I have always been more interested in different sounds and noises, so after about two seconds of a single-stroke roll on the snare drum, I get bored and start rolling down the toms, crashing on a china and looking for a cowbell to bang on. I think I would have been better suited as a Sound Effects Man than a musician, because I am definitely not a musician. I have no patience for paradiddles, ratamacues and pataflaflas.....and honestly do not even know what they are other than really cool-sounding words that I would use to replace profanity: "WHAT IN THE PATAFLAFLA IS GOING ON HERE?!" or "YOU OLD RASCALLY, RAKISH RATAMACUE, YOU!!!" Reminds me of W. C. Fields.
Anyway, what the heck is my point here? What am I rambling on about now? Oh yeah! I collect old throwaway snare drums, mainly because I enjoy cleaning them, fixing them and restoring them back to their original purpose so someone else much more talented can actually play them properly. In my journey to acquire every MIJ snare drum that pops up on Ebay I have come across a few with interesting features that I will highlight and discuss briefly now.
These are "Student" snare drums, originally intended to be purchased by school children who would take them to Band and learn the correct way to perform rudiments instead of banging away haphazardly to Judas Priest records as I did. Of course, any snare could be a student model but these are most assuredly so. This I figured out after coming across this odd mounting bracket. At first I thought some moron had installed a floor tom leg mount on the side of this drum in order to hide some holes, or perhaps to mount this as an extra side snare. People do weird things, you know.
But then I realized this was a mount for a cymbal holder because .....well..... just take my word for it. I came across vintage drum catalogs that featured student snares with these extra offerings at some point; I just can't produce them as evidence right this second! If you conduct an extensive search on the internet you will find I am right.
Part of the restoration process for these particular models includes finding a cymbal rod to complete the combo. Otherwise you have a useless bracket that people will wonder about, and that could lead to uncomfortable conversations. I am always on the lookout for these cymbal rods, as normal people don't know what they are. They think they are the top section that fell out of a lost cymbal stand or some random "percussion part." They come in varying sizes and lengths, so it's always a good idea to have a few stashed away in case you need them. It's basically just a thin chrome rod with some threading at one end. In theory it could be possible to make these from scratch, if one were so inclined.
[PLEASE REMEMBER PHOTOS MAY BE ENLARGED BY CLICKING ON THEM.]
[PLEASE REMEMBER PHOTOS MAY BE ENLARGED BY CLICKING ON THEM.]
Here is a slight variation. This is a handy-dandy bracket that attaches to the snare stand underneath the drum. What a great idea.
In all cases you must be very careful what cymbal you select to mount with the snare. Each of my examples features a very lightweight 10-inch splash. Too much weight would obviously cause the whole assembly to fall over which would be disastrous. You might could get away with a 12-inch cymbal but anything larger would be pushing it for these flimsy snare stands. This is probably why this brilliant configuration was discontinued, because tipping accidents would be all too common if you didn't quickly become accustomed to the balancing act required to pull this off.
And here I offer one further variation. This L-rod is firmly held in place by one of the tension rods. Pretty cool idea.....but a little dangerous. Balancing this adaptation is even harder than the above examples, due to how far out it extends. This one really requires precautions. I would only use this one if I had a sturdy snare stand that securely clamped the drum in place. And again, only with a small, lightweight cymbal.
This completes this brief "Study of Student Snares." I hope you found it riveting and highly-informative if not superfluous and vexatious. I am quite aware that throughout this article I made no mention of the Kent snare on the furthest right in the premiere photograph, but this is only because this drum received complete coverage in a previous post which can be accessed by clicking on this word.....HERE.
_________________________________________________________
POST UPDATE:
Here is an example of a photograph from an old Star Drums Catalog showing the all-inclusive "Snare Drum Kits" which came with a drum, sticks and brushes, a cymbal arm and 10" cymbal, and a lovely cardboard carrying case. For an additional charge you could upgrade to the "heavy-duty felt-lined carrying bag with zipper closure."
_________________________________________________________
POST UPDATE:
Here is an example of a photograph from an old Star Drums Catalog showing the all-inclusive "Snare Drum Kits" which came with a drum, sticks and brushes, a cymbal arm and 10" cymbal, and a lovely cardboard carrying case. For an additional charge you could upgrade to the "heavy-duty felt-lined carrying bag with zipper closure."
No comments:
Post a Comment