The drums have their own look, which is an important thing in the saturated market of custom made drums. I will not comment on the "reclaimed" or "green" aspect of the makers approach. The sound engineer, though, like all such hype in the drum making industry, fails at two central points. 1. Balancing a naked shell and tapping it means almost nothing to the final sound of a drum. Clamp the shell with just thumb and forefinger and tap it and hear the muted clunk. What do people think takes place when metal lugs are screwed tightly to it and heads are then attached? The naked thump test means nothing. 2. The plywood shell had as much "tone" as the solid shell, it was just at a much lower pitch because it was thinner than the solid shell. Thin down your solid wood to the same thickness and see what tone it produces. The sound of a drum is created by the drum heads. The cylinder is a chamber made of materials of one density or another in which sound waves bounce around. The more dense the cylinder, the higher the pitch of it when naked, generally speaking. But all that changes when you attach lugs. The more dense a shell, the more sound waves are retained to bounce around but, in full set interplay, such differences become nuances. If you want to risk a true comparison of sound, finish the drum, tune it the same as a plywood drum, and then let people hear supposed differences in sound which will make themselves apparent in full set play, let alone in a band context. I make and own both ply and solid drums. It is little more than marketing which gets into this whole naked shell equals better finished sound-hype. The density of the shell is what contributes the most to the sound of drum heads in sympathetic vibration with themselves. True, a drum may be the sum total of its parts and vibrate as one unit when mounted in isolation. Nonetheless, the only way anyone can prove their point is to compare finished drums. Why is it no one will do that? If the sound of a solid drum is superior, prove it with finished drums, not naked shells. The fact is any drum, of any material can sound great with the right heads and mounting. Sound is highly subjective. The only true objective approach would be to compare finished drums. After more than 25 years of making drums, I have come to see hype is the biggest problem with this industry. Yes, buy your drums because you like the finish. That will mean far more than solid or plywood shells of the same thickness and relative density when you play your whole kit.
i think you are totally right in your explanation...tell you hat is a reason i m not a fan of DW drums...they are to correct pitched...witch in my opinion takes away the caracter of the sound of drums.overtones..are the beauty of drumsound,..maybe that is a little bit wath this guy try to explain ...so 50 50 would be the best....and you right the sound of drums is created by all the components of the instrument.so shell,heads,hoops,tuning,room acoustic...and the way somebody plays are ...the real sound you will ear....cheers
Absolutely agree. I have been restoring and building drums since 1967 and I can make a cheap drum from China sound great with new heads and tweaking the edges. I have ply drums and solid drums and both sound good. The final decision is in a blind playing test and remember one person's selection may be different from another - sound quality is subjective. The custom drum industry is saturated with over-priced "boutique" drums that sound just as great as a generic Keller ply drum.
very interesting video. Mike is a cool dude. I would like to work with him. Maybe i could come to Georgia or maybe expand the business here in Texas. Outlaw drums can become a major drum company. I would like to get a full set of solid drums. I would love to build drums! what a blessing!
A lot of people selling solid shells will tell you how much better they are than ply shell. But they never just play a solid shell drum Vs a ply drum. Why is that? It's comparative advertising, after all. Show us why your product is so much better. I think that it's simply because the majority of people couldn't tell a significant difference.
i do not agree ..i had 1 drum shell and i test the same shell with die cast hoops ,flanged hoops..plus head choises and tuning make me amaze how mutch differences brought on the caracter in sound of the drums within the same shell
is also a very very different issue if you are talking about a 16 floor tom of a snare ...maybe a floor tom to me sound nicer 1 pitched....a 10 inch like more overtones, and a snare...all different story....and personal taste...happy drumming is the key to sound make drums sound good
The drums have their own look, which is an important thing in the saturated market of custom made drums. I will not comment on the "reclaimed" or "green" aspect of the makers approach. The sound engineer, though, like all such hype in the drum making industry, fails at two central points. 1. Balancing a naked shell and tapping it means almost nothing to the final sound of a drum. Clamp the shell with just thumb and forefinger and tap it and hear the muted clunk. What do people think takes place when metal lugs are screwed tightly to it and heads are then attached? The naked thump test means nothing. 2. The plywood shell had as much "tone" as the solid shell, it was just at a much lower pitch because it was thinner than the solid shell. Thin down your solid wood to the same thickness and see what tone it produces. The sound of a drum is created by the drum heads. The cylinder is a chamber made of materials of one density or another in which sound waves bounce around. The more dense the cylinder, the higher the pitch of it when naked, generally speaking. But all that changes when you attach lugs. The more dense a shell, the more sound waves are retained to bounce around but, in full set interplay, such differences become nuances.
