Maple or Birch?

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The Flame

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Hey guys, i am still trying to decide what kind of drumset i want for my studio. I am now trying to choose on wood type, and wanted to know what most people prefer.

I have a clip of a drum sound i would like to get, I thinks its a sonor, but im not sure. Is it maple or birch, or niether?

http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Gavin_Harrison.html

Thanx, Flame
 
Maple or Birch

I like maple best for recording. Birch has too much attack for most stuff. I have maple and birch stuff and Both are great, but you can always shorten the attack of maple. Birch stuff doesn't resonate as much. It's all your choice, go listen to both at a drum store.
 
Blue Groove said:
I like maple best for recording. Birch has too much attack for most stuff. I have maple and birch stuff and Both are great, but you can always shorten the attack of maple. Birch stuff doesn't resonate as much. It's all your choice, go listen to both at a drum store.
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I have a birch kit that would probably argue with you on that one. In fact, 90% of the drummers I've recorded have prefered it over their own which are usually maple.
 
The Flame said:
Hey guys, i am still trying to decide what kind of drumset i want for my studio. I am now trying to choose on wood type, and wanted to know what most people prefer.

I have a clip of a drum sound i would like to get, I thinks its a sonor, but im not sure. Is it maple or birch, or niether?

http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Gavin_Harrison.html

Thanx, Flame
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Have you taken into consideration Standard vs. Fusion drum sizes? That's also a factor you should look at. I personally prefer standard sized birch, but, maple fusions seem to be all the rage these days.
 
I own both a Maple kit and a Birch Kit. I actually prefer the birch for recording and the maple for live.

Birch does have a more focused "mid range" attack, less resonance and less low end. Which I prefer for recording. I find Birch relatively easy to record.

Maple has more low end projection (which is in part why I like it for live performance). However those same factors can make recording a little more of a challenge.

Naturally, number of plys, thickness of plys, type of heads, etc. are all factors.

Both woods are quality woods and your would likely be satisfied with either - as suggested, try to hiit the drums you plan to buy (or have a good drummer hit them) and trust your ears.

As a general rule, smaller drums/cymbals record better than bigger (or at very least are easier to "tame" in a studio) - accordingly, fusion sizes are often considered "better" for recording.
 
And also keep in mind that just because you have a birch kit.. that doesn't mean you have to use the snare that comes with the kit... you can always get a maple snare.... or if you have a maple kit you could always get a birch, bronze, brass, steel, oak, bubinga, etc. snare. I personally in the studio prefer the sound of a birch kick. And remember to keep in mind that the two most important drums in rock are the kick and snare, for those are the two you play the most.
 
Ya dudes thanks, i can understand that. I want a good recording sound because this set will not really be used too much for live. I have 2 birches and 2 maples in mind and really can't decide. I play thrash metal, but this will be my studio kit. The kits i am looking at are all in the same price range. Here they are again, i have no idea how to go on this one.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Tama-Superstar-SL-Custom-5Piece-Standard-Drum-Set?sku=449210


http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...-5Piece-Drum-Set-with-Free-10-Tom-?sku=449725

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...Piece-Drum-Kit-with-8.155-Hardware?sku=445143

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Sonor-Force-3005-5Piece-Standard-Drum-Set?sku=445160.

They all look good. I played the Pdp mx at guitar center i really digged there sound. The toms were small but went pretty low and deep, the sound i want. but i just want to get the best for my money. I want that nice warm deep sound, no clickyness. if you guys like megadeth, thats the sound i want. Nick menza uses pearl and tama, but i dont know if he is using maple or birch. Same goes for Vinnie Paul, minus the clicks. I want my drums to sound big but still have a round sound.So far the tama has 9 ply, the most i have seen in the ones i want vs the tama's 7ply bass 6 ply toms. Here are some sounds from drummerworld.

http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Gavin_Harrison.html

http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Jason_Bittner.html this a little clicky, but still pretty good.

