Testing WEIRD SNARE DRUM Hacks

[@rdavidr]

Which one of these hacks was your favorite? 🤔

[@Philtoid]

Kickport in the snare. Now i have a drinks holder

[@grootzijl]

My favourite was the last one, the snare on the bottom of the floor tom. That sounded awesome

[@Pure_KodiakWILD_Power]

Coated and 1 ply non snare heads on my snares have been my thing for awhile--less papery snare response.

[@Pure_KodiakWILD_Power]

Tim also should get $25 for the water bottle straps, because it was just a snare drum.

[@madprophetus]

Snare on the bottom of the floor tom sounded fantastic. Reminds me of the snare sample from this song: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mobIaKaCbp6Ibsk

[@Ghi102]

That Tom + Snare combo was great. I could totally see this as an accent drum. Now I wonder if just somehow attaching snare wires to the tom would just do the same thing without requiring a full snare to be attached to it

[@NothingHereButMe]

“Snoms” are a thing - tama makes them for like £250 which I think is a steal

[@blakesbeatscolie]

You’d need to have a snare bed put into the bottom of the tom shell edge to make it work otherwise the snare wires on the even surface edge across of the bottom of the tom will make the snare wires malfunction aka not proper snare wire tension

[@Drummerfromky]

You also wouldn’t have a snare throw off

[@thompen]

id totally use it, if i had the money to

[@splooshamus]

Just get a rim with the snares slot that's got the same lugs and diameter and jerryrig some snares onto the bottom bota-boom bota-bing snom

[@emileboucher-cloutier3529]

I'm sorry really did anybody thought it would be easy to guess those hacks by the sound alone? x)) Seriously props to the guy, all his guesses makes a lot of sense 😊

[@MurderWho]

As someone with a really bad ear for music, his analysis helped me somewhat to understand the sound better as opposed to just going "Yeah, sounds like a guy playing drums". So I appreciated it as an element of the video if nothing else.

[@gyrran]

Yeah, @timbuell deserves mad respect for his analysis. I listened with my eyes closed to the floor tom snare, and i would have guessed, like, a loose goat skin head with a kick drum microphone, among other things.

[@Sweet92879]

Yeah, I can identify one sound, and it's "I think it's a snare, sounds okay. Or actually, maybe not?" That's why I play electronic kits.

[@SamuelginTV]

if he was given the full list of drum hacks with some extra options included to choose from for each example it probably would’ve been at least feasible

[@wouterengel1345]

@@Sweet92879 Me too! Don't have an ear for drum sounds. Besides I don't have the stamina or the time for the endless tweaking I'd need to get my kit sounding just right. That said, I find the custom snare sounds from Drum-tec do sound a lot better than the standard snare sounds on my TD-17. (little bit of free advertising for my German friends there ;-)

[@NautilusGuitars]

It's nice to watch someone who's not only a competent drummer, but is also a competent machinist as well. As someone who's been a shop hound for over a decade, I've always been bothered by how many people blunder their way through these things with no precision or forethought. I like that you put some actual effort and precision into this stuff.

[@Visionism]

That Donner acrylic snare sounds terrific. Every musician has the same hack now. We call it "How ridiculously good entry level stuff is, now."

[@andreaskallee103]

I know for shure that kickports were sold in smaller diameters especially for snare an toms. The factory showed that in Frankfurt Musikmesse 2005-07. Sounds great.

[@gyrran]

oooh, spicy! sauce, cap?

[@cmt8485]

Lmao as if, maybe for side heard definitely not batter tho

[@adamleyva9224]

Can confirm, i have 2 different smaller sized ports on a Sonor Mini kit, small for my 14in kick and even smaller for both toms

[@billhunting9028]

​@@cmt8485yes, for the batter head. They are 1 inch in diameter

[@DynamicRockers]

9:44 The soundtrack is really coool!

[@alsdrumhang]

I love the snom hack at the end - and I was surprised the rimless head sounded so usable!

