Wood hoops (building a drum set)

[lukesplat12]

I am looking for insight into how wood hoops effect the sound of drums (tons and snares). Over the next year I'm going to be designing, sourcing, building, and finishing my own custom drum kit. I've already decided on a good many things, but one bit I'm still considering is hoops. The drums are going to be made of stave walnut: 20x14, 12x8, 15x12, 14x6, which is really perfect for me. I am going to be building them with a friend of mine that builds guitars and the plan is to make them really thin with rerings for maximum bass and resonance. The sound I am looking for is huge and bassy with lots of sustain.
Anyway, I'd love to get some feedback about hoop sound and appreciate any that comes.

P.S. Money is some object, no gold plating, but I want this to be my dream, and I'm not afraid to put some money into it.

P.P.S. I'm sorry I haven't on as much recently, I miss this place. I have had a crazy busy summer (in the process of building a cajon, I'll certainly post pics when finished).

[Russ]

I have clawless and claw type hoops, and both seem to promote a warm midrange and remove the metallic overtones. A very natural sound, how I feel drums were meant to sound but never do. They are kind of like the "organic food" of the drum world - you pay more, but you get what you can't from more traditional designs. It's something worth hearing at some point, but there is a bit of a learning curve of how to play your drum without bashing the hoop too much. All I know is, the second I had my wood hoop snare tuned up with a good head on it - I thought to myself, "there's no going back to anything else, i'm addicted to this tune, this melody!"

[lukesplat12]

Thanks, love the analogy about organic stuff

[N2Bluz]

There is a theory that since we are organic, we respond most favorably to organic sounds. Wood, bone and skin are most like the human ear (as opposed to metal, plastic, polyurethane, etc.). I hear that a lot from guitar builders. Some claim you can take a cheap guitar, strip it and replace the plastic components like the saddle, nut, pins and polyurethane finish with organic stuff like bone and lacquer, and make it sound better to the human ear.

[kay-gee]

There is a theory that since we are organic, we respond most favorably to organic sounds. Wood, bone and skin are most like the human ear (as opposed to metal, plastic, polyurethane, etc.). I hear that a lot from guitar builders. Some claim you can take a cheap guitar, strip it and replace the plastic components like the saddle, nut, pins and polyurethane finish with organic stuff like bone and lacquer, and make it sound better to the human ear.

Hmmm. Interesting theory.

all the best...

[MrB]

Reading through your plans, I have a few questions/comments. I have Ayotte Woodhoop and Steelhoop snares, and the Whitney kit has wood hoops. I also have a Ludwig Classic Maple kit, and previously owned a Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute kit. My teacher had a DW Collectors' and Yamaha Recording Custom kit.

I guess my first question is what kind of musical application is this kit intended for? The obvious disclaimer is that wood hoops are somewhat mismatched with the more extreme rock genres.

I have no experience with the acoustic properties of walnut, but I presume you selected that wood after some research. Going the route of stave shell construction will eliminate a lot of glue, and unlike cross-laminated plywood shells, the wood will not have the desire to return to a straightened piece. My understanding is that stave construction is inherently louder and more resonant, but I can't speak from personal experience. Why you would need to put reinforcement hoops onto a stave shell... I am not sure. I think it would dampen the shell somewhat and using the stave construction technique I don't think that the additional reinforcement is all that necessary. If you've come across information stating otherwise, I'd be happy to read it with an open mind.

As for wood hoops, I have the claw style on my Ayotte snare, and the Yamaha through-the-hoop style on the Whitney kit. In both cases, they are incredibly warm and resonant, and are best suited to a low tuning. I found the Ayotte snare a touch difficult to tune, and had a similar experience with a Taye woodhoop snare that was, to my recollection, incredibly frustrating to tune. If you change your heads fairly often, the claw style can be a bit more tedious to work with, as you have to loosen each tension rod enough to lift the claw and rotate it out of the way. With the Ayotte, the lug is cut-a-way, so each little rod and claw and T-hook come completely off the drum. With the Yamaha-style hoops, you can put an elastic on the rod underneath the hoop, and when changing heads the rim and rod and washers all stay together as one unit that you can pick up and put to the side.

Personally, I generally use a brass or steel snare, but I do like having the wooden snare with wood hoops as an option.

Cheers on the project!