15" x 8" snare - now sorted - video - 4 tunings.

Andy

Honorary Member
All that was needed was a few minutes lowering the reso head tension. I naturally gravitate to cranking the reso on all snares, even for very low tunings. I find it excites the shell more efficiently, but that didn't sit well with this 15" snare. The reso head is now tensioned to a medium setting, & that's eradicated the discordant high overtones. A controlled sound head of some description may have achieved a similar result, but I'm a believer that if a snare doesn't sound good with G1 coated over Hazy 300, then the issue is the snare - even on a big ass 15" beast like this.

Anyhow, please cast your critique, but use good headphones, & select HD for better audio :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndj7u1WhReg&feature=youtu.be

Thoughts?
 
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That low tuning!


Funny I played with a 14x5,5 Bamboo tuned low, with a vintage head and a external mufler as a snare/floortom (placed between the racktom and floortom) yesterday. really fun.

Reminds me of a Ballad snare and the snare floortoms too.

I like those different snare sounds very much. well done Andy!
 
Interesting sounds. That 15 size is not really my cup of tea. I much prefer all your 14 inch snare sounds to that particular one.

Now...the bass drum sound...was to DIE for! What bass drum size/wood is that?
 
That low tuning!


Funny I played with a 14x5,5 Bamboo tuned low, with a vintage head and a external mufler as a snare/floortom (placed between the racktom and floortom) yesterday. really fun.

Reminds me of a Ballad snare and the snare floortoms too.

I like those different snare sounds very much. well done Andy!
Thanks Wes, It's an interesting vibe for sure. Damn, I've just remembered I forgot to get back to you on those rack parts :(

Interesting sounds. That 15 size is not really my cup of tea. I much prefer all your 14 inch snare sounds to that particular one.

Now...the bass drum sound...was to DIE for! What bass drum size/wood is that?
TBH, the 15" wouldn't be my first choice for a general snare, but as a ballad snare, or for that big heavy / low vibe, it's just about perfect :)

Bass drum is a 20" x 14" Tour series zebrano stave.
 
This doesn't sound like any of your other drums.

FWIW, from my experiments, recently I came to the conclusion...and it's completely backwards...if I wanted a low tuned snare sound, I'd go with a shallow drum. Like 5". It's punchier. Most of it's frequencies are right in our range. A big drum like that...tuned low, a lot of it's freqs will go right by our ear without registering. You would feel it, but that's not much help after a short distance. Does that make any sense?

This is completely my opinion...The 15 x 8...I wanted to hear you crank that sucker way up. That's one big ass drum. I really think it's most usable range is to have that sucker cranked. Tuned low, to really capture the low end of that drum, put that thing in an auditorium, where the sound can develop. That drum needs room to breathe. Tuned tight, I think that thing would shine. It seems like it would be louder given an equal force hit on a 14" drum.

IMO, it's too much snare for the average room. It doesn't seem like it can develop in your space. Tuned low, it's a huge ballad snare, with sub-sonic freqs I bet, and it needs room to mature. There's so much we are not getting. I don't think your room represents that snare best. I mean it's got to be a cannon, but you can't tell from the recording. It's like an outdoor or big room drum. Orchestral. Those guys play in big rooms, right?

It probably sounds way different being in the same room than on the recording. We can't feel the bottom like you can when you are right next to it.

Zebrano makes really nice tom tones. On a snare drum that size, I'd like to see a brighter wood, because the sheer volume of it is going to make low end. A warm wood is overkill.

Sorry but you love me for not sugar coating anything :)
 
OHHH YEAHHHHH

SNAP INTO A GURU!!!

macho-man-randy-savage-1_crop_north.jpg


NOW WITH 20000000000% MORE MEATINESS!!!!

PREPARE FOR SIZZLING SNARE STEAK IN YOUR EARS MORTALS!!!
 