[@LilZombieFooFoo]

The War Drum sounded absolutely fantastic. The bass port snare was pretty good, too, I thought. Mic'd inside of the drum was awesome, very modern death metal sound, and the rim hits were cool, too.

[@beast_of_burden7762]

I look forward to your videos Every week, keep up the great Work Man🤘

[@jasoncampbell3955]

The coated snare side sounded pretty decent.

[@wesstewart4836]

10:03 that was the beginning of rock with you on the fat snare. Great choice!!!

[@cleatusearl]

He tried to sneak it in

[@mklschwrtz2]

Damn, that coated snare side head and the kick drum port hack sounded way better than I would've expected.

[@TheChicagoJunkie]

The coated head on the snare side was one I found out of necessity once, everyone was saying I was crazy but for my genre of heavier stuff it was great. I had an acrylic (DW design) at the time as well!

[@thetincan_man]

Definitely wanna try the kick port, that sounded awesome on the batter head

[@ChrisJS1987]

I've used the tom/snare before and I will do again. Great hack!

[@rensjanssen1172]

You should add kickports on the resonant heads of your drumset 😃 I’m pretty curious how that would sound like on the toms

[@liamfitzdrums]

Same here. I would guess that they'd probably sound like concert toms but perhaps with a little bit more bass to them.

[@Drumboa]

Kickport made 1” fx ones for toms and snares when I worked at guitar center in the mid 90’s. Dunno if they’re still in production.

[@adamleyva9224]

I have that on an 8in and 13in rack/floor tom for my mini kit. Sound pretty dead but for what i want it works

[@Ja_Crispy]

Fixed my snare drum using the plastic bottle hack, saved me some money, thanks David

[@144digital]

3:30... That laugh... 😂 😂 😂

[@eddiekimura]

The kick drum mix for this video is one the best I’ve ever heard

[@frozen_furnace]

Nice to see Tim Beull here! His videos taught me everything I needed to optimise my Roland SPD SX

[@scottmckeeth]

The groove at 5:20 is so clean. Great vid as always!

[@sirdrum-a-lot]

RLLKRLLR

[@kmcphotographytx6396]

That Tom + Snare sounds like every field drum band directors dream of!

[@ThisDoesNotCompute]

Maybe another fun drum hack to try out could be to build a DIY Yamaha SubKick?

[@djDTOUR]

Dude that kickport on the snare sounds soooooo good.

[@jimatyeo]

That hack with the tom and the snare is like Thomas Lang's "Snom".

[@theBRT1955]

rdavidr - taking openness to new ideas to a completely new level! Props.

[@roelfo]

Thanks David, you're the best DIY/Woodworking drummer I'm subbed to (maybe the only one as well, but who cares. When I've got you I don't need someone else to be subbed to!) TL;DR: Watched this vid the day it came online. Forgot about it. Bought a kit the day after. Snare straps trashed. The day after that this vid saved my life: Searched for plastic straps, found water bottle instead, remembered the vid. Lived happily ever after. Soo here's a short story long: Was notified about this video the day it came out. Watched it. Forgot about it. A day later I picked up a my first "real" kit, a restored Tama Rockstar (made in Japan) with a Yamaha/Premier V-Power snare. Both from the 80's. (Yeah I'm proud and excited I got 'em). Another day after that I got to setup the kit, noticed the snare straps were practically gone and had nothing to replace them with. Searched the house frantically for some plastics laying around, until I came across the water bottle I bought on my way when I picked the kit up. Remembered this video. Cut the bottle into straps. Tuned the snare. Am in love with the kit. We'll live happily ever after. The end.

[@francobuzzetti9424]

5:32 as someone who makes music in DAW only i find this sound perfect for snare layering !

[@itzp0ck3tz40]

Really enjoyed the video! the MJ reference in the floor snare combo :D

[@dorian1104]

10:03 -"You gotta feel that heat, and we can ride the boogie"

[@griffoutdoortv5882]

the look on that guys face when you said you were putting it on the batter side was priceless

[@pheachshorbet916]

Dude! So stoked you used my comment about Bonham using a coated Ambassador on the snare side. Would love to hear it tuned low and an A/B with the same drum and a regular Ambassador Snare. But ya can't always have your cake and eat it too so I'm still grateful! haha Cheers! Love your content!

