Even though there is a minimum of attachment points on the shell, there is still a lot of mass, overall. I listened to the drums on a video and they don't sound as if this system has improved any characteristics of the resonance or anything. In fact, I thought they sounded kind of boxy, if anything.
Years ago, there was another company with a system like this....Paige Drums, if I remember correctly. Maybe this is a remake of that system?
I tend to find myself attracted to drums that incorporate unusual tuning systems. Sometimes, the ideas are well-meaning, but fail in the practical sense. My Arbiter drums, for example...The idea works fine...the drums sound great...but it just isn't practical. If one, little lock washer goes missing, then the drum is rendered useless. With a conventional, lugged drum, you can still use the drum even if one of the lugs falls off.
Why try to fix something that isn't broken, then? I guess the answer to that would be, to do it just for the sake of trying a new idea. In that sense, I love these impractical designs! I look at collecting in (maybe) a similar way to Jay Leno and his car collection. He has all kinds of cars and all kinds of engine designs -even steam engines! Not all of them are practical, either....but they are interesting to look at and consider.
The Welch Tuning System just really isn't a good idea because it has all the limitations of a single tension tuning system.....AND, unlike a single-tension system, there IS an attachment point on the shell -which anchors the shell and negates the "free-floating" aspect of a single tension system. It's like the worst of both worlds!
If one wanted to have a true free floating shell, and was willing to accept the tuning limitations, then a drum could be designed with high quality shell and components, that might sound really great.
The Welch Tuning System ends up being a cool looking drum with a neat knob to turn.
