[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.8″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
Contents<\/p>
You know what a drum should sound like.<\/p>\n
But you also know when a drum does not sound right.\u00a0 You may have one.<\/strong><\/p>\n It is still pretty and might even be in mint condition, but it does not sound like it should. \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Maybe there is a sad tambourine that sits at the bottom of your percussion box and something makes your drum sound nothing like when you first bought it.<\/strong> Or a big marching drum with a floppy skin that now serves merely as decoration.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>Or a small colourful tom that has seen better days.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong> <\/span>You just don\u2019t know what to do to make them sound like they used to.<\/strong><\/p>\n There are some things you can do to make your drum sound good again.<\/p>\n There are various ways of attaching a membrane to a drum shell.<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span>Sometimes the skin is held down with a bolting system,<\/strong> sometimes macrame work<\/strong> is used, sometimes it is even directly glued<\/strong> onto the shell of the drum.<\/p>\n For a drum to sound bright and crisp, you need to tension its membrane somehow.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Some tensioning systems\u00a0 <\/span>are efficient and easy to use, but some can be awkward and sometimes, there is simply no system that allows you to tension the skin<\/strong> on the drum shell.<\/p>\n If you have no way of tightening your drum using what is already there, there are two things you can try:<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/songbong.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Cat-on-radiator.jpg” alt=”Cat on radiator” title_text=”Cat on radiator” _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n If you want your drums to sound right, you have to prepare them<\/strong> before your music session.<\/p>\n The first time I saw that technique used was many years ago when holidaying in Senegal.\u00a0 <\/span>I visited a local drum-maker.\u00a0 <\/span>His house had an \u201cinside backyard\u201d with an open fire right in the centre. I still remember how he placed his drums in a large circle around the fire with their skins very close to the flame.<\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span>He used to do that anytime he needed to use or display his drums.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t need to light a fire in the playground, just turn that heater on!<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Tambourines” _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n The role of tambourines is to add a crisp and sharp touch to the music. But they often end up on the carpeted ground<\/strong>. Doing so suppresses most of the sound<\/strong> a tambourine is able to make.\u00a0 It also encourages the children to strike it more vigorously to produce sound, and thus shorten the life of the instrument.<\/strong><\/p>\n Tambourines are very ancient instruments with a rich folk music history.<\/strong> They were originally used in warfare and religious contexts, and evolved to become an essential part of folk entertainment.<\/strong> They entered the Western orchestra in the mid-18th century with Mozart being one of the first composers to be interested in the instrument. Tambourines are present in many cultures in Europe, China, India, Peru, Greenland, the Caucasus and Central Asia. \u00a0It is used with brio and a high level of virtuosity for Samba music in the Rio carnival<\/strong> by groups of skilled street dancers.\u00a0 It is always a handheld drum.\u00a0<\/strong> It can provide \u2013 despite its small size \u2013 a bright resonance to a musical activity.<\/p>\n The best way for your tambourine to sound right and to make it resonate fully is to grasp the frame of the drum without touching the membrane.<\/strong> \u00a0Strike it with your hand, or with a light stick for a sharper sound. More advanced activities can also alternate close and open sounds. \u00a0To\u00a0deaden\u00a0the sound, simply press the skin<\/strong> from the back with your fingers when holding the tambourine. \u00a0Let go of the membrane for an open sound.<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/songbong.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Tambourine-Hand.jpg” alt=”Best drum sound for tambourine” title_text=”Tambourine Hand Held” admin_label=”Tambourine Pic” _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”195px||||false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”0px||||false|false” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ disabled_on=”on|on|off” _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/songbong.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Drumsticks-for-kids.jpg” alt=”Drum sticks ” title_text=”Drumsticks for kids” admin_label=”Sticks Pic” _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”61px||||false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”0px||||false|false” custom_margin_phone=”0px||||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Sticks” _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n It looks easy.<\/strong> The drummer strikes the drum head with his stick. The drum resonates. Not so obvious is the manner in which he holds the stick at the moment it hits the drum. There\u2019s a \u201cmicro-release\u201d, allowing the stick a brief moment of free fall.<\/strong> Not too much so that he loses control of it, but just enough to let it have as light a touch as possible. This gives the best sound.<\/strong><\/p>\n Almost immediately, the drummer grips the stick again, raising it up, then recommencing the new trajectory towards the drum head. The sticks spring away from the drum under its own energy. Children don\u2019t usually do it like this at first. They grip the stick firmly, clench it at the moment of contact, which dulls the resulting sound.<\/strong> By trial and error they learn what the optimal technique is to make it sound right. This is a fine hand-eye co-ordination skill.<\/strong><\/p>\n If we are talking about young children doing the learning, lots of damage can occur during this \u201cclenching\u201d phase. That is why we make sticks<\/a> that are very light, and only 30cm long,<\/strong> as opposed to 40cm for adult sticks.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ disabled_on=”off|off|on” _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” disabled=”on” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Sticks” _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n It looks easy.<\/strong> The drummer strikes the drum head with his stick. The drum resonates. Not so obvious is the manner in which he holds the stick at the moment it hits the drum. There\u2019s a \u201cmicro-release\u201d, allowing the stick a brief moment of free fall.<\/strong> Not too much so that he loses control of it, but just enough to let it have as light a touch as possible. This gives the best sound.<\/strong><\/p>\n Almost immediately, the drummer grips the stick again, raising it up, then recommencing the new trajectory towards the drum head. The sticks spring away from the drum under its own energy. Children don\u2019t usually do it like this at first. They grip the stick firmly, clench it at the moment of contact, which dulls the resulting sound.<\/strong> By trial and error they learn what the optimal technique is to make it sound right. This is a fine hand-eye co-ordination skill.<\/strong><\/p>\n If we are talking about young children doing the learning, lots of damage can occur during this \u201cclenching\u201d phase. That is why we make sticks<\/a> that are very light, and only 30cm long,<\/strong> as opposed to 40cm for adult sticks.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/songbong.co.nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Drumsticks-for-kids.jpg” title_text=”Drumsticks for kids” admin_label=”Sticks Pic” _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ disabled_on=”off|off|off” _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Toms” _builder_version=”4.10.8″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\nWhat you can do to make your drum sound good again<\/span><\/h2>\n
Review where you store your drums.<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Prepare your drums<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Other ways to\u00a0 make your drums sound good<\/span><\/h3>\n
1 \u2013 Tambourines<\/span><\/h4>\n
2 \u2013 Sticks<\/span><\/h4>\n
2 \u2013 Sticks<\/span><\/h4>\n
3 \u2013 Toms<\/span><\/h4>\n