WITH GURU SNARES, WE'RE TALKIN' ABOUT THE CREAM OF THE CROP, BROTHER. OOH YEAH!

AND THE CREAM RISES TO THE TOP!!
 
This doesn't sound like any of your other drums.


Sorry but you love me for not sugar coating anything :)
I like that you speak your mind Larry, & all's good, but here's my thoughts.

first up, it's worth noting that zebrano is actually a very bright wood. It has all that rosewood like midrange complexity, & plenty of bottom end, but it's quite biting in the delivery of highs (much more than maple or birch for example).

As for tuning this size of drum super high, I didn't find that worked well at all, & it's my (limited) experience with other 15" snares too. They tend to choke out tonally. There's too much drum going on to be excited by the higher frequencies. The bigger shell wants to vibrate at lower frequencies, but a cranked head doesn't deliver those lower frequencies with sufficient amplitude to get the job done. Essentially, the elements don't align past a certain point, & that's why most tunings are better taken care of by 13" & 14" drums.

There's an additional element here too, & that's the focussed shorter voice afforded by stave, & more specifically, our Tour series construction. If you want a big drum tuned high, you're better off with horizontal grain, thin shell, & low mass hardware. That's a much easier combination to excite at higher tunings, & the longer note helps the lows develop even when the heads aren't offering much by way of low frequency input.

I'll bore the hell out of you about this when we meet up next week :) Actually, I wish I could host you here in Andy experimental land for a week. You'd leave confused, but very happy :)

OHHH YEAHHHHH

SNAP INTO A GURU!!!

NOW WITH 20000000000% MORE MEATINESS!!!!

PREPARE FOR SIZZLING SNARE STEAK IN YOUR EARS MORTALS!!!
Hahahaha, love the over the top cheesy marketing stuff! So tempted to use it ;)

WITH GURU SNARES, WE'RE TALKIN' ABOUT THE CREAM OF THE CROP, BROTHER. OOH YEAH!

AND THE CREAM RISES TO THE TOP!!
Even more cheese, oh wait, this is America - everything comes with cheese :)

(are you guys still using that goddam awful cheese in a can stuff?)
 
We live on easy cheese! What better to do when immobilized by the TV at 3am, wallowing in your own drool, than throwing back a can or three of bacon cheddar? $1 more and the delivery guy brings you a can with the pizza (it's for the pizza. or the bellybutton). Fine italian and french restaurants have a can on every table. Doctors prescribe the stuff (ever had a cheese enema?). Forgot to pick up baby formula? Good thing we have some easy cheese!

And don't even get me started on the "sensual massage oil" and "personal lubricant" varieties to be had at adult stores and the family planning aisle!
 
Zebrano is a bright wood? I would never have guessed that. Actually your whole reply was surprising to me. I wouldn't have guessed that drum would choke out tonally, but what do I know. I think I learned that a 15 is not my size. I mean it's not a very popular size. I can't even think of any other 15" snare drums.
 
Zebrano is a bright wood? I would never have guessed that. Actually your whole reply was surprising to me. I wouldn't have guessed that drum would choke out tonally, but what do I know. I think I learned that a 15 is not my size. I mean it's not a very popular size. I can't even think of any other 15" snare drums.
15" has a certain mojo, but for me, it's outside of optimum as a general purpose snare. The other stuff, I'll bore you with next week :)

would love to hear one in purpleheart!
I genuinely don't think it would work that well. Purpleheart is lower mid & highs based, & there's not enough excitement of those frequencies in a 15" snare IMO.

Very unique... I still like the low tuning for its effect. Would provide quite a bit of headroom for a two-snare setup where this is a lower & auxiliary drum.
Exactly!

Low tuning sounds like a balloon I sampled 20 years ago.
Thank you Les :) "Save yourself a fortune, & buy a balloon". Must remember that for our next Marleting campaign. (not!)

We live on easy cheese!
Nothing changed much in the last 10 years then?
 
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