NAMM 2026: While DW brings the high-end releases, we can always count on PDP to pull something just a little different out of the bag. This year, DW’s sister-brand is turning its attention to acrylic, with the release of the PDP Concept Acrylic kit and snare.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen fantastic plastic shells from PDP, however, just as with its 2024 Anniversary Edition acrylic drums, which paired the clear shells with walnut-stained hoops, PDP is once again mixing things up. This time, the shells come fitted with seamless acrylic hoops throughout - a feature that PDP is claiming as a world-first.

Each drum is fitted with the acrylic hoops, which cap each seamless, see-through shell with a translucent band at each end –– 1-inch one the snare and toms, 2-inch on the bass drum –– and PDP says that the hoops offer a “cutting rimshot” while helping to control the overtones of each drum. Given that acrylic drums already feature a punchy attack with some of the pure fundamentals, it’s an intriguing idea.

The PDP Concept Acrylic snare is available separately, with a 14x6.5” shell and a DW MAG throwoff. Meanwhile, the kits are available in two shell pack configurations: a four-piece comprising 10x7”, 12x8” and 16x16” toms plus a 22x16” bass drum, or a six-piece setup following the same dimensions, but with the inclusion of an 8x7” rack tom and 14x14” floor tom.

Each tom makes use of PDP’s STM mounting system, and the True-Pitch tension rods grasp the hoops with vintage-style claw hooks, rather than through-hole mounting. They’re anchored by PDP dual-turret lugs, and each drum is fitted with Remo heads.

The PDP Concept Acrylic Kit and Snare are available now. Head to the PDP website for more information.

NAMM 2026: If there’s one trend that we’re glad to see continued at Namm 2026 , it’s that of heavyweight, cast bell bronze snare drums, and DW is first out of the gate with the latest edition to its True-Cast series, the Limited Edition MFG True-Cast 14x4” snare drum.

Designed in collaboration with ace session drummer, posture expert and cast-snare aficionado, Dave Elitch (The Mars Volta, Miley Cyrus, Weezer and more), the 4-inch-deep version of the True-Cast is just slim enough to claim the crown as DW’s first ever piccolo model in the range.

Shell-wise, the True-Cast features a contoured profile, starting at 5mm-thick at the top and bottom, and tapering into the classic ‘Bell Brass’ 3mm thickness in the middle of its height. It’s sand-casted as a single piece and machined into its final dimensions, with two-piece machined DW Mini-Turret lugs made of solid brass along with True-Cast hoops.

Elsewhere, the brass theme continues with a Mini-Mag throwoff and matching buttplate, tension rods –– even the mounting screws –– all made from hand-machined brass at DW’s Oxnard, California HQ.

The True-Cast 14x4” comes with 20-strand True-Tone snare wires, and is fitted with vented DW MFG heads made my Remo. Now for the bad news - numbers are extremely limited with only 100 drums set to go into production ever.

Each snare ships with a certificate of authenticity, and includes a custom-made, blacked-out flightcase made by Calzone Anvil. For more information on DW True-Cast snares, or to find a stockist, visit the DW website.

What is it?

Every instrument has its ‘holy grails’, and as far as snare drums are concerned, there are many. But while so much of our industry looks towards the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s for its definitive sounds, there are, of course, plenty of standout products to emerge since then. Bell Brass snares are one, and the archetype is Tama’s Bell Brass model – first introduced in the ’80s, and finding fame as the provider of huge, heavy backbeats for rock legends including Metallica, Nirvana and Rage Against The Machine to name just a few.

The Japanese giant reissued its Mastercraft Bell Bronze model for 2024, but with a price (albeit justified) that will make your eyes water faster than its sound will split your ears, it seems there’s an opening for a more affordable entry point into the market.

Step up, then, DrumCraft, the Thomann-owned drum manufacturer, whose name was revived in 2022 after laying dormant for 12 years, and its 14” x 6.5” Bell Brass Snare. But, this isn’t strictly a brand new product released in haste to extract the milk from the cast shell cow. In its previous incarnation, DrumCraft produced a similar (but not the same) Bell Brass model, and here we see it redesigned for 2024, and available to buy for £759.

But, before we get into the specifics of this drum, it's time for some housekeeping. What exactly is a Bell Brass drum? For a start, the term Bell Brass is something of a misnomer. That’s because ‘Bell Brass’ is actually bronze. The nom-de-plume was conceived by the Tama model and has stuck ever since. So what we’re really talking about when we refer to a Bell Brass snare is largely identified as a cast, solid-shell bronze snare drum. If it’s 3mm thick then it’ll stick to the blueprint, and the classic model is 14” x 6.5”.

That’s exactly what DrumCraft has done. The previous DC model featured a thicker 6mm shell, which has been reduced to 3mm here. It comes fitted with DrumCraft triple-flanged hoops (in place of its predecessor’s die-cast rims) as well as DrumCraft’s Nickelworks throw-off and includes DrumCraft-branded Remo USA heads straight out of the box (coated CS Dot for the batter side and a clear snare side head).

Pricing

• Full price: $942/£749/€903

Prices have largely stayed the same since launch with only slight fluctuations due to exchange rates and other market forces.

The major downside to a popular snare design such as this is the demand, which unfortunately for many, has led this snare to be out of stock for long periods.

All is not lost, as there will be more available within 12-15 weeks and while that will feel like a long time, our advice would be to get your order in quickly, because we're sure that they'll sell out again at this price.

Performance

If you’re unfamiliar with cast/heavy-shell snare drums then your first impression of this drum will begin before you’ve even opened the box. It’s heavy, and reassuringly so. Our review model tipped our scales at 7.06kg, despite it being listed as 12kg on Thomann, meaning you won’t want to place this drum on a feeble stand. Not only is it a heavyweight, but it’s cast, so if you drop it, there’s every chance the damage could be terminal rather than a light dent.

The drum arrives with both heads tuned just past finger-tight, and our initial tap with a stick yields a sustained, tom-like note, which while not usable, does give an indication of the drum’s core tonality. With the snare head tightened to a fairly taut tuning (around three-quarters of its range), we got to work trying to find the drum’s range.

Now, ‘dead’, heavily muffled sounds aside, a low tuning is a great test for many drums. Things can often turn boxy and toneless quite quickly as there isn’t enough tension on the head to really excite the shell and bring out the sound of the drum. Not here, though. With a full turn applied to the key across all of the 10 lugs, it’s low and punchy, but with life to the sound.

The Bell Brass offers a strong overtone that’s present throughout its tuning range, but unlike some drums and materials, it remains musical. We tamed some of the ring with some light dampening and were rewarded with ’80s-style punchbag beef.

Moving into more ‘medium’ tuning ranges puts the drum into what could be the go-to for many drummers. It’s instant classic rock with plenty of body and fatness. The overtones remain, but at this tension it’s a bit more controlled – think Chad Smith, Matt Cameron, Brad Wilk etc. Of course, the overtone can be removed entirely, pushing it into that Nevermind zone. But to dampen this drum too heavily would be a little bit like taking your prize bulldog for the snip. Overtones contribute to the overall power and cut, and removing them entirely – particularly in a live environment – is a surefire way to find yourself buried in the mix.

In recent years, higher-tuned snares have made a comeback, and, if like for us they never really went away, you’ll be reaching for the drum key to put some pressure on this drum. Yes, you can opt for a smaller shell diameter and depth (or a combination of both) to achieve a higher pitch, but the Bell Brass is all about room-filling sound.

As the Remo glue begins to snap and crack under a couple more turns of the key, playing a rimshot is enough to make us jump (and wince) at the resulting sound. Tuned up, this drum becomes even more aggressive, and the resulting volume really was a surprise.

You can crank any snare of this dimension and produce something approaching that Deftones-style ‘crack’, but what’s often lacking is the body. The Bell Brass stands firm, with attack by the bucketload, and enough girth to avoid the weak-sounding, timbale-like ‘pop’ that occurs when a drum is choked past its upper limit. Intrigued, we keep going, determined to find the point that the Bell Brass would top-out.

With the batter head under what we’d describe as ‘extremely tight’ tension, it shows no sign of giving up. What’s more, the tension rods still feel smooth with more travel easily left in them at near-Amen, Brother tuning.

We didn’t want to damage the shell or the head, so with our point proven, we decided to just play the drum instead. In a large room, with good ambience it’s an absolute joy in the higher tunings, and will surely appeal to fans of Abe Cunningham, Mario DuPlantier and Sleep Token’s II.

Verdict

There’s so much to love about this drum, particularly if you were raised on a diet of albums (knowingly or not) that featured this type of snare sound. Across its tuning range it provides a huge amount of attack and full-bodied power, and while that is the defining feature of a Bell Brass snare, it’s important to point out that it is dynamic too. Tune it well and adjust the strainer for less snap, and you won’t have any problems using this on quieter gigs.

The satin chrome hardware is likely to be a divisive feature for some people, and it would be great to have the option to spec a more traditional hardware finish on this drum. That said, it is DrumCraft’s uniform hardware style, so don’t expect that to become an option any time soon.

Similarly, the Bell Brass would likely benefit from die-cast hoops (or at least on the batter side) if you’re looking to control the overtones and maintain a little focus. But, these are minor gripes. Keep in mind that this drum – while by no means ‘cheap’ – does present itself at a relatively low price when compared to more premium offerings. With that saving in mind, a hoop change isn’t going to break the bank and isn’t wholly necessary either.

Hands-on demos

Drumcraft

Alternatives

Specifications

If you’ve had a look at Amazon’s Big Deal Days sale and found yourself a little disappointed, I’ve got just the antidote for you. Over at Reverb, you can bag yourself some super savings of up to 44% off a huge range of gear, from guitars and amps to synths and recording gear. There’s plenty of brand-new gear available in the sale, with Korg, Darkglass, Ludwig, Teenage Engineering, and loads more on offer.

Of course, Reverb is the place to go for second-hand gear and you can get your hands on super deals in those categories as well. With everything from B-stock gear direct from manufacturers to mint condition used items all included in the sale, if you’re buying for yourself then these deals are a no-brainer. I’ve been covering sales for the last three years here at MusicRadar, and in my experience the best bargains are appearing earlier and earlier every year, making it the perfect place to pick up an early Black Friday music deal.

Part of my job is keeping an eye on deals throughout the year, and I check all the major retailers and manufacturers for the biggest reductions on a weekly basis. So you can rest assured I’ve got my finger on the pulse of what’s happening in music retail. With that, here are some of the best deals I’ve spotted on Reverb to get you started.

First up I wanted to shout about the Expressive E Osmose 49-key synthesizer, which has got a huge $269.85 reduction on the Rock N Roll Vintage & Synth City Reverb store. One for those who like their sound design experimental, the ‘longboard’ style keys give you extra expression options, allowing you to pitch bend your notes whilst retaining the traditional feel of a synth keybed. It’s super versatile, able to be used as a standalone instrument or as a controller, and highly recommended for those who found the Seaboard Roli a little too out there. It’s down to $1,529.15 on Reverb at the time of writing, with prices up at $1,799 at both Sweetwater and Guitar Center.

Next up we spotted an absolute legend of the music gear world, the Ludwig Black Beauty snare drum with a tempting $200 discount at Columbus Percussion on Reverb. Famed for its huge tuning range and sensitivity, it’s a must-have piece of kit for any drummer who wants a quality snare drum at the heart of their kit. Don’t let the hype around it fool you, there’s a reason it’s one of the most sampled drums ever made. It’s currently around $200 cheaper than in any other place we could find it, so if you’re in the market for a new snare drum it’s a great opportunity to pick it up for less.

If you’re open to used gear, I spotted the Universal Audio Volt 276 down to just $266.11 at the Pitbull Audio Reverb store. It’s classed as ‘mint’ condition, which means for all intents and purposes it's essentially a new product, just heavily discounted. I love the built-in ‘76 compressor option, which lets you utilize a more analog studio-style workflow from the comfort of your desktop. UA’s world-class preamps ensure you’re getting the very best signal from your sound sources, and it includes a powerful software bundle that will add some of the best outboard and desk emulations in the world to your plugin collection.

Fans of heavy, cast snare drums, get ready to rejoice! DrumCraft - the Thomann-owned and revived drum brand has just announced the release of its new 14"x6.5" Bell Brass model, which puts the iconic sound of a cast-shell, bell brass snare in reach of even more drummers. 

Now, if you know anything about the Bell Brass moniker, you’ll know that it’s a misnomer originating from Tama’s iconic ’80s Mastercraft Bell Brass model - the same drum that supplied the thunderous backbeats on albums from Nirvana, Metallica and Rage Against The Machine. Tama reissued the Bell Brass in 2023, but with a price tag of over £3000, many of us are still left drooling into our bank statements. 

What we’re actually talking about when we use the term is a cast, bronze alloy drum, known for its heavy weight, loud, cutting response and beefy, full-bodied sound. That’s exactly what DrumCraft is aiming for. This isn’t the brand’s first foray with a heavy, cast snare, with its previous model available under the brand’s previous incarnation.

But now, DrumCraft has brought the Bell Brass back, with a few tweaks. First up is the shell - the previous version was 6mm-thick: twice that of the classic Bell Brass blueprint. Here, it’s thinned down to 3mm.

The trade-off, though, perhaps comes with the hoops. While the original DrumCraft featured a die-cast batter-side rim and triple-flanged snare-side, the new model features triple-flanged rims on both sides. It’s joined by DrumCraft’s Nickelworks throw-off, and all hardware is finished in satin chrome.

Elsewhere, it comes with a DrumCraft-branded Remo CS Coated batter head, Remo snare-side head, and DrumCraft 20-strand snare wires. All of which adds up to a weight of 12KG.

The DrumCraft Bell Brass snare is available now, with prices at Thomann currently set at £766/€903/$1004. For more information, head to the DrumCraft website.

DrumCraft Vanguard snare drums: What is it?

No matter what style of music you play, there’ll come a time when you want to upgrade your snare drum, or perhaps just expand your sonic palette. As one of the most character-defining sounds in our kits, there’s no shortage of options - shell material, diameter and depth all play their distinct roles in our snare’s overall sound, and as you might already have discovered, we can never have enough snare drums. 

DrumCraft was recently revived by German retailer Thomann, and after successfully relaunching its range of kits, it’s now turning its attention to snares. The new Vanguard series is the perfect step up from the snare that came with your kit, allowing you to tailor your sound with a more specific snare.

There are seven drums in the line-up in total, with 14” x 5” and 14” x 6.5” offered in maple, aluminium and copper shells, while the birch is reserved for a 14”x4” piccolo model. Thomann/DrumCraft sent us a trio of snares to try out, and as we’ll see, these aren’t just the same designs repeated in different shell materials. While each drum has common lines on the spec sheet - tube lugs, DrumCraft’s cylindrical throwoff, OEM Remo UT heads and 20-strand they’ve been designed with tweaks to compliment the shell type and desired sound. So, let’s get whacking.

Hardware

As we’ve already mentioned, the Vanguard series is fitted with tube lugs. These sleek-looking, hourglass-shaped lugs give a contemporary twist on the traditional straight tube lug design, lending a bit of extra class to the visual side of the drums.

DrumCraft has also debuted its cylindrical throw-off. This allows for traditional tensioning of the snares via a thumbwheel, but the throw-off is moved horizontally through a slight spiral curve. This allows us to position the snare wires’ contact with the bottom head continuously, rather than simply on or off the surface of the drum. It feels purposeful and high-quality too, and stays where you put it.

DrumCraft Vanguard snare drums: Performance and verdict

DrumCraft Vanguard Aluminium 14” x 5.5”

When it comes to Aluminium snare drums, there are likely two models that will immediately spring to mind - the Ludwig Supraphonic or more affordable Acrolite. Here, DrumCraft has adopted design elements of both of these drums, with seamless Aluminium shells finished in a similar spacecraft grey hue to an Acrolite but giving it the tuning accuracy of the Supra with a 10-lug layout. Our review model is the 5.5-inch version – a half-inch extension in depth to Ludwig’s classic student model – however if you prefer a deeper shell, you can also get the Vanguard Aluminium in a 14”x6.5” shell size, putting you squarely in the arena of John Bonham’s favoured Supraphonic LM402.

At 1.2mm, these are on the thinner end of the scale, and DrumCraft has opted for a flat, rather than beaded centre to the shell. It’s joined by 1.5mm, triple-flanged steel hoops, and both Aluminium models follow the same design in terms of spec, it’s only the depth that changes.

As with the other two snares on test here, we tried the Aluminium model at a number of tunings ranging from just above finger-tight through to cranked. The good news is, if you’re eyeing this drum up as an affordable alternative to a vintage aluminium snare, you’re unlikely to be disappointed. Aluminium shells have a reputation for creating a dry sound, and while this is true of the Vanguard, we found that it has just a little more ring than the two Acrolite models we compared it with. At lower tunings, it’s present as a fuller note, thinning out as we increase the tension, and swapping the factory-fitted head out certainly diminishes it further. 

What remains, is a full-bodied quality to the drum’s overall tone. Tuned low with some heavy damping applied it can do the ‘phat’ ’70s sound. In the middle, we get a perfect mid-tension classic rock sound, and with a few twists of the drum key, we’re into vintage funk and soul territory. 

Of course, no snare drum can be described as ‘quiet’ but, in a similar way to the archetype Aluminium drums, there’s a softness to the Vanguard which, while still cutting through, does so with control. Aluminium snare drums are among some of the most recorded in popular music history, and this one does an excellent job of proving why. At just under £200, it could be one of the most versatile additions you’ll make to your kit in a long time.

DrumCraft Vanguard Copper 14” x 6.5”

At first, it might appear that DrumCraft has made a glaring omission from the Vanguard line-up, supplying us with tried-and-tested wood and metal shell materials, but foregoing a brass-shelled drum. That is until you spy the Copper models in the range. Our review model is the deeper 14”x6.5” model, and it’s been equipped to rock. 

For a start, that beautiful copper shell isn’t just copper. It’s been given a hammering in order to dry the drum’s response out in the same way as our cymbals get a factory beating. It doesn’t stop there, either, because DrumCraft supplies both Vanguard Copper models with 2.3mm die-cast hoops to further reduce sustain and overtones. The finishing is flawless, with the dents and craters uniformly covered and the copper colour offset by the hardware’s glossy black nickel coating.

