Snare Drum Help...Please!

[crawdad]

First, excuse my lack of drum knowledge, but let me first explain what I'm working with. I have an old Ludwig chrome snare drum with a coated Ambassador head on top and a clear Ambassador on the bottom. It also has a built in felt mute. The current snare is about 1 1/2 inches wide.

Right now, this drum has way too much snare "fizz" for me. I'd really like it to have more body and less of the snare sound from the bottom head. Maybe a bit more crack and less snap. Unfortunately, I am a total idiot when it comes to drums.

If I loosen the snare enough, I start to get close to the sound I am after, but, of course, this makes the snares really rattle too much!

Is there anything I can do. Maybe part of the problem is the drum itself. Then again, maybe its operator error. Or wrong size snare on the bottom. Tuning?
I sure would appreciate some insight on what I might try, short of buying another drum. I just know there are some drummers out there who have an idea or two. Thanks in advance.

 

[zbert]

Getting the snare sound you want can be a bit of a tricky thing. I've seen drummers who have played for years have trouble tuning. There are a number of things that will effect the sound. If you have an old Ludwig chrome drum I hope it's a Supra-phonic. They were and are a great drum. With a bit of knowledge these things can get many differnent sounds. That being said you are dealing with a top head, bottom head, snare tension, muffler, snare size, roundness of the drum, type of hoops. OK so I'm probably making it sound harder than it is. But, there are a lot of parts that go into the whole sound. I didn't write this but I found it to be useful for my drum student's http://www.drumweb.com/profsound.shtml
Experment, experment, experment. Because you are getting close to the sound you want is a great thing. Just try tighting up the snares fist so they don't buzz. Not too tight. Then start retuning the bottom head. Maybe a bit tighter than the top. That should be a good place to start.
Good Luck

 

[crawdad]

Zbert--Thank you for the help and for the site. I'm off to read the info. And, I'll keep experimenting. I know its in there somewhere! I don't know the model of the snare--just that its a Ludwig. One blue label says Ludaloy inside, but thats about it. Thanks again!

 

[rocky outcrop]

bottom skin

from what i can tell you have a top head on the bottom. bottom snare heads are genneraly about half the thickness of top heads,if you are using a top head on the bottom then your drum will sound far more dead than it should.take the heads of and compare the thickness if they are around the same then thats where to start. Your luddy should sound killa, any old ludwig can sound hot.