Is a Metal Snare LOUDER than a Wood Snare?
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- čas přidán 1. 11. 2018
- Metal snares are louder than wood snares…right? The results are actually surprising, so let’s test that and find out for sure.
Today we compare two basic, 6.5”x14” snare drums, each with the same heads and same snare wires. The metal snare is made by PDP, and the wood snare is made by Ludwig. Neither of these are too fancy, and I honestly don’t know the wood type for sure (could be some mahogany…maybe some maple…). (I’m also assuming that the metal one is made of steel.) It’s pretty interesting to compare these back to back to really A-B their differences. However, it’s also shocking how similar they sound. So watch the video and hear for yourself the comparison! Let me know in the comments below what you think, and tell me which snare was your favorite!
Here’s a spoiler / hint / point-of-foreshadowing… These two shells have very different weights, which I think plays into their tonal characteristics even more than their material does.
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I have a metal snare and I've noticed they always have a longer sustain than wood snares and sound a little sharper
The mind forgets way too fast(seconds) to be having the same beat a minute apart.
Basic rhythm 2:03 3:42
Side stick 2:28 4:07
Tasty beat 2:40 4:31
Centre hits with kit 3:06 5:07
Centre hits, snare only 3:19 5:21
You're welcome
Interesting, when you're doing the basic rhythms at the beginning with, I think, the rim shots(I'm not an expert), there was quite a bit of difference. The wood was quite a bit deeper. But when you hit right dead centre, and no rim shot at the end, the sounded almost identical.
The only thing I really hear that's different when he's hitting the snare in the center, by itself, is sympathetic. Vibration. Kind of sounds like the wood snares rattling around a little bit more
You really did a good job of tuning them exactly the same, I could barely tell a difference
I wanna hear a stone snare
DW Concrete Snare?
Smoke some weed.
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Unga bunga
@@constantk8780 Underrated comment.
Volume is one thing, perception is another. I’ve always felt wood is a warmer tone than the cold, metal snare.
While volume can be had by both materials, wood “seems” like it’s lower in volume.
Great video, brother!
Not much between them. The metal snare will be perceived as being louder due to more excitement in the upper frequency range.
I like the sound of both I’m a learner myself and you inspire me to get better
I've always enjoyed my metal snares personally. Live performances as well as studio work.
I have both metal and wood, and as I've gotten older I prefer the wood, and it's slightly "softer" sound.
Great video!
Hard to tell, but the wood seems to be slightly "warmer", less sharp. Very subtle.
noferblatz Exacly.
True. However, what about brass snares?
I have a Yamaha 6.5 chrome snare and the 5.5 snare that came with my kit . The chrome has a little more tin sound where the birch has more of a solid sound.
Good segment! Sounds to me like the wood snare has slightly more overtones. I'm enjoying a Ludwig 14x5 Acrolite past few years for most things. Standard triple flanged hoops. That snare has a very characteristic sound. Another one that is brighter and has a really nice funky sound is a modern Tama Superstar with the thin birch shell and die cast hoops. That's fairly loud. The loudest snare I've played is an old Pearl 14x5.5 chrome over brass.
ive always loved a wood (particularly ash or maple). they sound awesome
The wood snare had a little less overtones. I was only able to hear it with good headphones. Both snares sounded almost the same. Listening with my notebook speakers, I couldn't tell the difference.
My snare is a Pearl Brass Free Floater 5 1/2 x 14 with Hydraulic Heads. Giving it a nice loud Fat sound, cutting the overtones and ringing. Sounding great with any type of music, Rock, Funk, Jazz, it's awesome!
If you get a wood snare with the kit, it will probably blend well with the other drums.
The brass snare that I just bought is louder with a much better rim shot sound but it stands apart from the rest of the kit.
My two cents. It’s nice to have options.
Louder than the other drums?
