I had them both right, usually with more expensive snares the over tone is more controlled for studio session quality. Less ring = better recording quality. This can also be heard with the snare Dave Grohl uses in the video "PLAY" where he plays all the different types of instruments. Usually in a studio setting, producers have drummers adjust their snares at lower tuning then what they normally play. Gabe, been a fan for a long time and appreciate all the videos, tips, tricks and positive channel. Keep up the great work!
*voicemail beep* Hey dude, it’s me again. Guess your phone died; it’s going straight to voicemail now. Anyway, it’s a nice day out, so I thought of you and the THIRTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS YOU OWE ME
It's aaalllll a matter of: 1) Head choice 2) Tuning 3) Recording method: mics, placement, mixing However, the shell thickness and material also play huge role))) Hence the price difference
I am definitely someone who thinks that better gear will give a greater motivation to keep playing. Better gear can mean so many more possibilities, even if it's just the timbre. Awesome work man!
There is certainly some truth to the idea that buying something expensive gives you that "Now I gotta get my money's worth!" motivation, but the fact is, a good drummer can make even a bad kit sound great, and a bad drummer will sound bad no matter how much the kit costs. And if you're just starting out, it will be a long time before you are legitimately limited by even a cheap kit.
My answer about the expensive one was always the right choice, but i gotta admit, 200$ doesn't sounds bad. We can still hear the quality differences but 200$ one is really not bad at all.
200$ is not a cheap snare drum, its a regular price snare drum. You can get suprafonic in that price range ( 200-300$) and we all know what is a suprafonic. It's a must have for every recording studio. 1300$ drum is just exotic, especially for a metal shell drum, 200$ is about the right price for a everyday use drum
Thanks for this video Gabe! The studio I teach at has been in need of a decent snare drum for a long time, but usually can’t find something that won’t break the bank! That Modern Utility will really help us out, thanks again for showcasing these awesome snares!!
I'm just finding it hard to justify the difference in price. The cheap one still sounds pretty good likely because it's been tuned well. Try a $75 snare vs that $200 snare and I'm sure you'll notice more of a difference
I agree that the snare doesn't sound $1100 better, but it's not really for us. It's not even really for people who are very good at drums. It's for people who make a living recording drums. People who own this own studios or are professional drummers who have 10 other snares like this of different materials in their studio. To them, this snare sounds like it's worth every penny because it sounds exactly the way it does. It really is an excellent, top tier, snare.
Its easy to tell which one is which. The pixels colors give them away. Plus the first 2 shots you could see the bottom of the snares that didn't get covered up. Great video. Also love the academy. Glad I just joined a week ago.
I got both of those first two right...the giveaway for me was the drier, shorter sound that I've heard more often on lower end snare drums compared to the more complex, vibrant, resonant sound that's usually a feature of snares made of better materials. The last one with the pro drummers was tough, though, and I missed it. :(
Time after time, people have shown that there is very little difference in sound between two identically tuned drums, cheap and expensive. But I still go for high-end drums for so many reasons other than sound - I just love something beautifully made from high quality components. Having said that, I really, really enjoyed having one of the cheapest Gretsch kits, the Catalina Club Jazz. It was a pleasure to play and sounded fantastic. I also like contradicting myself.
What I learned from this video: I can hear the difference between the cheap and expensive snare and yes, the more expensive snare sounds better, BUT there's a 650% price difference and maybe like 10% sound difference (with the same heads and tuning, that is).
I’m a beginner drummer, this was very helpful. Definitely going for a budget kit for my first acoustic kit. Price won’t matter in my early stages, I just want to get my skills up before anything else.
Great video. I have no shame in admitting i liked the cheap snare more....the expensive one has more body...more warmth and sings a bit more, BUT on a personal level i love the brightness of the cheap snare...It has quick attack, quick decay and a naturally higher pitch. I got them wrong on the first clip. With a lower tuning i preferred the more expensive snare because it sung and was way smoother..BUT I still prefer the cheap one because i never tune that low. I always have my snare tuned high. i want my snare to CRACK. I am still using a Dixon 13x4 snare drum that i bought for around 100$ CAD used...Ive recorded with it...played many shows with it....i still LOVE it. And another beautiful part about music...its all personal preference.
That was very cool. I spotted the expensive drum almost all the time. But I thought the differences were not night and day, the more expensive had more body and it was also a comparison of steel vs. brass. All in all, both drums sounded very good!
