when using rented rehearsal space kits since the clock is ticking and I am usually unfamiliar with the snare stand du jour. If I regularly changed snares during gigs I would just park it for obvious ease-of-use issues.
 
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