With identical heads, I didn't catch much difference. In the early 70's I played in a 7 piece horn band, with no drum mikes. I had a 6" Ludwig brass, 1929 vintage (date was stamped on the inside of the shell). I used a coated ambassador and it REALLY cut thru. Today, for a metal snare, I use a Powerstroke II, it warms the drum slightly, and on my 6" inch wood Yamaha snare, I use an Evans Warm. I was quite surprised at the difference those tiny punched holes made. It's still a warm/woody sounding snare, yet it has a cutting rimshot. My favourite for sure.
While still in Kansas City, several drummers used it for live recordings. It looks like all mahogany wood, although I have been unable to confirm that fact.
One variable that will impact the volume some is the bearing edges..... sharper edges (at least with my snares) are louder as the heads are a little freer to resonate more fully, thus more volume. Rim weight may impact that as well, though would e very subtle. The comments referring to metal snares having a brighter sound and thus cutting more, leading to a perception of being louder are spot on. That's why metal snares are often preferred when you want a sharp back beat to cut through in the mix. Just my 2 cents..........
Its hard for me to say because my go-to snare is the Mapex daisy cutter. it lives up to its name sake in terms of volume and how it sounds. I absolutely love that drum and I've always liked metal snares better. Even my runner up snare is the pearl steel 13' x 3' piccolo.
The difference is more subtle than I thought it would be! In this comparison, I liked the wood snare more. It sounds a little bit warmer.
i vote for warmer on the wood too
Great video.
good job bro !
How did you tune the reso side compared to the batter side?
Hey Stephen. Love your videos. Felt the need to comment on this one. The hardness of the wood will have a pretty drastic effect on the projection of a wood drum, as that is a "kit" snare that you think may include mahogany, it could likely be a Poplar/mahogany blend. Both types of wood are quite soft. Harder woods and thicker shells would likely project better.
Like they say in Hawaii MAHALO. It means THANK YOU, great video I like both types of snares, I think that you should be versatile enough to tune and use either snare to your liking. They both sounded great to me.
Just ask a guitarist, and they'll probably tell you, 'They sound the same!'
I'm a drummer and they do sound the same. It's the heads and tuning. That's why Bonham's plastic kits, wood kits and metal kits all sound the same.
Of your 2 snares here, I prefer the warmer, punchier, & snappier sound of the wooden snare. The only bad thing I hear about wood snares (maple, in particular), is that it doesn't cut through the band in a large room as much. But I love my Pearl M1330 Maple piccolo, as it gets the brighter snap of a piccolo, but the warmer bottom end of maple. The best of both worlds. Plus I use an Evans HD DRY head for a drier "snap" -- the 2-ply Dry snare head for the harder hitting of playing metal.
Metal for me, and it looks classic!
Would be interesting to have a look at the higher frequencies of the snares, which make them cut through the mix. And make us "feel" : this one is louder!
I have both! depends on if im playing live or in studio, sometimes I use both.
Wich material would you recommend for home jams? 1-3 musicians playing jazzy funky stuff, using brushes half the time. Thanks
The mystery wood of your snare is this stuff called "maple."
I love the wood snare drum better. PDP Concept Maple the color that matches my drums Royal Blue to Black Burst
what brand of drums do u mainly use
My favourite snare: 909 :-P
In this case i prefer the wood snare, seems to have the longer noise.
THANK. YOU.
That's interesting, I would have thought that the metal snare would be louder.
I'll have to tell the bass player in my band that the db monitor showed both the metal & wood snare drums to be the same volume -15db.
He's always complaining when I use my Pearl Sensitone Steel snare drum 5" x 14" that it's too loud.
So I mainly use my Tama Swingstar 5" x 14" wood (maple I think) snare & he doesn't mention a thing about the volume. Perhaps it's a perception thing.
The steel snare is great to cut through & seems to have a real crisp articulate sound that is more suited to medium to high tunings.