Gabe partially thanks to you I went and got a pearl masters maple complete kit and I’m in love with it. I saw in your pearl reveal video you weren’t sure yet or were thinking about possible setups of using your kit and how you like the ride in the certain spot. I started using the offset setup with 2 up and 2 down and the ride is still in that perfect spot!
Same goes for cymbals... Compare a Ludwig Supraphonic with a Yamaha stage custom steel 14x6,5 snares or Zildjian A custom with Zultan rockbeat or Sonor Armoni. Lots of people buy the name more than the sound.
Why is everyone surprised the $200 snare sounds good? It cost $200. Think of something else you own that costs $200. It's probably pretty good quality.
The Distance of the Overheads have an impact on the 2 snares. i say use a 1 mic in front of the middle space where the 2 snares meet so you can still capture the cymbals plus the 2 individual snare mics
ok here goes....snare B to your left was pearl reference?and right where it should be is the modern utility?snare A. die cast hoops make a difference and same goes with head and snare wire choice,in my opinion.love your videos bud,awesome subjects you cover,thank you.
Got first one A second I missed thought A sounded better (Modern Utility low tuning). Both sounded great in both though. I personally have the Modern Utility 6.5 Maple snare and upgraded to die cast hoops and 30strand snare wires and LOVE it.
I got them both right (honestly), the higher tuning was easier to pick out the differences than the lower tuning. The snare wires one the cheaper snare sounded buzzier than the expensive one, and the expensive one sounded more beefy, probably because of the die cast hoops..? Back when I played, and I changed from the 2.3mm flanged hoops to the die cast hoops i couldn't believe how much a difference it made in the sound. The type of heads and tuning also play a huge role in the drum's sound. Also, with good microphones and mixing, you can make any drum sound great.. as long as its tuned :) Cool video!
Don't know what its worth but when I played gigs in high school, the only thing I could afford was a Poplar Tama Imperial star,I changed out the reso and batter head, plus the snare wires, made sure it was always in good tuning and I'd get compliments on how it sounded all the time.
Hi, cool video and nice concept ! The overheads mics don't capture the B snare in the same way than the A snare, so both of the snares aren't really compared in the same conditions...
Cool video. I've owned a few snares over the years. Some entry level, some collectors items. Tuning and heads are a big deal. Application also is a factor. A few of my prior owned snares. Ludwig Coliseum. Rogers powertone- 1964. Tama power piccolo- early 2000s.
2:37 that's the whole point: you need to be able to bring any snare to a high level sound. A badly tuned 1300$ snare will still sound bad. I've seen a lot of drummers that have no idea how to properly tune / set up a snare drum, and I have the impression that this is partly fault of bad teachers. You can't play an out of tune guitar, but you can still play an out of tune drum (if you don't realize it sounds bad). Plus, the added experience required to know how to set up a snare to get a certain sound in a recording or amplified live gig.
I got it 3/3 the Brass snare was beast and I could hear the difference. The low tuning was closer tone but noticed the over tones were less in the brass for sure.
One of my favorite sounding / recording snare drums is an Amazon bought Sawtooth brand snare drum made out of Poplar. I've owned the gamut of snare drums and have been playing for close to thirty years have digged over a thousand times. As long as your drum is in round, and you know how to tune, you will have a good sounding snare drum. Let's not forget that a lot of snare drum sound comes down to how you play it very similar to guitar players Etc
I've been a drummer for 10 years now, and I've been using a Pearl VPX Strata (Birch) snare for a couple years. It cost me $125, and I think it sounds amazing, as well as my fellow church band members. My old drum teacher told me to spend more on my cymbals
This is a great video! You can absolutely get good sounds out of cheaper drums. A lot of it comes down to tuning and heads. I bought a Mapex piccolo snare for around $60 and it's one of the best sounding drums I own. For anyone curious I've used it on my channel.
I got the 3 correct, but honestly I think it was because of my in ears (kz ZSX) I heard better the attack, the decay and the snare wires. Try using good sounding earphones
I own a RFB1465 and guess every time his crunchy and massive sound. Love it since heard in Robar - "Before & After" recorded by Travis Orbin. Thanks for interesting test and good quality!