We’ll use two words to describe the Copper drum - ‘Beefy aggression’. Copper is a sometimes-forgotten shell material, and we’re glad that DrumCraft has chosen to highlight it here. Across its tuning range, this drum gives us plenty of body, and a shapely defined attack, but unlike some brass drums, the ring and sustain is more manageable without the need to resort to dampening.

That said, if you’re a fan of big, fat rock backbeats, the Vanguard Copper tuned low, but high enough to start activating the shell’s character will give you exactly that, and this was intensified when we swapped the factory Remo for a dual-ply Emperor. Conversely, while it sounds great at mid-tension tunings, we love the way this drum sounds cranked up. Higher-pitched snare sounds are finding favour again, and this one can take some hefty tension without losing all of its weight. Think Deftones at the heavier end or cracking neo-soul at the other, and you’ve got yourself a snare sound that not only cuts through – particularly when you unleash a rimshot on the die-cast hoops – but is incredibly satisfying while it does so. If you’re bored of steel, or the myriad brass snares on the market, consider giving the coppers a call.    

DrumCraft Maple 14” x 5.5”

Maple might well be joined only to steel as the ‘vanilla’ flavour in the drum shell world, but that’s exactly why you shouldn’t dismiss it. On the contrary, its ubiquity is owing to the fact that it’s virtually impossible to go wrong with a maple-shelled drum. For its Vanguard Maple models, DrumCraft has again opted for 2.3mm die-cast hoops, adding a little extra focus to the sound. Maple offers a fairly balanced blend of attack and body, but the warmth of the low end makes this drum a pleasing all-rounder, especially for situations where you want a more subtle snare presence. The high end is less intrusive, and the shallower depth of our 5.5” model means that the snares respond well even at lower playing volumes. That’s not to say it can’t compete in the power stakes though, and when tuned up high, it’s capable of producing a really pleasing higher tension sound. But here, it’s just minus some of the ear-slicing frequencies that the copper and (to a lesser extent) the aluminium models deliver.

The maple shell, combined with the die-cast hoops gave us our favourite cross-stick sound of the three drums we have for review. Executed properly, you won’t struggle to get that fat, clunky wood sound. Once again, the finishing of the snare is done to a high standard, although the finish of the maple models brings us to our only slight gripe. While the blue burst paint job is eye-catching, we think a couple of additional finish options would be welcome. A 14”x5.5” maple snare drum is, on paper, about as pedestrian as they come, but don’t be too quick to overlook this workhorse for being a ‘sensible’ option, particularly if you’re playing acoustic music, jazz, blues or funk. It can do them all with an overtone that isn’t overpowering, and we definitely wouldn’t be worried about using it for heavier styles either. 

Conclusion

It’s hard not to be impressed with DrumCraft’s output in the Vanguard line-up. It shows thought and some tailoring to the proposed application of each drum, all of which were a lot of fun to play and easy to achieve appropriate sounds from. The Copper model is the most pointed, stylistically of the three (as well as being the most expensive), but still delivers versatility within the louder, more aggressive areas. The aluminium model is, frankly, a stone-cold bargain, particularly if you’re looking for all the benefits of an aluminium-shelled drum to play rather than simply ‘collect’. Finally, what the maple model lacks in excitement, it makes up for with its ability to work in so many situations. 

DrumCraft’s styling, range options and overall execution have produced three well-priced and very usable snare drums, making us curious to try the birch piccolo model too. 

MusicRadar verdict: With its new Vanguard series snare drums, DrumCraft has something to offer for everyone. Whether you're upgrading to your first aftermarket snare or simply looking to expand your sonic options, these drums give you a great starting point straight out of the box. 

DrumCraft Vanguard snare drums: Hands-on demos

DrumCraft

Drums Bonedo

DrumCraft Vanguard snare drums: Specifications

• Shell material: Copper, Aluminium, Maple
• Diameter: 14"
• Depth: 5.5" (Maple, Aluminium), 6.5" Copper 
• Thickness: 1.2mm (metal drums) 6-ply, 7.2mm (wood drums)
• Lugs: 10
• Hoops: Triple flanged, chromed steel (Aluminium), 2.3mm die-cast (Maple, Copper) 
• Throw-off: DrumCraft
• Snare wires: 20-strand 
• Contact: DrumCraft

Ask 100 drummers what their favourite snare drum sound is, and you’ll likely get at least 200 different answers. To many drummers, one album, and in particular one song from the post-millenium era will always be held up as having one of the finest recorded snare sounds of all time, and it’s Paramore’s 2007 hit, Misery Business from their album, Riot!

Drummer Zac Farro famously used a whopping 14”x8” Pearl Vinnie Paul signature model snare drum on the song (engineered by Dan Korneff), which has a distinctively huge snare drum sound to match. However, the snare drum itself is only part of the story. 

A crucial reason that the original recording’s drum sound is so difficult to replicate is that producer/mixer David Bendeth bolstered the live snare with multiple samples and heavy processing. “I guess we’ve been known to add up to maybe 7 or 8 different snare drums for different things” David Bendeth said of his approach on his YouTube channel in 2014.  

“Sometimes it’s a very short sample where you hit the drum, and it’s just the hit, not the actual decay of the snare drum. Then you mix them together and you try and create something special. It’s a sound I’ve developed over the last six or 7 years.”

The result is a massive, almost ’80s-inspired powerful snare sound that contains all the ingredients we love simultaneously. It explodes out of the speakers with attack, followed by a thick-bodied punch, a perfectly controlled overtone and a huge sustain from room sounds, reverbs and samples.

In fact, so big was the impact of Farro, Korneff and Bendeth’s creation, it went on to re-shape the way drums were styled in modern punk, rock and even metal genres for years, as bands and producers went looking for the perfect blend of beef, cut and body. In 2023, Hardcore Music Studio polled 1,800 producers about their favourite snare sound, with Misery Business coming out on top.

Recently, YouTuber Eli Green set about recreating what he calls his “Favourite snare drum tone of all time”, and while 17 years on from the song’s release it would be a fairly straightforward process to layer up samples, he set himself the challenge of doing it organically.

“When I first kicking around the idea to do this series of reinventing snare drum tones, this was the first one on the list.” says Eli, who has also recently turned his hand to recreating the cracking, cutting snare sounds used by Sleep Token drummer, II.  

“There are no more iconic snare drum tones in my mind than the Misery Business snare. When I first heard it when I was like, 16, it floored me. I didn’t even know you could get drums to sound like that.” He continues. “Not just me, but every other drummer of my generation and my scene was just like, ‘What is that? How do we get that? What is going on there?…Drum production was not the same post-Misery Business.”

With such a complex, crafted sound that relies on multiple layers, surely recreating the iconic drum sound with a single acoustic snare is going to require a complicated setup? Well, not entirely. Eli used a pedestrian setup on the snare drum: a Shure SM57 on top, and one underneath.

This was met by a pair of reasonable affordable Rode NT5s as the overhead mics, close, far and mono room microphones (MXL V76G, Superlux SDC and a Carillon Axis 88 respectively), plus an additional ‘knee mic’ courtesy of a Shure SM7B (no, they’re not just for podcasters). 

With some tuning experimentation using the original track for reference, and carefully analysing the fundamental frequency with an EQ plugin, Eli is able to get his Pearl Vinnie Paul snare into the right ballpark. A quick head change to a Remo Ambassador, with the exact tuning dialled-in with a TuneBot, and he’s there.

Eli’s video is 25 minutes long, and explores the most important parts of the setup and post-production chain, and it’s here where we see how important the multiple ambience mics are to achieving the full sound. He also recorded a full cover of the song using the setup detailed in his video, which you can watch above.

If you’re keen to learn more, Eli Green also has a longer video which goes into even greater detail, available to watch via his Patreon page where you’ll also get access to samples taken from the same session.

DrumCraft, the drum brand revived by European retailer Thomann, has announced the release of seven new snare drums under the banner of its Vanguard series, widening-out options for drummers who are after a versatile palette of snare drum sounds.

The range comprises four shell materials: birch, maple, aluminium and hammered copper, with common features and design points applied to each drum. First up, each shell is 1.2mm thick, featuring a 45-degree bearing edge and fitted with tube lugs and Remo UT heads.

From here, the options vary depending on your shell material choice. The birch model comes in 14”x04, while the maple, aluminium and copper snares are all offered in a choice of 14”x5.5 or 14”x6.5” sizes.

DrumCraft has also spec’d individual hoop types and thicknesses for each drum - 1.5mm, triple-flanged for the aluminium and birch models, and 2.3mm die-cast rims on the maple and hammered copper drums.

“Our Vanguard snare series was developed for drummers who work both live and in the studio.” says DrumCraft’s press release. “This series shines with a wide variety of materials such as copper, aluminium, maple and birch. Tube lugs ensure perfect tunability and an elegant look.

“From the crisp 14" x 04" birch snare to the fat 14" x 6.5" copper snare, the Vanguard series takes us on a journey through the ages of drumming. The desire for multi-layered sound colours is fully satisfied and can be quickly adapted thanks to the good tunability.” 

DrumCraft Vanguard Snare Series: full specs

Birch: 14”x04”, 6-ply birch shell, 45-degree bearing edge, 1.5mm steel hoops, chrome hardware

Maple: 14”x5.5”/14”x6.5”, 6-ply maple shell, 45-degree bearing edge, 2.3mm die-cast hoops, tube lugs, chrome hardware, Blue Burst finish

Aluminium: 14”x5.5”/14”x6.5”, 1.2mm aluminium shell, 45-degree bearing edge, 1.5mm steel hoops, tube lugs, chrome hardware, natural finish

Hammered Copper: 14”x5.5”/14”x6.5”, 1.2mm hammered copper shell, 45-degree bearing edge, 2.3mm die-cast hoops, tube lugs, black nickel hardware, natural finish

The DrumCraft Vanguard Snare Series is available now, priced from £173-£345. For more information, visit the DrumCraft website. To purchase a Vanguard snare, head to Thomann.

Tama is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and it’s going big on the gear releases to mark it. We’ve already seen the surprise, non-limited edition reissue of the Tama Mastercraft Bell Brass 14”x6.5” snare, but that’s just the beginning. With products ranging from bonkers paint jobs to transparent acrylic, to the return of some other old favourites in the snare department. Let’s take a look.

Tama 50th Limited Edition Starclassic Mirage

It’s fair to say that Ludwig has first dibs on the acrylic drums reputation (and it’s just announced a new Vistalite finish for 2024). But, Tama was making plastic fantastic in the ’70s too, and for 2024, it’s once again added the Starclassic Mirage to its catalogue. It makes its return in clear Crystal Ice, and Tama is offering it in a five-piece, two-up/two-down configuration, with a matching 14”x6.5” snare available as an add-on.

The Starclassic Mirage features seamless acrylic shells, and each drum is fitted with black nickel die-cast hoops (with StarCast tom mounts on the rack toms). 

50th Limited Iron Cobra Marble bass drum pedals

The Iron Cobra is an icon of the bass drum pedal world, and to mark its 50th birthday, Tama has shown us what it would look like if a Cobra got loose in a bowling ball factory. The ‘Marble’ designs come in two flavours: Coral Swirl and Psychedelic Rainbow, both of which will ensure that you’ll never get your pedals mixed-up on a kit share again.

Paint jobs aside, it’s the Iron Cobra we know and love, available in single or double configurations, equipped with Tama’s Rolling Glid or Power Glide cams in both finish options.

Tama 50th Limited Edition Superstar Reissue

The Superstar was launched two years after the Tama name arrived, and Tama credits the Superstar’s success to its all-birch (the first shell of its kind), 6-ply/9mm-thick shells. Now, it’s brought the Superstar back using the original shell formula, period-correct hardware and a matching interior finish for a faithful recreation of its much-loved kit.

It comes in four finishes: Aqua Marine, Cherry Wine, Super Mahogany and Super Maple, all of which are offered in a four-piece shell pack configuration comprising a 22”x14” bass drum, equal-depth 10”x8” and 12”x8” rack toms and a 16”x16” floor tom.

50th Limited Mastercraft Steel, Rosewood and Artwood Reissue Snares

Tama’s Mastercraft snare drums (which includes the hallowed Bell Brass) have remained incredibly popular with collectors since their introduction in the ’80s. Here, Tama has selected the Mastercraft Steel, Rosewood and Artwood snares for reissue in order to mark its anniversary.

All three are offered 14”x6.5” shells, while the Rosewood and Artwood models also come as 14”x5” models. Each drum is fitted with a number of shared appointments including Superstar lugs and logo/badge; Tama’s Roller Action snare strainer/butt system; full-contact, 18-strand carbon steel long snare wires and 10-hole die cast hoops. 

The Steel shell is 1.7mm thick, while the Rosewood model is 7.5mm/15-ply and the Artwood is 9mm/6-ply, complete with ornate, centre-inlaid detailing.

Accessories

It’s not all big-ticket items, as Tama has also released some anniversary essentials. Starting with the  Quick-Set Cymbal Mates, these quick-release cymbal fasteners are available in 50th anniversary colours: Gray, Orange and Purple.

If you want to avoid bass drum-creep in style, then how about a 50th anniversary drum rug? It measures 2m x 1.8m and features a 50th anniversary design. Finally, there’s the Tama 50th anniversary drum sticks. Made from Japanese Oak, they’re stamped to mark Tama’s 50th anniversary and are available in 5A, 5B AND 7a sizes.  

Visit the Tama website to check out all of the brand's 50th anniversary releases.

NAMM 2024: Tama is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024, and as such we’ve been hoping for some special gear to mark the occasion. Well, it turns out that the wait is short, because the Japanese drum giant has unveiled its first release of 2024, and it’s a reissue of one of the most sought-after snare drums of all time: the Mastercraft Bell Brass.

The Tama Bell Brass requires little introduction - hammered by Lars Ulrich for the cavernous backbeats of Metallica’s Black Album, flammed halfway to death by Dave Grohl on Nirvana’s Nevermind, and employed by Brad Wilk to groove his way through RATM’s Evil Emipire, the Tama Bell Brass is the backbone of ’80s and ’90s rock. 

Originally introduced in 1980, the Tama Mastercraft 14”x6.5” Bell Brass snare is made from a 12mm cast, hand-turned to a 3mm bell brass shell, (a slight misnomer that causes debate, given that it’s actually made from bronze alloy similar to our cymbals).

The 2024 version of Tama’s most sought-after snare drum harks back to the first run of Tama Bell Brass drums, with its brushed, raw finish presenting the snare with a dark patina. This is joined by a period-correct Tama Superstar badge and 10 Superstar lugs.

Hardware wise, the Tama Bell Brass reissue is fitted with Tama’s Roller Action Strainer — which offers a full-contact fit of the 18-strand, edge-to-edge snare wires —as well as detailed fine-tuning of the snare wires’ buzz and sensitivity.

Elsewhere, Tama has fitted the Bell Brass with 10-lug, die-cast hoops. Plus, there’s the inclusion of its One-Touch tone control, giving us an internal dampener for muting overtones at the turn of a knob.

In recent years, Tama Bell Brass snares — and cast drums in general —have seen a resurgence in popularity. This is, of course not the first time that Tama has reissued the Bell Brass, however used examples from any era command high price tags. 

While we’re yet to receive official pricing information, Sweetwater has the Tama 50th Mastercraft Bell Brass listed for pre-order at $3,999, while European retailer, Thomann is currently offering it for £3,333.

DW has unveiled a sequel to its previously-released True-Cast series snare drum, this time with a 14”x5”, sand-casted 14”x5” bell bronze snare.

Designed in collaboration with DW artist, Dave Elitch (The Mars Volta, Weezer, Miley Cyrus), the DW MFG (which stands for ‘Manufacturing’) features a seamless shell with a 45-degree bearing edge. The shell is 5mm thick at the edges, tapering to 3mm in the middle of the snare's depth, in a bid to recreate the tonality of reinforcement hoops.

The shell is fitted with machined, solid brass hardware including a Mini-MAG throw-off and butt plate, mini-Turret lugs and True-Pitch tension rods. Meanwhile, the rims are a pair of matching, machined True-Cast hoops, and the snare features 20-strand True-Tone snare wires.

“I’m a drummer and a drum collector.” says Dave Elitch. “I’m passionate about the instrument and wanted to partner with DW to make the quintessential sand-cast bronze snare-made the right way.  Every aspect of this drum was thought out and executed with the utmost care and attention to detail.  The result is a modern-day legend, both sonically and visually.”

The 14”x5” DW MFG True-Cast Snare comes in a deluxe DW MFG flight case made by Calzone, complete with a signed certificate of authenticity. Now, we mentioned it’s limited-edition, and it follows in the footsteps of DW’s 2019 14”x6.5 model, which was released in an extremely limited quantity of just 90 snare drums worldwide.

Similarly, only 100 of the 14”x5” drum will be released via DW’s global dealer network.

But, if you can’t get your hands on one, DW has plans to release a full sample pack of the drum for its newly-launched Soundworks software. To find your nearest DW dealer, click here.   

A DW piccolo snare drum owned and played by late Rush drummer, Neil Peart is for sale with an asking price of £73,480/$125,870 CAD.

The listing — which is advertised by Soul Drums in Toronto, Canada via Reverb — states that the drum was used by The Professor during multiple recording sessions for Rush's Test for Echo and live shows between the mid-’90s and early ’00s including Rush’s Vapor Trails tour. The drum is also featured in Peart’s own DVD: A Work in Progress, which documents the recording of Rush’s Test For Echo album.

The drum itself is a DW 13”x3” piccolo with a 10-ply maple shell (stamped with a pitch of Bb) carrying the serial number 022022 on its badge, and finished in Red Sparkle Lacquer. It’s got 8 lugs and brass-plated, triple-flanged hoops/tension rods. Meanwhile, this being a shallow-depth drum, the lugs are DW’s mini-Round Lug design, and the throw-off/butt plate are chrome.

The listing shows that it’s fitted with a Remo Controlled Sound Clear batter head, and the snare side is home to a Remo Ambassador Snare head, as well as 13-strand snare wires.

Also included in the listing are multiple documents of provenance, including an appraisal by Vintage Drum Centre, Iowa and a certificate of authenticity from Toronto’s TRS Custom Drums founder Seppo Saliminen, who acquired the snare along with other Peart-owned gear in the early 2000s.  

