 |
How to buy a New or Used Drum
By Peter Lenkefi
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
|
Before buying a new or a used drum sets one should remember the points
given:
1. Bass Drum: This instrument uses one head to be struck. The open side
of the bass drum allows the user to place a "sound absorption" blanket to
kill lengthy resonation.
2. Support Rods: Four of these metal rods keep the drum in place as it
is hit by the mallet head on the end of the foot pedal.
3. Foot Pedal: This attaches to the floor side of the head-rim to allow
the foot maximum flexibility of tempo and dynamics of soft and loud.
4. Snare Drum: This circular shell is 5 1/2" deep and 14" in diameter.
It fits on a stand and sits between the knees of the seated player. It is
encased by 2 skin or plastic heads secured by clamps and screw-bolt devices
called "lugs". The top head is struck with the drum sticks or brushes. The
bottom head has a 1 1/2" wide collection of adjustable parallel metal wires.
These are the "snares" and can be loosened or tightened by a threaded bolt
device called a "strainer". These snares vibrate sympathetically when the
top head is struck. They can be disabled using a "trigger switch" located on
the side of the snare shell.
5. Sticks: Two round sticks 12 - 14" in length each with a small and a
large end. The "tip" is the small end. The "butt" is the large end. The tip
is used to produce sound more often than the butt.
6. Brushes: Six to eight inches of "fan-shaped" wires extend from the
end of a storage tube. These produce a very light weight sound when used on
the snare drum or the cymbal.
7. Adjustable stool: The drummer uses this for seating comfort and
height adjustment. It's often called a "throne".
8. Ride Cymbal: This can be as large as 19" in diameter and $260 in
cost.
9. Crash Cymbal: This can be a 10" diameter cymbal and $160 in cost.
10. High Hat Cymbal: A floor-stand holds two horizontal cymbals that are
brought together using a foot pedal.
11. Cymbal Stands: Most stands rest on the floor.
12. Toms: These are like a drum without snares. A floor tom can be 14"
in diameter and 14" deep. Two smaller toms are often attached to the top of
the hoop-rim of the bass drum. .
One must also take care of the following points before purchasing a drum:
1. Avoid getting carried away by visions of "soloistic flight."
2. A fancy demonstration of percussion skill by a salesperson should not be
the main reason for making a purchase.
3. Glitter, lacquer and external finish are the least important factors when
purchasing a drum set.
4. Learn to listen well to the sounds that are produced.
For more more information about drums please visit
http://www.tama-drum.com
| 
