Soundcheck Blindfold Challenges - Snare Drums

Learn Drums Here: www.drumeo.com/
Free Lessons: drumeo.com/fre...
Our Favorite Music Products: drumeo.com/gear
Faster Hands & Feet (in 10 days)
► www.Drumeo.com...
Name that drum!
Musicians sometimes ‘taste with our eyes’, hearing quality based on how a drum looks, not necessarily how it sounds.
In this challenge, Jared Falk teamed up with technique guru Bruce Becker (of Drum Technique Made Easy) to see if they could identify the following three snares while blindfolded:
5.5 x 14 DW design series snare
5.5 x 14 Yamaha Recording Custom 20th Anniversary snare
6.5 x 14 Ludwig Supraphonic steel snare
To control some of the variables, all snares have the same Evans G2 head, and they all have the exact same tension.
Test your ears and play along! Make sure you close your eyes and listen, and we reveal the answers at 5m30s.
How did you do? Which snare is your favorite?
Follow us:
►Facebook: / drumeo
►Instagram: / drumeoofficial

[@a.j.wilkes6352]

I appreciate the willingness to look foolish in putting out these blind taste test videos. They're a lot of fun and drum shell myth busting is good content.

[@tgallionito27]

5:26 Jared: I think it has that wooden tone... Camera: **shows steel shell**

[@rich7662]

Busted! How much do we all pay attention to what we see, instead of the sound. I like them all and would use any of them at a gig. These are all quality drums.

[@cooxy9964]

Rich And that you have so much influence by choosing your heads, snares and tuning.

[@musiqueman1]

Wow! This is a great video. Well, if the pros don't know which drum is which, then I guess that gear doesn't matter! The only thing that matters is how you play the drum!!

[@edrcozonoking]

Cannot give this enough likes. Most of. The sound is either in your head or how you tune and play.

[@musiqueman1]

@@edrcozonoking I hear ya! I was so stoked to see that they used the exact head combo on all of the drums. This is one of the things that frusterates me the most when looking for drum comparison videos on KZbin. Great job @Drumeo

[@weedlesbian]

couldn’t be more right! different gear gives you those different subtleties and changes in tone, but when it comes down to it, it’s all in the player

[@HighlanderNorth1]

🤔 Huh.... So you're saying that gear brand doesn't matter nearly as much as a player's skill and talent....? Well then, I guess it's no wonder that every set I've ever played sounded completely freaking awesome! It was all just down to me being a world-class badass drummer.... Now I know! 😁

[@musiqueman1]

@@HighlanderNorth1 lol!

[@lylesmith9547]

I think the Yama had richer tone, the DW had excellent bottom yet a good crack to it. Ludwig has a good combo of both. Try it again with Remo heads.

[@jooplin]

Yes Remo sounds warmer most of the time. But for snare testing Evans is the better choice maybe. The frequency tolerance is higher, it is easier to get the same sound on all three snares.

[@jooplin]

I liked the DW the most

[@OrphansCorpse]

The DW is how I feel about your mum.

[@PicardManeuver]

That's a Supralite, not a Supraphonic. Big difference in price point, shell material, and hardware.

[@keithmounts1305]

PicardManeuver you took the words from me, but also construction( seamless shell), might I add.

[@NEALBABBITT]

Apparently not in sound though! 😂😂😂

[@keithmounts1305]

Neal Babbitt not to their ears. I mean c’mon they called the Chinese drum a Supra, if that doesn’t give you confidence in their opinions?🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@NEALBABBITT]

@@keithmounts1305 it doesn't matter where it's from, a good drum, is a good drum.

[@keithmounts1305]

Neal Babbitt the supralite is not a good drum. My opinion.

[@waydepeterson43]

Keep these “blind” tests coming! Love it that the PROS can even get it wrong sometimes. Connecting with you on a very down-to-earth way through these videos. Thanks for making yourselves vulnerable. Love the mix of known/unknown, confidence to surprise, and a genuine honesty to it all. Laced with small measure of observed organic embarrassment with yourselves, these videos are plain FUN to watch! Thank you for being real!