Piccolo snare drums — often tightly-cranked — were a strong and distinctive fixture of ’90s drum sounds, with the shallow depth offering a heavy attack and fast decay. 

Their popularity both as main snares or as second, ‘auxiliary’ drums has waned since, but more recently tighter, higher-pitched snare sounds have begun to become more popular again in the form of smaller-diameter, but deeper-shelled snares offering greater body to their sound.

Namm 2023: Lil’ John Roberts has a who’s who list of funk, soul and R&B names to his CV, having recorded and performed with the likes of Prince, Stevie Wonder, George Duke, Michael Jackson, Herbie Hancock and more. Now, Tama has announced that they’re honouring Roberts with his own limited edition signature Tama Lil’ John Roberts snare drum finished in Dark Blue Matt.

Made from a 14”x5.5”, 1mm steel shell (with a centre-bead), this 8-lug snare might appear a little ‘ordinary’ for a signature drum, that is until you learn that both the top and bottom bearing edges are filled with silicone.  

Not only does Tama say that this increase the shell’s strength, but that it also tames some of the steel shell’s bright overtones, as well as offering a wide tuning range.

Elsewhere, the Lil’ John Roberts Signature Snare Drum comes fitted with black nickel die-cast hoops and 20-strand, carbon steel snare wires combining for a sharp attack and crisp response and Linear Drive strainer and butt. There’s a Remo USA Coated Ambassador as standard, and the snare also features a specially-designed badge with Roberts’ signature and the model name.

“When [Tama] approached me about doing a signature snare drum we talked about the kinds of snares that I like.” says Roberts. “The one main drum that has stuck with me for most of my career is the snare that Clyde Stubblefield and Jabo Starks used with James Brown. A very vintage snare sound…this snare is very close to that kind of sound.”

The Tama Lil’ John Roberts Signature Snare Drum is limited to 150 pieces worldwide. For more information or to find a retailer, click here.

NAMM 2023: Sonor has lifted the lid on not one, but eight snare drums with it’s brand new Kompressor series, with a range of chromed steel, polished aluminium and black-nickel-over-brass shell options.

The Kompressor range comprises 14”x5.75” and 14”x6.5” models across the three shell types, however the Kompressor Brass is also offered as a 13”x7” drum, while the Kompressor Aluminium comes in 14”x8” dimensions. 

Features-wise, all of the Kompressor series snares make use of Sonor’s signature Optimum Shell Measurement (OSM) undersized shell, designed to allow the head to vibrate more freely.

Sonor has also equipped each Kompressor snare with its patented TuneSafe system, which it says prevents the tension rods from slipping, even under extreme tuning and playing conditions.

The hardware and features remain the same across the shell options too, with 2.3mm, triple-flanged steel Power Hoops, Sonor’s Standard throw-off and USA-made Remo heads.

The Sonor Kompressor series starts at just £289/$309. For more information or to find your nearest Sonor retailer, visit the Sonor website.

DW has unveiled the latest in its prestigious line of ICON snare drums, this time in honour of Alex Gonzalez, drummer for Latin-pop heroes, Maná.

Alex’s drum is a 14”x6.5”, constructed from 11-ply North American hard rock maple. Meanwhile the outer veneer of the drum is cut from birdseye maple, which has not only been dyed grey, but sports a number of exotic wood inlays made from dyed pearwood, koto and tulipwood shaped to the Maná logo, Gonzalez’s rose logo, and a portrait of Alex.

Elsewhere, the drum is fitted with black nickel hardware, including DW TrueHoops, True-Pitch tuning rods, MAG throw-off, five-position butt plate and DW-branded Remo heads.

A limited run of only 250 drums will be produced, with each including a DW carrying case and a signed certificate of authenticity from DW’s John Good. Proceeds from each sale will be donated to Gonzalez’s chosen charity, Nariz Roja, which provides support to cancer patients.

“Creating a drum for Alex Gonzalez has always been high on our list,’ says John Good. ‘To be able to celebrate our long-standing valued relationship with Alex in this way is an incredible honour.”

Alex Gonzalez adds, “I am very happy and excited that my icon snare drum will be able to help others that are in need, that’s why my charity of choice is Nariz Roja A.C. that helps and supports low-income children with Cancer in Mexico. Thank you DW and thank you to those who have purchased my ICON Snare for your support and help! Big Hug!”

For more information, visit the DW website.

Premier is celebrating 100 years since the birth of the company with a new acoustic kit line-up comprising some of its classic series names alongside some Special Edition, Centenary kits and snare drums.

The announcement by the British drum brand, which was acquired by UK retailer Gear4Music in 2021 sees its range of acoustic drum kits split into four main ranges starting with the flagship Elite, Genista, Artist and Revolution series’, with a number of updates announced for each.

Centenary kits and snares

Genista 100SE kit

First up, there’s the striking Genista 100 SE, which has been given a tri-band solid white/red stain finish which allows the birch grain to poke through. It follows the same all-birch shell configuration as above with an un-drilled bass drum and ISO-mounted toms. It’s available as a six-piece 22x18”,10”x7”, 12”x8”, 14”x14”, 16”x16” kit including a matching 14”x5.5” snare.

Genista 100SE snare drums

If you can’t justify buying an entire kit but still want in on Premier’s 100th anniversary celebrations, the Genista 100SE snares could be for you. Based around the same design as the Genista 100SE kits, the snares come in two sizes: 14”x5.5 or 14”x7. 

Finished in the same white/red tri-band finish, they’re made of an all-North American birch, 5.6mm, 7-ply shell with 45-degree bearing edges. Each snare is fitted with the Genista lugs, 2.3mm triple-flanged hoops, 20-strand snare wires and Premier’s 610 strainer. These aren’t limited edition in terms of the numbers produced, but Premier has stated that they will only be available for a limited time.

Artist Club 100

As a special edition kit for its 100th anniversary, Premier has also released the Artist Club 100. This 20” shell pack comes in British Racing Green follows the same shallow ‘Club’ dimensions as its popular 90s predecessor, (and the Artist Heritage 20” setup) with a 20”x8” bass drum, 10”x6” rack tom, 13”x11” floor tom, and a matching 13”x5.5” snare drum.

Della-Porta 100 Limited Edition snare drum

Honouring Premier founder, Albert Della-Porta is the Della-Porta 100 snare. It’s handmade in the UK featuring a 14”x5”, 5mm, 4-ply shell made from walnut, and Premier says it has followed the brand’s original shell-building techniques to produce the 100 limited edition drums.

Inside, the shell is fitted with 6mm, four-ply, beech support hoops, while the outer ply of the drum is an oiled, figured walnut.

Unlike Premier’s modern ranges, the Della-Porta uses a 30-degree bearing edge, and the drum comes fitted with an Evans Calftone head for maximum vintage tone. 

Hardware-wise, it’s got a Premier 610 throw-off, Puresound 20-strand wires, and the hoops are single-flanged. 10 traditional tube lugs with vintage claws take care of the tuning, and the badge is cast in the uK from pewter.

In addition to this, every Della-Porter snare comes with a special edition Hardcase carrying case, finished in an exclusive brown finish, and each drum Hardcase and accompanying Certificate of Authenticity is individually numbered.

Premier Elite

The Elite series shells have been redesigned, and now come as a four-ply design featuring a blend of two plies of maple and two plies of birch. The thin shells are strengthened by one-inch-wide beech reinforcement rings, and the tom shells are undersized by 3mm. Premier says this allows the drum head to sit flatter against the shells’ 45-degree bearing edges to improve tone and sustain while also making tuning easier.

Elsewhere, the Elite series uses 2.3mm triple-flanged hoops, and a low-profile ISO tom-mounting system. Elite series kits are offered in four shell pack configurations based around the bass drum size. 

There’s the three-piece 18” kit (18x14” 12”x8” and 14”x14” toms); four-piece 20” kit (20”x16”, 10”x7”, 12”x8” 14”x12”); four-piece 22” (22”x16” 10”x8”, 12”x9”, 16”x16”) and a five-piece 22” shell pack (22”x16”, 10”x7”, 12”x8”, 14”x12”, 16”x14”). 

All feature un-drilled bass drums and are available in a choice of Baby Blue, Copper Sparkle, Gunmetal Sparkle, Rosewood Satin, Walnut Satin Burst and white finishes. Additional toms, bass drums and matching 14”x5.5”, 14”x6.5” and 14”x8” snares are also available. 

Premier Genista

The all-birch Genista series was a much-loved range during Premier’s renewed success in the 90s, and here it returns with three sub-ranges complete with the original one-piece lug design, which has been recreated from the original drawings. 

We get 5.6mm, 7-ply shells for toms and snares, while the bass drums are 7.2mm, 9-ply with matching lacquered hoops. Once again the shells are undersized (this time by 6mm) to promote better head/shell contact, but there’s a choice of three all-birch kits, plus a full-maple Genista shell pack, each with slightly different features.

Genista Classic

The core modern Genista kit offers the original lug design, 7-ply tom/snare and 9-ply bass drum shells, all made 100-percent from North American birch.

The hoops are 2.3mm triple-flanged with un-drilled bass drums and ISO mounts for the toms, and it comes in either 20” three-piece (20”x16”, 12”x8”, 16”x16”) or 22” four-piece (22”x18”, 10”x7”, 12”x8”, 16”x16”) shell packs. 

Finish options are Ermine or Shadow Fade (both stained lacquer), Red Sparkle or Vintage Gold Sparkle (lacquers). You can buy add-on toms and bass drums, as well as 14”x5.5” and 14”x7” matching snares.

Genista Heritage

The Heritage variation of the Genista is designed for fans of vintage configurations, and while it shares the same shell construction as the Classic, it comes in a bop-friendly 18” three-piece (18”x14”, 12”x8”, 14”x14”), and dual-floor tom, classic Rock-sized (24”x14”, 13”x9”, 16”x16”, 18”x16”) shell packs. 

Another key difference with the Heritage, is that it doesn’t use ISO mounts for the toms, instead reverting to a more vintage direct-to-shell mounting. 

The additional options on the Genista Heritage range is more limited, with a 10”x7” rack tom and 14”5.5” or 14”x7” matching snares on offer. Both configurations come in either Aqua Sparkle or Vintage Gold Sparkle lacquer finishes.

Genista Maple

Stepping away from birch is the Genista Maple. It shares the same features as the Genista Classic - the shell thickness and dimensions, 45-degree bearing edges Genista lugs, un-drilled bass drums and ISO-mounted toms, except it’s swapping North American birch for North American maple. 

The Genista Maple configurations are also the same: 20” three-piece (20”x16”, 12”x8”, 16”x16”) or 22” four-piece (22”x18”, 10”x7”, 12”x8”, 16”x16”), as are the add-on drums and 14”x5.5”/14”x7” snare options. But the finish options are unique within the Genista range, with solid Pink and Pistachio, or sparkle lacquers courtesy of Purple Fade Sparkle and Silver Sparkle.  

Premier Artist

Artist is Premier’s mid-range series, offering a lot of gig-ready features and options for less. Another all-birch design, we get 7.5mm, 6-ply shells with 45-degree bearing edges, ISO mounts for the toms (in the standard Artist range) which are mounted to the bass drum.

Hardware-wise, Premier has come up with its new Deco low-mass lug design for the Artist series, and the hoops are 1.5mm triple-flanged steel, with wooden hoops on the bass drum. 

Standard Artist series kits are offered in three preset configurations, all with a matching 14”x5.5 snare. There’s the five piece 20” (20”x16”, 12”x8”, 16”x16”), five-piece 22” (22”x18”, 10”x7”, 12”x8”, 16”x16”), and an alternative five-piece which offers a one-up/one-down setup (22”x18”, 12”x8”, 14”x14”, 16”x16”). These kits are available in four lacquer finishes: Indigo Burst, Sunset Coral, Steel Grey and Sunburst.

Artist Heritage

Similarly to the Genista Heritage, the Artist Heritage is a retro take on the standard Artist series configurations, with Premier having its sights set on players who want a smaller setup with vintage appeal. 

The shells and hardware are the same design as the standard Artist setups but once again replaces the ISO-mounts for a direct-to-shell tom mount, and the retro theme is continued with folding bass drum spurs. 

It comes in three portable sizes, all including a snare, starting with the four-piece 16” (16x14, 10”x7”, 13”x”13” and 13”x5.5” snare). Next is the four-piece 18” (18”x14”, 12”x8”, 14”x14” and 14”x5.5” snare) and finally there’s the shallow-shelled, four-piece 20” (20”x8”, 10”x6”, 13”x11”, 13”x5.5”).

Artist Heritage kits include a tom holder and bass drum riser, and are available in Blue Pearl, Burgundy Pearl and White Marine Silk wrapped finishes.

Premier Revolution

The Revolution series is Premier’s entry-level range, and comes complete with everything you need to start playing including cymbals (14” hi-hats and 16” crash/ride), stands, a bass drum pedal, a drum stool, even sticks!

Revolution kits are offered in two five-piece configurations (20”x16”, 10”x7”, 12”x8”, 14”x12”, 14”x5” snare drum) or 22”x16”, 10”x7” 12”x8”, 16”x14” and 14”x5.5” snare. It comes in Black, Red Sparkle or White finishes.

For more information or to find your nearest stockist, visit the Premier website

Ludwig, Anderson .Paak and reverb.com has announced the release of two new signature Ludwig snare drums are now available exclusively via Anderson .Paak’s new Reverb store. 

Named the Pee .Wee (after .Paak’s DJ Pee .Wee alias), the two snares are the first signature instruments for Grammy Award-winning Anderson .Paak, who has had a successful solo career with four studio albums, and more recently as part of Silk Sonic - his funk/neo-soul collaboration with Bruno Mars.

The snares themselves are limited to 500 pieces in total (250 units each) and are both based around Ludwig Classic Maple shells. The drums are offered in 14”x5 and 14”x6.5 dimensions and are made of 7-ply North American maple with 45-degree bearing edges and brass-plated hardware hardware throughout including die-cast hoops, tube lugs, throw-off and butt plate and Ludwig Keystone badges.

 Each of the 500 snares also includes a commemorative badge bearing the words Pee .Wee Signature Snare Drum By: Anderson .Paak ‘YES LAWD!’, and every drum has been signed by .Paak on its internal label. Finally, the snare drums are finished in .Paak’s trademark Vanderson Paisley pattern, which fans will recognise from his clothing and shoe collaboration with Vans.

To accompany the snare drums, Ludwig has also created a drum rug as part of the Pee .Wee collection. Measuring 78” x 63”, the 'Vandreson' Paisley rug mixes the same paisley pattern with a portrait of .Paak - a nod to Dr Dre’s cover from The Chronic whose label .Paak is signed to and has performed with many times.

It’s finished with a plush top, backed with non-slip rubber and includes a Velcro loop-and-lock strap to keep it secure in transit.

For more information, visit the Anderson .Paak by Ludwig store on reverb.com.

Our snare drum forms the backbone of our kit’s sound, and as such it’s one of the most frequently tweaked parts of our kit. It’s also one of the most dynamic and harmonically variable parts. Depending on the type of sound the music requires, it could be wide-open and ringy, or dead and thumpy, and in order to achieve the latter, we need to introduce some dampening to the drum.

Before we start, we should point out that while that loud, sustaining overtone might seem like a nuisance in a live context, it can also be your friend when it comes to helping your snare drum cut through the mix - particularly if you’re performing in an un-mic’d situation. The ring and sustain from the drum will give you some extra firepower against walls of loud guitars and keyboards.

Introduce a microphone, though - either live or in a recording environment - and suddenly it'll become much more noticeable. Chances are if you’re working with an engineer, they might want to reduce the amount of ring from the snare either as a stylistic or production choice as the overtones could create unwanted, distracting frequencies in the overall mix.

But, dampening your drums takes a little more than just plastering the top head with gaffer tape. For the most part, we’re aiming for control rather than overkill (although some cases do call for that too!). Here, we’ll go through some tricks that you can try for free - or almost free - using things you probably already own to getting your snare sound right, and when to use them. 

1. Start with the tuning

You might have already got your snare dialled-in with the batter head choice, pitch, rebound, snare head and snare wire tension that feels and sounds right, and simply want to make it more staccato by killing the ring. But if not, it’s a good idea to take a bit of time to understand how these elements interact and combine to create the entire sound of your snare drum.

A thinner, single-ply head will resonate more freely with a brighter sound with the trade-off being more overtones present in the sound. A dual-ply head will give you an inherently pre-dampened sound with fewer overtones from the start.

 The tension of the top head of your snare is going to give you the biggest impact on the pitch and rebound of the drum. Unlike your toms, the bottom head has less of a bearing on this due to the muting that’s introduced by the snare wires. However, the bottom head really comes into play in relation to the snare wires themselves. 

With greater tension on the snare-side head, (even if you’re looking for a lower-pitched snare sound), you’ll introduce more snap and response from the snare wires. Meanwhile, the wires themselves can be put under greater or lower tension via the strainer. 

Experimentation is key, because with both heads at higher tensions, and taught snare wires to match, you run the risk of choking the drum. Likewise, a high-pitched snare with less tension on the wires will add sustain to your overall sound, but with less immediacy from the snares. Use an appropriate drum for the sound you’re going for, with smart choice of heads, get the tuning in the correct ballpark and go from there. 

2. Gaffer tape

A roll of gaffer tape is the investment that keeps on giving. From temporary fixes, to health and safety precautions, to silencing your least favourite bandmate, it’s a versatile and cheap solution for most things, including sorting out your snare sound. While you could just tare off a strip of gaffer and place it like a band-aid on your snare head, there are multiple ways of applying it to tame the overtones. 

Most common is creating ‘fins’, which allows for a little more focus in pressure to the area you stick the tape. Pinch the middle of your piece of gaffer to create a fin-like point towards the middle of the tape’s length, stick each edge to the drum, and that’s it!

Need to remove a bit more ring? Simply make another fin and position it on the head.

3. Well, gel

One of the most common pre-made dampening solutions is a gel. These little rectangles or dots are made by various brands - MoonGel, Remo Crown Control, Evans EQ Pods, SlapKatz, Meinl Drum Honey - there are plenty of options. 

They all work in the same way and achieve a similar result to gaffer tape fins, but gel is quicker to apply and remove, looks less intrusive/more professional, won’t leave glue residue on your drum head and is re-usable.