I work at a music store and go through gear like crazy and would like to share some thoughts I have on this subject. -From my experience, it’s pretty hard to make a steel snare sound bad, especially with a coated head on it. -From my experience, snares sometimes don’t show much difference when recorded but if you play it live you might be able to tell a bigger difference. For example, I prefer using my brass snare live rather than my aluminum for most songs because it tends to really cut through the mix. -From my experience, wood snares usually have more dramatic differences. The cheaper ones tend to be very thin sounding and have nasty overtones. The 2 MAIN things I have come to realize about cheap vs expensive drums; 1. Overtones - cheeper drums typically will have worse overtones or maybe the air travels awkwardly through the shell giving it a weird resonance. 2. Tuning range - cheaper drums will only sound good at one or a few specific tunings or will have clarity/dynamic issues in certain tunings.
A = more expensive (due to tightness of snare), B = less expensive snare (due to looser sound)... putting tuning aside and hardware/ commodity price. My style also prefers a tighter snare, aka a more jazz to metal head and tuning/ a bias. hmm let’s see.... 1:44 pre into this. Low tuning was hard to decipher which tells me the head has much to do with the quality perception when diameter is healed constant, as was in this case; as opposed to the type of wood/ metal/ material in the snare drum... hmmm.... I also prefer a smaller snare drum so this was awesome. And... I L pearl drums, so this was fun.
I was actually able to hear the sound difference perfectly fine. Even with Tablet speakers but I really enjoyed this video. Was great as usual. I do prefer wood snare drums but I found those Snares sound amazing.
I love the sound of the pearl reference. Me personally I would rather save up and get the more expensive one, im not a huge fan of my snare, not even sure what brand it is or anything but I can never get a decent sound that I want out of it. I think for the cheaper price I would love to have the cheaper snare and like you said, spend some time really getting that sound out of it.
@@DrumBeatsOnline oh sweet. Speaking of DBO, I hadn't had much time to practice on the kit lately, with the whole family home is really hard. But I have been putting in hours of practice pad exercises everyday.
IDK how, but I got them both right. It can really be heard even on a TH-cam video. The more expensive one has many nice overtones, so the sound is really more saturated. I'm not sure if I could pass the test "$800 vs $1000" though, but this one is really easy.
I feel like a expensive snare drum and a more affordable snare drum can both sounds pretttty similar. But imo the advantage of expensive ones is how easy they are to tune and get a maximum amount of good sounds and possibilities. (I bought a Benny Greb signature snare drum and this is what amazed me firstly!)
When I compare drums, I like to actually play the drum. I'll run through some rudimental excercises, play some riffs, some snare solos and marches. Get the full sound and response from the drum.
I got them right. Yay, me! But if I’m being honest, I preferred the Utility’s sound over the Reference. I have a couple high-end Pearl snares and they do respond quickly to tuning adjustments and are beautiful instruments to play.
I got all of them right, but I have to say... those sounds are pretty close. Really cool how good the 200 dollar snare sounded, I didn't expect that. Awesome video!!
I got all three. The third test was def the hardest but the expensive snare had more of a quality I can only describe as “bite”. Not much of a drummer but I am an amateur producer, so it’s good to know I have a decent ear for drum tones
The only thing not surprising is that Harry nailed every one. Dude!’s ear is incredible. Friends of mine had him lay down a beat for their tune, based on a sample they couldn’t get rights to, and Harry could tell they modulated the sample 1/2bpm different. 1/2 BPM! And he could tell!!
I was able to guess all three correctly. But what was really surprising to me was that I liked the tone of both since they’re both Pearl. I’m not usually a fan of Pearl, but I might need to give them a second look.
Did it by ear and closed eyes. Got all right. The Brass got this nice warmth around it. You can hear it in every tuning. Steel has always some aggressive frequencies. But to be honest. The Modern Utility is also a great drum. Loved the low tuning.
Wow! Great video. My opinion? I liked the sound of the $200 snare better. Problem is that I don't like a 6.5 snare. Never have. With all of that said, I have to say that that kit is one of the sweetest looking kits I've seen.
When you said you tuned the bottom side first does that go for all drums or just the snare drum? I'm assuming for all drums & not just the snare drum right?
I have a 13x7 pork pie brass snare and man this thing cracks like a supraphonic, it was definitely worth the money. I got a deal on it at a thrift store for pretty cheap. So to answer someone's question if you can get good sound for cheap, YES YOU CAN!!
I got them all right but I'm not a drummer. I play congas and I'm very picky with my tuning. I even had debates with other conga players about what is better, raw hide vs synthetic skin. Great content, I liked the video.
I’m looking to buy a new snare, so I’m looking closely at many snares and actually got them all correct. The hard ones were the low tuning, but like David said, you could hear it in the tones. Then the high tuning was also pretty tough, but what did it for me was the articulation of the snares.
