From: jerger@d0msu5.fnal.gov
Subject: Re: Snare Technology
Organization: Fermi National Accelerator Lab
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 19:29:38 GMT
X-Posted-From: d0msu5.fnal.gov
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

 
In article <1992Nov7.052931.9167@vela.acs.oakland.edu>, bfhalls@vela.acs.oakland.edu (HALLS BRADLEY F) writes...
>In article <1992Nov6.020651.16305@cgrg.ohio-state.edu> flip@cgrg.ohio-state.edu (Flip Phillips) writes:
> 
>>what is state of the art these days? i notice that premier and pearl are
[del]
> 
>OK. Here's the low-down. I'll try to keep it brief. If anyone wants to
>add, feel free...
> 
>Slingerland went out of business quite a few years ago. Even getting parts
>for those drums now is a nightmare. Ludwig totally went to shit the minute

	Anybody know when the Slingerland's last gruesome death was? My
high school line, which I later taught, bought Slingerlands in '82, and
a few years later they went under. About a year after that, someone (I think 
Gretsch) resurrected them, but it didn't last long; I remember trying
to get replacement parts, and it took a long time and we weren't sure
that the company would still be there long enough to place the order. I
believe that they were brought back again another year or two after that
(what is it they say about a drowning man? Three times?) but don't recall
how long that one lasted. It's kind of a sad end to a classic name, which
even a young'n like me remembers.

>they were bought out by Selmer (also a long time ago). They have made some
>feeble attempts at becoming current since then, but basically rolled over
>and invited the Japanese to take over their market share. The Japanese were,
>of course, happy to oblige. The two major Japanese companies, Yamaha and
>Pearl, now pretty much dominate the market. Premier, who is based in England
 ^^^^^
Wow, I didn't know Pearl was a Japanese company. Have they always been, or 
were they bought out? While we were in Nashville in '88, we got a tour of
the Pearl factory there - fascinating, and they gave us free run of their 
discard pile, which had some nice, almost complete stuff which just had some
minor nicks, etc., making it barely unsellable. Of course, while we were
spending the day there, the horn line was practicing, which ticked them off
no end!! :-)

>and made these great scotch drums for years, was bought out by Yamaha some
>time in the late '80s.
> 
[del]
> 
>The down side of all this is that snare drums now have a completely different
>sound, and not nearly as good a sound (IMHO). The top heads are so hard now
>that the air in the drum is barely deflected enough to snap the bottom head
>at all. This results in a very high pitched, short, shallow sound that 
>sounds great from 10 feet away, but doesn't project well at all. So in a
>nutshell, the drums are easier and cheaper to maintain, but you pay a price
>in performance. I know many might argue with this as most lines that never
>knew how to tune before all of a sudden sound great now. But for those lines
>who could afford to go through hundreds of silver dots a season, nothing will
>sound that good again.
> 
	IMHO, some lines that were poorly tuned are still poorly tuned. 
Falams have their own tuning problems.
	As far as sound goes, I agree with you, Brad - there is nothing like
a Silver Dot once it's cranked down & stretched out a bit, with a nice
meaty yet crisp snare sound. Also, that was a head that felt good when you 
played it; the mylar/kevlar heads are like playing on concrete when they're 
cranked. When we used them in '88, when Falams were kind of new, Dilullo 
was always worried about us getting tendonitis and tried to make sure we
didn't play for too long a stretch without a break. Don't know if any 
connection ever developed - anyone have comments on the healthiness of
Falams over a longer period of time?
	The other thing that the Kevlar heads introduced, IMHO, was a
distinction between the men and the boys, so to speak. Because the Falams
give a generally shorter sound, the sound resolution improves. What
I found was that if a line plays well together, then they can tighten up
their sound because of the cleanliness of the drum response. On the other 
hand, if they aren't experienced enough players with control enough to
play clean in the first place, then what happens is the chow gets even more
obvious - all the ticks stand out more. Where this really is a factor, 
I think, is with, say, a H.S. line using Falams that shouldn't be. A lot
of such lines I've seen get them because they're cool, and they want to
be top notch (and perhaps the band director like the idea of not having to
buy heads all the time; wait until he has to buy new drums because the kevlar
heads have caved the shells of his old Slingerland TDR's :-) ); but the
players just aren't ready for them, and instead of making them play better, 
they sound worse and are mashing their wrists on concrete to boot.

>What was the question again? :-)
> 
>>It was all simpler when BD marched with North Drums...
> 
>Man, you aren't kidding.
> 
>--Brad.
> 
> 

	Steve
Newsgroups: alt.drumcorps