To Bdp24,
Not to sway this thread off topic but as an experienced percussionist you might find this interesting:
My background was a touring sound engineer through the seventies and eighties spending a lot of time working with percussion instruments, the piano being my favorite. I learned from musicians who graciously took the time to educate me on multiple playing techniques, pitch and tuning procedures. Upon retiring I could also differentiate the sonic characteristics between the many name brands of instruments as well.
The company I now work for continues to engineer products that improve the operational efficiency of a variety of musical instruments that come in contact with the floor, providing newer, more efficient mechanical grounding (direct coupling) methodologies ala Star Sound style.
In our opinion, current drum and cymbal stands relate to resonance function described as a “catch and hold” methodology. They hold the energy within the metals then releases it back into the air as heat via frequency cancellation. The rubber feet also assist with primary absorption in reducing the resonance formed from vibration. This process has worked well over the ages but we are discovering performance can be improved.
Our technology is titled Live-Vibe Technology™ which utilizes an optimized geometry, coupled with material science and mechanical grounding techniques. In every case involving prototypes or where the technology has been adapted to existing products specific to musical instruments, the sound definitely improves moreover, without altering the sonic character of the instrument.
Example: When you adapt Audio Points™ to a Musser®
vibraphone with or without a variable speed motor; the instrument immediately responds noticeably with greater dynamics, improved attack and, more importantly, lengthier decay times. The vibes also increases in volume and stage presence - all with a sense of effortlessness. Each of these musical attributes coincide with our highly successful Tone Acoustics Endpins™
for cello, upright bass and bass clarinet. We custom manufactured a set of Audio Points and mounted them to a concert grand piano; that experience, both stunned and lifted us to a new musical level of thinking.
We are convinced that possibilities exist to improve overall performance on a drum kit by designing and improving the stand builds. We base this assumption on the proven success of the Original Sistrum Platform™ leg assemblies. These assemblies feature three materials which were used in combination to move energy to ground at high speed. This technology literally brought the equipment rack design to life. In addition, we had success in modifying and/or building microphone stands that produced a much clearer, smoother warmth with a greater, airier highly-audible response with a variety of newer and classic microphones.
I met a percussionist in Allentown, PA who owns a machine shop and manufactured snare hardware using copper and brass as principal materials modifying a Slingerland deep snare shell. The drum sounded like a live gunshot with absolute over-the-top volume. Unfortunately the snare overpowered the rest of the kit and actually limited the override microphones capabilities to enhance the cymbals and kit; however, we learned from that experiment where materials that are highly conductive for resonance definitely have a profound effect on the overall performance specifically in the speed of attack, stage presence and dispersion and provided a much deeper (lower frequencies) sound quality.
Why not focus on the drum shell too? By establishing a greater operational efficiency to the instrument’s materials construction, forming a high-speed conductive pathways for resonance transfer we might soon be tuning drum heads on just three pins instead of multiples.
From a vibration management perspective, I am constantly amazed how the world of hi-fi components, loudspeakers and studio environments continue to integrate seamlessly with our understanding of musical instruments.
Robert
Star Sound
