Okay, So What ARE The Best Shells For The Studio?

[121234...]

Well, here's an interesting thing- birch, so far, has double the votes of maple- but it seems I see more maple sets for sale. Wonder why...

Maple is the traditional wood used to make drums. Since the advent of the trap set it has been the favorite, used in Slingerland, Ludwig and several other brands. Over the years other woods like beech, bass, and birch were integrated from year to year. Maple is a more resonant wood, great for live work and especially better if you don't have pricier microphones. It was Slingerland who began using birch mixed with maple in their drums. Ludwig, depending on the year used basswood inner plys wrapped with maple and 100% maple.

The advent of better mic technology and general advancements in recording gave rise to birch shells from Slingerland. Later, other manufacturers began offering the choice of birch or maple shells.

Also, as Philgood has said, the bearing edge cut does have a lot to do with the sound of a drum. Most manufacturers will use a 45 degree cut from the inside (like Sonor), others will use a 45 degree cut from both inner and outer sides shaving about 1/8-1/4" off the circumference of the drum (Tama). Still others, particularly vintage makers, used a rounded bearing edge (very old Slingerland, Ludwigs).

Trends have come and gone. Nobody should have to be an absolute expert either. There are excellent drums out there and most are very versatile soundwise. Testing drums out for sound at the music store is a good idea also. If you can't do that, try going with the flow. Again, look at the poll results.

 

[ddrummer8]

I have not really experienced a lot different shell types in the studio, as i only have and ash wood kit but i find i get a big sound for the size of drums they are, anybody else ever used any ash wood in the studio?

 

[drossfile]

Well, here's an interesting thing- birch, so far, has double the votes of maple- but it seems I see more maple sets for sale. Wonder why...

i wouldn't read too much into it--maple drums will always be a staple--they absolutely SING live, and it's not like they sound like crap on tape if you know what you're doing. there are more for sale because there are more maple sets around, i'd guess--because they're a staple!!!

i personally feel that birch is the easiest to get a good sound out of on tape (as i was getting at in my first response), but that's not to say that one is empirically "better" than the other.

i will say that i was surprised to see one person cite mahogany as their favorite, as those shells generally have a very dark sound--noticably darker than maple. but it goes to show you that there's no accounting for taste or method.

 

[Rimshot]

i will say that i was surprised to see one person cite mahogany as their favorite, as those shells generally have a very dark sound--noticably darker than maple.

If you are referring to me and my post, I stated that I really like my old mahogany sets for recording jazz and blues in the studio, but I use a birch snare. For live work, I use very thick maple shells because they are bright and a bit louder and crisper. I find the mahogany toms and kick very warm for jazz and I use only Zildjian Custom A's for cymbals. I really like the contrast.

 

[stevieb]

...Maple is a more resonant wood, great for live work and especially better if you don't have pricier microphones.

...The advent of better mic technology and general advancements in recording gave rise to birch shells from Slingerland...

More interesting stuff. I am liking this thread (except for the two wiseguys- you know who you are).

I would think that the above quote would suggest that, as everyone has a limited budget, maple would be the best way to go: Maple sets are probably less expensive than birch (due to their greater supply) and further savings could be realized on mics. As the set we have for recording is a maple set, and our drum mics are not bleeding-edge, I think this thread has served me well.

Thanks, folks.

 

[Farview]

I think you are still reading too much into what people are saying.

The bottom line is that it doesn't matter much. A good quality drum will sound good once it's tuned properly and played in the appropriate manner for the song.

I get dozens of drumsets in here every year. I can make them all sound good as long as they are:
1. not broken
2. have reasonably fresh heads
3. are tuned well
4. the drummer can play

Most of the drum problems I have come from the drummer not using the appropriate dynamics, or just not hitting the drum in the correct manner to get the sound.

The shell material is not something to really wring your hands over, it's just a small piece of a bigger puzzle.

If you get a maple kit and think it's too dark sounding, put brighter heads on it and tune it a little higher. Same thing with birch.

 

[121234...]

I think you are still reading too much into what people are saying.

The bottom line is that it doesn't matter much. A good quality drum will sound good once it's tuned properly and played in the appropriate manner for the song.

I get dozens of drumsets in here every year. I can make them all sound good as long as they are:
1. not broken
2. have reasonably fresh heads
3. are tuned well
4. the drummer can play

Most of the drum problems I have come from the drummer not using the appropriate dynamics, or just not hitting the drum in the correct manner to get the sound.

The shell material is not something to really wring your hands over, it's just a small piece of a bigger puzzle.

If you get a maple kit and think it's too dark sounding, put brighter heads on it and tune it a little higher. Same thing with birch.

I agree with everything you said. But you have to admit, the most permanent part of the kit is the shell. You can swap heads, retune, muffle, and do all the adjustments you want, but if you aren't happy with the shells you are stuck with them. To that end, if he can go with maple or birch now instead of going with a much duller, cheaper shell like basswood, why wouldn't he?

 

[Farview]

I agree with everything you said. But you have to admit, the most permanent part of the kit is the shell. You can swap heads, retune, muffle, and do all the adjustments you want, but if you aren't happy with the shells you are stuck with them. To that end, if he can go with maple or birch now instead of going with a much duller, cheaper shell like basswood, why wouldn't he?

He probably should and will, if he is going to buy a quality drum. Cheaper drums are the ones made of basswood and the like...

 

[Ninja_Drummer]

I absolutely love my birch drums for recording. But when going live they do sound a bit dry, but nothing a mic will solve!

And I think the opposite can be said about price ranges between birch and maple. My set actually costs cheaper than the maple versions of it. And I think that that is the case since birch is a bit more in abundant and a bit more cheap to make. But not to say it isn't good!

And I can say for one that one day I look forward to buying Tama's birch/bubinga starclassic drums. They sound just perfect, and I think they'd be well for studio or live since they have both the punch of a birch and low end of a bubinga or maple.

But since you are looking for an all around kit, I'd probably stick with a maple. Sure birch drums sound very controlled and really cut through, but say the drummer wants a lower end, growly sounding toms and finds that the birches cut it a bit too short. I'm sort of finding that issue with my birches as of now and having to amplify the low shelves a bit in Cubase, but with maples I think you can go both ways.

And if you want more focus on a maple, then simply go to your local music shop and buy some O' rings for God's sakes! Or put some paper on it!

I find that a lot of studios in my area purchase custom maple drums. Truth being the higher popularity of the bunch. As well as DW and some classic Ludwigs.

 

[Greg_L]

I like black shells the best. Red is okay, but black is best for the studio.

 

[saads]

I like black shells the best. Red is okay, but black is best for the studio.

But the skins matter too. They must be white on the snare and transparent elsewhere.

 

[antichef]

I'm experimenting with double-ought buck - I tried magnums but the sound was too deep. No problems cutting through the mix in either case.

 

[Greg_L]

Oyster shells are nice too.