Metal snare formula: 14 x 6.5, triple flange hoops, heads vintage coated / clear ambassador, tuning high with bottom head slightly higher (but not cranked), 30 strand wires. dampening small M1 leather clip.
Wood snare drum preferences/formula: size 14 x 7, triple flange, heads evans power centre / 300, 20 strand wires. Tuning medium-high, M1 clip or leather wallet dampening. I want a lot of body.
Back c.2005 I was schooled by Terry Bissette on how Ken Arronoff tuned his 15x4 Tama snare in the studio and the scales fell from my eyes. Before then, I assumed a snare had its “one, singular voice”. That came from playing one kind of music far too long.
Once freed of my shackles I began trying different heads, hoops and snappies. I have a set of Tama 10-hole die cast and a set of Tama 10-hole brass hoops for experimentation. I have Fat Cat adjustable snappies, Tama high carbon snappies and Gibraltar 40-strand snappies for experimentation.
The variety of voicings that can be produced from those three variables is a revelation.
Lately I’ve been running an Evans Genera batter on my 8-lug, 1-ply Tama maple reserve. The tuning is high but the wires are medium tension. I get a great, woody snap and the drum is not choked.
On the 8-lug Tama hand-hammered brass I just received I’ve been experimenting with the stock gear: Remo ambassador, brass hoops, Tama snappy. I’m currently enjoying it with high tension reso head, medium high tension batter, medium tension snappy and either wide open (lotsa resonance) or two moon gels for a dry sound.
For me it’s metal (usually aluminum or Brass) 14 inches and I feel 6.5 is that perfect depth.
I have an insane drum head collection of like new or new heads But my go to is the Remo Vintage Ambassador coated. It’s 2 ply so has durability but also Let’s the drum sing! For me me it’s almost always Ludwig Triple flanged hoops but I do have a few snares with due cast on the batter side.
All my snares have Canopus leather washers and Canopus nylon strap for the snares. I like Canopus Vintage wires on my Supra but pure sound twisted on other snares. Ludwig P88AC as my throw off
Snare side head is usually a Evans 300 hazy. Tuned fairly high with the batter side tuned medium-high. I never keep my snares too tight. Just enough where they don’t rattle
As for muffling I really like snare weights leather snare muffle contraption. But Drum tacks sound really good too
My favorite snare is my Ludwig Supraphonic. Just because it never sounds bad.
In order of my favorite snares I own:
1. Supraphonic 14x6.5
2. Black beauty with brass tube lugs 14x6.5
3. CopperPhonic Raw14x6.5
4. Ludwig Classic Oak Snare 14x6.5
5. Ludwig 110th anniversary exotic avodire 14x7 maple
6. Raw Brass Phonic 14x6.5
7. Ludwig acrolite black galaxy 14x5 (90’s era)
I have 2 snares on my priority list: Ludwig Bronze phonic & sonor Danny Carey signature
I’m starting to lean towards 13’s, they just feel nice under the stick for me. I have 3 snares right now, But I like to experiment with different depths though.
1. Cocobolo - 14 x 6, this guy has a really fat and round sound, I usually like it at about a medium-high tension, preferably a dot head for extra fatness.
2. Curly Bubinga - 13 x 5, I like this guy cranked for a nice funky crack! Mostly use as an auxiliary though
3. Pork Pie Patina Brass - 13 x 7, my metal option, works great for rock/blues, have it at a medium tension,
I’m a metal shell snare guy these days. For batter it’s either a coated ambassador or aquarian texture coated. For reso, I’m using ambassador snare sides. Generally tuned medium hi on the batter and high on the reso. I like to play with no muffling most of the time, but sometimes I’ll through a piece of tape on the batter and back the snares off a little to give a wetter, fatter sound.
I don't have an exact formula, and I use a variety of sizes and materials, so I don't know how much I can narrow things down. I will say, the one thing all my snare drums have in common is that I tune them to have a meaty, solid center. They may be midrange in pitch up to fairly high, and they may have overtones or not, but there is always a solid center. I find that by going with a fairly tight (but not ridiculous) reso and a midrange batter tension. Higher resos tend to produce a very present sound with more overtones, and a looser reso gives a softer sound with fewer overtones. I experiment until I'm happy. As far as snare tension, I go toward the looser side of medium. I despise a snare drum that is choked out by the snare wires.
For me it’s metal (usually aluminum or Brass) 14 inches and I feel 6.5 is that perfect depth.
I have an insane drum head collection of like new or new heads But my go to is the Remo Vintage Ambassador coated. It’s 2 ply so has durability but also Let’s the drum sing! For me me it’s almost always Ludwig Triple flanged hoops but I do have a few snares with due cast on the batter side.
All my snares have Canopus leather washers and Canopus nylon strap for the snares. I like Canopus Vintage wires on my Supra but pure sound twisted on other snares. Ludwig P88AC as my throw off
Snare side head is usually a Evans 300 hazy. Tuned fairly high with the batter side tuned medium-high. I never keep my snares too tight. Just enough where they don’t rattle
As for muffling I really like snare weights leather snare muffle contraption. But Drum tacks sound really good too
My favorite snare is my Ludwig Supraphonic. Just because it never sounds bad.