[@dye182]

I also run a coated on my 13” snare and love it also I’ve cut the Lockport down on one of mine. Didn’t care for the sound but after I cut some of the length off i liked it a lot better.

[@lewismaclean8849]

Amazing work. Quick and probably stupid question, for the floor tom on top of the snare, obviously the width of the floor tom is 14 inches to fit the snare. But my question is what size tom are you using? It almost looks like a 12 inch or 14 inch long one. If you could answer that question I would greatly appreciate it.

[@promospray]

tonally awesome! and it reminds me of some older video with Melvins and their fuzz-shoot-out-ultra-blast.

[@donnieolaughlin1758]

I'm very impressed with the sound engineer. And are rDavidr am I always enjoy your videos.

[@idiotburns]

2:20 diplomat

[@voetenlikkerijnl2222]

I’ve been using old plastic bottles for snare wires for years now, bit of a pain to set it up sometimes, depending on the sort of plastic. But when all done it sounds like any other snare

[@Guitartistry8]

I liked the kick port in the snare.. it's a decent alternative snare sound. The clicky clicks sounded nice, not annoying. It did have a nice high pitch to it when hitting just the scare head area

[@KiraPlaysGuitar]

7:09 - When you said "talk" something in the room started sympathetically resonating with your voice, ~230Hz, a Bb/A#. If you're trying to clean up the sound, I'd hum that note loud enough to make whatever it was ring again, find it, and dampen it. (The sound will always be somewhat present, just a lot more when something else is resonating at the same pitch) So if you're recording in that room, then you're in the mix, that frequency is going to really suck, and I'm sure there's a tom that really likes to ring around that frequency; you don't want it battling with some random object - or have to EQ out 230Hz and then lose a bunch of character in the mix!

[@simonoliver3605]

as a composer, i'm definitely stealing the fllortom/snare idea. thats sick. cheers dude.

[@drummermomcjs]

Of all the hacks the one with the port in the snare, and the one with the snare connected to a floor tom are the hacks that I would try personally. Great idea for a video.

[@tdrum21]

Cool to see you & Tim collaborating

[@theNitefly]

I've had a snare attached to my 14" tom for a long time. I left the reso on the tom to maintain some tom tone when the snares are off. the tom reso acts as a batter to the snare and lets you have a loose reso for the tom but a tight reso for the snare sensitivity.

[@WillCollins]

at my college, we use sheets of paper instead of coasters to keep snare wires from vibrating sympathetically. works great and doesn't stretch out the wires.

[@Kumquat_Lord]

6:13 French horns are ridiculously good at setting those things off

[@eunaosabiamaseufiz]

Your videos are great. I get motivated to improve my drums.

[@morrinsville23]

Always such great content!!

[@Idontevenknow2788]

That’s crazy! I knew you were in Richmond, but didn’t know you you were that local! I love that Sam Ash!

[@Chiroman527]

Hey rDavidr, These hacks were interesting to me. I'm a "novice" at drum tuning - being a Resurrected drummer after 50 Years [1969] - 71 YO now, and retired. I have a DW Nickel over Brass 14 X 6.5 Snare which I purchased Used and came with a previous owner installed HD dry Batter head. It played great right out of the delivery Box from Reverb in 2021. A few weeks ago I replacd the batter head with a new HD dry head. No matter how I tune it - I couldn't get the sound I wanted. I have a PDP Concept Maple kit with a 14 X 5.5 Snare (which I also use a HD Dry batter head). In a particular playing session, I put the DW snare on top of my 16 Inch Floor Tom (G2 coated batter head) to get it out of my way. Doing a fill, I hit the DW snare sitting on top of the Tom.... BINGO - that was the sound I wanted - like a Ludwig Supraphonic / John Bonham sound! Take it off the Tom - not the same. The Maple snare sounded better too! Forum posters said that like in your video I was playing 2 Drums at the same time. One guy said Jokingly that I may have invented a new Snare Stand. Trouble with that statement is - He may be right!! I keep Tooling around and re-tweaking the drums & chnaged the batter heads (UV1 , UV2, and now a Power Center Dot ), but still can't to that Sound!. Should I get a cheap 16 inch Floor Tom and make it my snare Stand?