Thanks for this video. I definitely going to do more research to get my new snare. I have an old Tama swingstar metal snare and still sounds pretty good. Curious, the other tom drum is also by Pearl? And is that he reference series? Also, the cymbal with holes in it, is that a trash crash? Thanks.
Great vid man. Great tone from that 200 snare. I got all of em correct, the last clip was a bit tricky. The different shell material made it easier to guess imo.
Got both questions at the beginning right, and I'm not even a drummer :P The cheaper tom just sounded "looser" from it's resonance body (if that makes sense) and it had more sound "byproducts".
Everytime I got it right. I think, the key is that with the standard tuning the expensive snare souns more focused and sharper, while in the low tuning it has that PUNCH.
I personally was able to spot the expensive snare every time though the extercise that you did with the snares at a low tuning without the springs actually through me off a little but the expensive snare had way more attack, resonance control, and over all just sounded better to my ears but the take away from your experiment was I was wearing $200 headphones that are really good at picking up every little detail. But like I said you almost got me with one Exercise but I will also say that my church has pretty low quality snares which bugs me a lot but I can always find a tuning that’s manageable to my ear if I mess with it enough but a more expensive snare just to me sounds a little better. Especially the deeper shell depth snares, anything 6.5”-8” shell depth just sounds beefier, more attack, power, resonance, and control over that resonance without the use of resonance rings or sticky squares. In the end can a $200 snare do the job, yes my old Tama imperialstar 14x5.5 snare still sounds fantastic to me and is relatively cheap for what it is. My 14x8 Ludwig supraphonic snare is way better though, so much more depth and attack, I don’t know I guess it’s just a preference thing to me.
I answered all questions right, it's because I can notice the sound that's near my tuning, the cheap one. they Sound more similar than the Expensive one.. I use Fernando drums.. As I can say, Their difference was, the expensive one has a compression like effect and doesn't lose the tone that makes it sound better and the Cheap one sounds more open.
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its definitely A
A is more expensive
I got one right and one wrong
I had them both right, usually with more expensive snares the over tone is more controlled for studio session quality. Less ring = better recording quality. This can also be heard with the snare Dave Grohl uses in the video "PLAY" where he plays all the different types of instruments. Usually in a studio setting, producers have drummers adjust their snares at lower tuning then what they normally play.
Gabe, been a fan for a long time and appreciate all the videos, tips, tricks and positive channel. Keep up the great work!
I got the first two right, but they both sounded really good.
*voicemail beep* Hey dude, it’s me again. Guess your phone died; it’s going straight to voicemail now. Anyway, it’s a nice day out, so I thought of you and the THIRTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS YOU OWE ME
............................................
I'll send it once you post a new video
Colab!! Please
@@DrumBeatsOnline he's got you there Harry!
Dayummnnnnnnn called out
i just passed out from the sheer heat in this thread
Gabe: which snare is expensive?
Harry: do I get 1,300$?
😂😂
RIP David Cola's career 😈
😂😂😂
I’m taking all your stickers off my fridge
DavidColaDrums wow that’s next level man, stickers hold relationships together
Hello david
😂😂
It's aaalllll a matter of:
1) Head choice
2) Tuning
3) Recording method: mics, placement, mixing
However, the shell thickness and material also play huge role))) Hence the price difference
LOL out of the box there is NO COMPARISION! The utility does sound better than its price point tho.
For sure! The quality difference can be heard right away, but with a little tuning, the Utility can sound really awesome!
I am definitely someone who thinks that better gear will give a greater motivation to keep playing. Better gear can mean so many more possibilities, even if it's just the timbre. Awesome work man!
Of course!
@@DrumBeatsOnline Yeah!
There is certainly some truth to the idea that buying something expensive gives you that "Now I gotta get my money's worth!" motivation, but the fact is, a good drummer can make even a bad kit sound great, and a bad drummer will sound bad no matter how much the kit costs. And if you're just starting out, it will be a long time before you are legitimately limited by even a cheap kit.
Better playing will give better motivation than any upgrade, don't forget that ;)
That's right.
when the "cheap" snare is more expensive than your entire kit
Facts. LOL.
I'm hoping that means you bought a decent kit in used condition rather than a horrible quality kit brand new, lol.
Lmao same
HAHAHAHAHAH
Same... I wish he could talk about how to make a $20 drum to sound as good lololol...
