This is how Drums Are Made - Full DW Factory Tour 2023

[Jules]

I am not a DW fan. My bias began in 1993 when I went to a gig with a brand new DW 5000 pedal and it failed the first night in service and the footboard punched the bass drum batter head. Since then, I have seen several product videos and such and after all that, I just still can't connect. What's more, when I was a DCP, there wasn't a DW guy in the house. Not one.

Some points about DW in general and also things from this video. Having seen how Sonor builds shells, then watching the gentleman orient the plies and then carry it all to the mold, and then have to fiddle with the seam before closing the mold seems a little imprecise.

Secondly, the timbre matching nonsense. They hit the shell and get the note so that can make the shells match? How exactly is THAT done. These shells already have paint at this point. So if the pitches are properly stepped, then what? PLUS, a video was done (I will look for it) that proved that the pitch of the shell is totally different once you add hardware. This is one of several of the things DW (pardon the pun) pitches than I don't catch, so to speak. I can go along with the fact that a particular mass would have a stronger resonance related to a dominant frequency, but that would be impacted by and substantial force acting upon it, right? And if it's such a huge break through, why is NO ONE else doing it? I just don't remember getting a set of drums and thinking, wow, this one kinda sucks; I bet the pitch is all wrong.

I digress, for now.

[Jules]

What's with the guy running the electric screwdriver before putting it in the tension rods at about 12:30? The sound of the bit grinding onto the gold plating doesn't feel right to me. And about 13:45 he is downright reckless. Sheesh.

[tcbetka]

The thing about timbre matching is that so what if the shell has a fundamental note at a 'C'? Let's say that's a 13" tom, so you fit a 12", 16" and 18" together so the notes are in "nice" intervals. OK, so the shells sound great together when they're bare (no finish, no hardware). But then you put paint on them, which increases the mass...and thus increases the pitch. Then you put hardware on them--only the same hardware (ie; same size lugs, etc) has a different effect to each drum, because the mass of the hardware is in a different relative percentage of the shell. So, 6-lug drums come in several different diameters--the smaller ones having less mass than the larger ones. Yet you then put six lugs on each. So the mass of smaller drums is increased more than the mass of larger shells, when you consider the mass of the six lugs relative to the mass of the shell. So now your fundamental note(s) changes, and you no longer have the same pleasant interval you started with.

So on paper this timbre-matching thing might look good, but in practice I think its value gets more and more negated as the mass of each shell is increased (by different amounts, in proportion to the diameter of the shells).

[Jules]

I am trying to find a video where a man proved exactly what you just said.

TBH: I wish I could like DW. I am much more of a gear head than I am a player, so you would THINK DW would be my ultimate gear. It just has never worked out that way. I have ZERO interest in what they are doing.

[Jules]

[tcbetka]

Yeah--also check out the YouTube channel (and book) of that fellow I linked to last week, Rob Toulson. The guy with the actual PhD in acoustics, studying drums and what makes them sound like they sound. He wrote the iDrumTune app for iPhone (etc). Here's his YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@iDrumTune

You want to know anything about what makes drum sound like drums? Check out his stuff.

[Jules]

This is the one I tries to find recently and just happened to stumble across it this morning! Surprise ending.