If you want to risk a true comparison of sound, finish the drum, tune it the same as a plywood drum, and then let people hear supposed differences in sound which will make themselves apparent in full set play, let alone in a band context.
I make and own both ply and solid drums. It is little more than marketing which gets into this whole naked shell equals better finished sound-hype. The density of the shell is what contributes the most to the sound of drum heads in sympathetic vibration with themselves. True, a drum may be the sum total of its parts and vibrate as one unit when mounted in isolation. Nonetheless, the only way anyone can prove their point is to compare finished drums. Why is it no one will do that? If the sound of a solid drum is superior, prove it with finished drums, not naked shells.
The fact is any drum, of any material can sound great with the right heads and mounting. Sound is highly subjective. The only true objective approach would be to compare finished drums. After more than 25 years of making drums, I have come to see hype is the biggest problem with this industry. Yes, buy your drums because you like the finish. That will mean far more than solid or plywood shells of the same thickness and relative density when you play your whole kit.
i think you are totally right in your explanation...tell you hat is a reason i m not a fan of DW drums...they are to correct pitched...witch in my opinion takes away the caracter of the sound of drums.overtones..are the beauty of drumsound,..maybe that is a little bit wath this guy try to explain ...so 50 50 would be the best....and you right the sound of drums is created by all the components of the instrument.so shell,heads,hoops,tuning,room acoustic...and the way somebody plays are ...the real sound you will ear....cheers
Absolutely agree. I have been restoring and building drums since 1967 and I can make a cheap drum from China sound great with new heads and tweaking the edges. I have ply drums and solid drums and both sound good. The final decision is in a blind playing test and remember one person's selection may be different from another - sound quality is subjective. The custom drum industry is saturated with over-priced "boutique" drums that sound just as great as a generic Keller ply drum.
I'd like to hear a ply shell vs solid shell of similar mass, that'd be interesting.
What you call “Dead” sounds pretty deep, resonant and full to me. The ply shell sounded killer.
very interesting video. Mike is a cool dude. I would like to work with him. Maybe i could come to Georgia or maybe expand the business here in Texas. Outlaw drums can become a major drum company. I would like to get a full set of solid drums. I would love to build drums! what a blessing!
A lot of people selling solid shells will tell you how much better they are than ply shell. But they never just play a solid shell drum Vs a ply drum. Why is that? It's comparative advertising, after all. Show us why your product is so much better. I think that it's simply because the majority of people couldn't tell a significant difference.
The drum made of plys, is also about half as thick. That has to make a difference.
i do not agree ..i had 1 drum shell and i test the same shell with die cast hoops ,flanged hoops..plus head choises and tuning make me amaze how mutch differences brought on the caracter in sound of the drums within the same shell
If a ply drum is under tension than it wasn't made properly. Keller Shells are the BEST. END OF STORY
Great video
is also a very very different issue if you are talking about a 16 floor tom of a snare ...maybe a floor tom to me sound nicer 1 pitched....a 10 inch like more overtones, and a snare...all different story....and personal taste...happy drumming is the key to sound make drums sound good
0:02 spotted ABES EXODUS SOUND IN THE BACLGROUND
Should have tapped the shells with the hardware on.. 😀
Can't do that....no note!
sorry man, absolute BS
the plys have a lot of glue... i perfer solid wood shells
Yeah, no.