Drums are an integral part of most forms of music performed or played in several countries across the globe. Its major feature is the stretched membrane used to cover one or both ends of their hollow bodies. Drums are a key member of the percussion instruments group.
In order to produce music, most drums need to get struck rhythmically with other instruments. Drums like bongo are struck manually, while others require the use of beaters. One of the great examples of beaters is wooden sticks which are mainly used to play smaller drums and padded wooden mallets for larger drums.
The most commonly used drum in today’s world is the modern set. It consists of a drum head, mounting lungs, drum shell, tension rod, and tension rod washers.
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Raw Materials Used In Making Drum Kits
Drum Heads
Before the 1950s, animal skin is the main material used in making drum heads. Now, the majority of drum makers use plastics like polyester or Mylar to make them. Polyethylene Terephthalate is the most common form of polyester used for making drums. This is mainly because it has a strong nature and is highly resistant to moisture, sunlight, and heat. The chemical component of polyethylene terephthalate includes ethylene glycol and terephthalic acids which are gotten from petrol. To learn more about drum heads and the best ones for you, you can check out Sound Halo’s pick of the best ones
Drum Shells
Drum Shells are a critical part of a drum kit. They are chiefly made from birch, popular wood, maple, and metal. Steel, brass, aluminum, or bronze are also used in its construction, and plastic is used in synthetic shells. The shell refers to the main part of a drum – where the sound a drum produces really comes from once one hits the head. Every material used by a manufacturer to make a drum shell usually affects its sound, which is why they are always careful not to pick the wrong one.
Drum Hardware
It’s quite important for a drum to have a structure that supports it adequately. The generic term for this structure is drum hardware. Brushed aluminum is one of the major materials used to make drum hardware, including mounting lugs which are made of die-cast metal like steel. Also, drum rims or hoops are produced from either metal or wood. Wooden rims are made from maple or birch, while Metal rims are usually manufactured using die-cast aluminum.
Cymbals
The Cymbal is also an important part of a drum. This instrument is mostly made from the casting of either tin, copper, or silver. Considering the weight, a rotary oven burning at about 815 degrees Celsius is used to shape its castings. Thereafter, the softened metal will be rolled and flattened. After cutting it into a specific diameter, a hydraulic cylinder is used to hammer it into shape.
During the process of making cymbals, a computer program is also needed to monitor the hammering force and distribute it evenly. The dents formed on the metal allows it to produce pleasant. This is due to the dynamic path of the sound waves.
Drumstick
Drumstick is a type of percussion mallet which is specially used for playing either a drum kit, share drum, and other percussion instruments. As we all know, a drum kit without drumsticks is incomplete, because they are what really makes the sound of a drum pop out to create musical effects. Drumsticks are so important that the ability of a drummer to use them determines how well people will enjoy a song being produced with the sound it helps to create.
Manufacturing Process of a Drum
The process required in making drum kits is complex due to the large number of materials it entails. Generally, metal hardware parts of drums are made through the use of precision metalworking equipment while its wooden hardware components are cared out of wood blocks through cutting instruments. When you see drums with materials made with plastic, one of the methods that might have been used in creating them is the injection molding process. This process involves heating plastic to a melting point and injecting it into a mold of the desired shape. After this, the plastic is allowed to cool and solidify. Then, the mold will be removed.
There are other processes required to make drum kits. However, they are more complex than each other, depending on the quality and type of drum one wishes to make. The processes required to make high-quality drums are the most complex of all.