Woods is woods .........

[masoth]

....... but is that right when making a musical instrument?
Is, say, pine suitable to make a musical drum as opposed to a noise maker?
This is just 'a bee in the bonnet' idea I've had for some time, but I am going to build something, so it may as well make a nice noise (oops, sound).:-

soth

[masoth]

I should explain the idea. I propose using as many laths as need be to form a circle. The inside to be turned smooth and the outside to remain untouched, but the top routed to fit the commercial one foot skin.
I'm no drummer but the young bloke in a neighbouring house is - so I may ask him to try it, when finished, of course.

soth

[contrebasse]

what you're proposing, effectively, is to make a barrel, right?

Conga/bongo drums are built as you describe. Often they are not even rounded inside, its the strips that do that if you use enough.

No reason why it shouldn't work, but you might find that pine twists a bit. Also pine (radiata) doesn't have a very good tap resonance in my experience. That probably will affect the tone of the drum. But its your first, so why not try?

I can't imagine how you'd go about "turning" the inside - how would you secure the thing in a chuck? you must have a monster lathe!

Maybe some clues for you here:

http://www.bradydrums.com.au/index.php?id=block-drum-making

[Malibu]

The Benedetto book, in the part describing the importance of good tone-woods, has a picture of an archtop made from structural pine.
Flat sawn with chunky knot holes and a dead looking grain, the back has water stains through it and borer holes. According to Benedetto, it sounds just as good as one made with expensive tonewoods.
His point is that a good instrument is made by the craftsman, not necessarily coming from the choice of woods.
As Matthew said, why not give it a go? :)

[kiwigeo]

His point is that a good instrument is made by the craftsman, not necessarily coming from the choice of woods.


Both are important IMO.

[masoth]

........... what you're proposing, effectively, is to make a barrel, right? Correct
No reason why it shouldn't work, but you might find that pine twists a bit. Also pine (radiata) doesn't have a very good tap resonance in my experience. That probably will affect the tone of the drum. That's the sort of information I want.
I can't imagine how you'd go about "turning" the inside - how would you secure the thing in a chuck? you must have a monster lathe! I used the term loosely.
Maybe some clues for you here: This is exactly what I searched for, but didn't find. Thank you

........... Flat sawn with chunky knot holes and a dead looking grain, the back has water stains through it and borer holes. According to Benedetto, it sounds just as good as one made with expensive tonewoods.
That advice is going to save me from wasting money. Thank you, too.

........... The construction is the first priority, and the music secondary, but I do want a resonable sound so Both are important IMO will surely allay any sorrow if my effort flops. Thank you, three.

:fingerscrossed: soth
.

[contrebasse]

T
Flat sawn with chunky knot holes and a dead looking grain, the back has water stains through it and borer holes.

OK then, I'll share my next project with you.

http://www.stefanosciascia.it/inglese/8.htm

have a look at the floorboards on the back of THAT. But apparently, its a killer bass. Like, totally wow. I have to build it. I have its measurements, and as soon as I've finshed this %$**&^!!$^(_&^$##$ project I'l get cracking ... :C

MT

[Malibu]

have a look at the floorboards on the back of THAT. But apparently, its a killer bass. Like, totally wow. I have to build it.

Come on.. what a piece of junk!
Bigger cracks than the grand canyon and more bog than the panels in my car! It's not even bookmatched! :rolleyes:
Just kidding with you :)
I guess there's the proof that timber isn't as big a deal as good craftwork. Although, I'm with Martin, I think both contribute to the finished product.
Hmmm.. Come to think of it, I do have some old pallets out near the firewood pile. I might work them into another archtop :wink:



as soon as I've finshed this %$**&^!!$^(_&^$##$ project I'l get cracking ...


