Before drums can sound good under the microphones, they have to sound great acoustically first. .
So what does sounding “great” actually mean?
While the definition of great is different to different people on a general level, in the studio it usually means a kit that is well-tuned and free of buzzes and sympathetic vibrations. This means that when you hit the a rack tom, for instance, the snare doesn’t buzz and the other toms don’t ring along with it. Or if you hit the snare, the toms don’t ring along.
So how do you achieve this drum nirvana? It’s all in the tuning and the kit maintenance.
But so many drummers just buy a set of drums because they look good or because their favorite drummer endorses them without really listening first. Unfortunately, many drummers aren’t even aware of what they should be looking for.
Lets take a look at drum construction itself, since it helps to have a little background so that you can determine just what your drum kit is capable of and why it sounds the way it does.
There are a number of parameters that determine what a drum will sound like. Let’s take a look at them.
Shell Size
The diameter of a drum has the most impact on the natural pitch of a drum. The larger the diameter, the lower the natural pitch, although you can obviously change this a bit by tuning the heads.
Shell Depth
While the shell depth does contribute to the tone a little, it’s mostly responsible for how loud the drum will be and to some degree, the articulation of the sound. This means that a shallow shell (say a 9-inch tom) doesn’t have as much surface area as a larger one, so the sound is a bit shorter with a sharper attack. A drum with a deeper depth (like a 12-inch tom) will have a lower resonant frequency so the attack will be a bit longer and warmer and the drum will be louder.
Shell Thickness
Shell thickness is usually overlooked as a contributing factor to the sound of a drum. Thinner shells actually are more resonant since they’re easier to excite because they have a lower mass than a heavier, thicker shell. As a result, thicker shells have to rely much more on the heads for the overall tone of the drum.
