When\nchoosing a drum to buy, one of the most important considerations is the type of\ndrum head. Percussion instruments and hand drums go through different methods\nof manufacturing. However, when it comes to drum heads, there are mainly two\nchoices available; animal skin or synthetic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Modern drums commonly feature mylar (plastic) material\nrather than animal skin. However, looking back at 50 decades ago, calf skin was\nmainly used for most drum heads like the tom-toms and the snare drum. Others\nalso used goat skin. However, due to cost implications, a shift towards plastic\nhas been the order of the day.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nchoice of the material of the drum head to go with is not just about the sound\nand ethical considerations. There are various things to considered one of them\nbeing the durability. At the same time, you should consider the quality and the\nmaintenance of the drum head of your choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What Is The Skin Of A Drum Called? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nskin of a drum is normally referred to as a drum head <\/em><\/strong>or drum\nskin. <\/em><\/strong>This is a membrane that is stretched over one end of a drum. In\nother drums, the membrane is stretched on the upper and the lower side. This is\nwhat is hit with a stick to produce sound. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What Materials Are Used To Make A Drum?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\nare different parts in a drum and all of them are made of different materials.\nThere are two main parts of a drum which are the shell and the head. The shell\nis usually made up different types of wood like; birch, maple and polar. The\nhead is made of animal skin or synthetic material. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What Are Drums Used For?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Drums\nmake part of musical instruments. Drums are hit with a drum stick to produce\nsound that brings steady beat in a song. A collection of different types of\ndrums added together with cymbals make up a drum set or a drum kit. Drums give\nmusic a sense of feeling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What Is The Bass Drum Skin Made Of?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Traditional\ndrums were mainly made of animal skin. This is the origin of the name \u2018drum\nskin\u2019. However, technology has brought great difference in almost every sector\nof our lives and music hasn\u2019t been left out. Although we still have real animal\nskin drums today. They are not as many as the synthetic drums are due to their\ncost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bass\ndrums skins found in the market today are made of a certain plastic known as\nMylar. Although you can still find a few bass drums made of animal skin, they\nare very expensive compared to the rest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How Tight Should Drum Skins Be?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n When\nit comes to tightening a drum, there is no standard rule. There are those who\nlike tuning their drums really tight while others prefer a relatively\ntightness. Many experts advice drum users to make a personal judgment when it\ncomes to tightening the drum skin. Always choose what you feel works well for\nyour drum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nis not wise to compare the tightness of your drum with any other drum sets as\nthe threading on the lugs differs. When 1.5 turns may work for one drum,\nanother might require less or even more to create the desire tension. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Do Bottom Drum Heads Matter?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nbottom drums head which is also known as the resonant head matters a lot. The\nresonant head responds to the hitting of the top head or the \u2018batter\u2019.\nTherefore, the bottom is as important as the top matters. For this reason, on\nshould put into consideration the type of material to put on both sides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nbottom drum head plays a very important role in controlling a drum\u2019s sustain.\nThis is because; this is the part that sends the air created by the vibration\nof the drum once the top has been struck. The back and forth of the air is what\nsustains the vibration of the top head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How Often Should You Change Bass Drum Heads?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\nis no standard rule set of how often the bass drum heads should be changed. There\nis a recommendation of always changing the drum heads every time you are about\nto start a new recording. This might not work for everyone. This is because,\nnot everyone uses their drum sets as much and hence, they don\u2019t often wear out.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nother general rule is replacing your drum heads after every six months. Just as\nthe other recommendation, this one also works depending on how often the drum\nset is used. Therefore, just be alert and watch when your drum heads needs\nreplacement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Do Drum Heads Come With Both Sides?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Many\ndrum heads come with both sides. The upper side is normally referred to as \u2018batter\nhead\u2019 <\/em><\/strong>while the bottom side is referred to as \u2018resonant head\u2019. <\/em><\/strong>The two\nsides of the drum head might use the same material or you might choose the\nbatter to be thicker than the resonant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What are the best drum heads for metal?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Metal\nand all the other subgenres within that umbrella tend to be a bit different in\ntone as well as the sound. This means, the drums used must also be a bit\ndifferent. Drum heads for metal should be thicker with a two ply or so to allow\nhard hitting without the fear of damages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Why Do Drummers Only Use One Tom? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Removing\none tom and preferring to use one tom is a trend that has been there since\nmid-1960s. This trend was mostly used by jazz players. This is because; one\nrack tom gives room for the player to place their ride cymbal close to their\nright hand. Although many drum sets comes with two toms, many people tend to\nremove one and use just one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At\nthe same time, it makes it easily portable even when you are travelling for a\ngig or a recording. A single tom also allows the player to be a position of playing\ndifferent sounds and tones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How Tight Should A Snare Drum Head Be?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n According\nto many experienced drummers, the snare-side or the bottom side of a snare drum\nneeds to be tensioned very tight. Although it might seem like you are ruining\nyour drum, better results demand an extremely tight bottom head. This is\nbecause of the different sound expected to be produced by a snare drum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike\nthe toms, a snare drum is expected to release a tight and bright sound and not\nlong sustained resonance. The tightness is also brought about by its need or\nresponding to the bottom head. The resonance should however not be as tight as\nthe batter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Drum Head Companies<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\nare different small companies that manufacture drum heads across the world.\nHowever, there are several that have been known over the years as the best drum\nhead manufacturers. These include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Drum Head Parts <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\nare two drum head parts of a drum. The upper part which is also known as \u2018batter\u2019 <\/em>is the main head. The lower head\nis also known as \u2018resonance\u2019 <\/em>and it\nis equally important as the batter. In most drums, the batter is a bit thicker\nthan the resonance for durability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What Is A Drum\nWrap?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Drum\nwraps are drum covers that have been created to recover drums. This means, they\ncover the body of your drum to protect it from tear as well as giving it a\nbetter look. There are many companies dealing with drum wraps and they all use\ndifferent techniques in creating them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There\nare multiple materials being offered as drum wraps while other companies\nmanufacture real drum wraps. The most common materials sold as drum wraps are sparkly\ndiner-chair upholstery vinyl and self-adhesive vehicle\/sign vinyl. When\nchoosing the best drum wrap, look at the material used and the thickness to\nensure you get top quality product. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nthe past, drum heads were purely made from animal skin. Different animal skins\nwere used for this purpose many of which were domestic animals. Animal skin\ndrums are made from hides of cows, goats and other livestock. Apart from these\nlivestock hides, people also made drum heads using the skin of fish or reptiles.\nHowever, this is rarely used in the present days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although\nanimal skin drum heads are not very common today, you can still find a few. Today,\npeople use goat skin, calf skin and many others especially in making African\ndjembes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When choosing a drum to buy, one of the most important considerations is the type of drum head. Percussion instruments and hand drums go through different methods of manufacturing. However,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":520,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/phanesmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/phanesmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/phanesmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phanesmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phanesmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/phanesmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":555,"href":"https:\/\/phanesmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions\/555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phanesmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/phanesmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phanesmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phanesmusic.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}