[@matijatatomirovic3351]

Why not a 100 bucks snare in the mix just for the hell of it?

[@keithmounts1305]

Matija Tatomirovic the supralite is a $100 snare. Lol. Why they were calling it a supraphonic, idk? A supraphonic would of blown the tension rods off the others. 😆

[@matijatatomirovic3351]

@@keithmounts1305 😂😂😂 in that case we are missing supraphonic in the mix

[@fabiofazmusica]

It would be rad!

[@a.j.wilkes6352]

I'm very happy with a 10 lug Pearl steal shell bought for $50. Added lug gaskets, 12 strand wires, and a skyntone batter. Sounds crisp and dry for my big band gigs.

[@matijatatomirovic3351]

@@a.j.wilkes6352 i could say the same about my Imperialstar Steel snare. I cant even find anything on it on the web. It's Supraphonic shaped, not the older 80's model.

[@jestrickland1]

As I mentioned in my comments for your cymbal “blind” test, I love this activity! SUPERCOOL! Please continue. And you’re not dumb, you’re brilliant. Such a fantastic idea and process!!

[@ramonvarela2179]

Loved both the Yamaha and the Ludwig, please do more of these challenges!

[@albertbellorin]

Excellent video Jared great approach and idea. It should be also apply to cymbals

[@DrumeoOfficial]

More videos are on the way. :)

[@JSquaredDesigns]

YES - compare some K Zildjian rides and crashes to lesser priced Zildjian professional models. I have had mixed results with K crashes. All down to personal preference I know.

[@gryd3461]

Interesting to see how you can use this to find a sound you really like

[@kjthekunoichi]

Ya I agree!!!👍👍👍

[@dustinf11]

I wish I had seen these as they came out. I could watch this series all day.

[@barryshea1657]

I like the Yamaha best. Very rich body tone and a very nice "crunch". I'm consoled that these high-end snares have the same annoying ring and wire buzz as my cheap Mapex steel snare. And it was really enjoyable to watch you guys having fun doing this.

[@robinjohnson6301]

I have a theory as to why they thought the wood snares sounded more metallic - the choice of the G2 drumhead. In my experience, non-damped 2 ply heads tend to give snare quite a ringy sound and I can definitely can see why it might fool someone into thinking that a wood shell is a metal shell. So much so that by the time they got to the 3rd snare, they were so convinced one of the previous ones was metal, there was no chance of them coming to that conclusion for the 3rd snare because to them the option was already eliminated. As the most popular choice of snare head is the single ply 10 mil coated head, I think it would have been a more useful test had they used that type of head. Especially as (at least in my opinion) single ply heads give a purer representation of the sound of the drum itself. Certainly had they used a single ply head and/or the drums had been presented in a different order, I think the results would be different.

[@HenkJanDrums]

I like Remo Ambassador Coated and my original Ludwig snare head coated also is Single ply and it bounces great for rolls. I think even better than Remo Ambassador.

[@juhapeltola8232]

So it doesn't matter which shell you use if you can make wooden drum sound like a metallic just changing heads....

[@robinjohnson6301]

@@juhapeltola8232 The problem with switching to a 2-ply head on a snare is you lose quite a lot of sensitivity which, as someone who likes to play ghost notes, can become a real issue. I think it actually works better the other way around - I find it's easier to make a metal shell sound "woody" just through a little bit of dampening. I now have a brass snare which I use like 90% of the time and it can handle pretty much any gig with the appropriate amount of dampening. I wouldn't go as far as saying the shell doesn't matter. But I do think one snare can cover a LOT of ground if you know how to effectively manipulate it's sound with different tunings, dampening, heads etc. And I find brass shells to be particularly great because they give you so much tone to work with in the first place.

[@mariapaz2789]

All those snares drums are GORGEOUS!!

[@SaS-Music]

The throw-off sound was a give-away. Nice video.

