[XanderJ]

Alright I just got my new kit, but I am forced to set it up in my barn with all of my other man toys. But, since I live in Michigan the weather is coooold. So, I'll ask for some advice. Is it safe to store assembled drums in cold weather? It just seems to me if the heads get cold for a long period of time they might get crisp or tight??
Is it safe to just sit down and start playing away on the cold heads? Or should I heat the barn up for a while before I beat em? I ask because I just blew a nice whole on a head of my practice kit and it was about 25 degrees that night and they have been sitting in the barn all winter, but that could be because they are pretty worn and the quality of the heads are very low end. My new kit is NOT low end and don't want to break anything I don't have to. Any suggestions?

[Der Trommler]

Well heads are nothing more than plastic film basically, so when plastic gets that cold it will shatter. Cold weather might effect the shells as well.

[slingerland]

I'm sure you can damage the shells if the weather is as cold as you say it is, if your drums have a wrap on them that may start to peel the shells may crack the smart thing would be to get them completely out of the cold even if you have to stack them in your room. I live in Las Vegas and we have the problem with heat 9-10 months out of the year so I understand your problem
if you leave your drums there it might cost you, I wouldn't do it. GOOD LUCK SLINGERLAND

[Paulo]

I'd wrap em in a nice cozy quilt or two. That way, they'll know you care.

Make sure to use you're wife's goose down comforter and 600 thread count duvet.

"Nobody puts baby in the corner!"

[Tainojim]

Mr. XanderJ, is there anyway you could keep that barn a little bit warm?

As for the heads, Weather King or Weather beaters would suffice. They stay tuned in extreme conditions.

Not even an insulated partition or room would keep those poor drums put out in the cold.

You should be reported to the "Drum Cruelty Protection Agency".

[Buddy]

Ya the D.C.P.A could help! But yerah keep em warm or they could damage the wraps. also the heads will break alot. not to mention the fact that its harder to warm p and play well in the cold.

[XanderJ]

Oh man, now you guys have get me thinkin
I got a brand new set still in the box and the only place to set it up is the cold barn.
I do have a pretty good wood stove out there, I may be forced to use it a lot more now. I usaually run that stove during the day and it gets to a comfortable 60 degrees. But at night when I shut it down the temp will get down below freezing.
Thats when I will be worrying. I'll just take my chances and get the barn hot for a while to give the drums and heads a while to warm a bit before I start playing.
If i bust some heads, oh well, I will probably want to change them anyway.
( They are Remo Ambassadors and have not heard to many good things on them)

But I am going for it, I don't think there is much that can stop the urge to get to play these drums

Thanks for the tips though

	Remo Drumheads Shop for Remo Drumheads at Musician's Friend

[Paulo]

In all seriousness, what kills instruments, and materials in general, is the constant fluctuation of temperatures. If you keep wood at 0 degrees, it won't degrade, actually, probably last longer.

But cracking occurs like it does in roadways, freeze-thaw. On a much more diminutive scale but you can imagine little water particles (humidity) getting in between grains and plys and doing the expand-contract dance.

However, I would like to say that I don't have any actual data on critical temperature swings damage to drumsets. But, its more my theory on why things fall apart quicker when subjected to these types of conditions.

Putting a blanket over it might help a little with the condensation factor and all that. Dunno, worth a shot.

I hate that we gave you a complex over this but I'm sure that you're not the only person that's dealt with this and most modern drumsets are built with higher strength/resiliant adhesives anyhow...I hope...

[Infero Exicution]

Yeah, i see your problem, I liv in michigan too.
But my kits in a conditioned room.

That cold is a dangerous place for a kit.
A good amount of moisture is likely and if that gets to the kit it can really damage it.
So try to keep it as controlled and warm as possible. Humidity is a bad thing too.

[Luke]

Before I got my garage door insulated my old drum kit was in there, it did not like the cold and humidity. The sound quality of the kit just seemed to degrade from all the damage and the heads were not sounding good either. But now my garage is a nice comfortable 68 degrees, it's actually more of another room then a garage now. I have my new drum kit in there and its doing great. So if it's at all possible, keep your kit in an at least partially temperature/humidity controlled environment.