[@whamajamma75]

I have a Kickport FX1 port in my vintage Pearl aluminum snare and it sounds great.

[@xeropulse5745]

The kick port in the snare is interesting, it basically works like a bass reflex port. I would be curious what it would sound like if you take a tube with a length that has the same resonance as the bass end of a snare, rather than a kick.

[@SlyHikari03]

Snom and kickport were pretty neat. Also, the coaster thing was prettt neat.

[@Jcurtisjr1506]

Absolutely loving the floor Tom and snare drum hack! Where has this been all my pro-drumming life?! 🤘

[@charliestott8298]

Hi Dave, this is a bit of a random question, but I was wondering how you found space for your studio, is it your house, like where you live, or did you find some where else, and if so, how would you find a place like that to make a studio, like yours.

[@bartplaysdrums]

I'm gonna try the field drum hack for sure!! Nice!!

[@bobbarksofficial4335]

OHHHHH THAT BOTTLE FLIP!

[@rdavidr]

😎

[@KevinKorDevs]

Mine was the kick port on the batter head, really interesting, keep making good videos dude!

[@Vanilla-jd1ez]

I played with a group that had a house kit in the practice room and it had a two ply coated, beaten to death, head on bottom of the snare when I got there. I always liked the tight snappy sound on that drum, but I could never make it work on my snare. I have heard it sound good in one circumstance though. Possibly because the head was no longer flat when tight?

[@hardbasslife1284]

i quite literally dont know anything about drums, but damn i love this channel

[@dfxmonkeyhead]

The floor tom snare just killed me... That was awesome!

[@Traiken]

I've had a cheap 13" floor tom from a kid's drum set I've been wanting to convert to a snare, and this video got me to instead buy a cheap used piccolo and just screw that in on the bottom. It's fantastic. Having it off to the side is fun, but when it's right in front of me as a main snare, there's a tremendous thud to the body of it that's so damn fun to play.

[@drzoom3696]

I liked the snareport!!! That made for a cool sound and much potential in dynamics. Unexpected!

[@benbarletta2927]

That FT with the snare attached was a PERFECT hack to use for Civil War drums! I'd be willing to bet they did that for the war movie soundtracks!!

[@flapjack413]

That snare with no batter hoop is a big nope for me. Not only did it sound bad, it's a great way to ruin your bearing edges!

[@mcruz9063]

I think the kickport stare would be something jd beck would use

[@gyrran]

I'd imagine JD Beck could use an ukulele made of burnt toast as a snare and make it sound funkier than a sentient afro wig on cocaine with star shaped sunglasses.

[@turitamasnyirbator]

7:07 Beer mats :D

[@xXKASsNiPeSXx]

One of my snares still has straws for the snare straps. Been years and is still holding good.

[@HardKickinGroupGermany]

4:08 How is it possible, that the kick port falls in rhythm on the head of what's played before?

[@marcorock101]

Some of these hacks does sound amazing and useful for specific tasks More arrows in the quiver Thanks for the video!

[@tythesoundguy]

Ayyyy @drumawayeman !! One of the most lyrical and musically aware drummers ever!!

[@BrandonMobley614]

I ordered a snare off of Reverb(Mapex hammered steel 14x5.5), and it came with an Evans Reso 7 on the snare side, which is coated. It actually sounded pretty good. Recently I changed heads and put a standard snare side head on it (Remo Hazy Diplomat), and I will say it nearly doubled in volume and sensitivity.

[@TimJohnsen57]

Thanks for sparking my creativity! I have an old 18 x 22 Ludwig bass drum that I'm going to try and turn into a giant snare. 🤓

[@weschilton]

Ok that snare drum attached to the floor tom was pretty killer. I actually already have a 1959 Ludwig marching snare that sounds pretty darned close to that, and is a lot easier to set up, so I will stick with that. ;) Also the coaster hack has been around for many moons... I was doing that back in the 90s.

