The Acoustical Evolution of the Drum
26 November 2012
Prof. Errede
PHYS 193
By: Alec Lueders
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Amidst all of the controversies of the world, the violent and relentless wars, the
constant rush for money between countries, and everything else, there is one thing that
unites as all. It’s not the money, it’s not the violence, and it’s not the Internet. It’s music.
Music is the one language that is spoken in every single country, and it is a marvelous
wonder to be admired. Obviously there are many mediums through which this
phenomenon travels, which are known as instruments.
Perhaps one of the most admired and interesting instruments among all is the
drum. From the modern drum corps, flashing their inhuman chops and technicality, to the
street bucket drummers, boasting classic hip-hop rhythms and vibes, to the jazz kit
players, all the way back to the colonial military drummers, and even so far as to the very
beginning of mankind, the tribal percussionists, the drum has always been something that
attracts the human ear. Of course, the drum is not the mere constituent in this admiration;
it goes deeper than that, into what we know as rhythm. Any fool can bang on a drum, but
it takes a musician to make music out of these objects.
So how did the drum start as a one-person loosely tuned instrument made out of
animal hide and arrive today as a many person extremely high-tension device made out of
wood and Kevlar? This is precisely the question that brought me to this subject. In order
to track this evolution, one must observe the different acoustical properties of each type
of drum, starting with the most primal of them all: the frame drum, or commonly known
as the djembe.
This drum originated in the main parts of West Africa, being used by many
different tribes and groups of people (Charry). In the days when these types of drums
were very prevalent, they were used for more than just recreational music. They could be
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used for methods of communication, similar to the system of noises we know as Morse
code. A town in the ancient civilizations could gather their townspeople by using a drum
as a signal, making it much easier to stay together as a group of
people. In addition to a means of communication, they were also
used as a call to battle. Warriors from each tribe would use the
drum to summon the army to battle. Most commonly however, the
drums were used in the ceremonial dances of the tribe. In order to
dance in unison with one another, the tribe members required
something to keep rhythm for them. The djembe did just that,
usually only requiring one drum and one person for these dances.
Although simple, the djembe was the first step in the evolution of the drum, which paved
the way for many other instruments.
As far as the sound of the drum, why does the djembe give such a warm and
“wet,” yet crisp sound? It all has to do with the type of material used as the striking
surface, or the drumhead. As stated earlier, most of these drums are made with animal
hide, which is generally a tacky, yet taut material. This taut characteristic of the djembe
drumhead is what gives the drum its middle of the road sustain; it doesn’t sustain near as
long as timpani drums, but holds longer than something like a snare drum. If one were to
push down in the middle of the head, it would give and push down along with the force,
but it would definitely feel like a hard surface.
Fast forward to the future, and we see the dawn of the field drum. The field drum
is quite different from the djembe, mainly because of its past uses. The djembe is said to
be used for communication, calling soldiers to battle, and dancing. The field drum is
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similar to one of those aspects, as its main purpose in the colonial days was to keep time
while the soldiers marched into battle. It differs a small amount because it was not used
to initially let the men know about battle. Rather, it was a more sophisticated application,
as it would ensure that the men possessed complete uniformity.
The physical structure of the field drum differs a bit from the djembe as well. The
djembe is made out of a “goblet drum,” which is wood carved to look like an oversized
goblet (Essortment). This is then finished by using a rope to secure the animal hide onto
it, which gives it the tension needed to produce its dark, wet sound. The field drum is
made out of wood as well, but is not in the goblet shape. This gives the air a more
symmetrical passageway to flow through, making the sustain of the drum slightly shorter.
