Chapter 1: How a Drum Works and Shell Section ............................................................... 3 How a Drum Works................................................................................................................. 3 Shell Selection ........................................................................................................................ 3 Shell Construction:.................................................................................................................. 4 Sound Characteristics of Shell Types:.................................................................................... 5 Sound Characteristics of Shell Types..................................................................................... 6 Shell Material ........................................................................................................................ 10 Shell Material ........................................................................................................................ 11
Chapter 2 Hardware: Lugs and Hoops ............................................................................... 12 Number of Lugs .................................................................................................................... 13 Tension Rod Formula ........................................................................................................... 14 Die-cast hoop Vs triple flanged hoop?.................................................................................. 14
Chapter 3 Drum Heads: A Broad Field of Sound............................................................ 15 Heads.................................................................................................................................... 15
Chapter 4 Drum Finishing: Prep to Final Coat ................................................................. 17 Keeping The Dye off Bearing Edges .................................................................................... 17 Stains .................................................................................................................................... 17 Finishing................................................................................................................................ 18 Tung Oil Finishing ................................................................................................................. 20 Tips High Gloss Tung Oil Finishing ................................................................................... 21 Satin Finish ........................................................................................................................... 22 Natural Finish........................................................................................................................ 22 Danish Oil ............................................................................................................................. 22 Tung Oil................................................................................................................................. 22 Natural................................................................................................................................... 23 Tung...................................................................................................................................... 23
Chapter 5 Bearing Edges 101 / Snare Beds .....................................................................24 Edges / Tone......................................................................................................................... 24 Snare Beds ........................................................................................................................... 28
Chapter 6 About Plys Diameter and Staves .................................................................... 31 Plies and Shells - Dimensions and Tolerances .................................................................... 31 How To Add Plys .................................................................................................................. 34 20, 30 Multi-Ply, 2 to 1 shells, Shell Stuffing, OCDP Style Vented Shells............................ 34 Quick Questions.................................................................................................................... 35 Diameters.............................................................................................................................. 35 Plys? Wood?......................................................................................................................... 37 Shell Jig................................................................................................................................. 37 Stave data sheet ................................................................................................................... 39
Chapter 7 Drilling Your Shell ..............................................................................................40 Drilling ................................................................................................................................... 40 Quick and Easy Lug Layout: ................................................................................................. 41 Lug Layout ............................................................................................................................ 44 More Lug Layout ................................................................................................................... 45 Drilling For Lugs.................................................................................................................... 46 Finish Then Drill the Vent Holes ........................................................................................... 46 Wax?..................................................................................................................................... 46 More Wax?............................................................................................................................ 46
Chapter 8 Tuning Techniques ..............................................................................................48 The Way I Tune My Drums................................................................................................... 48 Little Different........................................................................................................................ 48 Finding a Drums Pitch........................................................................................................... 48
Chapter 9 Finishing Your Drum...........................................................................................49 Sheet Veneers ...................................................................................................................... 49
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Chapter 1: How a Drum Works and Shell Section How a Drum Works I think that a logical first step in this book would be to understand just how a drum works. This, I think, is important to know as we strive to make a quality finished drum. If you understand the basics of drum sound...you can make better decisions in the building process. A drum is basically a tensioned membrane over a resonating chamber, in our case, a cylinder. Be it wood, metal, composite, etc. The membrane or drumhead is usually Mylar ... a type of plastic. Drumheads can also be animal skins, Kevlar or poly-spun fibers. The drum sound is actually a combination of two different sounds. Attack, which is the sound made by the stick or hand striking the drumhead. And resonance or 'body' sound, which is the sound produced inside the drum. The resonance is actually a result of several factors, one being the shell itself vibrating from the attack to the drumhead. This from vibrations imparted to the shell from the head at the bearing edges and from air impacting the walls of the shell. The design and construction of these bearing edges can vary how this vibration is distributed and the resulting sound produced...which we will discuss in detail later. The reflectiveness or how porous the inside of the shell walls are also will affect the sound...again, details later. Air also impacts the resonant (bottom) head and bounces back to the top head and causes vibration in both. All of these combine to produce the drum's sound. Variations on these would be 'rim-shots' and 'rim-clicks'. The former is a sound in which the attack is a combination of the stick/hand impacting on the counterhoop (rim) and the head simultaneously. The latter is a sound produced by striking the counterhoop with the stick while holding the butt of the stick against the head. Both of these techniques also impart vibrations to the shell. This may all seem overly technical...but I think that it is important to realize that as a vibrating, resonant chamber and membrane...any contact with the shell or head by anything will somewhat impede its vibration and resonance. In the upcoming chapters we will see how this relates to shell thickness, hardware contact, plastic wraps, lacquers, reinforcement rings and different types of drumheads. In other words...whatever you stick on your drum WILL effect its sound and performance. Shell Selection This brings us to shell selection. For the most part, I am going to discuss hard maple, plywood shells. These are the most readily available for the do-it-yourselfer. First, ask yourself...what type of drum kit do I want? What type of music will I be playing? Jazz? Rock? Country? Or do I want jus