[@j.t.robins5896]

On the Tom/Snare combo: Rock With You INTRO!!!! I caught that!!!

[@joek81981]

I liked the port head on the snare. Sounds usable for 4, low-fidelity bars intro to a song, then cut it back to a regular one after the intro.

[@MrMetalclay]

When I was a broke teenager, I couldn't afford drum heads, so I used a piece of cardboard for the bass drum kind of wedged between the rim and shell. I also had to play my snare upside down because I had a ripped batter head, I also tried it under a 12" concert tom, and it sounded not too bad either.

[@therlg1006]

for the hack with the coasters why wouldn't you just turn the snare off? or is there something I don't know? I'm genuinely curious.

[@rdavidr]

if the snare is sideways, the loose wires still tent to rest against the head

[@pinelybones]

7:56 unrelated to the hack, that snare sounds spectacular 🔥

[@Dwooswa]

lmao thomas lang vibes with the all snare kit, love it

[@kotogray8335]

rdavidr. Always interesting and off the "beaten" path. Love it

[@lancethrustworthy]

Dude! Who are you?? I don't care if you say another word. I'm lovin' your drum work. Wow. You're the drummer for some notable band. You've got a significant bio somewhere. You teach drum, right? Maybe a university got ya. The drum stuff I heard you do on this video is mighty pleasing. More, please.

[@TRIP_Official]

My happiest combo right now has been coated head+tight coils+ tea towel+ wallet taped down+ ShureSM81 placed between snare and kick mid way.

[@sixoh_diesel5662]

Nope I'd never try any of these, but always fun to live vicariously through you David!

[@Noiseheads]

I can't be the only one that loved all these, right?

[@irrsinnrainer]

I really liked the snare with the Kickport and that floor tom with the snare extension.

[@blujay9191]

I seem to be cursed by the snare buzz I get from my 12" tom. I wonder if trying a coated ambassador on the bottom of the snare drum would help?

[@IanJamesBeats]

5:00 sounds like a J Dilla snare 🔥🔥

[@mattbrownsounds]

Remo does make what's called an "Autograph Head" which is basically a coated diplomat snare side. I have one and it works great. Sounds pretty interesting.

[@Boleskinebeatz]

It might have been a snare drum itself or the tuning but when you put the coated head on the snare slide on the yellow snare it just screamed Zeppelin at me!

[@josephmiddleton4422]

I'm a big fan of the kick port on my bass drum, I run a Super kick 2 o. The back and a Articulator on the front with a kick port both heads are by Aquarian, 22x18 and the kick has punch with a great low end. BTW kicport also makes ports in sizes for snare and toms but I have not tried those though That Articulator is a marching bass drum head and that's my HACK, something I picked up while marching in the Bluecoats

[@AaronTremblay]

The floor Tom with a snare attached to the bottom was my favorite, mostly because I also play the intro to “Rock With You” anytime I’m playing a fat and low snare 😂

[@OfficalYFG]

I'm definelty adding the Floor Snare to my accent portion of the kit. So many uses and sounds!!!

[@jayzevyt5150]

The floor Tom on the snare looks really fun I'll have to try it

[@Rararawr]

if they are the same size, how does the snare tom compare to just putting the bottom rim and snare directly onto the floor tom?

[@Iflagum]

Awesome job on a real cool piece 😎

[@AceGDrums]

Shelf liner can be used for damping heads,silencing wires and muting cymbals. One of the most useful cheap hack materials.

[@skywarrior3508]

Brother ,time 2:48 SUPER SNARE, TOM AND BB SOUNDS 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍🔥

[@Fish_375]

The snare is just the St. Anger snare lol

[@jeremymalli]

For controlling rattle on stored snares, I put a chewed up stick between the snare and reso head with the snare lever disengaged. Works great.

[@samuelzetterman]

What about that last hack but with the head still on the snare drum? Three heads on the same drum, maybe tuned to chords?