The field drum is quite different in the fact that it has two heads instead of one; it was the
first instrument to use more than one head in the sound production. They are both made
out of the same material, but there is something quite interesting regarding the tension of
the two heads. The top head must quite taut, or else it will not allow a stick to achieve the
needed bounce to play with good sound quality. On the contrary, the bottom head must
be a good amount looser, or else the head will not vibrate the snares, and thus will not
add any effect to the drum. Moreover, if the snares are too tight, they as well will not
vibrate and no effect will be added. Everything has to be tuned very precisely in order to
get a quality sound out of a drum like this. The top head is struck, vibrating it as well as
pushing air down into the drum, which vibrates the bottom head as well, which also
produces sound. Similar to the djembe, this construction requires a rope to tie the two
heads tightly to the shell of the drum.
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There is a main aspect of the field drum that is unique, and that is the snares on
the bottom head. This was the first drum to use these snares, or thin metal wires loosely
secured to the bottom head of the instrument. Why? These wires give it much more drive
and a crisp, loud sound that cuts through almost anything, which was quite useful in the
war setting.
Undergoing perhaps not as large of a change, the field drum evolved into the
concert snare drum. This drum is a little less harsh because it was used not for battle, but
for concerts and other performances, obviously. This drum was much flatter, with a
height of about 7-8 inches, which gave it a much more reserved sound. As one may think,
this could not be the only drum used in the concert setting, which is where the bass drum
comes in.
A bass drum is just what it sounds like,
a drum with a much deeper and lower sound.
Both the concert snare and bass drum are
typically made out of wood; the bass drum
typically uses an animal skin for the head,
while the snare drum has evolved into using something called Mylar, which is a form of
polyester resin. This polyester head has a sound that cuts through much more than animal
skin, which gives the snare drum the optimal sound. There is an even tougher material for
drumheads called Kevlar, but that will be discussed later. The most important and best
aspect of these concert drums is the warm sounds they give off. While playing in a
classical symphony orchestra back then, there really was no need for a harsh and loud
percussion section, rather, a warm and sophisticated one. For example, a loud and “in-
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your-face” field drum was hardly ever needed in a concert setting, which primarily still
holds true today.
The last important percussion instruments in orchestral playing are the timpani.
Timpani drums are different than all other drums because they can be tuned to a pitch that
will sustain for quite a long time. It is true that all other drums need to be tuned as well,
but these drums actually resonate a pitch. Therefore, it is absolutely compulsory that they
be in tune. The timpani have bodies that differ from almost all other drums. The shell is
made out of copper, almost always in the shape of a bowl. Even though the snare drum
was the first to be developed, many orchestras use timpani drums much more than snare
drums. Sometimes there isn’t any percussion at all in these performances, just to keep the
sound very sophisticated and light. However, most modern day orchestras almost always
have a set of timpani.
One may imagine what comes next, since the snare drum and the bass drum were
just discussed back to back. Following these two instruments, the drum set began to gain
popularity. The drum set is a type of combination of all the drums already discussed,
with, of course, cymbals added. The first drum is a bass drum, which provides the
booming pulse and heartbeat of the rhythm. However, these bass drums are a bit different
than those of the concert setting, as they use different drumheads. The drum set bass
drums use Mylar, just like the snare drum. Why? Because for the music that requires a
drum set, (jazz, rock and roll, etc.) the bass drum typically needs to be more articulate
and short, as opposed to the long and open sound of the concert bass drum. Next, we have
the backbone of the rhythm: the snare drum. These drums, however, really don’t differ
too much from the concert snare drums. The next addition is a little bit different than
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what has been discussed. Although the djembe is not used in a drum set, a similar drum,
known as the “tom-tom,” is used. Mylar head, double headed, and made out of wood, it
differs a good amount from the djembe, but the reason they are a bit similar is that they
both have an audible pitch. The bass drum and the snare drum technically do have a pitch
to them, but it is quite hard to distinguish with the human ear. The tom-tom is about in
between the two, with a long sustain that makes it quite easy to recognize the pitch.
