[full metal]

I was looking at my new musican freind catalog the other day and they have a snare drum made out of carbon steel and I was thinking that well I work with carbon steel and have a lot of it at work, maby I could build one but I am not sure what all is involed in making it.
I mean making the shell itself isnt all that hard at all but would it be worth it.
I have know Idea what a drum made like that sounds like and how thick of steal I would need to make it out of.

amy ideas?

[gyutae]

Are you sure it wasn't carbon fiber that they made the drums out of? It's a compound found a lot in tennis rackets because they're lightweight and durable. I think they even have drumsticks made out of carbon fiber.

[malletjazz]

Carbon fibre shells are great (some of my favorite snare drums have c/f shells), but I don't see why carbon steel couldn't work. So many other metals have been used (steel, aluminum, brass, bronze, copper, titanium, etc.), why not?

In terms of fabricating a shell...go for it! As long as the shell is in round, and you have some way to shape the bearing edges and snare beds, and drill for hardware, you're good to go. Some shells are really thin (i.e., Dunnett), some are thicker (Pearl Ultracast), and a lot are in-between.

[gyutae]

That's really interesting stuff that I wasn't really aware of. I didn't know that you could basically make a drum out of anything and make it sound decent. What are some of the most absurd drums you made that sound good?

[malletjazz]

Originally Posted by gyutae

What are some of the most absurd drums you made that sound good?

It's tough for me to use the word "absurd," if a drum sounds good. Let's say, "surprising."

I'd say the biggest surprise is how good fibreglass and carbon fibre sound. They're somewhere between metal and wood, but the shells I've used (Tempus f/g and c/f, and Marcato c/f) have yielded drums with great tuning ranges, great sensitivity, and huge dynamic ranges.

[gyutae]

That's awesome. I think a fibreglass drum would look pretty cool too.

[full metal]

I have seen a lot of marching bands make them out of PVC pipe to add a tom to the tenors, It was usaly just a 6" tom but still it didnt sound all that bad.

I had thought about trying to make bigger toms out of it and see what they sound like.

[skinslapper]

Go for it dude. I'd say keep it pretty thin. Like 1 or 2 mm. Let us know how it goes.

[full metal]

Hey skinslaper we are in the states we dont use the metric system here

though I think we should.

[Gooner]

I think Carter Beauford used to play with a carbon snare...back in the earlier days of DMB