Snare Drum Differences

ilikedrumming

Junior Member
Thick vs. Thin shell? Deep vs. Shallow? Degree of Bearing edge? 42 strand vs. 16 strand? How do all of these play a part in overall tone of a snare?
 
Thick vs. Thin shell? Deep vs. Shallow? Degree of Bearing edge? 42 strand vs. 16 strand? How do all of these play a part in overall tone of a snare?

thick v. thin - thicker the shell less air there is to move insdie the shell, giving it a higher pitch. also there is less vibration going on through the shell (since its so thick) which can also result in a higher pitch. thinner generally will give a lower tone.

deep/shallow - deeper = more air moving up and down so a little bit of a lower pitch, but this will somewhat reduce snare sensetivity because of how hard you have to hit it to get air hitting the snare wires

degree of bearing edge - once again changes the pitch. the more contact the drum head comes in to play with the bearing edge different pitch (not sure what angles give more focused sound etc, might have to run that by andy!)

strands of snare wire - how much snare wire sound you want in your drum.... 42 strands will give a lot of snare wire sound, 16 strands will give less.
 
There are so many variables here, it would take hours to give you even the basics. Although each feature produces a fairly defined range of results, when placed in combination with other features, the result may be different. It's perhaps better to state what sound you're shooting for, then we can help you narrow down your choices by suggesting features to look out for.
 
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