Loud drums

Larry

"Uncle Larry"
Is there such a thing? Lately I've been reading that this drum is so loud and that drum is so loud....I don't buy it. The head makes most of the sound.

I admit I may be wrong, but I wanted to get a feel as to how the majority felt about certain drums being louder than others.

I owned a st of acrylic Spauns for about a year. I never thought they were any louder than any other drum I owned. Acrylics...I've read a lot of posts by people who claim acrylics are loud drums.

Again, I don't buy it. If a person balanced a stick on a finger and then let gravity alone allow the tip to strike the head, some people would claim that certain drums would produce more db's. I'm not buying it. If there is a difference, I think it's negligible.

Thoughts?
 
To me, the player makes the sound. Volume, touch, control, technique, etc.... All on the shoulders of the player.

Tone comes from head / tuning / shells. But the way in which that tone is delivered comes from the player.

My thoughts anyways.
 
I don't know the definitive answer to your query, but I have an idea that the majority of the difference that people perceive as volume is actually the predominance of frequencies that we can hear better.

Different materials and construction methods produce different frequency arrays. Human hearing is not really flat line, at least our perception of different frequencies is not equal, in my experience. Also, some frequencies may appear to "cut through" the typical range of sounds in whatever musical environment the drums are played in. So maybe some drums seem louder than others because of their frequency profile.

And, for the record, I suspect some drums may actually be louder than others. Only spl or db tests would tell for sure.
 
I have a few snares that I certainly perceive to be louder than others.

The working theory is that the "loud" drums have a more pronounced high range and carry more. Thus they are perceived to be louder. Same reason why we crank the hell out of our snares when we want them to be heard.
 
I like IDDrummer's thoughts. But his argument supports the point that tuning may be the most important element of "Loud" drums.

This idea of some drums are louder than others would be very easily proved or disproved by a simple scientific sound level test with various drums.


.
 
I find that there are differences that make one drum - a snare in particular - sound louder than another, even when struck in the same manner. Those differences are usually manifested though attack, perceived as volume, and which varies with head type, tuning, edge profile, and shell material (and of course stick type, striking angle, technique, and velocity.)

For example, does a modern marching snare with a cranked Kevlar head actually make a measurably louder sound? Probably not. Yet it sounds really loud, because of the attack.

So, genuinely, measurably loud or not, our perception of volume dictates that some drums are louder than others. It doesn't matter if a mic or db meter detects it or not...our ears do, and that makes it real.

If you haven't played a snare or two that sounds really loud for some reason, then you haven't played very many snares.

Bermuda
 
I think if they're fuller sounding they give the illusion of being louder.

Last weekend I was setting up my drums in the studio. The engineer commented that they're really loud drums.
I don't see it.
I wasn't hitting hard, but if the person who has the space feels a different set of drums are louder, then there must be some understanding by which the person gets this impression.
 
I like IDDrummer's thoughts. But his argument supports the point that tuning may be the most important element of "Loud" drums.
.

Quite true. In some ways drums are very simple instruments, but we can sure introduce a lot of variables in real life applications.
 
I've played drums that I thought were more quiet than others... I guess by comparison, others could be louder. I think wood species would change the sound perception a lot also. A brighter higher sound like birch might sound louder in a room as opposed to the lower sounds of maple or bubinga.
 
I'm totally on board with a person's perception making them think a drum is louder than another. But I'm talking actual db's.

I can't say that I've ever had to alter my strike force when playing certain drums. I've never played a drum and said to my self..."that drum is louder than any other drum I've played".

Agree that certain frequencies can be highlighted which gives the illusion of more dbs. That to me is cut, not actual sound pressure. It's more of a frequency thing.

I'd love to see a scientific test made by dropping ball bearings on a drum from a fixed height and then measure the dbs, or a similar test.

I even wonder if a rimshot played with say 5 pounds of force (arbitrary number) is louder than 5 pounds of force on just the head alone. Or is it just a frequency thing. I tend to think rimshots would be louder, but again, I don't scientifically know.
 
I can't say that I've ever had to alter my strike force when playing certain drums. I've never played a drum and said to my self..."that drum is louder than any other drum I've played".

I have definitely experienced having to slightly alter how I'm playing for some snares. Certain metal drums can really crack, and the wood ones sound soft and quiet by comparison.
 
I'd love to see a scientific test made by dropping ball bearings on a drum from a fixed height and then measure the dbs, or a similar test.