In order of my favorite snares I own:
1. Supraphonic 14x6.5
2. Black beauty with brass tube lugs 14x6.5
3. CopperPhonic Raw14x6.5
4. Ludwig Classic Oak Snare 14x6.5
5. Ludwig 110th anniversary exotic avodire 14x7 maple
6. Raw Brass Phonic 14x6.5
7. Ludwig acrolite black galaxy 14x5 (90’s era)
I have 2 snares on my priority list: Ludwig Bronze phonic & sonor Danny Carey signature
For all the Ludwigs you own, I'm surprised to see you don't have a bronze phonic. Beautiful sounding drum, with warmth. This comes from a guy who prefers wood snare drums.
Same species for me, used to play metal snares and mixed cymbals but now I'm all in on same wood (Well not totally) drum sets and same species cymbals. I've even gone to Paiste on maple Zildian on Mahogany .. what a tosser. sorry I digress Solid Birdseye 5" Vintage emperor ,Wood Hoops tightish heads , semi loose wires. tight crisp classic all you need tone and then set up the same as maple snare.Solid Mahogany Wood Hoops 6 1/2" deep fat surrounding tone encompassing you like a comfortable couch. the snare drums sit beautifully with the rest of the sets tone wise like they are all in the same family.. and then there is Walnut Wood Hoops 6 1/2" Somewhere between Maple and Mahogany ... So what this tells me is that wood species does yield different tone.. 4" Solid mahogany set up the same 8 lug with die cast hoops , changes tone again , 4" and die cast yield a clear warm focused very jazzy /soul tone orchestral even.
My go-to snare is a DW Performance 6.4x14". Evans 300 snare side, Evans G2 batter. Unlike most folks here, I like a darker, warm, fat sound, and I do not have the heads cranked tight. In fact, my batter is tighter than my snare head: using a drum Dial, my batter head is tuned to about 80, the snare head to 75. Wires are fairly tight.
I'm experimenting with other snares: right now I have a couple of 1960s Slingerland Artist series, a Gretsch 5.5x14" and a month-old Ludwig Classic Maple 6.5x14". But I always run back to the DW, because it just sounds right to me.
For all the Ludwigs you own, I'm surprised to see you don't have a bronze phonic. Beautiful sounding drum, with warmth. This comes from a guy who prefers wood snare drums.
This would be an ideal general purpose sound for me. That said, I have a wide range of drums. From 12 -15 diameter and 3.5 - 8 in depth. My favotites are probably 6 X 14.
As some of yoU knows, I'm just the keys player in my band but have been loving drums since the 80's when I took 6 months of lessons before going back to my Hammond and Synths... For the last two years, and especially during Covid, because we were not practicing, my project was to get a full drums kit, good quality that will Damon a but my dream of owning a New RC drums kit, just because Steve Hard is my favorite summer. So, I ended up buying from a freind a Maple Tama Star 1973 and when I heard the new Star Reserve solid Maple 14X5, I bought one... I'm not very well versed to be able to judge it but all the drummers who came home thought it's a wonderfully one. I tried to convince my self that the Supraphonic (Gadd again...) was my dream but never caught up with he little ring that you always have with metal snares, maybe that's why I coulnd't justifié the price of the Balck Beauty especially as I think they are more rock snres... Well, a but reductive especially if you know the number of drummers who buy them... But this is what my ears hear..
Same thing, I like it to be high pitch, A3 is the minimum, I like the sound of the C4# but understand it could lack a but of fullness and depth so, batter head is almost a 3rd lower than the resonant head.
Second snare coming, Same range, Tama star reserve Skokie Sedan 6.5 that I will tune medium, medium low, maybe like "Billie jean" maybe a bit higher, I would say a 5th lower than the Maple? Both them on the kit, always (I have the snare that came with the kit, steel 6.5, correct one, nothing to get crazy about, tunes medium, medium low, works at that time...
And I think that's it, I will have no more snares, it's already an heresy to have bought such high end drums but I wanted to treat me and Covid helped me to do that.
I have just changed the head, Remo ambassador coated and clear, I'm not good enough to know the differences...
Well, that's it but I can understand, if I would be a drummer, for sure I would tend to have a little number of high end snares too... Maybe 5/6?
I only have three! All I can afford. ?
Ha, they actually cover lotsa ground! Their formulae I think are:
14x6.5 Ludwig Legacy Maple, stock Ludwig Medium over X-Thin (can't believe these lasted 4 years although I'm not playing out that often), Canopus Vintage wires, tuned low ala Roger Taylor. Loud, round middy tone.
14x5 Gretsch 41571960's, coated Vintage Ambassador over hazy Ambassador, 42 strand Dixon wire (basically the same as a 42 strand Gretsch wire), tuned medium ala Keith Moon on Quadrophenia (I believe he used either a Gretsch or a Premier 2000 fir that record), internal muffler sparingly engaged. Crisp dry "pop" with low end body, in fact more bassy than the Ludwig!
14x5 Premier 2000 1970's, same head combo as above, Dixon 20-strand wire (the mechanism wore out so it doesn't align with the extended Premier wires anymore). I haven't decided where to tune it - low it sounds a lot like the Ludwig, medium mmm Keith Moon, and high it has a great response as well. I tune the snare head around the same pitch as the batter - I don't tend to do this on a wood snare drum, but it sounds great with a metal drum to me.
So there's bassy, middy, and trebly. The Gretsch is the most versatile to me though, hence
I live dangerously and only use a 6.5x14 brass snare drum. Currently with some double-ply head on the batter side and a thin snare side cranked up. I'm quick enough between songs to change tunings on a gig, but it mostly starts in the medium-that range, and happily, that sound tends to work for everything.
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