crash course in drum woods...

Hey guys,

I realized today after browsing through some gear online that I really don't know all that much, in fact pretty much nothing about the different types of wood used in drumsets...

I hear little things here and there, for instance that mahagony is one of the louder types of wood (maybe I'm wrong?), but aside from that, I don't know the first about which type of wood gives off a warm sound, a big sound, a bright sound, etc...

Could somebody give me a crash course in the different types of wood used in making drums, oh and perhaps you could help me...I have a tama rockstar kit I purchased about 7 years ago, all standard size (5x14 snare, 16x22 kick, etc..) and I was wondering if you know what kind of wood is used on my set?

Thanks!

I don't know if you've seen the Drum Tuning Bible before, but here's the section on wood types:

http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/id14.html

The DTB is a killer resource that deserves the several hours it'll take you to read through the whole thing. You'll be a better drummer when you're done.

/w

Definitely read the link from WillyRay, bulletblue, it's a good overview.

I would only caution you to realize that the type of wood used is only one factor, and not the major factor, in how drums sound. Most drummers will say that heads and tuning have a much greater impact on how drums sound while perhaps disagreeing on just how much weight to assign each factor.

There are other factors, too: hardware, bearing edges, the kind of hoops, the depth of the shells, the thickness of the shells, whether they have rerings or not, whether the wood is finished or unfinished inside the shell, etc. How a drum sounds is a product of all of these, and despite the marketing hype you can't always make the correlation between sound and wood type.

I would have to say that drumtechdad dad has hit the nail right on the head....so to speak,that being said and knowing he is correct on all points....I still find myself after all these years(yes,I'm an old guy) falling into the same old trap(bad pun,I know)of..... what are the shells made of? I know it's a thing of habit from my youth but I don't care....after I find out that info I'm happy then I star looking at all the other stuff.....weird, I know. I saw a new set of Pacific the other day and I asked, you guessed it....what are the shells made of....I found out....popular....I was shocked at first but they sounded great! Then,I realized that all new drums well,most of them sound great....it's the new car thing I guess. To sum this up follow the advise given here(above) and realize all of us have some quirkey habits when it comes to buying new or new to us drums.

Birch = doom

Maple = doooom

All the other points above are valid, but sometimes when a question is asked on the forums you want a black & white answer. Most highend drums are made out of Maple these days, Birch is still a major player but only the big players use it like Pearl, Tama and Yamaha (with a few others). Plenty of other woods are used in an exotic setting or in a Signature line like Yamaha Oak Custom, Pearl Mahagony Masters, Tama Budinga Starclassics as well as DW Budinga. Most of these exotics are for wild stain finishes like DW's. Some Manufacturers like to mix up the wood in different layers like the Pearl Reference kit. You may find that one tom will have a few layers of Birch on the inside with a few layers of Maple over the Birch. Reason being is the Birch will give some attack and the Maple will give some warmth. Some designers will use different thinkness or layers of wood for more focus (more layers like a 6 ply Peral MRX kit) or for more of a resonate warm tone, less layers like Pearls 4ply MMX kit. Both kits are Masters series made out of high grade North American Maple.

For the most part its up to your ears really. Birch vs Maple. (ford vs Chevy) With a good quality drumset it really doesnt matter. Birch may have a bit more of an attack, or a more punchy tone while Maple will give a warmer tone. Birch is probably more focused while Maple will resonate longer. Either wood, heads and tuning will make more of a difference. Some will say that if you were to put a tone from a certain wood on a EQ chart, Birch would look like a smiley face that you would see on a DJ's EQ while Maple would be more of a small wavey line. Again tuning can change this more than the wood its self. Mahagony is suppose to be a deeper tone than Maple. I do think Maple is a bit easier to tune up and make sound good. Ive had a few Birch toms that were a pain in the cheeks to tune.

Both can offer great quality sounds but its more for your ears only, how many peeps could tell the difference if Chad Smith used a Maple set one day and a Birch set the next day? Esp with a great tune job with good heads. I doupt I could unless I saw the badges.

Maple drums usually cost more even with the same level of a series like a Masters Maple or a Masters Birch. Maple takes longer to grow, the quality stuff mostly grows back east. The best of Birch comes from the Baltic, grows faster, more available and proabably cheaper to harvest than Mexi-I mean Americans, you know labor unions an such. Baltic Birch is also used in mid to highend speaker cabs.

Hope any of this helps, Im no expert, just a damn good Parrot!