Two 5" x 14" Ludwig 410 stainless steel shell snare drums were stripped of all hardware and, along with the shell, were cleaned, polished, and inspected for any flaws, including the bearing edge, etc. The drum shells and rims were placed on glass to check for warping. The hardware, except for the snare strainers, butt plates, and internal tone mufflers, were then replaced.

Two clear Remo Ambassador snare-side heads were then put on the bottom of both drums and tuned to the same "pitch," using the tuning method described below. A Remo Coated Ambassador batter head was then put on the top of one of the snare drums, which was used as a "reference" drum. The head was tuned, using the tuning method described below, to a medium-tight tension to achieve an overall "typical" snare drum sound. Two identical snare drum stands were used, which were not adjusted throughout the experiment.

A "stick machine" was constructed using a U-shaped wooden frame and a Pro-Mark 2B stick with a hole drilled through it 2 inches from the butt end. A block of wood was fastened to the top of the wooden frame at a point at which the stick was perpendicular to the floor to ensure consistent force from the stick. A metal rod was then inserted through the wooden frame and the stick to act as a fulcrum for the stick to rotate around, and then the entire "stick machine" was then placed on a Yamaha cymbal stand.

A selected drum head was then put on the "testing" drum, and tuned using the following procedure:

1. Place head on shell with company logo at 12 o’clock.

2. Tighten tension rods so that they just touch counter hoop.

3. Finger tighten the tension rods that are directly across from one another and walk around drum while tensioning to ensure that both hands have tightened each rod at least once.

4. After head is fully finger tightened, place fist in center of head and press down firmly to help seat the head.

5. Finger tighten again as in Step 3.

6. Using a drum key, turn each rod one half of a turn, being sure to finger tighten each rod again before using the drum key.

7. Using the symmetrical tuning method, continue turning each rod by half turns until the test drum sound is slightly higher than that of the reference drum, making sure that the test head is in tune with itself.

8. "De-tune" head by half turns, again following the symmetrical system, until the head is fully loosened again.

9. Repeat Steps 2, 3, 6 and 7, but this time do not tighten the test head slightly higher than that of the reference drum. Instead, tune the drum so that it exactly matches the pitch of the reference drum.*

* This was done by humming into the reference drum to determine the pitch at which the head resonates. If by humming this same pitch into the test drum it also resonates this pitch, one can assume the test drum has been matched in pitch to the reference drum. Humming into the drum excites at least one of the modes present in the two heads, thus ensuring that the two heads have at least one mode in common.

After the selected drum head was tuned, the exact center of the drumhead was found. The tip of the stick on the "stick machine" was then placed between the 1.0 inch and 1.5 inch marks on the head (the commonly used "just off-center" playing position), and the shaft of the stick was placed directly over the tension rod at 6 o’clock. A microphone on a boom stand was placed 3 inches from the surface of the drum head and positioned at a point halfway between the center of the drum head and the rim at 12 o’clock.

Four attacks from each drumhead were recorded by holding the stick at its tip releasing it. The stick’s weight and/or gravity were the only forces acting upon the stick. The signal from the microphone was run through the mixing console and recorded by the DAT machine. The DAT recordings were then recorded into the SoundEdit 16 software program.

The one sample of the four was selected to represent the drum head’s tone. It was selected by observing the computer generated wave forms and graphs to determine which sound sample had the most common characteristics between all of the samples. The final samples were then recorded from the DAT recording onto a cassette tape.

The cassette of samples were then played into an oscilloscope. The final samples were then analyzed using the Matlab for Windows software program. Two graphs of the frequency spectra of each drum head were made: one measuring frequency and intensity (seen on the website for this research) and one measuring overtones and intensity. These graphs show relative acoustic power and the sensitivity of the human ear.

A listing of all the materials and equipment used for this experiment can be found on the Equipment and Resources page. The testing, recording, and analyses of information was done in the Hartness Multimedia Seminar Room of the Maxwell Music Library, the Mechanical Laboratory of the Physics Department, and in the percussion studio of Dr. John S. Beckford at Furman University, Greenville, SC.

Back to Home Page