The same concept applies - add a gel to kill some of the ring and keep adding them until you have your snare at the desired level of muting. You might find your gels pick up lint, chippings from your drumsticks and other stage crud over time. If so, some warm soapy water will get rid of the muck and replenish the gel’s tack.

4. Show me the money!

Assuming you own a wallet, this is another free solution that was tried and tested by Motown greats, and can also get you out of an overtone bind if you find yourself on a house or rehearsal kit without tape or gels. Take your wallet, put it on the snare and you’re done. It’s that easy. 

Obviously there’s a lack of control (beyond adding/removing cash from your wallet) and depending on the size of your drum, you might eat-up some prime playing real estate. It’s simple and crude, but it’s free and it works.

5. Two heads are better than one

Next time you replace a drum head (it doesn’t even have to be from your snare), rather than frisbee-ing it trash-wards, put it to one side. Why? Because while you might think that the dimpled, played-out and possibly even split drum head has met the end of its useful life, you can still find a purpose for it! 

Another well known trick for dampening is one, and it’s as simple as the wallet solution. Take the drumhead, turn it upside-down and put it on your snare drum. If it happens to be the same diameter as your drum then even better - you’ve just covered the entire surface area of your batter head with a dampening material. The added mass from the metal counterhoop will help to keep things dead while giving you a slight drop in pitch.

Don’t have an old head? Big Fat Snare Drum produces a range of products which work off the same principle, and will give you a classic dead snare sound with the same added perceived pitch drop. Ideal if you’re after a huge rock sound that’s free of overtones.

There is a trade-off with the ‘old drum head’ method of dampening, though, and it comes through the rebound. Because you’re now hitting a surface that isn’t under tension, it’ll act as a cushion and while you can still get stick rebound, you’ll have to work a bit harder for it. 

6. Recycle: Part Two

A number of drum head companies make a less exaggerated version of the Big Fat Snare Drum mutes, and the simplest way is to just buy some, but we're looking at tips that are free - or almost free. Essentially, these are single plies of drum head Mylar cut into a hoop shape, with a thickness around the perimeter of about an inch. So, once again, if you keep your old snare batter heads, you can make your own. 

Start with a head that’s the same size as your drum. Take a sharp craft knife and cut the edge where it’s formed to your drum’s bearing edge. Next, move in an inch or two and cut out a circle so that you’re left with a hoop. Now you can place your new mute on the snare quickly to go from open to dampened in a second. 

As an extra bonus, keep the remainder of the drum head material and you can use it to cut strips that will work as snare wire tapes in an emergency!  

7. Time for Tees

There’s taming overtones, and then there’s going for the most dead, dry sounding snare possible. This is the way to achieve the latter - think Ringo Starr, Mick Fleetwood and pretty much anything from the mid-late 70s - it’ll also extend nicely to disco, dub and beyond!

To remove all of the ring from your snare, take some fabric (Ringo used tea-towels, but a cloth or t-shirt work just as well) and place it over the batter head. You’ll face the same problem as the ‘old head’ method when it comes to stick rebound, but if you want to overcome this, you can try only partially covering the batter head with the fabric. This way you’ll still have enough of the soft material soaking up the vibrations, but it’ll leave you free to still hit the drum head at whatever tension you’ve set it at.

If you’re recording with this sound under the microscope of a microphone, it’s important to realise that the snare is now likely to be devoid of sustain. This means that other rattles and noises from the snare wires and snare-side head will no longer be masked as heavily as they normally would, so pay attention to their tension and listen out for any unwanted sounds. 

8. Get Luggy

This final hack will have purists throwing drum keys at their computer screens, and while we wouldn’t endorse doing it all of the time, it is a quick way of dropping your snare in pitch and killing the overtones while you’re at it, and all you need is a drum key.

An old studio trick to remove overtones from a snare drum involves detuning one or more lugs of the drum - the pitch drops, the vibrations break-up and boom, less ring. 

In the video above, Udo Mashoff of Mashoff Drums demonstrates the concept in a more scientific way, showing how you can take a snare drum from a cranked, ringing tuning to dry and dead with a few turns of your key. The idea being that if you require both sounds from the same drum at different points in your set, you can make some quick adjustments to transform the sound.

It flies in the face of everything you’ve ever been told about even tension across a drum head, but it definitely works!  

Deftones first found fame swept-up in the nu-metal era of the mid-90s, and while the scene was littered with scores of bands featuring big trousers, DJs and table-top-tight snare drums, Sacramento’s finest were not only one of the most credible bands to emerge from the genre, but they’ve stood the test of time, too.

For drummers, Abe Cunningham’s inventive playing is a huge part of the appeal, but it’s the sound of his kit in combination with what he’s playing that pulls us in. Not least the cranked snare sound. 

While bolting-down the top head can often result in choked, thin-sounding drums, done right, it can be an ear-splitting powerhouse, as proved time and again by Abe, and making him a frequent topper of peoples’ all-time best recorded drum sound lists.

But speaking recently on the Sarah Hagan Backstage Podcast, Abe Cunningham revealed that while he took inspiration from fellow-crankers Tim 'Herb' Alexander, Clyde Stubblefield and Stewart Copeland, his signature snare sound came to fruition via Deftones guitarist Stephen Carpenter - who would jump on the kit and tweak the snare tuning.   

"We went to mix our first record with Terry Date and we were all trying to get in there like 'Yo, man, push my shit up!'. But even Stephen, our guitar player was like 'You've gotta bring that snare up [in the mix], crank it up!'.

“He loves playing drums. He’s, you know…not a drummer. Well, he plays drums…we’re all drummers, come on! But he would always sit, and I’d turn around and see him, he’d always be cranking my snare up. But it would sound great! I was like “I hate that you’re doing that, so much. Get off my shit! But god it sounds good.”

Elsewhere in the podcast, Abe talks about his beginnings as a drummer, early influences, his signature snare drum with Tama and more.

Meanwhile, Deftones recently announced that Dia De Los Deftones - the band-curated all-dayer - will return after a two-year, pandemic-enforced break. It takes place on Nov 5th with Deftones headlining and also featuring Turnstile, Phantogram, Freddie Gibbs, Audrey Nuna, Destroy Boys Provoker and Cold Gawd. 

Gretsch has announced the addition of its brand new USA Custom Ridgeland Snare Drum. Named after the town that’s home to the Gretsch USA factory, it combines some Gretsch staples with an extra-thick shell and triple-wood layup for an all-new design.

First, the Ridgeland is offered in 14”x6.5” or 14”x5” dimensions, and is made from maple, gum and poplar which has been layered to produce a shell that is nearly half-an-inch thick. 

Next, Gretsch has cut the shell to include its classic 30-degree bearing edge, but the Ridgeland also includes a round-over profile similar to that found on Gretsch’s Broadkaster drums. The result, Gretsch says, is a warm, full bodied tone accompanied by plenty of attack.

Adding to this, the Ridgeland is also fitted with 4mm die-cast hoops, a Gretsch Lightning throw-off, 20-strand wires and Gretsch Permatone heads. 

“We’ve been in Ridgeland since 1984, and really the group of people that works there is what it’s all about for me.” says Paul Cooper, master drum builder at Gretsch USA. 

“Our crew there comes to work every day and builds these beautiful drums, and this drum really conveys what we’re trying to do. The fact that it’s named the Ridgeland Snare Drum - it’s really a tribute to them, and I believe it’s part of the mojo you get with a Gretsch drum.”  

“This is a drum I’ve been wanting to make for many years. I’m talking maybe 15 years. By taking maple, gum and poplar it gave me the opening to make an even thicker snare shell than what we normally do…with that combination of those plies and that shell, I knew we’d have a killer-sounding snare drum.”

“The fact that we were doing a hybrid shell also made me want to do an edge that I’ve wanted to do. That gives you the warmth of the round-over edge, and you still get the attack of the 30-degree edge. Taking all those components together, I think we’ve come out with a really great sounding snare drum.”

Both Gretsch Ridgeland Snare Drum models are available in all Gretsch Nitron, Satin or Gloss Lacquer finishes. For more information or to find your nearest dealer, click here.

GEAR EXPO Summer 2022: Snare drums form the backbone of our kits, and in many ways define the character of our sound more than any other part. The great thing is, there's no need to just own one! Drum companies know this, which is why we drummers are always looking to add just one more snare flavour to our kits.

From all-rounders, to contemporary signature models, to affordable models based on classic blueprints, let's check out the snares that are creating a…buzz for 2022.

Ludwig Universal Metal and Wood

Think ‘classic snares’ and Ludwig is a name that’s going to come up time and again. For 2022, Ludwig has revived its Universal models (originally launched in the 1920s) - a range of metal and wood snare drums designed to deliver classic Ludwig snare DNA at accessible prices.

Starting with the metal, we get two versions of a brass-shell snare based on the iconic Black Beauty, both finished in Black Nickel and with a choice of Black Nickel die-cast hoops or chrome-plated triple-flanged models.

Once you’ve decided on your hoop choice, there are four sizes on offer: 13”x7”, 14”x5.5”, 14”x6.5” and 14”x8”. All shells are 1mm beaded brass and come equipped with tube lugs, a P88i throw-off/P35 butt plate as well as 20-strand wires.

The Universal Wood shell options are beech, walnut, cherry and mahogany, with a uniform 14”x6.5” shell diameter/depth and 6-ply, 7.5mm construction across the board. The beech and walnut models are clad with an exotic outer ply each - sapele for the beech model, walnut burl for the walnut model - while the mahogany is equipped with maple reinforcement rings.

Elsewhere, the Universal Wood snares share the same hardware with triple-flanged hoops, tube lugs, P88i/P35 throw-off/butt plate and 18-strand wires. 

What’s more, these drums are hitting shelves now with prices starting around £289 and capping out well under £500.

Gretsch Ash Soan Signature Snare

Ash’s distinctive ‘high’ snare is recreated here as a signature model from Gretsch. Derived from his 90s custom Noonan purpleheart stave drum, this ply-shell production signature drum from Gretsch is the same drum that he has been using in the studio and on Instagram for the last couple of years. 

It’s loaded with character, with plenty of cutting attack and sustain, and is a versatile drum despite its 12”x7” dimensions. Gretsch hallmarks such as 45-degree bearing edges, Lightning throw-off and internal silver sealer are all present. 

Each drum comes with an ID label hand signed by Ash Soan complete with the year of manufacture. 

PDP Concept Select Snares

Two years ago, DW’s sister brand, PDP launched its 14”x6.5” Concept Select snares, and this year, it’s back with new versions of its Aluminium and Bell Bronze drums. 

The key difference here is that both shells are now available in 5-inch depths for those who prefer a shallower drum. 

The Bell Bronze model is fitted with 2.3mm triple flanged hoops, while the Aluminium snare features satin walnut hoops with low profile claw hooks. 

Both drums feature 3mm shells, True Pitch tension rods and a DW Mag throw-off, as well as a laser-engraved Art Deco Concept Select insignia.

Tama S.L.P G-Maple 14”x7”

The 13” and 14” G-Maple snares from Tama are modern classics. For 2022, Tama has sort of merged the two models for this limited edition version of the S.L.P G-Maple. 

It’s the same 14-inch diameter as the bigger drum, but takes its 7-inch depth from the smaller snare, and built around the same design ethos as its siblings. There’s a thick 11mm/12-ply shell (plus a Zebrawood outer ply), tube lugs, 10-hole dies-cast hoops (all of which are finished in black nickel).

On the underside, there’s a 42-strand snare wire, which adds up to a sensitive yet cutting and loud snare that we think will be as popular as its counterparts.

A seven-year-old drummer who ranks Slipknot as his favourite band recently got the surprise of his life after making an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show when he was also presented with an SJC Jay Weinberg 48-Ply signature snare drum.

Seven-year-old Caleb Hayes - who Slipknot previously invited on-stage in Birmingham - from Cumbria, UK, was a guest on the Ellen show, performing a cover of Slipknot’s Sulfur.

After he aced his way through the track, Caleb joined Ellen for a brief chat where he revealed that his father (also a drummer) had taught him “A little bit, but not everything.” about drumming, adding that his dad agrees that Caleb is the better drummer.

When asked if he ever gets nervous performing in front of people, the seven-year-old admitted “Only sometimes, but sometimes I think about food and chocolate, and anything chocolatey. It brings my nerves away.”

But DeGeneres had one more surprise lined-up for her guest, telling him she’d heard he was saving up for a special snare drum. “It’s a Jay Weinberg signature snare” Caleb confirmed.

“You want that? Ok, then we’ll give it to you.” DeGeneres told Caleb, whose jaw dropped in disbelief as he was handed the 48-ply, vented maple SJC Jay Weinberg snare featuring artwork designed by Weinberg and worth $1649. “Thank you so much!” he said, as he gripped his head in shock.

Caleb’s hero, Jay Weinberg took to Instagram after the show to congratulate the prodigy. “Caleb!! Once again, you’ve made all your big brothers in @slipknot proud!! 

"What a way to own the moment, and deliver a fantastic performance. So stoked to see you rip it up on @The Ellen Show, and that you’re heading home with a new snare. Play it hard and often my friend - I know you will!"

SJC Drums founder, Mike Ciprari also posted about the event saying,  “A few years ago we got tagged in a video of this young rocker @claebdrummer4 air drumming to @jayweinberg at a Slipknot show.

"I got in touch with his parents and with the help of Jay, we lined up a meet and greet with the band at their next show in the UK.

"Fast forward a couple of years, Caleb is even more of a beast on the kit and just played on the Ellen show where they gifted him Jay’s 48-ply signature snare!

"This is exactly what we’re talking about when we say #SJCFAMILY To see the family come together like this is incredible and we’re so lucky to work with such amazing drummers who continue to pay it forward and continue to inspire the next generation of drummers and musicians. Thanks Jay for always being available to the SJC Family and thanks to Caleb and his parents for supporting SJC!”

Playing drums for Slipknot presents some unique challenges. Not only is the whole set spent in a mask and workwear, but these songs aren’t ballads. With that considered, there’s also the not-so-small matter of being part of a nine-man juggernaut pummelling the audience while competing with a wall of low-tuned guitars, bass, synths and samples.  

Jay Weinberg found this out early-on in Slipknot, “It took some time finding my footing in that arena, sonically.” he tells us. “Playing the shows was great, but I was really learning on the fly, because there was no way for me to study how to play a Slipknot show and stuff like that, you just you just learn by doing.” 

What Jay is referring to is probably the polar-opposite to what many of us have experienced playing live: his snare drum, essentially wasn’t cutting-through enough. 

The solution lies away from microphones and sample-reinforcement, with Jay and SJC Drums founder Mike Ciprari instead going back to the drawing board to fix the problem at source. 

In this case, the source became Jay’s signature snare drum - his first with SJC. A 14”x6”, 48-ply maple monster, complete with ‘go-louder’ vents, matt black hardware and custom artwork which was not only created by Jay (who happens to be an incredible artist as well as one of the best-loved metal drummers on the planet), but saw him adopt a brand new way of making art with resin.

If you think signature drums are simply re-badged production models, this one will make you think again. We spoke to Jay to find out all about the snare’s development.

Your snare is quite different to most, where did you start when you began designing the drum?

"The idea came about…it was never intended that we would make it as a signature snare available to the public and stuff but we heard enough feedback that it kind of got our interest. To backtrack a little bit, it goes back to about 2015 when I was still fairly new to touring with Slipknot and had only been playing shows for about a year. 

"I had an initial drum set, which was bigger than any drum set I've ever played in my life - two bass drums and a whole mess of tom's and this and that. So with that, I got to really identify through repetition of playing shows, what I specifically wanted to change [within my kit].

"I need to blast through eight other guys in our band like a shotgun and I wasn't quite getting that out of acrylic and metal drums, like I had in the studio. 

"I'd used some metal drums in the studio to make my first record with the band. So Mike and I got talking about what we could do.

"He came up with the idea of 'Hey, what if we threw it back to punk and hardcore and metal drummers we both love from the late 90s/early 2000s?' So we started talking about making a super thick-shell and having two, two-inch vents on the sides. That way, there's all this compressed air. So when you tighten it, you really get that attack, that pop and that very quick resonance.

"And so by making that really thick shell, Mike was like, 'We should do something ridiculous, like 48 plies of maple.' So it's pretty much like you're carving a little hole out of a trunk of a tree. The compressed air shoots out of the side from these events, and the volume is ridiculous. It was also important to me that all my ghost notes don't get lost, so they're amplified. I just kind of want everything to be heard, our music just kind of calls for that. 

So how did that drum go from being a custom to a signature model?

"Mike made me a version of the drum back in 2015 and I fell in love with it. It was the answer to everything that I wanted without knowing how to identify that. So it became the staple snare drum, it became definitely part of my sound that I felt I was developing. 

"Over the years since then, I had a lot of feedback from our audience and drummers who had come to see us and want to play on my snare drum and stuff. They were hitting up SJC, like, 'Hey, I want to get that snare drum'. 

"It's difficult for for SJC, because it takes a lot of time, a lot of wood, a lot of resources to make a drum like this. And fortunately, I play SJC and SJC is like a custom shop. Everything they do in their US shop is drummers building custom drums for other drummers, so they can focus on the detail on giving drummers whatever they want. 

"So a lot of people started clamouring for it, that's when Mike and I got to talking about making this drum readily available for anybody who would want to play it. We got to kick around the idea of taking the shell that he had developed and bringing in my artwork. 

"It's exactly what you would find me playing live. That was important to him and to me - this is the exact drum that I'm walking up on stage to use. 

"So yeah, if you're somebody who enjoys my playing or the drums that I play or whatever this is completely by design, what I play on stage, and has my hand in designing it as well with the artwork and the badges and this and that. 

"We really wanted to blow the doors off for our first step forward into this, nothing has ever been done on this size of a signature to my knowledge - 48-ply maple with two-inch vents. So it was quite an endeavour to try, especially having never made a signature instrument before."

There's a lot of interesting features. Had you tried a shell that thick and vented before? 

"Not before 2015, that was my first time trying a snare drum like that. It was never in my instinct, I guess, to try that because I had success with acrylic snares before that, metal snares before that. 

"I suppose I hadn't necessarily been playing music that demanded such intensity. I was playing in punk rock bands and hardcore bands and stuff. I still needed the intensity and the attack, but it was more about having more body to it. Not to say that this 48-ply doesn't have the body because it certainly does. 