I love how the Nashville session guy asked for the $1300. This video was awesome and I love how you brought my favorite youtube drum guys together.
❤️❤️
My answer about the expensive one was always the right choice, but i gotta admit, 200$ doesn't sounds bad. We can still hear the quality differences but 200$ one is really not bad at all.
I couldn't agree more!
absolutely
200$ is not a cheap snare drum, its a regular price snare drum. You can get suprafonic in that price range ( 200-300$) and we all know what is a suprafonic. It's a must have for every recording studio. 1300$ drum is just exotic, especially for a metal shell drum, 200$ is about the right price for a everyday use drum
Thanks for this video Gabe! The studio I teach at has been in need of a decent snare drum for a long time, but usually can’t find something that won’t break the bank! That Modern Utility will really help us out, thanks again for showcasing these awesome snares!!
I love whenever Harry shows up in a video cause its good to know he's still kickin
Editing in this channel is sick
That means a lot thanks Nick!
I'm just finding it hard to justify the difference in price. The cheap one still sounds pretty good likely because it's been tuned well. Try a $75 snare vs that $200 snare and I'm sure you'll notice more of a difference
I agree that the snare doesn't sound $1100 better, but it's not really for us. It's not even really for people who are very good at drums. It's for people who make a living recording drums. People who own this own studios or are professional drummers who have 10 other snares like this of different materials in their studio. To them, this snare sounds like it's worth every penny because it sounds exactly the way it does. It really is an excellent, top tier, snare.
Its easy to tell which one is which. The pixels colors give them away. Plus the first 2 shots you could see the bottom of the snares that didn't get covered up. Great video. Also love the academy. Glad I just joined a week ago.
Personaly I can hear the difference between them, but I prefer the cheapest one! 😅
I got both of those first two right...the giveaway for me was the drier, shorter sound that I've heard more often on lower end snare drums compared to the more complex, vibrant, resonant sound that's usually a feature of snares made of better materials. The last one with the pro drummers was tough, though, and I missed it. :(
Time after time, people have shown that there is very little difference in sound between two identically tuned drums, cheap and expensive. But I still go for high-end drums for so many reasons other than sound - I just love something beautifully made from high quality components. Having said that, I really, really enjoyed having one of the cheapest Gretsch kits, the Catalina Club Jazz. It was a pleasure to play and sounded fantastic. I also like contradicting myself.
What I learned from this video:
I can hear the difference between the cheap and expensive snare and yes, the more expensive snare sounds better, BUT there's a 650% price difference and maybe like 10% sound difference (with the same heads and tuning, that is).
I’m a beginner drummer, this was very helpful. Definitely going for a budget kit for my first acoustic kit. Price won’t matter in my early stages, I just want to get my skills up before anything else.
I can hear the difference. For a fair comparison, I closed my ears. Man I love the sound of that Pearl Reference Brass snare. Epic Video.
I'm loving it as well! So glad you liked the video!
You closed your ears ??? 😱😱😱
I was so shocked when you said A was more expensive in the first trial because B sounded so much better for me
By the flams i found a better
That's what this experiment is all about!
Great video. I have no shame in admitting i liked the cheap snare more....the expensive one has more body...more warmth and sings a bit more, BUT on a personal level i love the brightness of the cheap snare...It has quick attack, quick decay and a naturally higher pitch. I got them wrong on the first clip. With a lower tuning i preferred the more expensive snare because it sung and was way smoother..BUT I still prefer the cheap one because i never tune that low. I always have my snare tuned high. i want my snare to CRACK. I am still using a Dixon 13x4 snare drum that i bought for around 100$ CAD used...Ive recorded with it...played many shows with it....i still LOVE it. And another beautiful part about music...its all personal preference.
That was very cool. I spotted the expensive drum almost all the time. But I thought the differences were not night and day, the more expensive had more body and it was also a comparison of steel vs. brass. All in all, both drums sounded very good!
first time on this channel and damn, the quality is awesome. feels like a filmmaker's channel. subbed
Heck yes! Welcome to the family my friend!
I guessed right twice. The expensive snare has more presence but both sounded really good.
With a good drummer a cheap or a expensive snare drum would always sounds amazing !!!
Gabe partially thanks to you I went and got a pearl masters maple complete kit and I’m in love with it. I saw in your pearl reveal video you weren’t sure yet or were thinking about possible setups of using your kit and how you like the ride in the certain spot. I started using the offset setup with 2 up and 2 down and the ride is still in that perfect spot!
