Remember To Keep A Level Head

Oh my goodness. After trying to continually solve the resonant snare drum buzz carrying over from my 10 inch tom I decided to take a closer look at the bottom of the snare drum to see what might be assisting this phenomenon. What I immediately noticed was not good… After always taking care of replacing the top heads of all the drums I really never gave the bottom heads much thought as they aren’t hit directly and really don’t endure much stress, so I thought. I would check the tuning and move on, never replacing them.

Until now that is.

I decided to flip the snare drum over and take a peek at the setup of the new snares by PureSound Snare Drum Wires I added a few months ago. Everything seemed in order, but at careful glance (as you can see above) and at an angle to the drum I noticed one side of the rim was lower on the drum than the other.

What? This cannot be.

But it was, my neglect of the bottom head had allowed for some serious wear and tear and a loosening of one side of the resonant head’s glue over time, a long time. So I decided to “head” to Clark’s Music Center to pick up a new one. Clark reminded me that (knowing me) I probably hadn’t changed my bottom snare head since I purchased the kit in 1999 and yes, he was correct. Unreal.

Shame fell upon the house of Hofstadter.

Once the resonant head was removed I also noticed pitting in the actual skin that wasn’t there when it was tightened. Not sure where that came from originally but it was there. Probably in my early carelessness when moving the drums. My theory for the overall katty-wonkeredness is as follows:

Hidden Dents In My Snare Drum Resonant Head

I hadn’t changed the resonant snare drum head in over 15 years (again, unreal).
The stress of the weight of the drum and barrage of hits it has taken over the years has helped worked that part of the head away from the glue and hoop. It appeared to be on the side that I strike and do rim shots.
The snare drum sits on the lower hoop on the rubber feet and isn’t suspended by the lugs, adding further stress to the lower head over time.
I also recall periods of heavy double bass drum practice where I would leverage my balance on the rim of the snare drum briefly… eek.
Drum heads age, plastic, glue and metal get weak, especially on really thin skinned resonant snare heads.
I was more worried about the batter head and snares and overlooked a key component, the resonant head.

Ultimately with Clark’s help I decided to match the top head brand with a new Evans 300 Snare Side Clear, a medium weight head that should do the trick. The best part, it was new. Going to give it a thorough checkout this weekend while working on three songs. I hope it improves the sympathetic snare vibrations as well. We shall see.

So…. what have we learned this week?

Check and change your heads as often as time allows or you can afford based on your level of playing. Resonant heads can go a bit longer between changes but still suffer from aging and wear and tear, especially on a snare drum.