My wood snare seems to have a warmer sound and is better suited for medium to low tunnings. I use it when I really want the ghosted notes to shine through as in a Chicago or Texas shuffle, if I loosen the snares off a little & play a bit off center it sings a sweet song :-)
one thing that I feel is missing in majority of wood vs metal snare comparisons is the consideration of snare thickness/density. Your average mass produced steel/ brass shell would be 1.0mm (or maybe 1.2mm) while a wood snare would probably be around 5 or 6.0mm? I'm curious to hear how wood vs metal snare drums with the same thickness would sound. If we want to be more detailed, how would a 5.0mm cast brass snare sound compared to a 5.0mm solid ply maple snare?
If I'm been honest metal snares just look more badass that wood
Maybe a few more overtones on the metal snare. Different snares, different applications. I play both for different reasons.
thanku bro
Perfect!
Cool comparison dude. I wonder if the difference would open up more in a higher tuning range?
Metal for my taste. I actually prefer their longer-lasting overtones.
I like the sound of the metal snare. The advantage is that it is flexible to all types of music.
Wood sounds softer and the metal sounds more bright 🥁I have two 6x5x14 accent from Ludwig
Type of wood/metal and shell thickness make a difference as well. Mostly, it’s how hard you whack it.
Love my Ludwig LM402. For a metal snare it's crazy versatile. Quick guess is the metal snare, as I'm guessing the wood would absorb sound, but that's talking out my ass
Yeah I think they both sound the same, but I think for some reason I would prefer to use a wood snare all tho I'm using a metal snare at church now cuz my wood one got stolen but I order a new wood snare. So excited.... Good video, I liked it.
Remo on one side and Evans on the other
DISCRACEFUL
lmfao
Exactly
This comment is 10 months old so I doubt you'll see this but I actually like the idea of that. Me personally I'm evans all the way but if he uses two different brands because of his personal preference in sound I think that's cool. When I invested in good cymbals I have an Istanbul China, meinl ride, and sabian hi hats because I just like how they sound, rather than sticking to one brand and being limited
Ambassador on top and Aquarian on bottom works really well on my acrolite.
Music is all about finding your own sound.
Man, the wood was noticeably warmer!
and less overtoned.
I agree I prefer his wood snare sound. Like it a lot more.
i love your channel jeff
It’s perceived loudness by the tone of the snare. All the comments about the metal sounding “sharper” just means spectrally it cuts through the mix. Hence thinking metal snares are louder
No preference really. I have a Starphonic maple and an SLP hammered steel. The steel sometimes feels more responsive but I attribute that more to the depth than material (5.5 vs.6).
I usually like maple. Lately been favoring a birch/mahogany ply.
Nothing beats my pearl 13 x 3 steel piccolo
Not a fan of how loose your snare wires are, have you done any videos on snare wire tension as i never understand how tight they should be
I think both are really for different situations, but personally I prefer the wood snare :)
Not only does the volume turn out to be the same, let's be honest...these snares sound identical to one another. When all the other variables are kept the same, heads, sticks, player, tuning, it doesn't seem like material made a bit of difference here. Very surprising and the implications are quite drastic I think for the drumming community.
Metal snare but my yamaha birch sounds amazing
You said, Wood. Eh heh-heh. Uh huh. I do like aluminum drums, but the last couple of years I have preferred maple snares.
I watching this video cause I have a wood shell that was given to me but needs some parts. I have to say they are very close but I liked the steal shell snare a little better.
You have to choose your snare only because of the sound you like before any consideration about its characteristics.
It really doesn't metter the shell, the lugs the brand etc.
Tama SLP Maple 😍😍
Only difference I hear is wood snare sounding a little (and I really mean a little) more scooped than metal.
I like the wood snare more , it seem to softer and better sounding
Haven't read the comments - I'm guessing that they're going to be around the same volume, but the resonances will be radically different.
Yup. As suspected - there's more of a "Ting" and "Klang" to the metal snare and the wooden one has a notably more rounded, warn tone - especially in the middle of it's tonal range.
