REPORT: DRUMHEADS

With all the new drumsticks, mallets, hand drums and accessories coming on the market, drumheads seem to get very little attention. But without drumheads, percussion instruments like the snare, tom toms and bass would be about as musical as donuts.

In this Report, SBO presents a sampling of the latest drumheads for use in school marching and concert bands.

​

Strata Concert Bass Head from Evans

The Strata Concert Bass Head is a synthetic head with the appearance of calfskin that holds pitch well, with minimum fine-tuning. The heads are full-bodied and open, with depth of sustain and excellent projection, and provide mid-range body and attack, plus a rich, low-end frequency. The Strata Concert Bass Head is available both with and without a central Power Dot, which increases low-end sustain, in all sizes and degrees of thickness.

The concert bass heads are available in eight configurations, with or without Power Dot: 10-mil single-ply, 36 inches; 10-mil single-ply, 40 inches; 14-mil single-ply, 36 inches; and 14-mil single-ply, 40 inches.

The Strata Concert Bass Head is the first in a series of concert drumsheads, which will ultimately include timpani heads, concert tom heads and concert snare drumheads. For more information, visit www.evansdrumheads.com.

Marching Drumheads from Aquarian

The Articulator Marching Bass Drumhead is a powerful, punchy and direct-sounding bass drumhead featuring Aquarian’s patented “Floating Muffling System.” The sound projects because the felt muffling ring “floats” and does not touch the bearing edge. The drumhead collar is free to vibrate in unison with the drum shell to preserve the low end. This head, which features Power-Play drumhead film, is available with or without Power Dot.

The Chieftain Marching Snare Drumhead features a special lamination of Kevlar and Aquarian’s Power-Play drumhead film. The Chieftain provides more dynamic range, responsive stick action and a musical sound that projects in harmony with the snares and the drum. It’s equally effective indoors or on the field. Safe-T-Corps hoop features a high-tension “overlap” design to resist pull out and helps the head stay in tune.

The Projector Marching Tom Tom Drumhead is a single-ply head with Aquarian’s Power Dot material reinforcing only the area that is struck the most. The greater part of the head is left to resonate and project the sound. The reinforcing Power Dot material does not touch the bearing edge, which allows the collar to vibrate in unison with the drum shell for maximum tone and articulation. The head features Power-Play drumhead film. For more information, visit www.aquariandrumheads.com.

Tendura Snare Heads from Remo

Remo created its Tendura™ snare heads to address the demands of pipe band drumming. The name Tendura is derived from the head’s ability to deliver extreme TENsion and DURAbility, according to the company. The head has a feel that falls between the rigid Falams