I love this! So glad you are enjoying the new Pearl kit!
Drum Beats Online yes sir!. It’s great.
Man love your videos I’ve learned so much from you
Same goes for cymbals...
Compare a Ludwig Supraphonic with a Yamaha stage custom steel 14x6,5 snares or Zildjian A custom with Zultan rockbeat or Sonor Armoni. Lots of people buy the name more than the sound.
Why is everyone surprised the $200 snare sounds good? It cost $200. Think of something else you own that costs $200. It's probably pretty good quality.
Exactly
Harry is the man !!!! luv his drumming and attitude
The Distance of the Overheads have an impact on the 2 snares. i say use a 1 mic in front of the middle space where the 2 snares meet so you can still capture the cymbals plus the 2 individual snare mics
Exactly. You can definitely hear that snare B is phasey due to the difference in distance from the overhead compared to snare A
Curious if you modded the Utility with die cast hoops and put same heads on both if they would get closer.
Yes!!
ok here goes....snare B to your left was pearl reference?and right where it should be is the modern utility?snare A. die cast hoops make a difference and same goes with head and snare wire choice,in my opinion.love your videos bud,awesome subjects you cover,thank you.
for me it comes to the way you play the snare or how you tune it makes it sounds better.
Got first one A second I missed thought A sounded better (Modern Utility low tuning). Both sounded great in both though. I personally have the Modern Utility 6.5 Maple snare and upgraded to die cast hoops and 30strand snare wires and LOVE it.
Heck yes!!
I got them both right (honestly), the higher tuning was easier to pick out the differences than the lower tuning. The snare wires one the cheaper snare sounded buzzier than the expensive one, and the expensive one sounded more beefy, probably because of the die cast hoops..? Back when I played, and I changed from the 2.3mm flanged hoops to the die cast hoops i couldn't believe how much a difference it made in the sound. The type of heads and tuning also play a huge role in the drum's sound. Also, with good microphones and mixing, you can make any drum sound great.. as long as its tuned :) Cool video!
Don't know what its worth but when I played gigs in high school, the only thing I could afford was a Poplar Tama Imperial star,I changed out the reso and batter head, plus the snare wires, made sure it was always in good tuning and I'd get compliments on how it sounded all the time.
Hi, cool video and nice concept !
The overheads mics don't capture the B snare in the same way than the A snare, so both of the snares aren't really compared in the same conditions...
100% correct for me. Thanks for the Video
Also what drum throne or seat do you use?
Cool video. I've owned a few snares over the years. Some entry level, some collectors items. Tuning and heads are a big deal. Application also is a factor. A few of my prior owned snares. Ludwig Coliseum. Rogers powertone- 1964. Tama power piccolo- early 2000s.
Snare A sounds like a Snare having a small bit of the "Tom Tom" resonance. I would always go for snare B.
2:37 that's the whole point: you need to be able to bring any snare to a high level sound. A badly tuned 1300$ snare will still sound bad. I've seen a lot of drummers that have no idea how to properly tune / set up a snare drum, and I have the impression that this is partly fault of bad teachers. You can't play an out of tune guitar, but you can still play an out of tune drum (if you don't realize it sounds bad). Plus, the added experience required to know how to set up a snare to get a certain sound in a recording or amplified live gig.
I got it 3/3
the Brass snare was beast and I could hear the difference. The low tuning was closer tone but noticed the over tones were less in the brass for sure.
One of my favorite sounding / recording snare drums is an Amazon bought Sawtooth brand snare drum made out of Poplar. I've owned the gamut of snare drums and have been playing for close to thirty years have digged over a thousand times. As long as your drum is in round, and you know how to tune, you will have a good sounding snare drum. Let's not forget that a lot of snare drum sound comes down to how you play it very similar to guitar players Etc
I've been a drummer for 10 years now, and I've been using a Pearl VPX Strata (Birch) snare for a couple years. It cost me $125, and I think it sounds amazing, as well as my fellow church band members. My old drum teacher told me to spend more on my cymbals
That's awesome!
This is a great video! You can absolutely get good sounds out of cheaper drums. A lot of it comes down to tuning and heads. I bought a Mapex piccolo snare for around $60 and it's one of the best sounding drums I own. For anyone curious I've used it on my channel.
Whats up with David's candle collection?
I got the 3 correct, but honestly I think it was because of my in ears (kz ZSX) I heard better the attack, the decay and the snare wires. Try using good sounding earphones
I own a RFB1465 and guess every time his crunchy and massive sound. Love it since heard in Robar - "Before & After" recorded by Travis Orbin. Thanks for interesting test and good quality!
I work at a music store and go through gear like crazy and would like to share some thoughts I have on this subject.
-From my experience, it’s pretty hard to make a steel snare sound bad, especially with a coated head on it.
-From my experience, snares sometimes don’t show much difference when recorded but if you play it live you might be able to tell a bigger difference. For example, I prefer using my brass snare live rather than my aluminum for most songs because it tends to really cut through the mix.
-From my experience, wood snares usually have more dramatic differences. The cheaper ones tend to be very thin sounding and have nasty overtones.
The 2 MAIN things I have come to realize about cheap vs expensive drums;
1. Overtones - cheeper drums typically will have worse overtones or maybe the air travels awkwardly through the shell giving it a weird resonance.
2. Tuning range - cheaper drums will only sound good at one or a few specific tunings or will have clarity/dynamic issues in certain tunings.
A = more expensive (due to tightness of snare), B = less expensive snare (due to looser sound)... putting tuning aside and hardware/ commodity price. My style also prefers a tighter snare, aka a more jazz to metal head and tuning/ a bias. hmm let’s see.... 1:44 pre into this. Low tuning was hard to decipher which tells me the head has much to do with the quality perception when diameter is healed constant, as was in this case; as opposed to the type of wood/ metal/ material in the snare drum... hmmm.... I also prefer a smaller snare drum so this was awesome. And... I L pearl drums, so this was fun.
Healed as in held constant lolz
I was actually able to hear the sound difference perfectly fine. Even with Tablet speakers but I really enjoyed this video. Was great as usual. I do prefer wood snare drums but I found those Snares sound amazing.
I got them all right! The trick was to pay attention to the ghost notes. The more expensive drum emphasized the ghost notes really well.
I love the sound of the pearl reference. Me personally I would rather save up and get the more expensive one, im not a huge fan of my snare, not even sure what brand it is or anything but I can never get a decent sound that I want out of it. I think for the cheaper price I would love to have the cheaper snare and like you said, spend some time really getting that sound out of it.
These are great thoughts Devin! Well stay tuned because you may get a chance to win the Utility as a DBO Academy member!
@@DrumBeatsOnline oh sweet. Speaking of DBO, I hadn't had much time to practice on the kit lately, with the whole family home is really hard. But I have been putting in hours of practice pad exercises everyday.
IDK how, but I got them both right. It can really be heard even on a TH-cam video. The more expensive one has many nice overtones, so the sound is really more saturated. I'm not sure if I could pass the test "$800 vs $1000" though, but this one is really easy.
I feel like a expensive snare drum and a more affordable snare drum can both sounds pretttty similar. But imo the advantage of expensive ones is how easy they are to tune and get a maximum amount of good sounds and possibilities.
(I bought a Benny Greb signature snare drum and this is what amazed me firstly!)
Yeah the Utility sounds great I bought it 4 months ago and still really like it
When I compare drums, I like to actually play the drum. I'll run through some rudimental excercises, play some riffs, some snare solos and marches. Get the full sound and response from the drum.
Very difficult. Both sounded great. Awesome video
I got them right. Yay, me! But if I’m being honest, I preferred the Utility’s sound over the Reference. I have a couple high-end Pearl snares and they do respond quickly to tuning adjustments and are beautiful instruments to play.
I got all of them right, but I have to say... those sounds are pretty close. Really cool how good the 200 dollar snare sounded, I didn't expect that. Awesome video!!
Great vid man! Regards from Indonesia.
I got all three. The third test was def the hardest but the expensive snare had more of a quality I can only describe as “bite”. Not much of a drummer but I am an amateur producer, so it’s good to know I have a decent ear for drum tones
What is the tambourine like thing on your stack?
It’s all about the head and the tuning - particularly for recording with. Sometimes, live (acoustic) you can tell the difference more.
The only thing not surprising is that Harry nailed every one. Dude!’s ear is incredible. Friends of mine had him lay down a beat for their tune, based on a sample they couldn’t get rights to, and Harry could tell they modulated the sample 1/2bpm different. 1/2 BPM! And he could tell!!
Got them all right but, it was damn close. Not sure if I could tell live and would I like the more expensive one better?
Hii, which is the best snare drum skin for wooden snare 14X5 DW PDP? Please suggest.