The only accurate way to test this would be if you had a robot that hit the snares.
I went from a pearl master snare to a ludwig black beauty and the bb sounds way louder.
I have had both, I honestly prefer the wood snare, having said that it is subjective. Wood is richer and metal is sharper and brighter, I prefer a richer body, easy to change your sound without changing the shell....
Metal for jazz
wood for metal!
I like your mnemonic.
Wood for Jazz
Steel for Metal
Metal for Metal
wood is always afected by weather, especially, humidity, whereas, metal is not
Cast bronze snare with cast bronze hoops is THE loudest there is.😀
For my ears the steel snare rings out a bit longer, maybe that’s why it seems louder.
Wow, the wood almost sounds more metal. Haha
I prefer wood snares. My guess is that the wood snare will have more body-based punch, but the metal snare will have more volume on the high end.
The popular belief that a wood snare drum is warmer is simply false! The sound is the exact same!!
I listened on a good speaker and I have to agree they sound the same.
The difference is too subtle to bother with. I honestly only have a metal snare because it looks cool. Same goes for different woods in drum shells, no point.
They sounded f(:$& identical.
Steel rim shot sounds much better than the wood one.
the wood shell is Poplar.
From a design engineers point of view drum volume is directly proportional to drum head tension, material thickness, and impact. Look at a current marching snare drum which has a very thick high tension head. Place that on your drum kit and your mates will be required to turn their marshal twin stack to its max setting, in order to get past your snare volume.... and marching snares have shells which don;t touch the batter head.... So this whole argument in this video is moot.
I think the decay on the metal snare is longer than the wooden snare.
The difference isn't about volume but rather tone ... the EQ range of the Metal Snare is brighter than that of a Wood Snare - this give the false impression that it is louder, which it isn't. What a Metal Snare might be ... is brighter, this is the bigger reason why Drummers in the 60's chose the Metal Snare because once the Drums had to compete with Amplification - this is early when PA's were non existent or of poor quality - the Drummer wanted something to CUT through the on stage MIX which was ultimately the same thing the audience would be hearing. In the modern age where EVERYTHING is close mic'd and the PA is the Sound Presentation of the Band at both stage AND front of house ... it doesn't matter much what Snare you choose. EQ can fix it all ... The bottom line is a Wood Snare is deeper in the EQ Range than a Metal Snare at acoustic level ... but what Heads you play and how you tune can make a Wood Snare bright also ... play what you like.
I was just looking for confirmation that steel snares are terrible compared to wood, it looks like I'm just terrible at dialing in a snare.
What about acrylic?
I've owned many snare drums, and will never go back ever to metal. Timbales are the only good use of that form.
Why?
@@brent3086 Wood sounds better.
Why do you cross stick with the butt on the head? Flip the stick around, find the sweet spot on the head, an you’ll get a much deeper sound.
Metal Snares ftw!
The wood snare have less reverb tham the metal
How can people tell the difference between different wood shells?..........it was hard for me to tel the difference between steel and wood .
Same, I closed my eyes through most of the sound testing, and they both sounded the same fundamentally.
Wow, it's seems difficult to tell... to be honest i didn't felt the difference. ))
Wh wouldn't you do metal and wood back to back? This made the comparison kind of useless. Once you did the wood center hit, I forgot what the metal center hit sounded like.
That's a maple drum
Metal snare
Lincoln Weller Yes.
metal snare
Longest neck I ever saw
prefer wood snare
Buy 5” metal snare and 6” wood snare.
I just hate the way metal shares sound. The wood warms the tone of the snare and I really like the musical versatility that gives you. I prefer to use my drums more like a tonal instrument rather than purely percussive. Just my two cents!
my ears are dead, didn't hear any differences with metal and wood center...
Hernán D. As you’re just untrained. Try to listen for very slight differences in pitch first. It might help you stretch that muscle a little bit.
And I shouldn’t say untrained, but rather just unfamiliar.
It’s a drum kit, HIT IT.