TIGHT snare drum

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asi9

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Hey, we want to get a snare with a really tight, high pitched sound to it.

Any suggestions on drums that can handle the amount of crankage it takes to get that much tightness (Pearl? DW? Free-floating? Wooden? Steel?) and what kind of head (plastic? Falams?)

Thanks a lot. Maybe the price range would help to, so I know how much to save. Our drummers snare sucks.
 
I think a picolo snare is what your after..I'm not sure of a good one, but I think that would fill the bill.
 
asi9 said:
Hey, we want to get a snare with a really tight, high pitched sound to it.

Any suggestions on drums that can handle the amount of crankage it takes to get that much tightness (Pearl? DW? Free-floating? Wooden? Steel?) and what kind of head (plastic? Falams?)

Thanks a lot. Maybe the price range would help to, so I know how much to save. Our drummers snare sucks.
Click to expand...

Well, You may wnt to take a look at a "popcorn" snare. these are generally smaller in diameter (10"-13" in diameter) that will raise the overall pitch big time.

I see them all the time for under $200.

Tim
 
I have a Pearl Black Buety (forgive spelling) Piccaollo snare. Cost me about $350.00 buckies about 3 years ago.
You really don't have to crank em too much as the snare is only like 2" deep and 13" diam.
You can also look into a big deep marching band type snare. With those you can put a Flam head for about $40.00 and crank the hell out of it. The projection of sound is amazing on them. You can also put a old rim from the same sized head on top of the head before you put the drums rim on and really really crank it. I used to use that set up back in high school. The only downfall is you need to find a very very low snare stand for it as the drum is about 18" deep.
Anyway I would first look at a good piccolo and if the sound is not what you are looking for see if you can find a old marching band snare used for cheap somewhere.


jontflesh
 
Popcorn snare? I saw that somewhere, sounded cool. For better clarification, some bands I have in mind are Sepultura and Soulfly's snare (KACK!) if you've heard it, Mudvayne's, Boiler Room's if anyone's heard it. And no, it's not all eq, I've heard snares that really sound like that in person (hehe, natural effects bypass...), just need to know what kind they are. The 'popcorn' snare sounds like it may be what I'm looking for.

I've considered what was mentioned about a marching snare; I love the sound of modern marching snares w/ the falams heads cranked like a bitch, the rimshots are piercing. But would one of those really sound good w/ a full kit? Wouldn't it sound a little unnatural? But then again, there are no rules.....
 
asi9 said:

I've considered what was mentioned about a marching snare; I love the sound of modern marching snares w/ the falams heads cranked like a bitch, the rimshots are piercing. But would one of those really sound good w/ a full kit? Wouldn't it sound a little unnatural? But then again, there are no rules.....
Click to expand...

Well when I used the marching band snare it overpowered the other drums for sure but did not really sound unnatural. The marching snares have a big sound compared to most standard snares, but the sound of the snare itself is alot tighter. The whack you get is alot different too. IMO sounded fine, just really LOUD!
Go out and find about 4 snares you want to think about buying at Guitar Center. Play each of them for about 15-20 minutes with a kit that is similar or the same. See what you really *want* soundwise. Leave Guitar Center after picking out the snare you liked. Go to thier(manufacturers) website and order the snare direct from them. If not go cry,whine, and pout until G.C. gives you a price you like.

:)
jontflesh
 
You don't have to have a marching snare to use a Falams head, I've been using them on my cheap 5" and 8" deep snares for years. I'm getting that tight *crack* sound I love and I attribute it mostly to that head. The only problem with them is that you have to *keep* them cranked up or the top layer develops a bubble in the middle, which will split open if you keep playing on it while it's not tight. You'll run out of room on your lugs before the head breaks if you keep tightening it, so you'll probably have to eventually do the double-rim trick jontflesh mentioned (ah, marching band memories. "One time at band camp...."). I don't have a lot of strong opinions on equipment, but two things I always whole-heartedly recommend are the Falams snare head and the Evans Retro bass drum head kit (with the screen). Now I just have to work on my toms some more.
 
Diragor,
One thing on using a flam head with regular drums. You have to be careful not to overtighten that bad boy. I have seen (seriously) shells implode due to the stress a flam head can put on a drum shell. A good flam head tightened to the max can bounce a .22 calibur bullet if shot in the correct spot, belive it or not. Flam heads are super strong and can handle so much pressure it is amazing.
I take it you were in marching band too? I do miss the drum line stuff. In HS when I was drum captin we had about 25 people in the drum line alone including the pit players. Man that was a kick in the a$#.


jontflesh
 
I've heard that trying to really crank a Falams head on regular snare can actually BREAK the drum, though. Perhaps only on cheap drums?
 
Boy my typing sucks to say the least.
Yes FALAMS (D'oh!) will break a shell of a normal drum unless you are careful.


hehehe
jontflesh
 
Ah, you probably posted that when I was in the middle of typing my response!!!

So which regular drums can handle the pressure better than others? That popcorn-snare someone mentioned? Anything with free-floating head?

Drum line stuff kicked ass. I loved being one of the high schoolers in the area that could play "cheese inverts" and "eggbeaters" and "flam-five patafla-fla" and all those goodies. Ahhhhh......
 
Are falam heads similar to a kevlar head? I chum of mine stole a kevlar marching head and put it on an steel snare. Tightened that thing up. Man, that still has to be one of the best sounding snares I've heard.
 
asi, I would not go with a free floating type drum if you want to use falams. IMHO look at a good wooden shell drum. Again just go out and play a bunch and find one that sounds good to you. A new drum is like a new girlfriend, whine and dine the broad to make sure she is right for you.
If interested I have a picallo snare and if you go to http://yermommashouse.net/jontflesh and click The Lambs part you can dl a song to hear what mine sounds like. It is a demo and not alot of time was spent on it. It should give you a idea of what a piccalo sounds like.

Wally, They make falams out of a few different materials. Some are made out of Kevlar, cowhide, treated fabrics. It depends on the company and the style. I wonder if carbon fibre will be used someday? That stuff is light as hell and pretty strong.


jontflesh
 
I do like that sound..... i think I could live with one of those. But now I've become all curious about using a marching-like drum..... and I'm curious about the popcorn-snare. Guess I won't know till I get my ass to try 'em.
 
Wally and jontflesh - Falams is a brand name head, made by only one company: Remo, and they are made with Kevlar. The one I have says "Falams II", but as I'm looking around the net I'm seeing "K-Falams" and "Falams K-Series", so I guess that's the current line of Falams heads. I haven't needed to buy one in a while :). They are sold as high as $40+, but there are places you can get them for $22, so look around. Ooh - Ebony Falams! Cool.

While it's true that a Falams head will break your drum if you crank it marching-band-tight (we used to break lugs like crazy with cheaper marching snares), you really shouldn't have to go that crazy cranking on it before it gives you a nice, tight, high-pitched sound on a regular depth snare (5-8"). I don't worry about it at all and I've never broken anything by using a Falams head on my own snares.
 
Good CCCKKKKKKRRRRACK!!!! sound:

Asi9, I'm pretty familiar with the sounds your looking for. I own 9 snare drums and I would recommend a Pearl Chad Smith signature snare. They are about $220 US and they will hold up to any shell. I agree that falam heads are great for snares. Ever since I heard Chad Sexton from 311's snare sound, I've been hooked. I use falam heads every once in a while on tour and a good thing about them is that they hold up a lot longer than most other heads (this could justify the hefty price tag for some players) but you can get them pretty cheap at Guitar Center. I now use an Orange County snare drum that is 20-ply, but I wrecked a cheap old snare using the falams. If you try the Chad Smith model, you should be very happy.
 
I've played piccolo snares a bunch of times. At first I really enjoyed the sound of them. But lately they've started to sound kind of like a tin can.

i'm going to upgrade my snare...its a Pearl Standard Steel Shell. I really don't like it too much.

I love that tight crisp sound but what is the difference between the piccolo and the popcorn snare exactly? I've never heard a popcorn snare.

I also heard that the Chad Smith model was like a piccolo. How do you distinguish them from one another?
-Tom
 
bluelonestar said:
I've played piccolo snares a bunch of times. At first I really enjoyed the sound of them. But lately they've started to sound kind of like a tin can.

i'm going to upgrade my snare...its a Pearl Standard Steel Shell. I really don't like it too much.

I love that tight crisp sound but what is the difference between the piccolo and the popcorn snare exactly? I've never heard a popcorn snare.

I also heard that the Chad Smith model was like a piccolo. How do you distinguish them from one another?
-Tom
Click to expand...

A Popcorn snare is smaller in diameter, but a "normal/average" depth (so like a 5"x12" and they even have a 5"x10" model)

Alot of the recording pro's are using tiny drums these days for recording, so With a set up consisting of say 18" kick,10",12",14" toms, a 12" snare would be in proportion.

I'm not talking about guys who are in bands, we're talking session guys here.

Tim
 
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