TipsusMagnus
Senior Member
This is just an outburst-of-glee post. Sorry mods.
I've usually stuck with wooden snare drums for reasons of personal taste. I've tried stock Pearl steel snares and borrowed a friend's Ahead snare on occasion, but I haven't owned a metal snare until recently. Between my Mapex Saturn snare drum and a custom narra stave snare drum, I knew I had all my bases covered. And then some guy sold me a Pork Pie Big Black for about $180 (converted from local currency), and suddenly, I had a brass drum.
It was in a really good condition. It came with a coated emperor on top with only a few stick marks, a hazy on the bottom, and even a padded drum bag. Like I read on some reviews, it does de-tune, but putting ABS washers on it easily fixed the problem. Now, my initial instinct was to replace the emperor with a coated ambassador, but just before I started turning the lugs, curiosity got the better of me. It's one thing to hear a snare drum at home with the sound bouncing off concrete ceilings, or in a studio where the sound is controlled and tailored. I had to hear it perform as it is, no holds barred, live and in a big venue.
I put it through its paces just a few hours ago, and I have to say, I didn't know brass was the sound I was looking for. I had it on a fairly medium-tight tension, and it sounded like a cannon! I've heard this sound before on a Markley snare drum--a beefy, thud-y kind of crack--and I've always wanted to achieve that sound. But it retained enough sensitivity for softer moments. Rim clicks sounded great, ghost notes were soft but audible, and buzz rolls were never lost in the mix. I'm still set on buying coated ambassadors for it in the future, but for now, I'm thinking of wearing the emperors out first before I do.
Don't get me wrong. My wood snares are still my pride and joy. When I get the funds for them, I even plan on buying a couple of new ones from Andy and Francois. But for now, I'm on a brass high, and I feel like taming that Pork Pie a lot more. It's like a high school crush all over again.
Just thought I'd share.
I've usually stuck with wooden snare drums for reasons of personal taste. I've tried stock Pearl steel snares and borrowed a friend's Ahead snare on occasion, but I haven't owned a metal snare until recently. Between my Mapex Saturn snare drum and a custom narra stave snare drum, I knew I had all my bases covered. And then some guy sold me a Pork Pie Big Black for about $180 (converted from local currency), and suddenly, I had a brass drum.
It was in a really good condition. It came with a coated emperor on top with only a few stick marks, a hazy on the bottom, and even a padded drum bag. Like I read on some reviews, it does de-tune, but putting ABS washers on it easily fixed the problem. Now, my initial instinct was to replace the emperor with a coated ambassador, but just before I started turning the lugs, curiosity got the better of me. It's one thing to hear a snare drum at home with the sound bouncing off concrete ceilings, or in a studio where the sound is controlled and tailored. I had to hear it perform as it is, no holds barred, live and in a big venue.
I put it through its paces just a few hours ago, and I have to say, I didn't know brass was the sound I was looking for. I had it on a fairly medium-tight tension, and it sounded like a cannon! I've heard this sound before on a Markley snare drum--a beefy, thud-y kind of crack--and I've always wanted to achieve that sound. But it retained enough sensitivity for softer moments. Rim clicks sounded great, ghost notes were soft but audible, and buzz rolls were never lost in the mix. I'm still set on buying coated ambassadors for it in the future, but for now, I'm thinking of wearing the emperors out first before I do.
Don't get me wrong. My wood snares are still my pride and joy. When I get the funds for them, I even plan on buying a couple of new ones from Andy and Francois. But for now, I'm on a brass high, and I feel like taming that Pork Pie a lot more. It's like a high school crush all over again.
Just thought I'd share.