This is gonna be the kit that I will be using for a while, so i need something good. I have been researching and checking out these kits for 2 weeks, only hit the Tama and pdp. With the money i have, i doubt i am going to have the chance to buy a good snare, so a good snare is def a plus. Every kit here has its plus and negative attributes. I dont want to compromise, and get the ebst kit for this price range. Is there a way i can hear maple vs. birch?, it would really cut down my options. I went to the Music store and the stock skins on the tama sounded real bad and were poorly tuned so i couldnt really here the toms sing. Anybody have any clips? I am thinking on puttin the emad/genera 2 evans head pack ones i get my set. Are the small toms gonna be good enough for metal?
Thanks for all your help
Flame
 
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I also play birch drums and love the way they sound...like they mean business! I have had the same trouble trying to check drums out at a music store. Doesn't anybody know how to tune drums in the stores? Might even help their sales! My bet is you'll like the birch also, and besides their cheaper! :)
 
If you want round and not too clicky, I'd definately go with birch and smaller sizes.

Unless you want really round, in which case you might want mahogany. Try Yamaha's Rydeen, which is cheap and well reviewed (despite being made from what I suspect is a pretty low grade of mahogany, like Luan). Sorry to further muddy the water. If it helps, I'd suspect you'd like the PDP. They have very good hardware, and I think they ship with decent heads, IIRC.

Have you considered used? You save a shitload on used drums, and Craigslist NYC is bound to be loaded. There's plenty of good stuff here in Boston.
 
ha you just answered my question, hows the m birch? I am just afraid the al the guys i like use maple and i wotn be able to get their sound, you think? If i do go birch, will the birch snare do for now, cause i might not have enouhh for a maple snare.
 
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The Flame said:
ha you just answered my question, hows the m birch? I am just afraid the al the guys i like use maple and i wotn be able to get their sound, you think? If i do go birch, will the birch snare do for now, cause i might not have enouhh for a maple snare.
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Birch'll do for now, don't worry about it. If you're new then it's probably going to take you a while to pull the full potential out of a snare recording anyway. So go with the birch for now and when you get it all down buy a maple and smile.
 
Also check Yamaha... Their Recording Custom have been around forever and are a great birch kit with all sorts of drum sizes. See if you can't find a real drum pro shop in the area rather than screwing with a GC or Sam Ash. You're in NYC, so I have to imagine you have some amazing pro shops in the area. I know this has been beaten to death fairly well in this thread ,but to me the difference between maple and birch.... maple = rounder and more resonance | birch = more focused and more attack.
 
Does anybody know what drums that guy gavin harrison is playing? (link above).
 
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The Flame said:
ha you just answered my question, hows the m birch? I am just afraid the al the guys i like use maple and i wotn be able to get their sound, you think? If i do go birch, will the birch snare do for now, cause i might not have enouhh for a maple snare.
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Birch snares always seem to be lacking something to me. But then agian, I'm pretty specific with my snare sounds. I can say I like my Maple DW snare waaay better then my Birch starclassic. I like Birch toms and kick, loud and punchy. maybe its just my kit or something, but I love it
 
I def want to ehar the difference between maple and birch, like i said the pdpd was pretty warm, but it was maple. i like that deep sound you can get form toms without too much attack. Should i get the tama superstar sl custom, i like the birch, but its the basswood that scares me.
 
The Flame said:
I def want to ehar the difference between maple and birch, like i said the pdpd was pretty warm, but it was maple. i like that deep sound you can get form toms without too much attack. Should i get the tama superstar sl custom, i like the birch, but its the basswood that scares me.
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Where in Brooklyn do you live? The Sam Ash near King Plaza has both Maple and Birch kits. They had a tama birch starclassic, and a pearl Masters Maple. You could probably hear the difference between them over there. O, and they have Tama SUperstars if you want to try them out. And probably maple Pacific drums.
 
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