I have not seen this discussed previously.
What are the differences in drum sound with different bearing edge profiles or cuts/shapes?
For instance: My shells have V shape with top point of V at center of shell. 3/16 to 1/8 inch shell thickness, fiberglass.
approx 45 degrees back down both sides.
What are the sounds of?
Full round over?
30 outside, 45 inside
0 out 45 in
I think drum builder Chris Huer has some specs for this.
Any experiences with trials and experimentation? And success!
Thanks
This is a cool thread to start...I`m curious to see what some of the replies are...
As we all know, head choice does reflect the sound a drum makes, but, it all starts with the bearing edge...
Cheers
My take,
Contact, the edges detemine the amount of head to shell contact. The more contact the shell has with a head, the less they will resonate or hold a tone !!
As far as describeing the audio differences, it`s like putting you finger on the head,..the size of the finger and how hard you press would matter.
Oddball has started this in the right direction. The bearing edge profile controls how much contact the head has with the outside of the shell before it is set free to act as a membrane.
For this reason, the inner angle is pretty much irrelevant. Nothing is touching it. But the outer angle and the point matter.
Roundovers provide the most head-to-shell contact, resulting in more shell resonance in the sound. This typically cuts the high-frequency content, giving a warmer sound.
Pointed bearing edges provide less head-to-shell contact, resulting in more head vibration in the sound. This typically produces a bright, and sometimes ringy, sound.
It would be interesting to me to have two drums with the same specs only one has a round over edge and one with the double 45 degree " point ". Same heads of course. Could you actually hear the difference? Could the two drums be tuned differently to sound alike??
Jeff C
This is interesting.
And this article from another forum
This is a pretty clear cut resource. As with all things tone related, these comments are, of course, subjective.
Great thread by the way!
It would be interesting to me to have two drums with the same specs only one has a round over edge and one with the double 45 degree " point ". Same heads of course. Could you actually hear the difference? Could the two drums be tuned differently to sound alike?? Jeff C
you would hear the difference quite noticeable between the two say you used ambassadors top and bottom on all test subjects. yes the difference is striking. Tubelugs definition was spot on. most modern drums are using the 45 degree bearing edges or double cut 45 degree bearing edges. the vintage drums most have 30 degree roundover, so modern tone vs vintage tone if you will. the thread about drum builders as opposed to drum assemblers has touched on this very same topic in the general drum section.
you would hear the difference quite noticeable between the two say you used ambassadors top and bottom on all test subjects. yes the difference is striking. Tubelugs definition was spot on. most modern drums are using the 45 degree bearing edges or double cut 45 degree bearing edges. the vintage drums most have 30 degree roundover, so modern tone vs vintage tone if you will. the thread about drum builders as opposed to drum assemblers has touched on this very same topic in the general drum section.
Thank you, until I joined this forum a year ago I never gave it any thought. Something I will have to play around with as I restore different drums. My experiance with routing edges so far has been the veneer tear out, but I am talking about mij shells with front to back grain/ luan wood. And I still need to find a peice of granit or something to glue sandpaper on and make a surface to grind the shell flat or even if you will.
Jeff C
Jeff C
Thank you, until I joined this forum a year ago I never gave it any thought. Something I will have to play around with as I restore different drums. My experiance with routing edges so far has been the veneer tear out, but I am talking about mij shells with front to back grain/ luan wood. And I still need to find a peice of granit or something to glue sandpaper on and make a surface to grind the shell flat or even if you will.Jeff CJeff C
Note that should be done before re-routeing !!