I was able to guess all three correctly. But what was really surprising to me was that I liked the tone of both since they’re both Pearl. I’m not usually a fan of Pearl, but I might need to give them a second look.
What type of Evans heads did you replace the stock ones with? No DrumDial? Fun video, thanks.
You can def tell the Diff in clarity and attack. Just the overall cleanliness of the sound is better with the more expensive one!
Definitely hearing the difference between the two, the fact that only the Reference snare is equipped with cast hoops it’s a dead giveaway.
Beautiful drums my friends
Did it by ear and closed eyes. Got all right. The Brass got this nice warmth around it. You can hear it in every tuning. Steel has always some aggressive frequencies. But to be honest. The Modern Utility is also a great drum. Loved the low tuning.
3/3 dude!
Fun comparison! I’ve got 2 Ludwig 5x14” snares, a 70s Vistalite and a lm400 supraphonic.
Love this vids man! Your ayotte kit is sick!
Wow! Great video. My opinion? I liked the sound of the $200 snare better. Problem is that I don't like a 6.5 snare. Never have. With all of that said, I have to say that that kit is one of the sweetest looking kits I've seen.
Epic video shots in the intro!
I won both levels! They both sound awesome!
When you said you tuned the bottom side first does that go for all drums or just the snare drum? I'm assuming for all drums & not just the snare drum right?
Am I the only one wishing Harry did more videos ?
That's every drummers greatest wish
I have a 13x7 pork pie brass snare and man this thing cracks like a supraphonic, it was definitely worth the money. I got a deal on it at a thrift store for pretty cheap. So to answer someone's question if you can get good sound for cheap, YES YOU CAN!!
Dude those are like my 2 fav snares ever the reference being my fav probably!! (Btw u can still see the gold when u blur the reference snare lol)
I got them all right but I'm not a drummer. I play congas and I'm very picky with my tuning. I even had debates with other conga players about what is better, raw hide vs synthetic skin. Great content, I liked the video.
I’m looking to buy a new snare, so I’m looking closely at many snares and actually got them all correct.
The hard ones were the low tuning, but like David said, you could hear it in the tones. Then the high tuning was also pretty tough, but what did it for me was the articulation of the snares.
Articulation is due to the player.
I got both right, the reference had more depth and tone so stood out more in the mix
Thanks for this video. I definitely going to do more research to get my new snare. I have an old Tama swingstar metal snare and still sounds pretty good. Curious, the other tom drum is also by Pearl? And is that he reference series? Also, the cymbal with holes in it, is that a trash crash? Thanks.
Great vid man. Great tone from that 200 snare.
I got all of em correct, the last clip was a bit tricky.
The different shell material made it easier to guess imo.
what triggers do you suggest for use on the $1300 one?
NAILED IT!
Got both questions at the beginning right, and I'm not even a drummer :P The cheaper tom just sounded "looser" from it's resonance body (if that makes sense) and it had more sound "byproducts".
This is so much fun, not sure where I have been the last two years.
What is the blue thing he puts on top of the drums?
Everytime I got it right.
I think, the key is that with the standard tuning the expensive snare souns more focused and sharper, while in the low tuning it has that PUNCH.
I personally was able to spot the expensive snare every time though the extercise that you did with the snares at a low tuning without the springs actually through me off a little but the expensive snare had way more attack, resonance control, and over all just sounded better to my ears but the take away from your experiment was I was wearing $200 headphones that are really good at picking up every little detail. But like I said you almost got me with one Exercise but I will also say that my church has pretty low quality snares which bugs me a lot but I can always find a tuning that’s manageable to my ear if I mess with it enough but a more expensive snare just to me sounds a little better. Especially the deeper shell depth snares, anything 6.5”-8” shell depth just sounds beefier, more attack, power, resonance, and control over that resonance without the use of resonance rings or sticky squares. In the end can a $200 snare do the job, yes my old Tama imperialstar 14x5.5 snare still sounds fantastic to me and is relatively cheap for what it is. My 14x8 Ludwig supraphonic snare is way better though, so much more depth and attack, I don’t know I guess it’s just a preference thing to me.
I answered all questions right, it's because I can notice the sound that's near my tuning, the cheap one. they Sound more similar than the Expensive one.. I use Fernando drums.. As I can say, Their difference was, the expensive one has a compression like effect and doesn't lose the tone that makes it sound better and the Cheap one sounds more open.
Excellent content. By the way, which camera is used? Incredible capture and editing job.