future of drums

this may have already been done but what will drum kits be like in another ten years say?what about a flying kit?

Underwater kits.

How about gas drums?

The choice of gas (propane, ethane, helium, whatever...) may have an effect on the sensitivity/sound of the drum. Gases heavier than air might travel along the shaft (shell) in a more focused fashion than air or gases that are lighter than air.

Maybe worth experimenting with.

I'lld like to see new synthetic materials for shells.

yes definately, fill your drum up with propane... then I can put out my cigarette in your floor tom and watch the fireworks show

That is original thinking, though, and I like that!

electronic perhaps? This, i'm sure, would come with a lot of resistance, and electronic drums surely wouldn't have taken over in just 10 yrs... but the way things are going, it certainly could happen in the future. Who knows... anything could happen with technology, e-kits of the future could be programmed to act and sound just like a real kit - responding to the room that its in etc. I hope not, cos we all love to go smashy-smashy on a nice real drum or cymbal - perhaps a hybrid acoustic-electric kit will take over - where you could have either acoustic or electronic sounds or a mixture of both with out having to change out mesh heads

You'll probably see just triggers with direct input to a computer, and not just midi, but playing samples live in a sequencer that will be totally software based. The music industry will shift from disk based to total online distribution. Drum licks and parts will be distributed online and you'll be able to buy a proffessional track from celebratred artists via the internet... You'll probably be able to phone in (play in) a part to a remote studio.

self-tuning drums!

Install a small computer on the side of the drum. The chip is pre-programmed with the pitch of the drummers choice. The chip is connected to the lugs by some kind of communication system (i dunno, i'm not an engineer)... lets call it nanotune technology. The chip sends the message to the lugs that it wants to make F#. The lugs turn to approximately where F# would be on most drums of its size. Then, all the drummer needs to do is strike the drum... the computer chip (equipped with a microphone that is installed on the inside of the shell... about the size of a dime) will pick up the note and self-adjust the lugs until the drum is perfectly in tune. It will continue the process of double-checking the pitch of the drum everytime it's struck ensuring that the drum will never go out of tune.

THAT would be cool... but would kind of take the antiquity and tradition out of drumming so let's hope it doesn't get invented (or popular).

The one sad thing about the future of drums is that the wood that it's made out of won't be around. Yes, you can get maple or birch, but they will have grown in a different way. They will have grown fast, which changes their rings, and ultimately change their fundimental sound. For example, take a look at the DW/Craviotto timeless timber solid snare shell and compare it to a solid shell made of more "modern" woods. The grain is much larger (less dense wood) in the contemporary wood shell. So hang on to those older/vintage kits b/c the wood they are made with is a dying breed.

sudz - that last comment brings up an interesting topic: what did people think when lug-tuned drums started to replace rope-tuned? I know, lug-tuned had been around for a while (kinda like how traditional grip isn't really traditional), but in the states at least 99% of drums were rope-tuned for a while

Hopefully there'll be drummers and kits. The Cylons are trolling us in with the promise of 'anything you f% feel like' ...

Drums should be [relatively] inexpensive and be better quality. That's a future I'm anxious for.

High tech drumsticks , w/ motion sensitive tips that eliminate the drums entirely?

Dan...funny you guys should mention those. I have a rope tuned bass drum from my old grammar school marching band down in my basement. It isn't playable any more, but just to see the mechanism how tuning was acomplished with leather pull downs on the ropes is amazing. This drum dates back to the early 1940's or so... I had a snare to go with it that was like the old revolutionary snares about 2 1/2 feet tall. It is long gone...

as long as no one brings back the "Rims" pretuned heads!

Wow, just hearing the term "pretuned heads" makes me cringe in my seat. Damned the company who produced such a product! *holds fist up high*

I want my jetpack yesterday!

drums that change pitch by air pressure . head is fixed , "precalibrated", pitch changes as air pressure is + or - 'ed, would have to tune for altittude pressure fluctuations. Sides would flex when hit to transmit pressure wave thru air for better volume . (Slow day at work , I'm bored.... ) Comes with air pump and tire gauge.

See, I don't think things will be all that different in the future. Hell, you've got Zildjian using a 400+ year old process to make the cymbals you buy today (although they can make a lot MORE of them a whole lot faster today), and the basic "drum"....a head or two stretched across a shell....hasn't changed much in the past couple centuries either.

Let's face it, we're playing an ancient instrument, folks. In fact the last BIG recent develoments have been plastic drumheads, and better designed and more durable hardware. Take a modern maple shelled tom and compare it to one from 1950, and it's pretty much the same animal.

My guess is that a few things will happen. Continued advances in production will make it easier to make drums. So drums, in general, will be more consistent and better quality (just like today's gear is more consistently "good" than the older stuff).

The two areas that I see more room for improvement are in the areas of hardware and electronics.

70's era hardware was very lightweight and flimsy, and in the 80's, things got MUCH better. I think that trend will continue, and you'll see more areospace materials getting into the picture...titanium, machined aluminum, carbon fiber, etc. I can guarantee you that in short order, somebody will start putting titanium lugs on drums and making the claim that their lighter weight will make the drum more resonant. At the same time, titanium or carbon fiber stands will make hauling your kit a lot easier on your back. Finally, I see more advances in pedal design. In cycling, where you have guys investing tons of money and research to make things lighter and more friction-free, you see "new and improved" stuff coming out all the time. The latest thing is ceramic bearings that make wheels spin more freely. I predict DW or Axis will be putting ceramic ball bearings in a drum pedal within the next couple years.

As for electronics, the sky's the limit. I see better pads that mimic acoustic drums even better than today's stuff, better sound modules (if today's top line brains hold 10,000 kits, they'll hold 100,000 in 5 years), and other stuff. The biggest leap will probably happen in cymbals because that's the area where e-percussion is most behind the curve. In 15 years, you'll probably have e-cymbals that react and fell almost identical to regular cymbals, but can be programmed to sound like whatever cymbal you want.

I also predict that in a decade, I'll be ten years older.

I'm surprised nobody has come out with ceramic or glass cymbles . They would not sound the same , but somebody will market them for their "different,out of the herd sound".

I don't think drums will change all that much in the next 10 years. To me the drums industry is about like the clothes marketplace in that fashions come in and out, but functionally are the same. Pants always have 2 legs, and drums aways have a shell and heads. The things that change are finishes and lugs and mounting devices. When I bought my Stage Custom 10 years ago, i couldn't find a wrap kit for sale. Power toms with long lugs were in. Now, wraps are back in and small lugs are back in. So, I predict that in 10 years, varnish kits with long lugs and more depth will be back in.

Of course, the electronic thing is a whole other ball game ...

Care to explain?

and their "single use capability"

they have those. I'm told they are best appreciated while inebriated.

ProTools.

Care to explain?

Thump a crystal glass . Beautiful , ringing tone . Not to mention the novelty of see-thru cymbals with optic fibers makin' them glow ! RONCO all the way!