The Complete Handbook of Drum Heads

Chapter 1: Understanding Drum Heads

What a Drum Head Is, Physically

A drum head is a membrane stretched over a shell. That simple arrangement produces a vast range of sounds, but how it does so is not obvious. The membrane is the primary sound source: when struck, it deforms and creates a vibration wave that moves outward from the strike point, reflects off the edge of the drum, and bounces back. This reflection creates standing waves that define the pitch and the overtones. The shell below it is not merely a holder; it amplifies and shapes those vibrations, and the air inside the drum moves, adding a low-frequency component to the overall sound. For most practical purposes, the drum head is the most significant factor in a drum's voice. The shell material, the bearing edge, and the overall construction are important, but changing a drum's head changes its sound more dramatically and more cheaply than altering anything else on the drum.

To understand the performance of a drum head, it helps to think of it as a tuned membrane. It is not a flat sheet, but a flexible film held under tension by a metal or wood hoop. The tension across the membrane is typically adjusted by bolts on lugs. The single most important property of the membrane is its mass per unit area, which is determined by its thickness and the material's density. A heavier film has a lower resonant frequency under the same tension. A heavier film also