House of Drumming.com

I'm sitting at O'Hare with a long layover waiting to go home, and I started wondering. With launching the Empyrean snare drum and being involved in the creative process of designing a drum........I wondered in you guys had any ideas of something you'd like to see in a drum. Something that's never been done before. My mind thinks of things I've never seen, such as French Marquetry on a drum, or a sterling silver engraved shell, or scrap aluminum from the space shuttle made into a shell. I'm sure this topic could be fodder for comedic comments, but I really was curious about other unique possibilities that might be floating around in your collective heads.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend-
Cheers,
Todd

I can tell you what I did do

I made myself a very basic bronze shell snare drum a few years back.
It is warm and punchy and I like the simple look myself. I actually fitted two old Tama rims on it,
because I tried them on and it sounded amazing with those on:

How about a cast metal snare with the lugs cast into the shell instead of being attached after? I guess wood could work to if you had a large enough piece to start with and then reinforce them with a screw from inside the shell.

A durable foam practice pad... Foam is a bouncier than a pillow but still makes you lift the stick. It would simulate playing on a couch cushion which I happen to like. I've actually made a cheap prototype with ply wood and upholstery foam...It's ok but there has to be a better foam out there somewhere...

great topic - dreaming is a beautiful thing. I´ll just throw in some odd ideas (you never know what might come out of it...)

what if:

1) not only the snare, but the entire kit was made similar to the construction of a DW Edge Snare Drum ? But maybe using really thin plies of wood and brass (or bronze)...

2) or even a hybrid shell composed of metal (always a warm sounding metal) and acrylic, "glued" together horizontally or vertically

3) (this is really goofy) a drum had two different diameters at each side ? Say a 14 inch batter with a 12 inch bottom ?

4) every floor tom had a subwoofer just like what they do to bass drums

5) every drum came with a built in tuner system (such as the DTS) = http://www.drumtech.com/dts.html
* I know some drummers will want to have maximum control over their tuning, on the other hand, A LOT of drummers don´t have any idea
on how to get them to sound good, and this system could benefit this specific niche of drummers.

6) the shells were made from metal and the hoops from wood ?

7) drums had hybrid hoops (half metal half wood), I know Gibaltar makes one, but I´m actually suggesting half of it being one thing, the other half being another material

8) heads could be fitted into larger diameter drums ? a 10 inch head into a 12 inch shell

i´m getting carried away haha if however any of these ideas get used and I´m not only talking about mines (which are simply crazy and uncientific, it be cool if you gave credit to HOD as to where the inspiration came from

A snare that has great tone.. but has a Maximum db of 95,.. so no matter how hard you hit it, it doesn't take off.. So you could play a room of glass and not have a snare that kills you..

A snare that has an adjustable depth
A snare that is self tuning ala the gibson guitar...

chris perra wrote:A snare that has an adjustable depth

Cool concept right there...

Julián Fernández wrote:

chris perra wrote:A snare that has an adjustable depth

Cool concept right there...

This is sort of fits the bill. It seems quicker than a free floater. http://www.expandrums.com

I still want to experiment with my idea of creating a "two-way" pedal that would allow the foot to generate pedal motion with either the heel or the toe. The idea is for the pedal to create a kind of double output by using a rocking motion. Forward/toe = one hit. Backwards/heel = second hit. The rest position would be center/midfoot. I think it'd be more ideal for a hi-hat pedal than a BD pedal, but I've never gotten beyond the idea in my head to experiment.

1. a drumset that sets itself up, gives me a cold beer after a show and tears itself down.
2. lighthweight yet very sturdy and stable hardware.
3. a hi-hat pedal that feels like a bass drum pedal, I know that goes against the physics of the apparatus
4. a bass drum mounted tom mounting system with the adjustability of a rack, with memory locks
5. hardware with an eye towards aesthetics but not massively heavy (SONOR!!!)
6. tuning rods that use regular SAE hex heads, or even metric, so you don't have to carry around five drumkeys so that if you lose one, you're not boned
7. removable, washable stool covers, no further explanation needed