[@dereksmith1386]

I am hung up on DW sound. It's really unfair to the other 2 awesome drum companies participating in this experiment to consider myself qualified to say. Great video!

[@MrArniman]

Ok - This test was very hard not as the cymbaltest! I play Yamaha but my favortite here was the Ludwig. Greetigns from Germany!

[@markusthedrummer8143]

What a cool and original idea. Fun to watch. Thanks drumeo.

[@cmadrid]

We need this video series back!

[@yrussq]

And these people are hugging snares on everyday basis and still can't hear the difference between a steel and a wood one. So much for these endless snare charts. I wonder what would be the results if it was a double blind test)

[@gordonwoodbatteur]

Hi Drumeo, Again the Ludwig supralite serie is awesome! I own one, the 5,5 X14 version! The two lasr album recording I did, the producer wanted the supralite over more expensive snare drum I have. WOW!!!! Awesome video!

[@acikelsadik]

First one was incredible

[@roadhouse8604]

I had the DW correct, but had the Ludwig and the Yamaha flipped, which is weird, because I play both Ludwig and Yamaha snares, and never DW. I'd be happy with the sound from any of them though. They all sounded good.

[@justinrayna2921]

The DW has the more obvious difference in sound. I peg that one during the blindfold test, but I mixed up the Ludwig and the Yamaha too! Personally, I like the DW the best; always wanted one, but lo and behold I play a Tama due to price point... cheers!

[@lyfer_9x136]

Definitely that Yamaha for me, well rounded sound for multiple genres.

[@cmadrid]

Do china cymbal next please!

[@Kaspar0v1]

I luv these...keep em comin !!!

[@music9556]

they all sounded good

[@HenkJanDrums]

I play Ludwig Supraphonic 14"*5.5" deep for 35 years Last 10 years bronze and befor i think it was aluminium with chrome. I changed my Pearl Master Custom Maple snare for a Ludwig snare : If i could have 2 ...yes that snare also had character but i am a soft hitter and it was not at Marching Band volume level for me. I also like Premier snares.

[@pablomedero]

Love these blindfold videos!

[@jestrickland1]

Not to “go down a rabbit hole” but my suggestion for drums is to go back to the same ones (and others of course if you do more) and set up with different heads and maybe tunings (again, rabbit hole). Also, it might be interesting that once you get through enough drums and cymbals, that you put kits together based on your ratings (#1s go together and so on) and blind test. I can’t stress enough how much I enjoyed the two “blind” tests!

[@U2WB]

Interesting that neither picked the DW. I’ve always been a Yamaha and Ludwig fan, but I prefer the Supraphonic with aluminum shell over steel.

Nice to see that I'm not the only one who gets confused I'm identifying the brands of the snares by year, feel more human now lol

[@gaboogablah]

My 14"x6.5" star walnut wide open, no muffling, sounds pretty much like my first set, a Ludwig stainless steel drum set that came with a Supraphonic snare. But I don't like that hollow ringing sound, so I have a little muffling on it, and it's got a great fat sound like a studio snare does not. The Ludwig badge is Blue, olive, and silver at the bottom where the serial number is, its not a keystone, its like a slanted square.

[@starless9829]

2:33 --- 3:23 --- 4:27

[@JSquaredDesigns]

Would have liked to see a Pork Pie Big Black thrown in just for fun. For the $$$ it is pretty great snare.

[@Kaspar0v1]

do it without influencing each others decision...so don't let each other know what u choose until the end...maybe take the test separately...I dunno im no producer/director/whatever,,,but this is really cool

[@RaymondSolomonFL]

How about a Hendrix 6" African Padauk stave snare - let's see if anyone can tell the difference between solid wood and ply. Padauk is often used for marimba tone plates.

[@raiahmed9825]

great vid so how about a hihat test. 14 inches as used mostly.

[@carlupthegrove262]

This was a fun challenge... helps to reinforce the concept... it's the drummer not the drum. Question: why a 2 ply head... don't most drummers use single ply?