All of these drums came together to form the drum set, as we know it today. If
one looks up a modern rock player, one might see that his drum set is a little busier than
what has been described. Some drummers use two bass drums to increase their feet
speed, some have more than one snare, many have a large amount of cymbals, etc. It is
completely dependent upon the type of music that is being played. A quite interesting
example of a customized drum set can be seen if looking at the drummer for Rush, Neil
Peart. As it was last recorded, Peart’s beautiful looking drum kit has a total of 42 pieces
(Zulaica 2). It is truly amazing how something so elaborate as this has evolved simply
from the skin of an animal stretched over a log of wood.
All of this comes to a halt at one of the most modern versions of the drum, the
marching snare drum. This type of snare drum, unlike the drum set snare drum, does
differ quite a bit from the concert snare drum. This drum has a shell made out of wood as
well, but is quite a bit thicker than the others. It is also taller than both other snare drums.
Both of these aspects of the drum point to one
thing: volume. The modern marching snare drum
is designed to be, quite frankly, loud. It is used in
Drum Corps across the world, which consists of
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about 90 brass players and a full front percussion ensemble of about 30, including drum
set players, marimba and vibraphone players, and auxiliary percussion players. Therefore,
it must be loud to be heard. These drums are taller in order for more air to be pushed
through the drum with a stroke of the stick. As one may imagine, more air means more
air particles being pushed down, and thus, more volume.
The other unique trait of the marching snare drum is the drumhead that it uses.
Unlike the other types of heads already discussed (Mylar, animal skin, etc.), the marching
snare drum uses a drumhead made out of Kevlar. This is the same material that is used in
many bulletproof vests. In other words, it is designed to perform at extremely high
tension, which means that it is stretched very, very tightly over the drum. This is what
gives the marching snare its unique sound; it is very high pitched and crisp. It will cut
through basically any other music/sound going on at that point. Because of this, it is an
instrument that is impossible to hide behind. In other words, if one is going to play it, one
must play it perfectly, as there is basically nothing to cover up the sound. This is also
why it is one of the most difficult instruments to play correctly, because as hard as it is
playing by oneself, most drumlines have about 8 or 9 players. So in addition to playing in
time by oneself, one must also play in absolute perfect time with 7 or 8 other people who
are trying to play in time as well. It is truly a difficult task, but when executed correctly
and perfectly, it is one of the most amazing things in music to observe. After discussing
the evolution of the drum, we can’t forget about the things that actually give the drum its
sound; without these, we would have no way to even play these instruments. The next
most important aspect of percussion is the object with which we strike the drum: the
stick.
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If going in chronological order, surprisingly enough, the first “stick” to be used
with the first drum (the djembe) was the human hand. Why? Quite frankly, the djembe
just does not sound good when played with a stick or a mallet. The animal skin used for
the head responds very well to an object with a very large striking surface area. This large
surface area is it what gives it the characteristic wet sound, rather than the crisp and
staccato sound from a marching snare stick. For both the concert snare drum and the field
drum, a very common drumstick is used. The best thing to use when trying to achieve a
very crisp, staccato sound is something with a short taper and a stocky bead, which seems
to perfectly fit the description of a drumstick.
For a concert bass drum, a mallet is used rather than a stick. Although sometimes
a drumstick is used on a bass drum, to achieve a full sound and push all of the air through
the large diameter drum, a yarn mallet with a large striking surface area is needed. When
orchestras want a big bass drum entrance, they don’t want a wet sounding “clink” noise,
they want a full, booming, bass hit. The timpani require a drumstick of a sort. However,
these sticks do not have a wooden tip at the end, but a mallet shaped end, usually
wrapped in yarn, felt, leather, cork, or just plain wood. These all produce a unique timbre
when striking the drum, and many times a professional timpanist will have numerous
pairs of mallets, picking a certain pair for the sound they produce and using them when
needed in the music.
