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4125 Members
81 Forums
13431 Topics
170264 Posts
Max Online: 722 @ 04/10/08 12:10 PM
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#122288 - 10/23/06 01:41 AM
The mighty switch from low to high tension
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Registered: 01/04/04
Loc: Arlington, Virginia
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I've seen some previous posts about high tension drum questions and some DLO members have offered fairly detailed information about high tension drums and information about the history of high-tension technology. But the fact that it's presented on a drumline forum makes it a secondary source to the reader. I was wondering if anyone can give me a primary source for information on the research and development of high-tension/"free-floating" technology. I am interested about the following topics: (feel free to answer yourself, but I'd ultimately like to find a primary source) -Who was the first person to invent/develop a model for high tension snare technology? When? -What about the integration of high-tension technology into Drum Corps International? Was the research and development of high-tension technology a result of DCI demand or was high-tension technology developed and then introduced to DCI and the marching world in general? Assuming there was a demand for a high-tension drum, why was there this demand? -Where can I find a detailed primary source that documents the switch from low to high tension marching percussion?
_________________________
"You know I could run for governor but I'm basically a media creation. I've never done anything. I've worked for my dad. I worked in the oil business. But that's not the kind of profile you have to have to get elected to public office."
--- George W. Bush, 1989.
"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." -Thomas Jefferson
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#122289 - 10/23/06 11:57 AM
Re: The mighty switch from low to high tension
[Re: swisscheese]
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Registered: 12/29/05
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A primary source is going to be very difficult to find unless you contact someone at one of the drum manufacturers and ask why they brought their high tension snares to market. But without a primary source, you can still make observations and deductions, and from that I've pieced together the stuff below: It had been customary for a number of corps to crank mylar snare heads as tight as the heads could go. Tighter heads can produce a crisper, more articulate sound with shorter decay, allowing details to be more clearly heard. Remo introduced their Falam (kevlar) head in 1987. It allowed for higher tension than mylar heads, but the problem is that the new heads were able to withstand tensions that the drums themselves couldn't. If you over-cranked a mylar head, the head would give. If you over-cranked a kevlar head, the drum would break. Lug casings could crack or shear, rims could crack, and shells could warp or collapse. A sturdier drum was needed to handle the tension demands of these new kevlar heads, which led the drum companies to come up with new designs. I don't know the first person to invent/develop a free floating high tension snare drum, but the first company to have one on a drum corps field was Premier. Star of Indiana used Premier free floaters in 1989. The Blue Devils also marched a free floater in 1989, but it was sort of a hybrid. BD had an endorsement deal with Yamaha, who owned Premier at the time. BD had Premier free floaters in 1989, but with a Yamaha snare strainer and Yamaha logo on them. Pearl's free floater hit the field in 1990. From 1990 through 1992, Yamaha's answer to high tension drums was their Corps Custom model. It wasn't a free floater, but had a reinforced shell and heavier-duty lug casings. Around 1993, Yamaha introduced the sfz free floater as their top-of-the-line high tension snare.
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#122290 - 10/23/06 03:51 PM
Re: The mighty switch from low to high tension
[Re: SkyDog]
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Registered: 08/08/03
Loc: Montgomery, AL
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Quote:
Star of Indiana used Premier free floaters in 1989.
Not to question the statement, but I thought Star used mylar heads until '93. Did they use high-tension drums without really needing the high-tension capabilities? And if so, wouldn't it be kind of pointless from Premier's standpoint to give a corps a prototype drum when the corps isn't testing the protoypical feature? Or am I just completely out of my mind in thinking Star only used kevlar in '93? 