[@davidj.conrad6701]

Couldn't tell the difference between wood and metal wow!

[@keithmounts1305]

David Conrad 😂

[@Rhaaboudin]

Try by yourself: with five drummers we blind-tested about 80 snare drums and we failed more than once .I am a pro drummer since 1965 and even confused a piccolo and a "Rock nine". that's fun.

[@idn]

Definitely need to throw in some lower end drums as well.

[@justinhoffman5339]

And not tell them what they will be playing

[@Monsterdrumma]

idn The Ludwig here is lower end or mid level at least. I bought mine new for $150.00’s but they go for $200.00 far cheaper then the Yamaha and DW. He said it is a supraphonic but it is not it is a supralite.

[@thomaskennydrums]

The Ludwig is definitely a lower end drum, it's Ludwig's cheapest snare I'm pretty sure, just a plain steel shell

[@pranjwalbhattacharjee7926]

I will go with the dw one

[@Ultra-Collector]

Got it right!

[@bebettoninja]

This is awesome!!

[@anatjamie]

I made the same mistake as well! And I also liked the Ludwig snare the most! Nice to know that I have the same taste as Jared 😂

[@ArcticChonk]

These videos are great!

[@swfan1004]

Ok cool it’s not just me who does this. It’s actually kinda easy to differentiate marching drums and what heads they use. I stunned one of my friends when he was watching a video of a some guy playing and I guessed it out of the blue

[@kirjian]

Def liked the Yamaha

[@shimon5573]

That's is so interesting. I wish to see more of blindflod challenges!! with different artists!!

[@guillepacheco7624]

DW Definitely

[@rainerschwachsinn7996]

i would go with the DW

[@Eldaino999]

Does Ludwig made a steel supraphonic? Pretty sure all of those are either aluminum or chrome over brass. They make a supraLITE, which is a steel shell, but it's a substantially lower end drum compared to the yammie and dw here. Which speaks volumes about ludwig tbh

[@jamesjones7845]

This was actually a supralite in this video. A mistake on their part. You can see that the supraphonic has different shaped lugs than this one

[@Eldaino999]

@@jamesjones7845 yeah I've seen some special versions of supras with tube lugs bet it def isn't the norm

[@DavidEpstein]

I think that people have the idea in their heads that metal snares ring more than wood snares, which is usually not the case. I have a pretty decent snare drum collection, and I've found that my Ludwig Classic Maple snare has a much more pronounced high-pitched than Black Beauty, Supraphonic, Acrolite, or Supralite snares have, but this is something I really only learned after playing them one right after the other.

[@EarthtonesCymbals]

People have the idea in their "heads." I see what you did there! LOL Cheers!

[@thomaslejon]

Pearl aluminium snare ...The best !

[@mikestein1024]

Should throw in some ultra low end stuff like sound percussion and C & B percussion or as I call it coc & balz

[@KissTheKupo]

I'd love to see you guys do hi-hats

[@prongATO]

Get a couple hits with the snare off then on to help differentiate.

[@SonorGeek05]

Sonor vs Pearl vs DW vs Yamaha

[@Mryuriy.s]

What tha Falk! Haha all falks given love you guys love drumeo love that I found you guys 3 years ago!

[@GudmundurKristjansson]

Numero ono ! Please give me some drum rool "LUDWIG SUPER SENSETIVE" and then came the Yamaha Recording Custom in second place according to my ears, but sad how that compressor ruins the sound dynamic

[@xinelli]

This is interesting! Good that you used this video anyways!

[@ThunderTaco206]

I thought all three were the Ludwig.

[@rakridge]

That was great.

[@9862905]

The third one did it for me

[@Chain_Star_Productions]

Gr8 vid! So this in store and do a blindfolded buy. Plz do more blindfolded challenges in da future! Wood 4 me i love wood 4 da snap crackle n pop

[@janc1978]

that was fun

[@tdrum21]

Yamaha but they all sounded good. Which heads did you use?