"But with that, it was kind of more about filling in depth with a band, especially with just two guitars and a bass and vocals or something. But with so many layers of instruments around me in Slipknot, I needed to up the intensity and sort of rise above that need for depth and low end coming from my snare drum. 

"This snare does have a dynamic tuning range and it does have beef to it, but really it's intended for high tuning, blasting straight through. If you ever want to play in a hockey arena and not even need to mic your snare drum, this is the snare drum that you'd want! 

"But I had never really experimented with anything more than maybe 10 plies of maple. I hadn't tried the vents either. So this was like a totally new experiment that blew me away. I'd never tried anything like that before.

As you say, vented snares were popular in the late 90s/early 00s…

"Listening to drummers that I grew up loving - Travis Barker, Adrian Young [No Doubt], Chris Hornbrook [Poison The Well] - guys that use these kinds of snares and you'd see videos or pictures of them in the studio or playing on Warped Tour or something like that, I was definitely influenced by those late 90s, early 2000s records. 

"So going back it was such a specific style, such a specific way of of getting a snare sound that was incessant. It was right there in your face, and I wanted something that felt like that as well. 

"So Mike just cut right to the chase and was like, 'Let's make it super, super-thick. Let's give it vents and it'll be right up there.' You can't you can't hide from it. Nobody can hide from it!

Do you think the trend for triggering snare sounds in heavier music is returning to more organic sounds?

"It's a different dynamic when you're dealing with trying to make it as real as possible. We have great engineers as well, in the studio and live who can really dial-in exactly what I'm doing without having to do studio trickery to it, and sample it and stuff like that. 

"When you're at our show, you're hearing 100%, my snare drum that I'm playing, for better or for worse, you're hearing exactly what it is. That's important to me to keep that organic nature of it. 

"Because all of what we do with Slipknot is is 100%, organic, you're not hearing us play to anything pre recorded. We don't play along to a metronome or anything, you're hearing a completely raw band that just has a lot of elements of it, that makes it sound so full. We don't need anything that's fabricated, because we've got plenty of guys on stage to do it all, you know. 

"That's very important to me, that it sounds authentic. It sounds like a person, it doesn't sound like a robot or anything like that. I understand people's needs, [drum samples] are an amazing tool when you can make a record in your bedroom, and you don't need to rent out a super-expensive studio to get great drum sounds and this and that. 

"So I definitely understand the application for great drum libraries and samples of snares and stuff like that. But for us…I'm glad that I play with a group of guys where that was never in their playbook. They were a band that started in 1995. Their favourite bands were bands that never had access to anything other than making records that were human. 

"The drum lends itself to that. You're not going to need to remove this human element out of it, you're not going to need to sample it or whatever. It's right there. It's in your face."

Could you talk us through the artwork?

"I came up with a specific design for the snare. It was a proprietary piece that I made that was a different experimentation. Usually I paint with oils, but then I also take inspiration from a lot of more experimental artists who do kind of crazy abstract watercolour, ink and spray-paint stuff. So I wanted to try something that I had never done before, which is working with resin. 

"I kind of became a little bit fascinated with resin artwork that at the beginning of quarantine, like 'Alright, what can I do to stay busy and just stay in my house and make art?'. 

"So I started experimenting with resin, which is super interesting, you take all these pigments and you just kind of insert them into molten resin and you just need to heat it up and, and massage it in certain ways so that the pigment just kind of has a mind of its own. It stretches out the way it wants to. It makes this kind of spiderweb-look with cells. 

"When I was coming up with artwork for what I would do for a snare drum, it was difficult because I was like, 'Well, I could paint figures of things' but nothing I was coming up with was looking right. 

"I'd paint a person on the drum and it would just look weird, stretched out over this cylinder. So I decided to keep it in the more abstract realm. I've painted drums for SJC before too. I'd probably done 20 or so individually painted snare drums by that point where I was actually painting on the surface of the shell, which is really difficult because it's hard to balance watercolour on a curved surface. 

"Those snares are scattered throughout the world, I don't know where they've gone, but people have them. So yeah, I came up with a bunch of designs, and just settled on the one that I felt was really great.

"I came up with that with the intent of this artwork being paired with black hardware. It's is pretty much black and white, it's got some other tones in it, but it's primarily black and white, because I wanted it to go with any drum set, visually. 

"So that was kind of my mentality going into the project of designing the artwork, I wanted it to be expressive and have my hand in it. I designed the badge as well - the W 'Nails' icon."

Are the badges cut by a laser?

Yeah, directly on to wood. Each of the snares have that custom icon badge, and then the SJC badge that has my signature on it too. All those are custom cut and engraved. 

If I'm ever going to do something that's a signature product of mine. I want it to have my handprint all over it, you know, whatever it is, if it's my sticks, or my snare drum, or anything I do in the future, it's important to me that everything kind of comes from the person themselves, you know? 

"If I'm somebody who's getting a signature pair of drumsticks or a signature snare from somebody, I don't want it to be something that somebody else came up with, and they just slap my name on it. 

"I really want to be very heavily involved in the process of making it because it's an extension of me, it's an extension of the sound that I hear in my head. And so the fact that anybody would want to play on one is is really rad. And with that in mind, I kind of want to just immerse myself in making it as personal as I can.

You mentioned already that you tune the drum quite tight, could you tell us a bit more about the heads and tuning you use?

"I use an Evans Heavyweight 360 head. It's incredible. I started playing Evans heads in late 2015. And, and that was the first head that I was just like, 'Oh, man, this is totally dialled in to what I want to use.' And I love that thing. It's got a lot of body, but a lot of crack and high end that I love.

"I just crank it, that's really all there is to it. There is nuance of how I tune it, and making sure it's not choking out completely. You don't want to just have something that's like an unexpressive splat. 

"But having it tuned to where it captures the lively nature of a really thick shell like that, I feel it's best suited to when you're tuning the top and the bottom head relatively tight. 

"I tune the resonant head a little bit looser than the top head, but they're pretty evenly matched. There is a lot of air in there, so I have on occasion busted through the bottom head, because you're just whacking it. With both heads very tight, sometimes it leads to the bottom head just going out. It's a trade hazard! 

"I really like it tuned high with a head like the Heavyweight, or anything that has that kind of dot on the bottom of the head. I like playing with snare heads that have that focus that the Heavyweight has, and I played other snare drum heads that have that controlled sound, sort of thing. I find it gets the quick resonance, that super-fast gunshot. Our music really dictates that, and it really needs that. 

"More-so in the live setting than in the studio. I tend to do like more of a mid/high tuning, maybe allowing for a little bit more of a low end-y growl. When it's live, and you're dealing with so much happening at one time, I do want it to just shoot across from the stage to the back of the room. 

"So that's when tuning higher has to happen and I think it also helps my bandmates as well. They're wanting to hear that snare consistently from wherever they're standing and moving around the stage. 

"It's just the gunshot that they're locking into with their guitars or keyboards or vocals or whatever. It's a real hard rock/heavy metal band's snare drum. This thing keeps everything everybody locked in on that downbeat. That's super important to me and us."

Having a problem with one of the most important of your kit during a gig is the stuff of recurring nightmares for most drummers. However, for most of us it’s not likely to be in front of a packed arena, playing some of the most revered progressive-metal ever written.

So, imagine being in Danny Carey’s shoes (more on those below) when this actually happened during a recent Tool show. In a video shared by Danny’s drum tech, Joe Slaby on Instagram, Carey is seen playing The Grudge from 2001 album Lateralus, before breaking his snare drum head.

He turns and signals to Joe that there's a problem, who heroically appears, removing the drum. Carey switches to his Remo Rototom for The Grudge's busy interlude, while Joe has the unenviable task of replacing the drum with a notoriously heavy VK Drums cast, solid bronze snare.

Incredibly, Joe manages to replace the snare without being clubbed by one of Carey’s sticks, placing the VK straight into the basket and allowing Carey to continue playing without dropping a beat as he seamlessly smiles and shrugs his shoulders.

The clip prompted Rage Against The Machine's Brad Wilk to comment, "Nice, hope you have your heavy lifting belt on!"

Joe has been sharing clips of Danny Carey since the start of Tool’s tour, giving insight into his kit, bass drum pedal settings and why he wears wrestling shoes on stage. He also captured the moment frontman Maynard James Keenan played Jenga behind a gong while Carey took a drum solo.

There may be a number of options on the market these days, but to most drummers the Ludwig Vistalite is the benchmark for acrylic drum shells. Now, as Bonham’s favourite plexiglass drums reach their half-century, Ludwig has brought back two standard colours, unveiled five Limited Edition colour options, and added two snare drums to mark the occasion.

Originally launched in 1972, the Vistalite was first offered in clear, blue, green, red, amber and yellow finishes - at the time and attempt to offer a drum design that would keep up with the ever-more visual side of music and performance, while offering a tone that could still cut it on stage. 

In 1975, Ludwig became the first brand to offer acrylic shells in multi-pattern finishes via a collaboration with Elvis’ drummer, Ronnie Tutt. The finishes were referred to by their pattern letter, giving us Patterns A and B (three and five-band ‘Rainbow’), Pattern C (Spiral), Patterns D and E (three and two-band swirls) and Pattern F (Vertical Bar).

2022 production colours

For 2022, Ludwig is reintroducing two ‘collector favourites’ with Red and the more-rare Green finish (which is more scarcely available on the used market due to its comparative lack of original popularity in the ’70s). 

These are still technically 'limited' but only by time. They will both return for the duration of 2022 production and are available in standard configurations.

Vistalite Limited Edition Anniversary kits

As well as the single-colours, Ludwig has created five Limited Edition colour combos. These are available in its Fab (22x14”/13”x9”/16x16”) and Pro Beat (24”x14”/13”x9”/16x16”) configurations, with matching 14”x6.5” snares available separately. The kits will be limited to 25 units each worldwide.

Ludwig Vistalite Pattern A: Triple stripes

The new finishes use three of Ludwig’s vintage patterns with Pattern A available as a tri-band combo of Black Sparkle/Smoke/Black Sparkle, Blue/Green/Clear or Red/White/Blue.

Ludwig Vistalite Pattern C and E: Spiral and Swirl 

Pattern C has been revived to give us the ‘Candy Cane’-style Spiral in Red and Yellow stripes, while Pattern E is once again offered in a combination of Clear/Smoke.  

Ludwig 2022 Limited Edition Vistalite Snares

As well as kits and matching snare drums, Ludwig has also released two Limited Edition snares as products in their own right. Both drums are 14”x6.5, with the multi-coloured Salesman Sparkle - originally developed as a swatch for Ludwig sales reps to show the range of finishes to its dealers.

The 2022 Salesman snare is offered in a combination of five sparkle-finished bands comprising Silver/Gold/Green/Red/Blue. Meanwhile, the second Limited Edition snare drum offers the Pattern E diagonal swirl in red and white acrylic.

Ludwig's 2022 limited Edition Vistalite kits and snares are available to order now. To find your nearest Ludwig dealer, check out the Ludwig website. 

Evans Drumheads has announced the launch of its brand new Snare Tune-Up kits, comprising everything you need to breathe some life back into your snare drum. 

At launch, there are two versions of the Snare Tune-Up Kit available - with each one containing either an Evans UV1 or Calftone batter head and Snare Side 300 for your snare’s bottom head. 

Given that Evans is part of the D’Addario family, the kits don’t stop at heads. Also included are an Evans Branded Microfiber cloth, drum key, Lug Lube and Hardware Polish, Barney Beats-branded ProMark Rebound 5A drumsticks, a Snare Side 300 drumhead and a 2-pack sampler of the new Evans EQ Pods dampening gels. 

As well as this, Evans is including a set of Puresound snare wires - Puresound Custom Pros with the rock, funk and metal-focussed UV1 kit, or Puresound Concert Series with the more vintage/jazz orientated Calftone kit.

The UV1 Snare Tune-Up Kit is available for 13” and 14” snares, while the Calftone Snare Tune-Up Kit is offered in 14” only. 

Gretsch has unveiled a brand new signature snare for none other than UK session drummer, Ash Soan.

• Ash Soan on the story behind his new Gretsch signature snare, recording drums, and the importance of social media

• Read the full review of the Gretsch Ash Soan Signature Snare Drum here

Ash, who you voted as the Best Session Drummer of 2021 in our end-of-year polls, has been using a prototype of the snare on recordings from his Windmill Studio with the likes of Julian Lennon, Cory Wong & Ariel Posen, Hans Zimmer, Jeff Lorber and more, with the drum creating the more 'cranked' part of his distinctive drum sounds.

The Ash soan Signature Snare features a 12"x7", 9-ply purpleheart shell as well as double-45-degree bearing edges, and is fitted with 4mm die-cast hoops, and Gretsch Lightning throw-off. 

Inside the shell, Gretsch has applied its trademark silver sealer, along with an ID badge. Each badge confirms the year of the drum's production and is hand-signed by Ash Soan.

Talking about the drum with Gretsch, Soan says, “For me a signature snare drum must encapsulate my sound and nothing does this better than the 7x12” Purpleheart drum. It’s unique tone, long sustain, versatility and character makes recording a joy. Producers continually request the Purpleheart snare sound for their tracks.” 

The Gretsch Ash Soan Signature Snare Drum is available to order now, priced £947.

From his early days playing with Del Amitri and Faithless through to his present day role as one of contemporary music’s go-to session drummers, Ash Soan has carved a path over the last three decades that has seen his distinctive playing grace recordings from the likes of Adele, Robbie Williams, James Morrison, Julian Lennon, Marianne Faithful and many, many more. 

But as well as his work on songs, Ash has developed a huge online following on social media simply by documenting his progress as an engineer and demonstrating his sonic craft.

Regular viewers of Ash’s videos will be familiar with his trademark sounds, from the stacked rides to detuned toms and multiple bass drums. Then there’s the snare sounds. Whether it’s the fat, dead, ’70s-inspired, or high-pitched and funky. The drum that we’re focussing on in this review is a recreation of the snare which forms the blueprint for the latter with the all-new Gretsch Ash Soan Signature Snare.

Gretsch Ash Soan Signature Snare: What is it?

Now, this is a brand new launch for 2022, however the origins of the snare actually begin the ’90s, when Ash ordered a custom purpleheart stave snare from esteemed UK drum builder, Gary Noonan. Gretsch built a ply version of the snare, in the same purpleheart wood for Ash when he became an endorsee, has been using the prototype drum on his Instagram and YouTube channels, as well as recordings for a little while.

Fast-forward to now, and that prototype drum has been made available as a production signature model from Gretsch. Signature gear can be divisive, sometimes arguably even cynical due to the lack of any actual ‘signature’ sound. But those preconceptions are quashed with a look at the spec sheet, which is a long way from an identikit 14”x5” maple or steel drum.  

There’s no doubt that what is on offer here is a bonafide signature snare, starting with the size: 12”x7”, and continuing with the 9-ply purpleheart shell, continuing Gretsch tradition with a 45-degree bearing edge. 

Ash and Gretsch have gone with the natural hue of the wood, finished in a gloss lacquer and fitted with 4mm die-cast hoops, a Gretsch Lightning throw-off. Internally, the drum is coated with Gretsch’s silver sealer, and every snare includes an ID label hand-signed by Ash, denoting the year of production.

Given the dimensions, you may well be thinking “auxiliary snare”, and while traditionally drums of this size and tuning nature fall into the ‘other’ side of your hi-hat, we’d say it’s an oversight to view it merely as a second snare drum, particularly as it clocks-in with a retail price of £947.

Gretsch Ash Soan Signature Snare: Performance and verdict

The intention behind the drum is clear - Ash’s characteristic high-pitched funk/hip-hop/pop/reggae sound is very familiar. With the drum at a low-medium tension straight out of the box, a quick tweak of the tension rods evens out the pitch for a mid-range snare sound with a rather sustained and clear overtone. 

It’s impossible not to want to tune-up high though, and that’s where we think many of these drums will spend most of their days. With another turn of the key applied, we’re into Ash’s reggae/dub territory. It’s still got plenty of body, and unleashing a rimshot at this tension can be ear-splitting in the most satisfying of ways. Make no mistake, as we’ve declared before, smaller dimensions do not amount to lower volume, particularly when they’re cranked.   

Just as detuning and muffling pretty much any drum can produce an approximation of that dead sound, so can cranking the tension take the pitch up. But the difference with higher tuning ranges on more standard-size drums is the range that it begins to choke-out, and that’s where the combination of the 12”x7” dimenstions and the purpleheart really comes into play here.

At this medium high tension there’s still a ring to the drum, and we defy you not to start giving it your best rimshot/sidestick reggae-rock chops. That said, it’s this territory and above that can work for so much more than that.

With one Remo Crown control applied, it tames the overtone a bit, begging for some funky/hip-hop backbeats - think of the ’90s New Jack type sound and you’re not far off. 

But there’s more tension to be had here, so we crank it a little more and add some muffling, which gets us into the more experimental, stacatto, sample-like sounds we’re used to hearing on Ash’s videos. 

It’s not all about the super-tight sounds, though. There’s more versatility on offer than you might expect from a drum of these dimensions. Tuning it down below our medium starting point brings back more of the open, sustained sound, which when muted offers a great, beefier snare sound than you might expect. 

Loosening resonant head and wires offers some longer sustain and a bit more sizzle. Is it going to rival your Black Beauty or C.O.B. for more general applications? If you already own those drums then probably not. But we can see this drum genuinely working for singer-songwriter or bluesy backbeats with the correct tuning, and there’s no question that it’s got the firepower to be heard as a main snare for smaller, un-mic’d gigs.

As we mentioned, signature gear can be a rock-and-hard-place scenario. Too focussed and it risks alienating all but those after the purpose it sets out to achieve. Too wide and it loses its signature identity. 

Ash Soan’s signature snare is not a cheap drum. It’s a US-made, high-end snare that for many will be a big outlay as a main snare or addition to your collection.  

As you’d expect, it absolutely fulfils the brief of delivering his trademark hip-hop/funk groove sound - after all, it’s the drum we’ve come to associate with one half of Ash’s sonic identity, so it passes the signature test with flying colours. 

The great news here is that Gretsch and Soan have struck the sweet spot in producing a drum that isn't a one-trick-pony, but has character by the bucketload. On paper it could be considered niche, but in reality with some thought about tuning and head choice can act as a versatile workhorse for many musical situations. 

