How Is a Bass Drum Made?
Other People Are Reading
-
About the Bass Drum
-
Bass drums, which consist of a drum head stretched over a frame, have been in use for centuries. In the past, bass drums were made of hollow shells or hollowed-out tree limbs covered with treated animal skins. Today bass drums are made with more modern materials.
Making the Shell
-
Manufacturers begin by making the shell, or rigid body, of the bass drum. These can be made of wood or plastic. For wood drums, the maker uses a lathe to cut between two and four curved panels of wood and sands them to the desired thickness. The panels are then glued and clamped together, creating the shell of the drum. When the shell is dry, the maker lacquers and paints it, and then puts metal bands around it to prevent warping. Plastic shell drums are created through a process called injection molding in which hot, liquid plastic is injected into a mold and allowed to cool. The mold is then removed, leaving the shell of the drum. Plastic shells are also usually painted and lacquered, as well as banded with metal strips.
-
Finishing the Shell
-
The hardware for holding the heads on the bass drum is added to the cooled and finished shells. The maker drills holes through the shell for the screws and installs a metal band with openings for screws. Long rods of metal, called tension rods, are inserted through the metal band from one side of the drum to the other. The screws will go on these rods when the drum is finished as part of the mechanism that holds the heads in place and allows for them to be tuned to specific pitches.
Making the Head
-
Bass drum heads today are mostly made of synthetic materials. Mylar --- a thicker kind of the same plastic used in metallic balloons --- is the most common material for drum heads. The chemicals that go into making the head are mixed and then poured while still hot onto metal rollers, which stretch and thin the resulting material out into the approximate desired size and thickness. The head is then cut by a machine programmed to specific dimensions.
Final Assembly
-
Bass drums are assembled just prior to shipment. The heads are placed on the shell and screwed into place. When the drums arrive at their destinations, they will be tuned by tightening the head to a specific pitch.
-
- Photo Credit edinburghbagpipes.com
