Tag Archive - drum building guide

Interview with Custom Drum Builder Troy Townsley

November 9, 2010 in Drums, Podcast, Reader's Drum Pictures with 0 Comments

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Had a great interview with Troy Townsley. He had some great insight for drummers looking to get sponsored by a custom drum company since he has been sponsored by some great drum companies as well as some great insight into his building process.

Mentioned in this Podcast:

Interview with Custom Drum Builder Ryan Voight

October 20, 2010 in Drum Building 101, Drums, General Updates, Podcast with 1 Comment

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Philip: I’m here with Ryan Voight, who has recently built some pretty amazing snare drums and I’ve actually covered some of his progress on the blog, if you read down below you can see a couple of the posts and check out the drums he’s built. How’re you doing today, Ryan?

Ryan: I’m good, man. I’m happy to be talking about this stuff. I love building, I love working with my hands and this opportunity to build snare drums and use the book has been really awesome, it’s been excellent. I’m glad to share it with everybody.

Philip: Thanks, man. Well, I just wanted to ask you a couple questions, kinda give our Make Drums readers some insight into who you are and how you got started in the drum building. So, how long have you been a drummer or how long have you been interested in drums?

Ryan: I’ve been playing the drums since 1997, so, that’s what, 13 years I’ve been playing. You know, it’s kind of funny cause it started out, I’m a preacher’s son and it just so happened that we had moved to this little town in Kentucky. Our youth group needed a drummer and at that time I had taken about four years of piano, but the drums just seemed like, especially to an 11-year-old kid, seemed way cooler than the piano. So I just kind of went for it and man, never looked back. Ever since then I’ve loved playing the drums. I played in church, played for our metal band, the hardcore band, and more recently and preferably, played for some more, I guess, pop rock kind of stuff. Of course I’ve done worship, been doing that for about 13 years.

Philip: What made you want to get into drum building? How did you find out about making your own snare drums?

Ryan: Actually, it was from you. When I was playing with Day, we played with you guys I think in Pampa, Texas. Continue Reading....

Ryan Voight Knows How to Build Drums

October 7, 2010 in Drums, General Updates, Reader's Drum Pictures with 6 Comments

Just got some amazing pictures of a new custom snare drum that Ryan from Lubbock built! Aside from being a great drum builder, Ryan is also a great photographer! Check out his work at www.rvoightphotography.com

_MG_0053trick strainerbutt plateblack and pearl close upnatural maple snareludwig throw off

I look forward to seeing more drum from you Ryan! Great job!

Audio Clips From Bart’s Custom Drum Set

September 21, 2010 in Drum Building Resources, Drums, General Updates, Reader's Drum Pictures with 4 Comments

I just received another email from Bart with drum audio recordings of the custom drum sets that he recently finished building. Bart specifically designed these drums to sound great for Jazz. If you would like to hear how some custom drums that I have built to play for Rock N' Roll sound then check out this older blog post.

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Custom Drum Set made with help from makedrums.com

All recordings  flat EQ’s without  mix.

Track 3: Turquoise/Azure shellset (pictured to the right)
Specs: 4.5mm tom and floor tom (with coated ambassadors-top/clear ambassadors-bottom)
6mm bass drum (Remo power stroke 3 fiberskyn-batter/powerstroke 3 smooth white-resonant)
9mm snare drum (coated Remo ambassador X-batter/hazy ambassador-resonant)

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canto i
Track 8: Satin Walnut shellset
Specs: 9mm tom and floor tom (Remo fiberskyn amb.-top/clear ambassadors-bottom)
9mm bass drum (fiberskyn-batter/powerstroke 3 smooth white-resonant)
9mm snare drum (coated ambassador -batter/hazy ambassador-resonant)

Great work Bart. They look and sound incredible. The fact that they are the very first two kits that you have ever built speak volumes about your determination to build great drums. This is why I wrote "How to Make Custom Drums", to inspire drummers to build their own custom drums and then in turn so they can inspire other drummers who may have never even known that they could build something that would look and sound this good. Thanks Bart for inspiring us all!

My favorite Custom Drum Builders

May 28, 2010 in Drum Building Resources, Drummer resources, Drums, General Updates with 3 Comments

I recently received and email from someone that was about to start building their very 1st custom drum set. He asked me how I decide on the finish and hardware of a particular drum or drum set that I’m building. This question has always been tough for me because I don’t always feel creative. I do however have a couple of places I like to go for inspiration.

I think that by seeing some amazing drums that have already been created, it can spark the creativity in my brain to think outside the box of just doing a normal looking wrap or a normal looking stain. When I go to a drum store I always look at all of the little details of the drums even down to the bearing edge or where they put the seam of the wrap.

…but let’s face it… most music stores that have drums don’t usually have the most amazing drums on display. This is where the internet comes in.

Some of my favorite custom drum builders are as follows: Continue Reading....

5 Thoughts on Drum Building Safety

April 19, 2010 in Drum Building Resources, Drums, General Updates with 0 Comments

danger-signI have never had any major incidents when building drums, however there are some important safety precautions to take into consideration. Working with sharp powerful tools should make this obvious, but the joy and excitement of working with those tools can make thoughts of safety drift far away.  With that in mind here are 5 tips I feel are crucial in any shop.

  • Clean your shop – Removing unneeded materials and tools from your work space will help insure that you and your piece are easy to move around as needed.
  • Pay Attention – Glancing at a TV or door/window or anything other than your cut invites contact with the blade.  ALWAYS finish the cut before looking away.
  • Take your time – If you are in a hurry to get done making your custom drum then you need to take a look at why you are doing the work in the first place.  Enjoy the process; it’s not always the destination but the journey.
  • Invest in yourself – YOU are the most important “piece” while working with wood so protect yourself as you would your project “piece”.  Wearing safety goggles, ear protection, dust masks, etc. should be the rule, not the exception.
  • Use your head – Take some time before you start to plan out your cuts and “see” how they will unfold.

Following these guidelines should give you a much more enjoyable and safe drum building  experience.

 

Thanks to Don Sternadel, manger of the Austin Woodcraft Store, for these great safety tips!