Gretsch Ash Soan Signature Snare: Hands-on demos

Specifications

• Dimensions: 12"x7" [diameter/depth]
• Shell material: Purpleheart
• Snare wires: 
• Throw-off: Gretsch Lightning
• Hoops: Gretsch 4mm die-cast
• Heads: Remo
• Other features: Gretsch silver sealer, internal ID badge signed by Ash Soan 

Ash Soan has the sort of career that most drummers dream of. From recording drums for A-list musicians and producers, to sharing his journey as an engineer from his instantly-recognisable Windmill studio, the last decade has seen Ash harness the power of social media to build himself a large and loyal fanbase. 

As well as his inventive playing and dedication to perfecting the art of groove, Ash’s followers tune-in to watch and listen to his studio tinkering, as he showcases the results of engineering and mixing the drum sounds - which range from straight-up pop to processed and experimental - via Instagram.

A key ingredient in Ash’s sound are his snare drums, which largely jump between a fat, heavily-muted sound, and a contrasting cranked, 12”x7” purpleheart-shell drum. For 2022, Gretsch has unveiled the Ash Soan Signature Snare Drum, which offers the same dimensions and spec as the snare Ash has been playing on recordings and his Instagram videos for some time.

We caught up with Ash to talk about his day-to-day as a self-recording drummer, social media, and of course, his brand new signature snare.   

Your work in The Windmill seems to be going from strength-to-strength, how has it been since the pandemic?

Well, I [drummed on] The Voice for about seven years, and I decided to quit a year before [Covid hit]. Because I wanted to concentrate on my studio, I started to get a few really good sessions. And I thought, 'I've got to sort of give it a go, I've got to give it the benefit of the doubt and sort of invest in time in the studio.'  So I left The Voice and I was ready for change. It was great, a really brilliant experience playing on that, a fantastic band. 

But it started for me, to become a bit of a job and as far as music is concerned, as close to being a day job as I could possibly think.  I just didn't want to be 60 and still playing on The Voice! And I've always done this all my life. I've always taken gamble's and gone for things. Sometimes they pay off, sometimes they don't. 

I invested in the studio and went for it and started to get some good sessions during 2019, all sorts of good stuff happened. And then the pandemic hit. And to be honest with you, I had an incredibly busy year. I'd established my studio before that, producers knew that I could do it. And of course, all of a sudden, that was the only way to get any sort of drums recorded. 

I did a movie with Hans Zimmer. I did lots of albums, lots of artists and producers came to me during 2020. So I had, in some respects a very, very good year. Well, the studio certainly did. 

Now, interestingly, everybody's a remote recording drummer. At first I was thinking, 'Oh, my God, I've got all these guys [competing] now' that ordinarily would not have even looked at it. They've been so busy on the road, they wouldn't have even cared. But now everybody's doing it. And in the end, actually, I think it's good. 

One of the reasons it's good, is that it's actually quite hard to record drums! As people are starting to find out. It's not like, oh, just put 10-15 mics up and it's gonna sound great. I'm 10 years down the line of learning to be an engineer, and I'm still nowhere.

It's taken me a long time to get the confidence of producers that I can send stuff to. I did something recently for The Chemical Brothers. It's totally changed for me now, bigger names are going 'Well, this guy obviously can do it.' And, and now I've got a very unique sort of position really, where I can do it. 

I can play and I'm interested in the sound and I know how the technology works, because if you think about it back in the day, lots of drummers didn't care about any of this stuff. Now, younger drummers, most younger musicians actually, seem to be interested in recording, which is fantastic. 

It does help your playing in the end because without you start hearing the inconsistencies in your own playing, and it gives you the opportunity to rectify that.

Do you think there’s a generation of players now that have gridded timing almost built-in because of the way music has been produced for the last 20 years?

"There is no question about that. I'm absolutely sure of it. I mean, everyone can seemingly play to a click now. My first big break was Del Amitri, and one of the reasons that I got that job in 1994, was because I could play to a click live, and that's what they wanted. 

"Even in the early '90s, it was still quite a new thing. There were lots of drummers that didn't like it. The '80s, came along and destroyed a lot of drummers because they couldn't do it, and then there was still a hangover in the '90s. 

I think my generation was the sort of beginning generation of what we're witnessing now, which is everybody can play to a click. What is a fantastically interesting phenomena that's arisen out of that is that now people can't play without one! That's the truth. 

You've got to develop your time. Because there's there's all this sort of mythology going on with 'Oh, if you practice to a click your timing is going to be impeccable.' 

Well, maybe. But where is it when you take the click away and you've got to count a band in? And actually, the better the band, sometimes the harder it is, because you might be dealing with a bass player, that's very, very good, and they've got their own perspective of where the one is, and it might be a little bit different to yours. Then you've got to go You've got all of that to contend with, and there's no click.

Are you finding that artists and producers are now coming to you with requests specifically for your sound?

"Yeah, with The Chemical Brothers thing, they'd been following me for a while and realised that I'd played on some records that they'd liked and stuff. But often, exactly what you said, someone will come to me and go, 'We really want that sound that you got there'. 

"And then they'll actually send me clips of my Instagram and go, 'We want this.' That actually happened very early on. I remember, Paul Jackson Jr. - I played on a track for him quite early on, about sort of five or six years ago and he just sent me a picture of the snare drum, ’I want this snare drum.’ It's very, very specific. You know, it's like, 'Wow!'"

It must be a great feeling having been on a journey of building the studio and learning to create and engineer your own unique drum sounds…

"Yeah, it's fantastic. And this sort of feeling of like, 'Okay, I'm actually doing it, I can do this’. Because this is the thing about about recording, it's all very well being good drummer and maybe having a good drum sound when you tune your drums in the room. 

"But then you've got to put microphones on, and straight away, there's a problem. Like, immediately, there's going to be problems. The room is going to be a problem. And you've got to figure that out. There's going to be a phase issue with the microphones, you've got to figure that out. 

"Then then you start working on the actual sound, and there's going to be inherent problems with all that. It's a proper, long journey. It’ll be 10 years next year that The Windmill's been around as a studio. 

"But I now actually just feel like I'm in that place where when people as heavyweight as the Chemical Brothers go, ‘Oh, can you make it a bit more like Bernard Purdie?’ or whatever sound-wise, that I can. I feel very confident now that I can probably just - given a little bit of time and a little bit of back and forth with someone - I can get the sound." 

How important has social media been to you?

"It’s also 10 years that I've been on Instagram. 10 years ago, there were a lot of musicians of my generation that laughed at social media. I'm very, very lucky, my wife tour-managed Imogen Heap. Imogen became a friend of ours, and she came to our wedding and stuff. 

"She was, and still is, in some respects, sort of the queen of Twitter with millions of followers. At that time, I think she was one of the most-followed female artists on Twitter. There was no Instagram back then. 

"She basically said, 'You should get involved in social media.' I was just like, a cynical old musician, like all my cynical musician friends. 'Well, that's gonna be no good to me.' And she went, 'Well, you're an artist, too. You create, and you make grooves and sounds, why can't you do that?' 

"So it was Immy really, that sort of nudged me to get involved. I jumped on Twitter and then eventually jumped on Instagram, and Instagram landed for me perfectly at the time where we built the studio and all I actually wanted to do was just document my progress as an engineer, but also the studio's progress and, it was just like, ‘Okay, this is a good way of kind of keeping a visual/audio reference for what's going on in here.’ 

"Then here we are 10 years later and people are coming back and going, 'We want that.' The other thing, which I'd never really imagined, is that it would blow-up so much for me on Instagram in particular.

 "Now of course I tell every single younger musician that I know, ‘You've got to do this’. Just because, without putting too fine a point on it. There's gonna be said popstar, said super producer sat on their khazi, looking at their phone! It's just what happens! 

"If you think that you are beyond that - and this goes out to some of the cynical older musicians that I that I knew that will will remain nameless - but who were sort of like 'Nah, fuck that. Telling people what you're having for lunch?' It's much more than that. Trust me. 

"If they think that, for argument's sake, Hans Zimmer doesn't look at social media and isn't influenced by what he sees and hears then they're morons. Because Hans does, I've seen it! I've been in a session with him, and he looks on Facebook, and he looks at musician's playing. Like, ‘Well, there you go.’"

You’ve found a niche with the types of things you post too…
"In the early days with Imogen, I thought, ‘What have I got to offer?’ Even though I'd played on records, and I was a relatively established studio drummer and stuff. But then you just think about it and go, ‘Okay, maybe I have got something.’ Then the studio came along. 

"It's like, well, this is what I want to offer people. And you've just got to find out what your niche is in the world as a player. And it might be that you just play brilliant ska drums. You are the man, you've got that feel that's halfway between swung and straight, you've nailed it and you know all the records and you're in a few ska bands. And your thing is ska music. You are the ska drummer on Instagram or whatever you want to be. 

"Or you're the wacky dude that's got the calfskin heads, and you've got more stuff on your drums…bells and nuts and chains on your cymbals or whatever it is! Find the thing that is you and and go for it."

Talking of finding your thing, your signature snare drum is certainly ‘your thing’. Can you talk us through the story?

"Well, the story goes, back in 1993 I was playing for Tom Robinson. I lived in London. I lived in Blackheath, which is southeast London, and there's a guy called Gary Noonan who's a dear friend of mine now. I've known Gary over 30 years now, I think. He lived in Gravesend and he's a snare drum manufacturer. 

"His response to Brady drums, making those Jarrah wood and really interesting sort of exotic Australian wood snare drums, was to find a wood that was interesting and slightly exotic, and to make a similar type of sound. 

"He made a stave drum for me out of purpleheart. To give Gary credit, I'm pretty sure he was the first drum manufacturer in the world to use purpleheart. I'm looking right at it. I've still got it. It's a fantastic drum. 

"He made Dave Mattacks one, I think he made maybe about five in total, and I had one of them and certainly Dave did, I don't know where the others went. He made he made a 12"x7" for me, and I think Dave had a 14"x6" or something. 

"I loved it, and I used it on a record and I used it on some Del Amitri B-sides when I joined. I used it with Faithless and MJ Cole at the time, it was a brilliant sort of cracky fantastic sounding snare drum. And then I went out on the road with Del Amitri and and I would go back to that snare drum every now and again. 

"But my sort of, pop drumming career started taking off and that sound didn't really fit perfectly with vocalists because it's quite an in-your-face sort of sound. So I started developing the fat sound, which everyone knows about too. 

"James Morrison, Ronan Keating, Robbie Williams, Adele, it was all a similar type of fatter snare drum sound that I was using. So the purpleheart thing sort of got put on the shelf. 

"Then I did an album with Jeff Lorber and I used that snare. It was also around the beginnings of Instagram, and I realised 'Oh, this snare drum really works well on Instagram.' It really sort of pokes out, and it worked well on Jeff Lorber's album. In fact, it was the snare drum that that Paul Jackson Jr. was talking about. 

"I started playing it again, people starting to ask about it, lots of people were were intrigued about the sound. I joined Gretsch and they basically made me a prototype version of [what has become] the signature snare in the same 12"x7" dimensions, but this time as a ply drum. 

"So Gretsch made me the drum, which I love, and I played it, and at the time there wasn't really any thought of it being a signature snare drum. Then as time’s gone by and I've played it on lots of records now - Julian Lennon, I did an album for Bob Marley, weirdly, which will hopefully be out next year. And I used it on there, I used it on Boss Baby 2. Lots of really cool things. 

"It's a sound that's now an absolutely integral part of my soundscape as it were, in The WIndmill. And then Andrew Shreve from Gretsch, about two and-a-bit-years ago, said, we'd like to do a signature snare drum. And here we are, it's coming out!"

What is it about purpleheart that works so well?

"I really like the tonal qualities of purpleheart. If it's open - I did a track with Cory Wong and Ariel Posen, it's called Spare Tire and I used this snare on that and it's open as hell. It just rings like a good 'un, it sounds amazing. 

"But also, if you dampen it down, it sounds like a beautiful hip-hop drum, it's got a beautiful tonal quality to it in that sort of Questlove hip-hop kind of way. I love it. It's got brilliant sustain if you want it to ring and it's got a great crack to it, if you want it to be that. So it's a very, very versatile drum."

You chose die-cast hoops too…

"I've just gone over to my '50s drum and it's pretty much the same hoop thickness. On the Broadcaster they've got the call them Woodchopper hoops. I actually quite like them. They're pretty cool. But this is a little bit chunkier. And I'm glad because it you know, it's, it gives it a fantastic sustain as well. So they're lovely, those die-cast hoops.

"On the inside obviously, it's got the Gretsch silver paint. It's got a badge that I've signed with the date on it. It's sort of  boyhood dream. You know, I'm 52, and to have a signature drum made for me at this stage of my career, it's quite a surprise, really. 

"Arguably, I'm in the autumn of my career. I feel like I've got lots left in me, and I've got some going on tour with Tori Amos next year. There's lots of really fantastic things coming up, I'll be using that snare drum on tour. There's lots of things going on. But for Gretsch to go, 'Let's go with Ash' is really beautiful. It's a sound that is definitely part of my thing."

There seems to have been a shift back towards higher-pitched, cutting snares across multiple genres in the last few years.

"That's one of the things I discussed really, with Gretsch. If you think about signature snare drums, they're still a product. If you put out a 14"x5.5" brass snare drum, or something, there's a lot of people that are going to be happy with that. 

It's actually quite brave I think, of Gretsch, to put out something that is quite niche. But I also think it's a it's a really cool sound. It is it is part of my sound, but also people can take that and do what they want with it. There's so many variations of openness, you know, it doesn't have to just be ringing like a timbale, there's, there's all sorts of, of beautifulness in between.

What's your go-to tuning on the signature drum? 

"Well, at the moment, I've got it absolutely cranked both sides. So for that particular hip-hop thing that I'm sort of experimenting with it’s a bit drier, with less sustain. So it's got some dampening on it, I try to get as much crack out of it as possible. 

"So, right now, it's fully cranked both sides. But I think to get a bit more sustain, I'd detune it a little both sides. I mean, not loads, but that the bottom head, when you crank it so much, eventually you start losing resonance, because it's just so tight. 

"Same with the top head. But yeah, that sort of sweet spot of it really sustaining - that track Spare Tire really is the one that I should reference - that is the optimum sort of ringing sound from that drum. That's a little bit detuned, from where I've got it at the moment. But yeah, to get a real 'crack' I'll crank both sides."

Does that level of tension change how you approach playing to get the sound?Oh, definitely a rimshot. You know, centre and rimshot. Then when it's more dampened and slightly - just a quarter turn everywhere down - it's got a bit more sustain, I might come a little bit off-centre to get that proper sort of ringy thing going on.

Does your approach to recording your signature drum differ from your fatter snare sound?

It's overheads. Most of the sound for that when I do those things is coming from my overhead mics. I use Coles [4038] and now seems like everybody does. The reason I bought a set immediately 10 years ago was because I'd seen them on nearly every session I'd ever done. But they're a figure-of-eight pattern, Coles, so you get a lot of room in the mic. 

"Some people don't like them because you can't get them to sound very dry. But I've got a trick up my sleeve, which I'm sort of keeping to myself, which means I can make them do that. 

"That's the sound that I use. So there's a lot of overheads with that snare drum. You get the crack, and the ring from the overhead from the close mic. Then the overhead gives it the body and the sustain and the sort of width, as it were."

Do you have a target drummer in mind for the snare?

"I want everyone to buy it, obviously! But to get that cracky sound with the potential of having a more sort of ‘90s Steve Jordan sound there isn't really anything elese out there. 

"So I think if people like that sound, then hopefully my drum’s worth having. Either an auxiliary snare drum or, you know, some people might use it as a main snare for sure. And I think it's possible. If you play a certain style of music that warrants a drum tuned like that, why not use it as your main snare?

"The actual ultimate would be that someone uses it as a main snare, and bases the sound of their entire drums around that snare drum, and just takes it much further than I have, that would be a wonderful thing to happen."

It's no surprise that many drummers own more than one snare drum. It's the key, central hub of any kit, the drum that's played and heard most frequently, and the one that can most define your sound.

So whether you’re looking for another snare drum to add to your existing arsenal, or searching for that one special drum to build your kit around, we're here to point you in the direction of the best snare drum for you.

Once you’ve set the budget for your next snare drum, you'll need to to consider the sound you’re looking for and the styles you will be playing.

There are a range of materials to consider, from wood and metal snare drums, to acrylic shells, each of which will give you a unique tone and character. The size of the drum will also have a big impact on your snare's sound.

As you'd expect, the more you spend on a snare drum, the better the quality of components, overall shell construction and material.

Snare drums at the upper end generally also offer a wider tuning range and more versatile tone, meaning they're workable in both studio and stage settings, but there are also some lively options at the budget end of the market if you're prepared to do some digging.

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The best snare drums you can buy today

Out of the box Tama’s 13" G-Maple snare drum sounds really good. Aiming for the sweet-spot centre produces a dry woody crack, then by hitting slightly off-centre, provides only the slightest overtone which is immediately snapped shut, thanks to the natural gating effect of the die-cast hoop and smaller diameter. This drum is at home with tight funk or any song that requires precision strikes – think 'Superstition' by Stevie Wonder. The Tama S.L.P. Classic Maple is a truly 'classic' sounding wooden snare drum that responds to all levels of tuning – it's capable of rocking it up or simply taking a laid-back approach and playing some tasty jazz. Alongside the Classic Maple and G-Maple featured here, Tama also offers birch, kapur, walnut, spruce and a host of metal-shelled options. The company has done a fine job of narrowing down the choice of snare drums and, in amongst their S.L.P. range, you're likely to find at least one to suit.

Read full review: Tama S.L.P.

Back in the 1970s acrylic drums were made popular by drumming giants such as John Bonham and Billy Cobham. Reviving the trend, Natal’s acrylic snare drum offering comes from its affordable Arcadia range, which has received deserved plaudits for its competitive pricing and impressive quality. Most modern acrylic drums are seamless and cast in moulds. This is the case with Natal’s Chinese-manufactured offerings, and the clear, round and uncluttered shells make an immediate impression. Acrylic drums have a reputation for being loud, uncomplicated and generally less precious than their wooden counterparts. The Arcadia Acrylic sound is clean and muscular with overtones and unwanted snare buzz as good as non-existent. Tuned down they’re superbly fat and waiting to crash into a rock ballad. Higher up, they cut through with ear-jarring ease. Just above mid-tuning point is where they really hit their stride, clouting out backbeats yet remaining responsive to ghost notes and lighter touches.

