Percusize Me!: DIY

Saturday, 13 August 2022

Modification of a Premier bass drum (1)

This project is a consequence of a larger one; namely, to provide myself with the proper drums to recreate as close as possible the original sound, character and looks in I. Stravinsky´s "The Soldier´s Tale".

For the bass drum I used a 28"x12" Premier (model 188) from the 70s. Here you have a photo from the catalogue and a technical description:

It was finished in "Burgundy Pearl" and it featured "Everplay" heads:

Here you can see the bass drum when I used it in "Pagliacci" at the teatro Campoamor in Oviedo:

This is the bass drum ready to be modified. As you can see, the finish was not specially beautiful.

The first thing I did was stripping off the shell, a task which was not very difficult, as the wrap was glued only in a narrow band.

The next step was sanding the shell until it was perfectly smooth. Once done, I applied several layers of tung oil.

These are the original lugs. Although I like very much their "Art Déco" style and I have already used identical lugs on some of my drums, it was not the look I was looking for (apart from the fact that they were not in perfect condition).

In order to get a more antique and simple look I got some tubular lugs at STDrums:

I also added some leather gaskets (STDrums) to avoid contact/friction noise. They look beautiful!!!

Here you can see everything already mounted on the shell:

I then started working on the counterhoops. I got rid of the red wrap and the black paint (not from the central "channel" as it would get covered with the new wrap). I sanded them until they were perfectly smooth and, again, I applied several coats of tung oil. The next photo shows two different stages of the process:

I glued a strip of white marine pearl wrap (STDrums) I had from previous projects. Because I was going to fit the drum with natural heads, I susbstituted the original square-headed tension rods with tap-style ones. Changes in temperature and humidity greatly affect natural heads, so you have to constantly adjust the tunning of the bass drum. Tap-style rods are much more practical. I got these "Paris style" tension rods at STDrums:

Here you can see the original claws and the new tension rods on the counterhoop:

With everything ready, I only had to put the goat skins on (Baena Sonido) and mount everything. Here you have some photos:

This bass drum features the measures, character and look I was looking for for my project; on top of that, it sounds fantastically well! Also, apart from being a perfect chamber-music-bass-drum, it can also be incorporated into a trap set (remember this article on Milhaud´s concerto), so it is doubly useful.

A future article will show the different mounting possibilities of this bass drum. Stay tuned, as this has just began 😉.

…et in Arcadia ego.

Saturday, 15 May 2021

My home-made Renaissance side drum.

A side drum is an ancient kind of large drum that was used in Europe by the landsknechts, mercenaries from the German area. Said troops fought on the side of the highest bidder, and they even were part of the Spanish infantry under emperor Carlos I.

Said drum was played to one side, under the arm pit, thus its name. It was played together with fifes and was used to march, transmit orders, entertain the soldiers...

This project starts with a 18"x18" Gonalca surdo which was crying for a new chance.

I took all the hardware and the wrap off, leaving the shell in its "natural" state.

18"x13" seems to be a normal size for these drums, so I cut the shell to nearly 14" in depth.

Quite obviously, I kept the remainig shell, which is now an instrument I will write about in the future. Now it was time to cover the holes...

...and to cut the protuding dowels.

I sanded both sides of the shell so they were smooth and then glued a new veneer:

The shell was ready. I then drilled two diametrically opossed groups of three holes to accommodate the pegs in charge of tensioning the snares. Six viola tuning pegs were inserted, which I drilled so the gut could pass through:

I got two wooden counterhoops at Thomann, which I drilled (16 times each) at a 22.5º angle to facilitate the passing of the rope.

I cut two snare gates in the resonant counterhoop for the snares:

I made 16 ears using leather pads and ribbon:

Everything was ready: the 16 ears, 22 metres of hemp rope (7mm. thick) and two goat heads (the batter one slightly thicker, both mounted on wooden flesh hoops) I got at Baena Sonido.

Here you can see the pig tail, the knot that ends the roping and keeps the tension. See how the ends of the rope are covered with leather tape so they do not fray:

A chain is "knit" with the remaining rope, which is attached around the lower counterhoop. This is how the drum looks like once roped:

I made the snares using natural gut I also got at Baena Sonido.

I passed the gut through the hole I previously drilled on the pegs, securing it with a figure of 8 knot (the gut was wet, so it was malleable and easy to work with).

As a last detail I added to rope loops, which will be used to secure the cotton sling I will use to hang the drum from my right shoulder. See how the ends of the rope are covered with leather tape: