I began playing the drums when I was 12----as an orchestra and percussion student in 1963. One of the snare drums ,that I was introduced to was very antique looking,when compared to the W.M.P. Ludwig snare that was also part of the provided equipment. It was a metal snare drum, somewhat battered but had a unique quality,a richness and softness, yet could be brought to fire so easily. I now know that it was a Dresdner snare drum----still being made in Germany and virtually unchanged.Well, maybe they have eventually put chrome over the nickel. What this thread is about though, is not so much the Dresdner snare drum but its size. Dresdner snare drums are 363mm. across(or were)----this translated as 14 3/16", the same as Trixon up until 1964,the same as old pre and post war Sonors,the same as early Trowa's and although I have never seen one I suspect the same as early Tromsa. In fact this size is was so ubiquitous in Germany that 2 drumhead mfg. in Germany make this size as a standard production. So, this is the size that is bandied around in N.A. and elsewhere as " metric heads" So, a 14" drum is 356mm. What makes 363mm metric and 356mm not? If drum makers in Germany were going to choose a metric size, why not 350 or 360? The reason for the size is the Dresdner drum. Dresdner concert snare drums are reknowned for their unique sound and musicality and when other drum companies chose drum sizes they came to what is known as the Dresdner standard---363mm. The Dresdner drum turned out to work best at that diameter so all the others followed suit. No doubt ,hoops and entire heads were produced on that basis ,and although it is relatively easy to lap a skin head, there was an off the shelf aspect.American drum companies settled on 14" as a standard and when Remo arrived with the plastic head in predetermined sizes the oddness of the Dresdner standard became increasingly awkward.Everyone went inchy. You know, I don't know whether Dresdner did or not? The drums are still world class concert snaredrums-----maybe they don't even use plastic heads-----Buddy Rich didn't.