All of Pearl’s metal Sensitone drums come in 14"x5" and 14"x6.5” variants. Pictured here are Classic models in steel and aluminium, plus a Sensitone Premium model in phosphor bronze. The Classic chrome-plated steel and matt aluminium drums have chrome-plated steel tube lugs, while the bronze model has Pearl’s ARL Arch-Tube lugs. The Classic Aluminium drum can be compared with Ludwig's timeless Ludalloy (aluminium) SupraPhonics – the lightweight shells produce a lively but focused tone; not too much sustain; good for recording; a fairly dry bark; crisp when tuned mid to high. The steel drum is slightly ringier, more expansive and naturally higher-pitched. It’ll easily achieve a volume, but it’s also sensitive and adaptable. The phosphor bronze is fractionally deeper and warmer, maybe a little less clinical and powerful, but always engaging. Sensitone’s are cleverly designed and gimmick- free. There's a cool sounding model to suit every pocket.

Read full review: Pearl Sensitone

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You may have already noticed the similarities here with the famous Ludwig Black Beauty snare drum, commonly recognised as an industry-standard studio snare. In addition, Design Series snares are afforded many of the same luxuries as their more expensive, full-fat Drum Workshop siblings, including the signature Mag Throw-off and True-Pitch tuning system. With the drum at medium tuning, a light stick-hit will bring it to life with a subtle attack that fades with a harmonic ring from the brass shell. With the strainer loosened, the drum comes into its own, offering a thick, deep backbeat. The drum is lively and warm yet versatile enough to be used in any style. It will record like an absolute dream too. The Black Nickel Over Brass is an absolute stunner of a snare, both aurally and visually. Top quality design and construction is what we've come to expect from DW, only now it comes without the price-tag.

Read full review: DW Design Series Black Nickel Over Brass

The Full Range is Gretsch’s more affordable, Taiwanese-made snare drum series. Steel snare drums are generally the cheapest option, associated with beginner kits, but that is misleading. For many, steel is actually the ideal all-rounder. It’s the densest material, the hardest and thus the ring-iest and loudest – qualities that many appreciate. The design of these drums does temper the unruliness. The dimpled hammering causes the inner sound waves to bounce around more, making the tone more complex and drying it out. Combined with the heavyweight Gretsch cast hoops and cast lugs this does focus the sound. There’s a feeling of control despite the considerable horsepower. Steel is also good for sensitivity – play these drums towards their perimeter and the response is crisp. Ghost strokes come off well too, especially given the drum’s depths. The Gretsch Full Range Hammered Black Steel snares are handsome drums with the power and sensitivity of steel, controlled by the cast hoops and hammered black-coated shells.

Read full review: Gretsch Full Range Hammered Black Steel

Both the Mapex Design Lab Heartbreaker and Cherry Bomb snare drums are dressed with Sonic Saver hoops, Puresound Custom Series 16-strand wires, Black Panther cylinder-drive strainer and butt-end adjuster and Remo heads. Both snares also share the same 45-degree SONIClear bearing edges and Mapex’s new minimalist Natural Satin SAS finish, designed to promote shell resonance. The Heartbreaker feels right at home in a rock setting, blasting through heavy guitars and delivering a beautifully balanced backbeat in a medium-low tuning. When cranked pretty much all the way up, the drum becomes a force to be reckoned with. The Cherry Bomb is more controlled and precise. You barely have to tickle the batter head to be rewarded with a full response from the 9mm shell. A little livelier than the Heartbreaker, it produces a warmer tone and sounds great across a wide dynamic range. We’d also recommend trying the North American Maple-shelled Design Lab Equinox snare drum.

Read full review: Mapex Black Panther Design Lab Heartbreaker and Cherry Bomb

Accompanying the newly re-launched Yamaha Recording Custom drum set are seven metal snare drums, designed with input from Steve Gadd. The snares encompass three metals: stainless steel, aluminium and brass. Steel is heavy and hard – and this is reflected in the sound, which is loud and resonant. That density also leads to sensitivity and the slightest featherweight touch is picked up and then transmitted. Moving onto the aluminium, the timbre is bright and breezy, always sprightly, like the metal itself. In fact, there is a high-end ping to watch out for that may need a bit of judicious damping. Brass is deeper and warmer, and yet ringier, looser and less controlled. The brass shell is perkier, with a complex timbre. Beyond these attributes, the choice of sizes further extends the series’ adaptability and range. A well thought-out and superbly built collection of snares in steel, brass and aluminium that will fire up just about any musical situation.

Read full review: Yamaha Recording Custom

In addition to the British Drum Company’s new Palladium lug and Strainer 1 throw-off, the Merlin snare drum centres around a 10.5mm-thick 20-ply cold-pressed shell, made up evenly of premium grade maple and birch. Finishing off the shell is a decorative face veneer of black tulip wood with hand-inlaid maple pinstripes. Shells are perfectly round, superbly constructed and presented. Flawless, in fact. Tuning feels silky, the tension rods turn easily, allowing sharp attacking or fat slappy-deep beats with equal aplomb. Maple provides more mids, warmth and body while birch gives a darker edge and focus. The medium thick 10.5mm shell, which is pretty heavy and has truly precise 45-degree edges, brightens the tone and results in a drum that is ideally suited as a versatile all-rounder. Whether you opt for the 14”x5.5”, 14”x6.5” or any of the other available size, the Merlin will give you a versatile, professional sound.

Read full review: British Drum Company Merlin

Benny Greb is well known for his incredible versatility behind the drum kit. So, when it came to designing his own signature snare drum, it needed to be capable of tackling everything from rock, to jazz and brass band, to a drum solo mid-clinic. Benny is a detail-focused guy, so you can rest assured that Sonor didn’t start full production until this drum was absolutely spot on. Beech is a rarely-used material in drum building, but it offers a similar character to maple or birch, with an added warmth and softness. The result is that this 13”x5.75” drum delivers a wide tuning range, crystal clarity and articulation, and an inherent fatness that’s ideal for anything from big grooving backbeats, to light jazz comping. The thin shell is complimented by 18-strand stainless steel snare wires, Remo Ambassador heads and chrome-plated hardware.

Find out more: Sonor Signature Series Benny Greb

Ludwig's Black Beauty snare drum is without doubt one of the greatest snares ever made. It was first introduced in 1919 and remains one of Ludwig's most iconic creations. The modern version features all the tonal character of the original, but with the benefit of modern manufacturing processes. Each Black Beauty is made from a single sheet of 1.2mm brass, which is drawn into a seamless, beaded shell. Each drum is dressed with 2.3mm steel triple-flanged hoops, 10 of Ludwig’s iconic Imperial lugs, a P85AC throw-off, plus a Ludwig Weather Master Medium Coated batter and clear resonant heads. The resulting sound is well-rounded, metallic and warm. Black Beauties are a studio favourite because they deliver bags of projection, whilst being super responsive; many of the world’s biggest drummer’s record with them, even though they’re not Ludwig endorser’s! Black Beauties are excellent gigging drums, too. Every drummer should own a Black Beauty at least once in their life.

Find out more: Ludwig Black Beauty

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Our snare drums are one of the most identifying parts of our sound and kit, with everyone having a preference on depth, diameter, material and tuning. This year there were plenty of signature snare drums released too, and you guys have lapped them up - forming the entirety of our Top 3 snares for the year. 

 All three are made of different shell materials, but even though they’re different, they share meaty, hard rock power in common. Here are the snares you liked the most over the last 12 months.

1. Winner 2021: DW Dave Grohl Icon Snare

Multiple albums, a book, and most recently a reissue of the album that made him famous: it’s been quite a year for The Nicest/Busiest Man in Rock. But around 12 months ago DW produced a limited run of 250 Icon Series, 11-ply maple snare drums with Dave Grohl’s face, Sound City Studios logo inlaid into the shell. Judging by the numbers you voted in, they could have produced a whole lot more! 

2. Pearl Matt Halpern Signature Snare Drum

The Periphery man’s none-more-black brass monster brought you out in droves, and it’s easy to see why. The 14x6” dimensions, black powder-coated finish, matching tube lugs, die-cast hoops and triple-vented shell come together to make a signature drum that’s applicable for any hard-hitting player.

3. Tama Lars Ulrich Black Album Anniversary Snare

It’s been 30 years since Metallica’s black album, and while lars was known for playing the legendary Tama Bell Brass on the record, we imagine that Tama wanted to produce a more accessible option - albeit limited to 300 pieces worldwide. 

This steel-shelled monster features the same construction as Lars’ regular snare, but it comes in a matte black finish with hardware to match, a Black Suede Emperor complete with the Metallica logo (plus a spare signed by Lars) and a commemorative badge. 

Percussion brand LP (Latin Percussion) has unveiled what it believes to be the ultimate snare drum hack with its brand new Wood Tapa - a percussion instrument that turns your regular 14” snare drum into a snare-cajon.

The Wood Tapa is a brand new concept, built from baltic birch ply, and offering the tonality of a cajon from any standard 14" snare or tom. Replacing your snare’s batter-side head with a 14” baltic birch playing surface, it’s held in place by the drum’s tension lugs. 

Once fitted, the Wood Tapa can be played with hands, brushes - thanks to its textured top surface - soft mallets or rods. Meanwhile the oversized, rounded edges making it more forging for hand-playing, serving-up woodsy cajon-like sounds without the need for transporting a full cajon. 

The LP Wood Tapa is available now in either 8-lug or 10-lug versions. 

Tama has a huge artist roster, packed full of equally huge legends who’ve opted to play the Japanese company’s drums, but one of the earliest A-list names to adopt the Tama brand was Stewart Copeland, who remains a Tama endorsee to this day. 40 years on from The Police’s drummer joining the family, Tama has announced the Stewart Copeland Signature Snare Drum 40th Anniversary Model.

Now, this isn’t the first time Tama has produced a signature snare with Stewart Copeland. The SC145 was introduced in 2001 to mark Copeland’s 20th anniversary with the brand, and has become a hugely popular model ever since, you can hear a demo of the original drum below.

The latest 40th Anniversary model is based on the same build and spec as the standard model, offering all the ingredients to produce the loud, cutting snare sound we’ve come to associate with Copeland: 14x5”, 1.5mm brass shell, die-cast batter hoop/triple-flanged resonant hoop, Tama’s Linear-Drive, silent-switching strainer and 20-strand Starclassic carbon steel snare wires.

Visually, the drum has been tweaked with an Antiqued Brass finish, and hosts two commemorative badges - one engraved with  an Egyptian chariot to honour “his empathy with pharaohs smiting”, the other etched with Stewart Copeland’s signature and “1981-2021 40th Anniversary”

Copeland shared clips of one of the final versions of the design on YouTube back in February, quickly demonstrating the drum at a few different tunings, while also seemingly making reference to ‘The Master’, which appears to be the Pearl chrome-over-brass snare “of mysterious provenance” he used throughout his Police career.

The Stewart Copeland Signature Snare Drum 40th Anniversary Model will be limited to just 200 pieces worldwide, with pre-orders already available from some retailers starting at £599.

Tama is celebrating 30 years since the release of Metallica’s self-titled ‘Black Album’ with the release of a limited edition version of its Lars Ulrich’s signature snare drum.

Based around the same shell as the regular Tama Lars Ulrich signature model - 14”x6.5”, 3mm-thick, diamond treadplate steel - the Lars Ulrich Limited Edition Black Album version is decorated with a Black Album badge featuring the Metallica logo and Lars’ signature.

Each drum is fitted with a Remo Black Suede Ambassador batter head, complete with a period correct Metallica logo, and all snares will come with an identical spare head, hand signed by Lars Ulrich himself. Other features include Tama’s MSL35 matte black lugs, MLS50A/MLS50B strainer/butt, 20-strand Starclassic Carbon Steel wires and matte black, 10-lug die-cast hoops.     

But, you’ll need to be quick if you want to snap one of these up, as they’re limited to 300 drums worldwide. Sad, but true.

When it comes to signature snare drums, Pearl has one of the strongest reputations in the game with many of its signature models becoming modern classics. For 2021, Pearl has unveiled a brand new signature snare, designed by Periphery drummer, Matt Halpern.

Known for his aggressive and technical drumming style, the Periphery man has tailored each element of the snare to match. The 14” x 6” 1.5mm brass shell is powder-coated to create the black-on-brass look. 

Elsewhere, the Pearl Matt Halpern snare features no fewer than three air vents - highlighted with yellow gaskets alongside the badge - MasterCast die cast hoops, STL 150 ClipLock strainer, black brass swivel tube lugs and comes fitted with Evans Heavyweight Dry batter head.

"We worked really hard to put together the right combination of features to build a top-quality, incredible sounding snare drum," says Halpern. "I'm humbled, honoured, and excited at what we were able to achieve!"

 The pearl Matt Halpern Black-on-Brass Signature Snare drum will retail with an SSP of €799

GEAR EXPO 2021: What more do you need to make people move other than a kick and a snare? The perfect partner to your kick drum comes in countless shapes, sizes and materials – but which to pick? 

Of 2021's recent releases we've picked the finest snares that are fresh on the block to make sure you kit yourself out with the best.

Ludwig Acrolite 2021 snare

Ludwig has announced the release of two new additions to the legendary Acrolite series: Acro-Brass and Acro-Copper for drummers who want a slightly different take on the Aluminium classic.

Both snares feature a beaded, seamless shell like the Acrolite we all know and love. However, the Acro-Brass and Acro-Copper use a slightly thinner 1mm shell fitted with 10 lugs (rather than 8) per-side as well as Ludwig P86 throw-off and butt-plate.

Price and availability TBC.

Gretsch  Keith Carlock and Gergo Borlai signature snares

Gretsch have of two new signature snare drums for Keith Carlock (Steely Dan, Toto, John Mayer and more) and Hungarian drumming sensation, Gergo Borlai.

Carlock (left), Borai (right).

Keith Carlock is a longtime fan of brass drums, so it makes sense that his signature 14”x5.5” snare features a 2mm aged-brass shell. To create the patina, Gretsch developed a special compound, giving the brass an antique look.

Other features include a 40-degree bearing edge, 4mm die-cast hoops, 20-strand wires and lightning throwoff, while the drum comes fitted with Keith’s choice of a standard Permatone head. Every drum is also marked with an identification label specifying the year of production, as well as being signed by Keith himself.

Meanwhile, the Gergo Borlai model is a 14”x4.25, 1.2mm-thick brass shell - complete with applied sand blast texture finish. Once again, the drum features 20-strand snare wires, 4mm die-cast hoops and Gretsch Lightning throwoff. 

It comes fitted with a Remo-made Permatone Control Sound head, and also features a signed internal identification label. Gergo tells us his signature snare is “sensitive, multifunctional, loud, and limitless”.

Natal Arcadia Acrylic

Back in the 1970s acrylic drums were made popular by drumming giants such as John Bonham and Billy Cobham. Reviving the trend, Natal’s acrylic snare drum offering comes from its affordable Arcadia range, which has received deserved plaudits for its competitive pricing and impressive quality. 

Natal’s Arcadia offerings are seamless, cast in moulds and the clear, round and uncluttered shells make an immediate impression. The Arcadia Acrylic sound is clean and muscular with overtones and unwanted snare buzz as good as non-existent. 

Tuned down they’re superbly fat and waiting to crash into a rock ballad. Higher up, they cut through with ear-jarring ease. Just above mid-tuning point is where they really hit their stride, clouting out backbeats yet remaining responsive to ghost notes and lighter touches.

Yours for $197/£149/€169

Gear 2021: Gretsch has announced the release of two new signature snare drums for Keith Carlock (Steely Dan, Toto, John Mayer and more) and Hungarian drumming sensation, Gergo Borlai.

Gretsch Keith Carlock Signature Snare

• NAMM 2021 is cancelled, but we'll be covering all the big January gear announcements right here on MusicRadar.

Keith Carlock is a longtime fan of brass drums, so it makes sense that his signature 14”x5.5” snare features a 2mm aged-brass shell. To create the patina, Gretsch developed a special compound, giving the brass an antique look.

Other features include a 40-degree bearing edge, 4mm die-cast hoops, 20-strand wires and lightning throwoff, while the drum comes fitted with Keith’s choice of a standard Permatone head. Every drum is also marked with an identification label specifying the year of production, as well as being signed by Keith himself.

With a CV as long and prestigious as Keith Carlock’s it’s no surprise that versatility is a key part of his drum choices, setting out to design a snare with Gretsch that could handle a wide range of musical situations. 

Carlock says, ““This isn’t just another snare drum. It’s unique in so many ways. The ingredients and specifications that we came up with to create the look, the feel, and the sound are just incredible. You have to check this one out!”

Gretsch Gergo Borlai Signature Snare

Meanwhile, the Gergo Borlai model is a 14”x4.25, 1.2mm-thick brass shell - complete with applied sand blast texture finish. Once again, the drum features 20-strand snare wires, 4mm die-cast hoops and Gretsch Lightning throwoff. 

It comes fitted with a Remo-made Permatone Control Sound head, and also features a signed internal identification label. Gergo tells us his signature snare is “sensitive, multifunctional, loud, and limitless”.

These days, Dave Grohl is primarily occupied by his job as effervescent Foo Fighters frontman and guitar player, but for many he is still one of the best drummers in the world. No question. And DW agrees, and has duly unveiled a signature snare drum in his honour.

The DW Dave Grohl Icon Snare is resplendent in graphics representing Grohl's feather tattoos, and celebrating his association with LA's Sound City recording studio, and Studio 606 – whose control room now houses Sound City's legendary console. 

From top to bottom, the snare's build and specs are high-end. Made in California, Grohl's signature snare is built from 11-ply North American hard rock maple that's treated with VLT grain orientation technology. It is fitted with True-Hoops, True-Pitch 50 Tuning, True-Tone Snare Wires™, a MAG throw-off with 3P butt plate and DW Heads by Remo.

