Snare Beds

[mergatroid1212]

hello, i was wondering about deep cut snare beds, if anyone who owns a virgil donati or a philharmonic snare might be able to help?

what is the reason for the deep cut bed and does it make a difference to the sound or tone of a drum or is it just about how the snares respond?
also how does the reso head take to tuning?

thanks...

[mergatroid1212]

oh.... sorry about double posting the same thread, i'm still quite new to this forum and when i first posted it didn't show up on the forum for a while and i thought i did something wrong so re- did the same thread, woke up in the morning and they were both there!!!!
i think i have now deleted one.....sorry if i wasted anyones time.

[Victor77]

I don't have any of mentioned snres, but I do have DDrum Vintone Mahogany which has 4 mm deep snare bed (maybe the deepest in induxtry). The sound is much drier, deeper and warmer, almost vintage, the snare wires sit tight to resonant drumhead. I personally like it, but sometimes I am scared how the hoop (rim) will react. Others say that shallower snare beds offer more sensitivity, but that usually means much more snare buzz!

[lovetheblues]

I have a Virgil Donati snare. The beds are totally flat over the length of the snare bed instead of being concave like most snare beds, but quite deep. i.e. it is like a flat notch the width of the snare wires cut into the bearing edge near the strainer and the butt.

The reason for the deep, flat cut is: Flat to ensure that the snare wires follow the contour of the head hence increasing sensitivity (the set of snares being flat of course). Deep to minimise sympathetic buzz, given that the snare is already quite sensitive. That would be my guess, but I am not sure all of this is really such an exact science.

So in practice: Well, it is a very nice snare, that is for sure. Very sensitive - sometimes annoyingly so, and needs to be tuned quite carefully... Or could just be my tuning ability.


Edit: PS: Brady's snare beds are similar: Also step down from the bearing edge, then flat for the length of the bed, then step back up to the bearing edge. And my home-made jarrah stave snare is the same, and is my favourite snare; not that I am biased of course.

[mergatroid1212]

thanks guys for the info.
interesting i never thought of it but what i gather is if a snare drum has a standard snare bed then the reso head actually creates a bow shape across the drum between the trow off and butt plate so when you tention up snare wires they then squash down on the bowed reso head therefore creating contact the full length of the drum, i guess the pay off is that the centre of the drum has more pressure on it and can indeed choke the wires and in theory reduce the sensitivity and articulation of the drum. so if you look at the deep cut or philharmonic snare bed then there is no bowing of the reso head but rather a depressed and flat section between the throw off and butt plate which would still offer a total contact surface but at a more even tention across the whole lenght of the snare wire and therefore a much more sensitive and articulate snare with what seems to be a wider range in which to tune in the wires.

if this is right then why do most snare drums have the bowed "standard" snare beds, all i seem to read in these forums is how important the smalles details are like air vents and lug choices and rims and woods and how many stands of snare wires need to be used and what type of wire matirial is best etc but i have found very little information on what seems to be the very fundimental part of the whole entire univers!!!!!!!!!


SNARE BEDS!

funny or is it just me?
Virgil is great and knows drumming!!!!!!!! maybe he knows snare drums too?

[lovetheblues]

I don't think the theory works quite like that, but probably you are close. Why I say not quite like that:

1. The bow shape is there, whether the snare beds taper gently or "step down" like on the VD snare.
2. The snares stretch across the bow shape in theory evenly; not squashing just the centre. It is kind of like this: no matter how tight the wires between two telegraph poles, there will always be a slight droop of the wires.

In answer to your question: Yes, the snare bed is very important, and plays a big part in the behaviour of a snare, but it is not a case of one is so much better than the other; they all have advantages and disadvantages. And that is why there are a lot of different snare bed styles and depths and widths. It is a case of trading off sensitivity for reduced sympathetic buzz. And trading off woody crack vs snare smack.

[mergatroid1212]

thanks guys for the info.
interesting i never thought of it but what i gather is if a snare drum has a standard snare bed then the reso head actually creates a bow shape across the drum between the trow off and butt plate so when you tention up snare wires they then squash down on the bowed reso head therefore creating contact the full length of the drum, i guess the pay off is that the centre of the drum has more pressure on it and can indeed choke the wires and in theory reduce the sensitivity and articulation of the drum. so if you look at the deep cut or philharmonic snare bed then there is no bowing of the reso head but rather a depressed and flat section between the throw off and butt plate which would still offer a total contact surface but at a more even tention across the whole lenght of the snare wire and therefore a much more sensitive and articulate snare with what seems to be a wider range in which to tune in the wires.

if this is right then why do most snare drums have the bowed "standard" snare beds, all i seem to read in these forums is how important the smalles details are like air vents and lug choices and rims and woods and how many stands of snare wires need to be used and what type of wire matirial is best etc but i have found very little information on what seems to be the very fundimental part of the whole entire univers!!!!!!!!!


SNARE BEDS!

funny or is it just me?
Virgil is great and knows drumming!!!!!!!! maybe he knows snare drums too?

thanks for your help, do you have any pic you can post? maybe with snare wires in place and maybe just of the snare beds no reso head?