"%$**&^!!$^(_&^$##$ project"???
That's what I've said about my project on numerous occasions... until this afternoon when I realised that I'm closer to the finish than I am to the start.
I was suddenly disappointed that I might soon finish it! :(

[masoth]

Well then, another question; I imagine thicker material is likely to resonate nicer than a high pitched sound of thin laths. Is that likely to be right, or am I completely off base (not to be confused with bass)?:q

soth

[Ravi]

Have you considered steam-bending the drum frame? If you haven't had any experience with steam-bending and/or would rather get one done as a tester, you might want to get Don O'Conner in Daylesford to do it for you. I've seen him bend 12'' diam. white ash frames before, so he should be able to do what you're after. He's quite reasonably priced too.

http://www.timberbenders.com.au/

Ravi

[bricks]

A well built guitar will sound better than a piece of garbage made from tone wood i rekon

[Ravi]

I just posted a reply but it didn't seem to get through - anyway, have you thought about steam bending the frame? It's reasonably straight forward but there's a lot of faffing around to get set up. If you would like one made for you as a tester/example you might want to speak to Don O'Conner at the Timber Benders in Daylesford. Great guy, and well worth a visit if you're ever in the area.

Rav

[masoth]

- anyway, have you thought about steam bending the frame? It's reasonably straight forward but there's a lot of faffing around to get set up. If you would like one made for you as a tester/example you might want to speak to Don O'Conner at the Timber Benders in Daylesford. Rav
No. I had no thought of steaming and probably won't go by that path. If I did I'd use the paddle-boat repair docks here on the Murray River - they bend huge planks as replacements in the boats.
Thanks though for the idea.

soth

[JupiterCreek]

Ellie Erickson from the Musical Instrument Makers Forum gets a lot of her timber from hardware stores and hard rubbish collections. Things like pallets and scrap timber from renovations, old tables, etc. Now she's in the USA where they use stuff like maple and poplar where we'd use meranti and Aussie oak, but her instruments are used by gigging musos.

Taylor built the pallet guitar for a bet using the timber from a shipping pallet!

I made my Permacaster emando a couple of years ago from an offcut of Permapine "sleeper" and jarrah from a couple of garden stakes just to prove it could be done! I've started making lap steel guitars and I'm making a short scale one for myself out of offcuts of Permapine, once again 'cos it's cheap, I had the timber laying around, and it's just for my own use!

Make it the right way (and in my case where I make solidbody electric instruments) use the right pickup and electrical components and it can sound great. I may also sound like crap, which is why using tonewoods gives you a better chance of success! A lot of people use the argument that you might as well use tonewoods 'cos it might turn out great and you'll wish you'd used something decent. I say build it from whatever you want, and if it worked use what you've learnt to make the next one in "decent" timber even better! :;

[contrebasse]

Ok straight answer needed, right? :-)

Heavy thick wood may sound better, or it may not. It will certainly need more energy to get it vibrating. And a light frame will be loud but may not sound nice. And what about the skin? What sort of skin will you use? What sort of tone are you after? Conga? Tomtom? Djembe?

[kiwigeo]

Well then, another question; I imagine thicker material is likely to resonate nicer than a high pitched sound of thin laths. Is that likely to be right, or am I completely off base (not to be confused with bass)?:q

soth

On an acoustic guitar the top has to be as thin as possible without compromising structural integrity. The top has to vibrate or else the guitar will sound dead....check out a cheap plywood topped asian special against a Martin (not me..the guitar) to see what I mean. How a top vibrates is controlled by many factors......elasticity of the wood, design and construction of bracing, how thin the top is taken to etc etc.

Generally a thinner top favours bass while a thicker top favours treble....its one reason I vary thickness of my tops on bass and treble side.

A thick top will be structurally superior to a thin top but it may not sound great. An over thin top on the other hand may sound great but after a few months you may notice the upper bout forming into a large dome or the bridge tilting forward.

Cheers Martin

[masoth]

Good info and thank you all. I've decided to use laths 40x8mm and a 'Remo' Ambassador 12" drum head - now please don't ask me why because the only answer I can give is that I have the stuff. I suspect the depth of the 'barrel' will be about 15"+, but it depends on what looks balanced. Then I propose adding a 'leg' and a 'foot' of more laths so the unit becomes free standing.:band:

soth