Finished in teal-dyed exotic birdseye maple, the graphics are hand-layered from laser-cut 1/36" veneers of black pear and sycamore before being sprayed with a clear gloss to topcoat. DW says it used no paint whatsoever for the graphics.

“I’d like to thank everybody at DW, as this is something that blows my mind,“ said Grohl in a statement. “I’ve never had my own snare drum before, and this is pretty beautiful.”

The project was a labour of love for DW drum designer John Good. “We’d been waiting a long time to present this special project to Dave,“ he said. “When he saw the drum for the first time, we couldn’t have asked for a more amazing reaction. We finally get to share this with the world, and we know his fans will appreciate the thought and effort put into this very special ICON drum.“

The DW Dave Grohl Icon Snare is priced $1,599 street and is limited to 250 pieces worldwide, each numbered and signed by Good, with a portion of the proceeds going to the National Independent Venue Association at Grohl's request.

See DW for more details.

Dave Grohl has been a busy man. The Foo Fighters have a new album, Medicine At Midnight, out on 5 February 2021, while Grohl has mooted a mysterious side project that sees him return to the drum kit and collaborate with “people you would never expect.“

Steve White is a living legend within the UK drum industry. Having played with Style Council and Paul Weller for decades, as well as becoming an ambassador for drumming through education and his The Art Of Drumming series, Steve is now focussing on teaching and his other musical projects. 

One such project of Steve's, Hague & White has just released its latest single, Running, and now thanks to the band, Yamaha and Steve you have a chance to bag yourself an impressive bundle of prizes. 

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning a one-on-one masterclass with Steve, a Yamaha Recording Custom brass snare drum and a Yamaha EAD10 Electronic Acoustic Drum Module is upload a video of yourself playing along to all or part of Running by Hague and White.

Yamaha is hosting a drum-less version of the song (with click) for you to jam with, and they've even included the score too. However, if you don't read music or fancy doing your own thing over the song then don't worry, the competition isn't being judged on accuracy against the original. So stay as faithful or as far away from Steve's recorded part as you like!

The competition closes on December 11, so you have a good few weeks to get your ideas together. Here's exactly what you need to do:

• Download the drum-less backing track for Running by Hague and White here
   
• Film yourself playing (max upload size, 50mb)
  
• Visit the Yamaha website and upload your details and video - you can also link to your video if it's hosted on YouTube/Facebook/Instagram

There are many contenders for the title of Greatest Snare Sound In Rock, but we'd say that Alex Van Halen's is up there with some of the best. 

Rick Beato clearly thinks so too because in a recent video, the musical polymath and YouTuber decided to turn his attention to recreating Alex Van Halen's snare drum sound. 

While Rick isn't specific about which specific album he is aiming to recreate, he does mention at the start of the video that he is particularly fond of the snare on Diver Down and follow-up 1984, using the song I'll Wait as a reference.

In the video, Rick talks through the drum (a 14"x6.5" Ludwig Supraphonic) and head choice (Remo Clear CS Dot on the batter side), as well as swapping out the hoops for die-cast models, and fitting 20-strand snares for greater authenticity.

Perhaps one of the biggest influences on the sound, though, is the extreme gaffer-taped 'A' which Rick fits to the underside of the batter head, replicating Alex's dampening pattern. The snare is then mic'd by a single SM57 on the top side, and run through BAE 1032 preamp and Neve 542 Portico tape simulator before being captured in Pro Tools.

The recorded sound is then processed with EQ - specifically around 800hZ, which as Rick and his engineer Ken 'GL' Lanyon explain imparts a key element of the snare's character - and compression.

While there are some slight differences, it does sound extremely close and produces a quintessential classic rock snare sound. Watch the video above to see how it's done.

DW has announced a new Collector’s Series snare drum in the form of the Pi: a 3.14”-deep piccolo snare inspired by Pi (or π). 

The Pi is available in any of the company’s California Custom Shop diameters, with the depth remaining a constant, however DW is also offering a 14” diameter shell made from Space Carbon™, a high-grade material that DW says is up-cycled from private sector space program manufacturing.

DW has added a newly-designed mini turret lug, as well as its Mini-Mag throwoff, designed especially for drums with a depth shallower than 4.5”. Also included on the Pi include DW 3.0 steel True Hoops, 3P three-position butt plate, True-Pitch 50 tension rods, 20-strand True-Tone snare wires and DW by Remo heads.  

DW president and drum designer, John Good says of the Pi, “We’ve been wanting to engineer some new hardware that would allow us to accommodate shallower depths. 

"Rich Sikra and his design team did an outstanding job on the new lug and Mini MAG.  We even designed a new mini Collector’s badge to fit these drums. So many of our top artists are interested in new and unique sounds these days; this new Pi drum has its own sonic character”.

“This drum is sensitive and has its own tonal character depending on the shell material chosen, but it’s also a shotgun! I mean this thing is loud!”

The DW Pi Piccolo Snare starts at $799.

The snare drum is huge! Not that it’s ever been unimportant in the grand drumming scheme of things, but the rise of several forms of dance music has seen more attention focused on the snare than at any time since the massive T’pau-style extremes of the late '80s. 

In the real world, the snare drum is the one placed between the drummer’s legs, with a band of sprung wires stretched across the bottom head to give it its unique crack and sizzle. Add to that some lively resonance from the top skin and you have an instrument that’s capable of producing a huge variety of sounds, from the warm, deep ‘doosh’ of the '70s to the high ‘ping’ of nu-metal, and everything in between.

In terms of rhythm, the snare generally emphasises beats 2 and 4 of the 4/4 bar. In combination with the kick drum, it gives us the ‘kick, snare, kick, snare’ pattern known as the ‘backbeat’ – that most enduring staple of rock and pop. Given a chance, however, the snare can also be way busier than that – in jazz, rockabilly or drum ’n’ bass, for example.

When mixing, it’s said that the last two things you should be able to hear when you gradually turn a mix down are the vocal and snare drum. This shows how important the snare is in the mix: the element that joins the backing track with the vocal. Careful placement of it helps define the soundstage on which your whole mix happens.

Clearly, then, it’s vital that your snare sound is always great – perfect, even! The dynamics and tonality of the snare will affect all your decisions about your final mix, and if it’s too dull, too pointy, not pointy enough, too long, short, dry or wet, you’re going to have trouble getting your mix to work. 

Top to bottom

Like the kick drum, the sound of a snare drum can be broken into top, mid and low elements. Imagine taking the snares off the bottom head and you’ll be left with the deeper part of the sound, a bit like a low timbale. Obviously the sound of an acoustic snare drum will change drastically with different types of head, and with the tuning, the relative tension between the top and bottom heads, and the way in which the batter (top) head is being struck. The snares can be tightened or loosened for a shorter or longer ‘sizzle’, and the batter head can be left bright and ringy or damped with tissue, tape, Moon Gel or anything else that’s up to the job.

A good snare sound will take all of these elements into consideration, possibly combining disparate samples in order to create a sound that could never be made with a real-world drum. One popular trend for snare sounds is a combination of deep 70s-style fatness and a longer, clappier type of tone.

The density of the other instrumentation will govern how the decay or tail of the snare needs to work. A wall of guitars, for example, will absorb ambience and decay, so the snare will probably need compression to lengthen it, and more ambience added, using plugin effects or by bringing up room mics. 

In summary, your perfect snare will need to properly balance various tonal elements and have the right attack, decay, ambience and compression settings. The walkthrough and tips on the facing page will illustrate some basic treatments; use them as a springboard for experimentation and you’ll be creating sizzling snares in no time.

Fattening a snare with parallel processing

Step 1: First let’s layer a couple of snare sounds. Start with a fat, ‘dooshy’ 70s kind of snare, then create another track and set up a higher, ‘clappier’ sample. Balance them together and set the outputs of both channels to a shared buss – in this case, Bus 1.

Step 2: Add three more Aux busses. This will vary according to your DAW. (In Logic, use the Options menu) and set them all from Bus 1 and to the main outputs. Now when your snare plays it will come out of four parallel stereo aux channels, each of which can have its own effects applied. This is what’s known as parallel processing.

Step 3: Keep the first channel clean. Insert a pitchshifter into the second and down-tune by 3-4 semitones. Insert a distortion plugin into the third one and crank it to the point of filth, then pull it back a bit so that it adds excitement rather than decimates the sound. On the last channel, add a quality compressor with a fairly low Threshold and a high Ratio. 

Step 4: Now combine the outputs of all four snare aux channels on a new bus – Buss 2. All the effected snares will now appear together at this new master channel. The final touch is to add a subtle saturation plugin to ‘glue’ all of the snare elements together (we’ve used a little soft saturation via Phat FX). Balance the four aux channels for a monster snare sound.

Six ways to beef up a snare drum

Pitch

Duplicate your snare sound, pitchshift it up or down and blend it with the original for instant depth and texture. It can also be worth pitchshifting ambient mics down on a kit recording for extra fatness.

Layer and replace

If your recorded acoustic drum track is giving you problems, layer in some samples over the close mic channel and blend with your overhead mics. Andy Wallace did this to devastating effect on Nirvana’s Nevermind album, and it’s now common practice. Various drum replacement plugins can help with this, such as WaveMachine Labs Drumagog and Slate Digital Trigger.

Double and delay

Boost the size of a snare sound by adding in a different snare sample 40 or 50ms later, softening the attack time and blending it in. This will give the impression of more ambience.

Parallel compression and EQ

Route your snare to two identical auxiliary busses. Keep one of the busses clean and insert either a compressor, an EQ or both into the other one. Try some radical treatments and blend the clean and effected sounds in together so that the natural sound is still preserved.

Distortion

Gentle distortion or overdrive can make a huge difference to the presence of a snare and is always worth trying.

Add more bottom

Most snare drums benefit from a bit of low-frequency boost. Try a dedicated bass enhancement plug-in or simply apply an EQ boost from 80-120Hz.  

Lars Ulrich’s snare drum sound on Metallica’s…difficult 2003 album, St. Anger is largely derided for including one of the least popular snare drum sounds in recorded history. But even if you’re open to the suggestion that it’s not really that bad, it is still uncharacteristic for the band and producer that brought us the thundering roomy drum sound of The Black Album.

However, during a recent interview with Tone-Talk with Dave Friedman and Mark Huzansky, producer Bob Rock took the opportunity to explain how the infamous sound came about, and why he doesn’t see what all the fuss is about.

"This is interesting, there is a story. While we were doing [St. Anger], we went to their clubhouse. We were in San Francisco, we went to their Oakland place where they rehearsed with Cliff."

"And we had a great time, and Lars told me about his drums, how they were set up in a certain place. We were looking for inspiration, let's put it this way, because James wasn't there, so I said, 'Pull off the drums, the double kick' because we were fooling around with other drums."

"So he set up the drums in the rehearsal room, we were on our way, and Lars just kept staring at the drums. Finally, he sat behind and said, 'Just give me a snare drum.' I had bought a Plexi Ludwig [Vistalite] snare because I wanted to try it, and he put it on the drum kit, and he said, 'That's the sound.'"

"So basically, we did a demo, and I used two [SM] 58s, a 58 on the kick drum and a couple of whatever simple mics were around, and we did a demo, and that was the sound, and he just would not go back."

"I'm not blaming him, this was about, basically, if you can wrap around a concept, this was the sound of the drums when they were rehearsing the album, it's basically the closest to them being in that clubhouse, and no matter what everybody says, it kept the band together, and that inspired them to go on. So I'm ok with all the flak I've taken. It's a fucking snare-drum sound, give it a break!”

Multiple parody videos have poked fun at St. Anger's snare sound including applying the sound to classic Metallica tracks, as well as recreating it with a professionally-mic'd bin lid. Lars Ulrich had a go himself in the video above, referring to the recorded sound as a "complete abortion".

When it comes to intricate snare finishing, few global brands are as dedicated to detail as DW. As an example, look no further than the Californian latest project: the Timekeeper snare drum.

At its core, the Timekeeper is a 14”x6.5”, 11-ply V

LT shell built from pure Purpleheart. As we’ve come to expect from DW, the snare is also decked-out with some serious features, including DW True Hoops with faux leather inlays, a MAG throw-off with 3P multi-tension butt plate, and DW’s True-Pitch 50 fine-thread tension rods.

However, the detail doesn’t end there, with the Timekeeper’s striking visuals taking its spec to the next level. First up are the inlays - 351 pieces of laser-cut, exotic and dyed material create the ‘Clock and Gear’ graphics, while the drum is finished in an outer veneer of Santos Rosewood. 

DW’s John Good explains the concept of the Timekeeper, “Some of my favourite drummer’s do just that.  They keep time.  And they do it in a way that is so admirable.  These often-unsung players play for the song.  It’s a cliché, but it’s so right on the money.  The Timekeeper is in tribute to those players.”  

As much as the Timekeeper is visually striking, Good adds that it was made to be played rather than just collected. “Our goal is to not have this drum solely be a memento, it’s designed to be played. I think Purpleheart is an excellent choice for a workhorse snare and we see more and more drummers discovering it and being blown away by what it can do.”

The DW Timekeeper is supplied in a DW Deluxe carrying case and retails for $2307 (around £1800).

Following the return of ddrum’s Dominion Series kits earlier this year, the company has announced the release of a revised range of Dominon Series snare drums.

The 2020 Dominion Series comprises two different ranges: Dominion Standard and Dominion Ash, and despite the name, both see the former Dominion shell-choice switch from maple to birch.

Dominion Ash snares are available in 14 x 5.5” or 13” x 7”, with four ash-veneered, lacquered finish options available. Other appointments include an 8-ply birch shell with a 45-degree bearing edge, die-cast hoops (10-lug for the 14”, 8-lug for the 13”), and genuine Remo Coated-Dot batter heads straight out of the box.

The Dominion Standard features the same 8-ply shell construction and head choice (minus the ash veneer), while the shell size is offered in 13”x7” only and Standard Series drums come fitted with triple-flanged hoops. There are four PVC wrap finishes available for the Dominion Standard: Brushed Blue, Midnight Black, Red Sparkle and Silver Sparkle.

The all-new Dominion snares come in at affordable price points, too, with the Dominion Ash priced at $229 and the Dominion Standard costing $119. 

As all drummers know, you can never have enough snare drums. Session drummer, Carter McLean (Charlie Hunter, Victor Wooten, Lion King on Broadway) clearly agrees, and is is taking the lockdown in his stride. As promised on his Instagram account, has recorded a demo video of his 23-strong collection of amazing snare drums.

Being a Ludwig artist, the Big-L features heavily in Carter’s collection. During the 45-minute video, we’re treated to detailed demos of Ludwig classics such as the Supraphonic, Jazz Fest, Copperphonic, various Pioneers and more, as well as drums from Noble & Cooley, Sugar Percussion, Craviotto, Dunnett.

If like us, Carter’s video has inspired you to start looking for a new snare, check out our guide to the best snare drums of 2020 so far.

If there is a positive to be taken from the fact that most of the world’s population is currently holed-up in their homes - and let's be honest, it’s a very thin silver lining - it’s the increased output of covers, live performances and lessons from everyday hobbyists to musical legends alike.

Steve Gadd might be on lockdown, but that doesn’t have to stop the groovesmith from wowing us with his playing once again.

A video shared by Zoom (the pro audio company, not the video conferencing platform), whose musician cameras Gadd endorses, shows a short clip of him jamming to Oscar Peterson using nothing but a pair of brushes and a cardboard box before being interrupted.

The type of box, brand, number of plies and whether or not it is empty is unconfirmed, but common opinion seems to suggest that it once housed a pizza. What is clear, is that we need to order a takeaway and grab our brushes immediately.

Gretsch has announced the release of the Brooklyn Standard Snare Drum - designed in collaboration with leading drum educator, Mike Johnston, to be a versatile, dynamic, pro-level snare.

Featuring a 14”x5.5”, 6-ply North American Maple/Poplar shell, double-45-degree bearing edges, the Brooklyn Standard is the result of nine months of prototyping, offering drummers an uncomplicated entry point into the world of professional-level snare drums, while maintaining the heritage of Gretsch’s sound and design. 

As well as the shell construction, the Brooklyn Standard includes a vintage-style Gretsch batter side tone control for muffling, as well as 42-strand snare wires, 302 hoops, tube lugs, Lightning throw-off. 

Inside, the shell is finished with Gretsch’s signature Silver Sealer, and each drum includes an ID label signed by Mike Johnston and denoting the year of the drum’s production, meanwhile, the drum is finished in a ‘goes with anything’ Satin Black Metallic finish.

“I just really wanted to have a standard for my students, for myself and for the Gretsch brand. Like, if you could take one snare drum with you anywhere, what would that be?” says Mike Johnston.

“So I had to figure out, ‘Well what does ‘snare drum’ mean to everyone else? Even though I knew what I wanted, what I didn’t know was ‘Well what does that sound like?’. So that started the process of asking my students, asking other professional drummers to try to find out what is ‘snare drum’? If you’re a little confused and are shopping all over the place for snares, just get this one. It’ll do the homework for you, I’ve done the research for you.”

The Gretsch Brooklyn Standard is available to order now, with a street price of around £650. You can hear Mike Johnston, Mark Guiliana and Victor Indrizzo playing the snare in a variety of tunings in the video above.

NAMM 2020: Ludwig has announced a number of additions and reissues to its line-up this year. Below, we take a look around the new kits, snares finishes and hardware.

NAMM 2020: Few drummers can match up to Steve Gadd - a master of taste when it comes to both the notes he plays and the gear he plays them on. After being a constant in product development with Yamaha over the last two decades - most recently working with Yamaha to revamp the Recording Custom kits and snares in 2016, Steve has now created his latest signature product with the brand.

The Yamaha Steve Gadd Signature Snare Drum is a 14”x5.5” steel-shell snare, equipped with a new Steve Gadd 10-strand wire to maximise articulation. The shell is 1.2mm thick, and is fitted with aluminium die cast hoops - finished in a black nickel at Steve’s request. 

The Steve Gadd Snare will be limited to a production run of 200 for the US (international availability hasn’t been announced at the time of writing), and each drum will come with a black tuning key plus a certification card.  

“I have been playing Yamaha drums for over 40 years.” Says Gadd. “It’s been a pleasure working together and I hope our relationship continues to grow,” said Gadd. “This is the latest signature model we have created. I hope you like it.”

The Yamaha Steve Gadd Snare Drum will begin shipping in March with a US price of $999.