Marking our 10th year since the seed of our company was planted, we will be introducing our 10th  ANNIVERSARY EDITION snare drum and drum set.  We will also be debuting some new items on these such as our own lug designs, tom suspension system, and our custom wood hoops.

We are humbled and very excited to be a part of so many wonderful players lives in providing you with the tools of your trade.  As always, we continue to welcome your comments and ideas for future consideration and development.

Best regards and happy drumming!

 Curt

Founder,  Artisan Drumworks

Any idea?

PS: I would like it to be an Artisan kit

I always start with the bottom head since this is really what produces the first note that you hear when the drum is first struck. If you think about it, at the exact moment of impact, the top head is actually muted by the stick.  I seat the head evenly by finger tightening all the tension rods.  Then I do 1/2 turns on all going around the drum like a clock.  I don’t generally do a criss-cross pattern except maybe after the drum is in the ballpark.  I am just careful to allow the head to tension slowly and as evenly as I can.  Once in the region of the pitch I am after, then I begin tapping at each lug about 1″ in from the edge to check that all tension rods are tuned to one another.  I repeat the same process for the top head and then lower it by about 1/2 a step pitch-wise.  I like a little “bend” in the pitch of the drum. 

That’s what I do and so far it has worked.  There are times, however, when I just seem to be having a bad day and can’t  get the sound out of the drum I am after.  Of course, now that I make drums, I work all those bugs out of them so they don’t have that problem.  lol

 The Artisan

Ply drums are easiest to make, most economical, and very strong- unless they are too thin.  All the glue used makes up a large portion of the total mass.  Consequently, there is not a lot of natural shell vibration going on.  Solid wood, on the other hand, is very resonant by itself.  And, interestingly, the different densities within each species offers a different fundamental pitch to that wood- assuming all pieces are of the exact same dimensions.  Consequently, solid wood shells have a more natural singing voice than ply, especially when they are tunedto the note they want to sing in! (the natural note of the shell)  A simple illustration of this is evidenced in a marimba.  Guess what?  Solid wood!!  And a definite pitch, right?

Some have expressed the concern of strength in a solid shell(stave) vs. ply.  Most tables in high end furniture are edge glued and present no problems when done correctly.  Stave drum shells are also edge glued, some even use a tongue and groove joint, though not necessary if done correctly.  The staves themselves are very narrow (2-3″ in our case) and pose no danger of going out of round.  In fact, a steam bent shell with re-inforcement rings has a far greater chance of going out of round.  The shell has been forceably bent(unnatural process).  Even plies are forceably bent, though easy to do because they are very thin.  Still unnatural, however.  Stave design imposes no stress at all, and the grain orientation in our drums are vertical which we also believe enhances the drums sensitivity. 

Hope this helps everyone.

The Artisan

 I have access to CNC lathes and milling machines (with big size capacity).  It’s my belief that drums shells could be produced from solid wood lugs, machined to tight tolerances, to obtain maximum resonnance.  My buddies pretend that solid wood is not adequate, since the shells would crack and deform.

What is your opinion?

 Thanks!