I even wonder if a rimshot played with say 5 pounds of force (arbitrary number) is louder than 5 pounds of force on just the head alone. Or is it just a frequency thing. I tend to think rimshots would be louder, but again, I don't scientifically know.

Those kinds of tests would measure the efficiency of a drum, if you will, but not the maximum potential volume. Those may be two different things.
 
I sat down at a acrylic kit the other day for the first time and it was way louder than my personal maple kit.. was surpised by that..
 
Those kinds of tests would measure the efficiency of a drum, if you will, but not the maximum potential volume. Those may be two different things.

Good point. You hit on an area that needs further defining. I guess I wasn't interested in the max volume of a drum, I am more interested in the notion that for x number of units of force, one drum would be louder than another. That's what I'm not buying, but again, I don't really know. I agree with you that max volume is a different measure. So I guess I am more interested in the efficiency.

I think I can agree that certain drums have a louder maximum volume, but I'm not so sure they are louder than a different (same sized different material) drum given the same strike force with every other variable being as equal as possible. That's the real crux of the biscuit I'm trying to ferret out.

Like it just seem a set of stainless steel drums will have a greater max volume than say wood drums, but again, it could just be a frequency thing with the SPL's being similar. Or maybe they are louder db wise.

Unless anyone has hard data, everything is perception and therefore subjective.
 
I agree with Bermuda. Certain drums, with certain heads and tunings, have sonic properties that cut more. They project higher frequencies better, they have more ring and overtones, and so they have a bright sound that translates as cut. This sounds "louder". Other drums are warmer, and under certain heads and tunings they tend to blend more than they cut, and so they "don't sound as loud". If you were to get a decibel reader, the difference between a "loud" drum and a "not so loud" drum is probably not significant -- but the sonic qualities are different.

And let's not forget, you've got vastly different techniques between drummers. Maybe in the one poster's case, the studio guy had never heard somebody crushing it quite that much before?
 
Is there such a thing? some people would claim that certain drums would produce more db's. I'm not buying it. If there is a difference, I think it's negligible.

Thoughts?
Rather than db scale, you would use dbA. dbA is adjusted for human hearing reception, & takes into account what we perceive as loud. If we're talking db, that's an energy measurement, & will be much higher in the lower frequencies. If you relate that to drums, you'll find that the drums producing more lower frequencies would be louder according to db, but in reality, it's the drums producing more higher frequencies that are often described as louder.

So, is there such a thing as a louder drum? The answer is yes & yes, both in the db scale & dbA scale. In other words, both perceived & measurably louder, but that's related to both amplitude & frequency.

To relate that to different drum constructions, the louder drum is one that delivers greater amplitude at frequencies we perceive as potentially uncomfortable. That's a product of efficiency, & is most likely to be generated by a drum with a rigid & hard shell, plus a clearly defined fundamental within that potentially painful frequency range. Drums that use a softer material, or less rigid shell, are also less efficient, & likely to produce less of the frequencies in the potentially painful range.

I hope this helps, but probably not ;)
 
It would take not only loudness measuring gear,
but also some type of mechanical arm that could hit the same spot with
the same amount of force on different drums.

Would definitely be an interesting project.

Personally, I've got a cheapo steel piccolo snare that sounds much quieter than my others.
I like it for exactly that reason.
 
Some drums are louder simply because if the material being used as a shell composite.

If folks remember when the fiberglass drums were first introduced ,the harder reflective surface did not absorb as much of the sound wave being generated and were louder and more cutting than say a regular wooden one.

Ludwig stainless steel drums were known for this too,but were discontinued due to material and production costs.

I remember Gene Okamoto making a remark about the original Fibes and Tama(Fiberstar)being louder drums ,but lacked warmth and tone of traditional wood drums.

Buddy Rich's reasoning on why he used a Fibes snare drum was so the folks in the back rows of the clubs could hear it.

Softer materials tend to have that characteristic of not projecting as well.

Neal Peart used to have his drums vibrafibed (layer of fiberglass on the interior of his wood kits)to smooth out the tones and project more.
 
On second thought, it does seem a bit far fetched to think that every material would be exactly equal in volume. There must be differences, but I can't see it being too drastic, which is probably wrong too lol.
 
I remember playing a Yammie custom oak kit that seemed really loud to me-but I'm not sure if is just tonal more so than loudness.
 
Back
Top