I like snare drums. They give me
a certain artsy pleasure. Something about the design, construction, finish, and
massive scale of variety makes me a sucker for them. I love how one drum can be
so individual to the drummer that plays it; how the material used to build the
drum, as well as the heads on the drum, and the tuning of both heads, and the
snare wires below, all affect the end result when you hit it.
Sometimes my fiancé gets a little
irritated with my snare fetish. Why do I need another one? Isn’t 7 enough? I understand that, to an extent. But
we are no different to other musicians, who all want plenty of options to
choose from. The only downside for us drummers is we cannot pack our sounds all
into one foot pedal and carry it in a backpack.
Guitarists have effects pedals.
Drummers have snare drums. And cymbals. And blocks. And double pedals. And lots
of sticks. And many drum keys. Because we keep losing them.
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| My snares (left to right): Gretsch Catalina Club, Ludwig Supraphonic, Pearl Joey Jordison, Gretsch Catalina Maple, Pearl Virgil Donati, Remo Masteredge, Sonor Phonic |
One of the things I like to do is
buy and sell drums very now and again. Not like a business (although that would
be fun too) but just for myself. So while I have my primary Gretsch drumkit – a
thing of great beauty, I cherish her immensely – my second kit often changes. I
like to sell off whatever the second kit is every few months and look for
something new. It gives me an easy opportunity to try many different kits.
(Recently that has also become a problem – something I will address next week).
And I like to do the same with snares, although the selling part rarely
happens. I just keep buying J
One of the snares I have been
using is a unique little beast. The Pearl Joey Jordison ‘Power Piccollo’ snare.
Joey is the drummer for the metal band Slipknot. Indeed. The drum looks the
part.
I bought the drum on a whim. It
is professional quality, and was on sale on Gumtree super cheap. And I had a
student whom I knew would buy it from me for at least what I would pay for it,
should I not like the drum’s sound. So I figured, why not? It probably won’t
work, being a ‘metal music’ snare drum, so I’ll just check it out for a week
and sell it on for a small profit afterward.
That was a year ago. I have yet
again found parting with the drum close to impossible.
First off, look at her. She’s a
beauty, no doubt about that. Ignore the fact that those are Slipknot logos on
the side and you have a matt black snare with a cool tribal painting on the
side.
Second, she is beautifully
constructed. I have long maintained that, pound for pound, Pearl Drumworks are the best overall drum company working
today, across all budget levels and quality inspections. This drum lives up to
that reputation of being seemingly unbreakable.
Third, she is LOUD. And for a
drummer like me, who is not a hard hitter, a potent snare drum is a welcome
addition.
But here’s the big thing. The
character of this drum – the ‘metal music’ persona it seems to carry – is a
complete misrepresentation of her real qualities. Beneath the goth black and
Slipknot logos, this drum is massively diverse and capable. I have tried it at
medium tunings and high tunings, with single and double-ply heads, using
sticks, rods and brushes. In every scenario – with the correct tuning for that scenario
– the drum delivered.
And it delivered well. In
watching footage from one of my gigs, and seeing/hearing the drum in action, I
really got to witness that diversity. She was powerful but sensitive, and
surprisingly warm for a drum made of steel. It just sounded…right. And that was
an acoustic, folk-rock band.
I took it to that first gig
thinking ‘this will look cool and be fun to knock around before I sell it next
week’. But within minutes I was completely won over. I genuinely thought it
would be a one-trick pony. And it isn’t. And now I love her.
Yet another snare drum I never
want to sell. Even though I am once again eyeing another one…
Also, as promised, my first
Youtube video is online. Go check it out at
Is that all your snare drums sir!!!
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