For the marching snare drum, a different type of drumstick is used. It is much
more like the concert stick than the mallet, but it has its differences. The marching snare
stick is much thicker, a little bit denser, a tad longer, and generally heavier. Again, in
order to get that loud and full sound needed for Drum Corps, something is needed with
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enough weight behind it. Upon examination, there are a lot of little changes to a
drumstick that can affect the sound.
To start, the thickness of the stick will be examined. The thickness of a stick
affects the projection of the sound. While heavier sticks give a fuller sound and seem to
last a while longer, lighter and
thinner sticks are quicker and
easier to play with. A
traditional way of classifying sticks
is with either an A
(Orchestra/Jazz/Acoustic), a B
(Band), or an S (Street/Marching).
This is accompanied with a
number, which goes into more detail, as higher numbers typically mean smaller sticks.
Most sticks are classified by their thickness in inches, with the smallest being about .540”
and the thickest being about .710”. Normally lighter and thinner sticks are used for jazz,
primarily for their lighter and more delicate sound. The stick begins to be thicker when in
rock or metal playing. Here the sticks are about .630” to .635”, as these types of
drummers typically louder and faster than other drummers. Concert style sticks are
usually in the .610” to .640” range. As we fall into the marching band category, which of
course, uses the marching snare, the sticks are normally
.660” and can get up to .710” (Vic Firth).
The next characteristic of the stick is the taper.
This is how long the section of the stick is where it starts
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to become narrower. A stick with a large taper is much more flexible, meaning it requires
less effort to get the stick to rebound off of the head. A stick with a short taper is less
flexible, but is a bit stronger in its production of sound.
Another important factor of the stick is the length. The average length of a
drumstick is about 16”, with marching snare sticks being about 17”. The length affects
the leverage of the stick and how the weight is distributed, along with the taper. As a
result, if a stick is longer, it tends to feel heavier.
Lastly, the wood of the stick is important. The two most common types of wood
used for drumsticks are maple and hickory. Maple is a faster and lighter stick which gives
a lighter sound. Although larger sticks can still be made, thick maple sticks are usually
less dense due to their composition. Hickory sticks are generally more dense then maple
and thus, produce a heavier sound. Although they are a bit more expensive than maple,
their dense structure gives them more durability (Ashbridge).
All in all, the drum is a very complex instrument. Too often today we see it
simplified almost to where it seems like an instrument only for a simpleton. It is
“Hollywoodized” and people truly do take for granted how rich of a heritage it has, ad
well as how promising of a future it has. More and more people are getting into
percussion, especially Drum Corps, which has the potential to be as big as the NBA or
MLB one day.
The evolution the drum has gone through is nothing short of amazing. It has
transitioned from a tribal instrument that was played with hands, to a device requiring an
incredible amount of finesse and strength to play well. It is definitely one of the most
drastic evolutions of an instrument, and for that, it should be admired. I’m glad I was able
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to research it and find out even more about it than I had known. It has most certainly
given me more appreciation for those who choose to play percussion.
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Works Cited
Ashbridge, Stefano. "The Anatomy of a Drumstick." Ezine Articles. N.p., n.d. Web. 9
Dec. 2012. <http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Anatomy-of-aDrumstick&id=4758390>.
Charry, Eric. "History of The Djembe." DrumDojo.com. Percussive Arts Society, Apr.
1996. Web. 9 Dec. 2012. <http://www.drumdojo.com/djhistory.htm>.
"History of Drums." History of Drums. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012.
<http://penz4.tripod.com/historyofdrums.html>.
"The History Of The Drum." Essortment. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2012.
<http://www.essortment.com/history-drum-21063.html>.
"How to Pick a Perfect Pair of Drumsticks." Vic Firth. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2012.
<http://www.vicfirth.com/product/how-to-pick-your-sticks.html>.
Zulaica, Don. "Mean Mean Stride: The Drums Of Neil Peart." Drum Magazine. N.p.,
Oct. 2005. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. <http://www.drummagazine.com/features/post/meanmean-stride-the-drums-of-neil-peart/>.