_________________________
John Martin The Dreadnoughts Fantasy Corps Brasslines.bb2.org ---> Admin Marianna High ---> '01 - '03 (Mellophone), '04 (Mello/Pit), '05 - '07 (Tech) Memphis Sound D&BC ---> '07 (Mello - Div III Champion, High Brass, Perc & Vis), '08 - ?? (Brass Tech)
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#122293 - 06/05/07 09:56 PM
Re: The mighty switch from low to high tension
[Re: drummerwalt]
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Registered: 02/22/04
Loc: Springfield M.A
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Star used Premier until 93 when they made the switch to Pearl. Many corps used free floater drums with mylar heads. The last corps I can think of was 03(maybe 04)Glassmen until about mid season or so. Corps used to double and even triple hoop the heads to achieve the highest pitch possible and still have rim left to hit. Yamaha had a field corps drum that was not quite the all star marching snare but still a good axe and this drum had a batter hoop that was very tall(almost two times the height of todays rims) so you could crank down mylar heads without having to triple hoop or possibly double hoop. Honestly I think the free floating snare drum was first introduced to the world of pipe drumming. The tuning schemes in the pipe band world are sky high. From what I have heard the free floater was partly through the request of Jim Kilpatrick to come up with a drum that could achieve higher tuning without shell failure and with a significantly reduced chance of hardware failure. To the best of my knowledge the Premier HTS drum was out in the UK just about a year before it hit the market here in the US and the fields of DCI.
_________________________
Semper Gumby: Always maintain a rigid state of flexibility. http://www.vater.com/
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#122296 - 06/06/07 11:17 PM
Re: The mighty switch from low to high tension
[Re: drummerwalt]
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Registered: 07/09/01
Loc: Frankfort, KY
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Haha, glad I could help out.  I looked all over for '89 Star pics and all I cold find were tenor line shots. Check out the following video at 2:48 and if you look REAL close they have Marathons on top: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W176GSUcEQMNow, I suppose at some point during the season they used kevlar since that would make sense with their show concept, but by late season when I saw a clinic of theirs they were playing on mylar.
_________________________
Hulka
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#166795 - 07/02/08 05:49 PM
Re: The mighty switch from low to high tension
[Re: SkyDog]
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Registered: 06/01/08
Loc: texas
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A primary source is going to be very difficult to find unless you contact someone at one of the drum manufacturers and ask why they brought their high tension snares to market. But without a primary source, you can still make observations and deductions, and from that I've pieced together the stuff below:
It had been customary for a number of corps to crank mylar snare heads as tight as the heads could go. Tighter heads can produce a crisper, more articulate sound with shorter decay, allowing details to be more clearly heard.
Remo introduced their Falam (kevlar) head in 1987. It allowed for higher tension than mylar heads, but the problem is that the new heads were able to withstand tensions that the drums themselves couldn't. If you over-cranked a mylar head, the head would give. If you over-cranked a kevlar head, the drum would break. Lug casings could crack or shear, rims could crack, and shells could warp or collapse. A sturdier drum was needed to handle the tension demands of these new kevlar heads, which led the drum companies to come up with new designs.
I don't know the first person to invent/develop a free floating high tension snare drum, but the first company to have one on a drum corps field was Premier. Star of Indiana used Premier free floaters in 1989. The Blue Devils also marched a free floater in 1989, but it was sort of a hybrid. BD had an endorsement deal with Yamaha, who owned Premier at the time. BD had Premier free floaters in 1989, but with a Yamaha snare strainer and Yamaha logo on them. Pearl's free floater hit the field in 1990. From 1990 through 1992, Yamaha's answer to high tension drums was their Corps Custom model. It wasn't a free floater, but had a reinforced shell and heavier-duty lug casings. Around 1993, Yamaha introduced the sfz free floater as their top-of-the-line high tension snare. skydog, is there anything...ANYTHING AT ALL you don't know about snare drums??? on topic: why would somebody use a drum that could handle kevlar and still use mylar on it? where they scared that it would be too new and nobody would like it? or did they just not want to go THAT high?