[@wilkinsnl]

It’s funny because the Modern Drummer podcast did something very similar with different types of wood snares. It put a gigantic hold on my snare buying obsession.

[@aydenrahming9683]

The last one

[@paulysci925]

I chose the same ones as you guys and I listened without watching 😉no biggie 👌

[@ItsNonyaBusiness]

Nice concept! How about you throw in some cheaper snares too and see if price really makes a difference? Also, I believe Jared said something about an egg on his face if he got it wrong. Still waiting.

[@kiltymacbagpipe]

almog bianchi a comparison of inexpensive and expensive metal snares would be interesting. Take a page from Andertons, they do really good blindfold videos.

[@DustyDecker1]

I got the Ludwig right but mixed the two wood snares

[@jacobfriedman4135]

I love all of these snares but for some reason I didn't really love the sound of any of them in the recording. I don't know why but none of them stuck out to me as my ideal sound.

[@Oneness100]

If you do any blindfold test, make sure you play on each drum long enough to know what it feels like and what it sounds like, and THEN do it blindfolded.

[@JotaMcCready]

This is not a fair comparison, expensive Yamaha vs 2 Cheapest model of the other brands. But I have to say three ones sounds great 😂❤.

[@matthewsherman9765]

What I find interesting is how much better the tone and attack from Jared wasn’t as good as Bruce. You can tell he has a lifetime of technique and wisdom. I’m thinking I need to finally pony up and get onto Drumeo...

[@euex]

1: Ludwig 2: Yamaha 3: DW definitely ...

[@stephenpetrikowski]

Haha. I thought the first one was the Ludwig too. Yamaha definitely makes great drums.

[@chaceschnaath638]

The DW was the best in my opinion

[@kevinonthedrums7495]

I played along and I thought the exact same thing!

[@larrytemp3063]

THE BLACK BEAUTY CLASSIC

[@emilym3577]

Wow guys you really know your snares 😂

[@nathanblackman1063]

Blind test I got all right lol but the ludwig vs yamaha was a bit confusing *hits a dab*

[@disapogrom5762]

ludwig and yamaha here sounds absolutely identical to me 2:13 & 4:12

[@rhythmista7707]

Sorry Jared..That's a supralite, not a supraphonic. Supralite is utter crap. I had one for about a day and brought it back the very next day because the hardware pieces, in this case, drum key bolts on the butt and throw ends, literally broke off. But it as fun to see you guys attempt to identify snares blindfolded 😂

[@paulwesterveld5900]

They can’t tell the difference. I can’t either. So I choose based on looks not on brand. The sound an easely be changed with heads and tuning.

[@charlesseagraves6210]

So, it’s “The Pepsi Challenge” of snare drums! 🤣

[@paulemma8125]

These blindfold seems to show we do hear with our eyes 😂

[@djjazzyjeff1232]

Maybe it's just how it was recorded, but the DW sounded far and away better than the others. Didn't have that honk the other two had which drives me nuts. I don't like that playground ball sound.

[@iamthefirsttosecond]

More of these comparisons! So many opportunities, So much fun!

[@UnnecessaryComment.]

Jared is permanently doing a Jack McBreyer impression

[@nickpov3y]

i played along and immediately having heard the 2nd one i knew it was the ludwig. i sort of took a guess on the other 2 but my guess was right

[@w00x360]

But the 2nd was the DW

[@RoeShamBoe]

lol 1. yamaha 2. dw 3. ludwig

[@damienswan11]

The second was the DW...LMAO 😂😂😂

[@amoergosum3]

IS IT ON?????

[@silver1surfer69]

First 1, i liked best^^

[@AVEdrums]

dope

[@martinlaporte2112]

Again, just like the tom video, it's unfair to compare a DW Design series against a top-of -the-line Yamaha and Ludwig. I've done that same test myself and the DW Collector's sounded the best by far. I think the Ludwig sounded the best.

[@frodowatt4272]

I though that the first one was the Ludwig the second one was the Yamaha and the last was DW.