_________________________
Vista Ridge High School, TX Freshman 08-09, Quint section leader (though I am the only quint player  )...3rd at PASIC High School Standstill with best snares. Our line's [small] numbers; basses:4 snares:4 quints:1
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#166821 - 07/02/08 11:27 PM
Re: The mighty switch from low to high tension
[Re: onespockadam]
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Registered: 12/31/00
Loc: here
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Little side note. The Falam was not the first Kevlar head. A company called Duraline developed it in the 70's for timbales. Duraline switched its name to Bear Percussion, who made kevlar heads for drums sets. They are non torque heads. Not sure if they are even still around. but they were very interesting. here is the website, Bear percussion But to answer above. Some instructors love the sound of mylar. and when the Marathon head was still around some corps used them and they sounded great from what I understand. But when Premier stopped selling heads. Nobody has made a Mylar head as good. The just don't hold up to the tension.
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#166848 - 07/03/08 11:02 AM
Re: The mighty switch from low to high tension
[Re: multi-Thomm]
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Registered: 09/12/04
Loc: North NJ
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Bear Percussion is not around any more, and it's very sad. I used to use their Kevlar bass heads on my rudimental bass and it was quite amazing.
_________________________
I teach some lines - ask me Bridgemen Quads 07, Snare 08 http://www.tgcmusic.net - MY Website - CZPercussion
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#166852 - 07/03/08 12:10 PM
Re: The mighty switch from low to high tension
[Re: Cadet311]
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Registered: 06/01/08
Loc: texas
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Bear Percussion is not around any more, and it's very sad. I used to use their Kevlar bass heads on my rudimental bass and it was quite amazing. kevlar bass heads!? *faints*
_________________________
Vista Ridge High School, TX Freshman 08-09, Quint section leader (though I am the only quint player )...3rd at PASIC High School Standstill with best snares. Our line's [small] numbers; basses:4 snares:4 quints:1
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#166862 - 07/03/08 01:08 PM
Re: The mighty switch from low to high tension
[Re: onespockadam]
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Registered: 12/29/05
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You can get up now, Adam.  Just because Kevlar can take super-high tensions doesn't mean that's what it's always used for. Kevlar heads are also used on rope tension drums, which obviously aren't high-tension. Cooperman's web site lists them as an option for their Liberty model snare & bass drums. Too add just a little to what multi-Thomm said... The Premier Marathon was a fantastic drum head. Listen to some Star of Indiana pre-1993. For a Mylar head, they handled tension really well -- they didn't break as often as other Mylar heads I've used and didn't stretch out too fast. There's not a Mylar head in the same league and it's a shame they were discontinued.
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#166869 - 07/03/08 03:03 PM
Re: The mighty switch from low to high tension
[Re: SkyDog]
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Registered: 09/12/04
Loc: North NJ
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Exactly, SkyDog. Ancient Rudimental drums aren't even close to tension as the FFX and sFz drums we see today. Kevlar bass heads provided a really nice solid thump and were a dream to play on. I've tried many heads since and none have come close.
I concur with the Marathon sentiment as well. They were a one of a kind head.
_________________________
I teach some lines - ask me Bridgemen Quads 07, Snare 08 http://www.tgcmusic.net - MY Website - CZPercussion
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#169874 - 08/17/08 04:42 PM
Re: The mighty switch from low to high tension
[Re: Cadet311]
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Registered: 08/07/08
Loc: Florida, USA
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If I remember correctly, Star did use Kevlar for part of the season in '89. I recall jokes about using the drums to shield yourself from the gunfire at Birmingham because the heads were "bullet-proof". I believe they went back to the Mylar heads because of a problem with tension rods stripping right out of the lugs.
On a totally unrelated note.. Props to Star of '89 for feeding us when our chuck-wagon broke down and had to be left behind in another state. Man those were some good eats.
_________________________
Performance
Ridgewood Drum Line '85 - '89
'89 Suncoast Sound
'91 Magic of Orlando
Instruction
Ridgewood High School '89 - '91
Renaissance Academy '04 - '07
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