Kerfing is common in wood construction to make curved components (sometimes used in combination with segmenting and steam bending), but it's always been my practice to glue the inside of each kerf before clamping / putting into a form (not just the single joint, as described at 2:26). Without glue to fill each joint, I would be concerned with years of wood expansion / contraction at the exterior of the drum, specifically at the 'surface' of each kerf. That's the spot where the wood cells are under the most tension...
That's what I'm thinking as well. I'm wondering how well the outside kerf would hold up over time i.e. spitting, breaking, etc. An outer veneer would give it more strength.
Thanks for this note! Indeed it is common in woodworking, I've used it several times in my career as a furniture builder for curving solid wood parts. In carpentry it is typical to glue the kerfs since they are cut in a more crude way, requiring less precision than necessary for a quality instrument like our snares. We use the worlds thinnest carbide tipped saw blade to cut these kerfs (clocking in at 0.034" wide for the tooling nerds out there like me) on a CNC machine. With just the right precision and geometry - all the kerfs close up when we bend the shell, making it a rigid cylinder / drum shell, requiring only one glue seam.
I'm not impressed by these shells. I can see issues with long term expansion and contraction. I don't care for the visual aspects of the outside shell due to the kerfing. I know that a lot of acoustic instruments use kerfing on the inside of the body, but it's more for adding strength but the construction of an acoustic guitar is VASTLY different than the construction of a drum shell. drums are under a great deal of tension due to the heads being tensioned at various tension levels, acoustic guitars don't have this type of varying tension.
for everybody worried about how well they hold up to temp, humidity, pressure, etc (a fair concern) - i've been touring with one of these drums for a year now. planes, tour bus, hot trailers, cold trailers, etc. haven't had a single issue!
Great demo! How you describe the drum matches how my experience with them has been. I've got a 14x7 and a 14x3, both are great and in regular rotation at my recording spot. Definitely louder/more bombastic than most wood drums I've ever played, and while I don't have a particularly heavy sound, the 14x7 is my "arena" recording drum. Tons of transient and projection. Really fun! Also they feel built like a tank.
I'm a luthier that builds guitars and kerfing is used to meet the body sides to the top and back on an acoustic guitar. I never thought that same kerfing technique would be used on a drum shell. My mind is kinda blown right now.
These seem like a perfect snare for a big band kit. Loud and clear to cut past a horn section but with a calftone head would be warm and articulate with brushes. Would love to see that demo'd. And while kerfing has been around a long time... new usage so kudos on the innovation for drums use. I'll be curious to see if there's any long-term stability issues if used by a heavy hitter.
Sounds AMAZING. It sounds more like a deep aluminum snare... just crazy how its deceiving my eyes and ears... I loved it at every tuning, but especially at 7:29. Only time will tell how well they hold up in temperature and humidity changes, but I like what I'm seeing so far. ❤ Another review well done.
Huh...that's cool. I like the idea of as less glue as possible inside of the drum and it does sound amazing. Nice balance of body and overtones in all tunings. Pretty nice concept. Great video. Thanks a lot guys!
This drum is almost identical to the Gretsch Swamp Dog. Everything seems to be the same (I think) - except for the shell construction. I had that drum for a long-time, thought it was great, but could never quite get the sounds I wanted out of it. This Kerf drum though, sounds like an improved version to the Swamp Dog. Really inspiring.
Sounds fantastic! It seems like the next step up would be a one-piece shell carved out of a log wider than 14" in diameter. It turns out that exists- and it's expensive (of course)
hmm...interesting construction method. So, since there is a slight gap between each "section" out by the edge of the shell, you don't get total shell resonance. Would leave the shell with a "drier" sound than most, I would think. Now, with only one glue joint, let's see what happens with this shell a few years down the road. Will it hold together? Thanks for the vid, as usual
@@unggoyfarmer True, but steam-bent shells have a scarf joint that has more surface area, thus more glue. I don't know enough about woodworking to know which joint type is stronger, or if it even matters. The gaps also suggest to me that the shell, strength-wise, is essentially equivalent to a super-thin shell, like one or two plies of wood. Stave shells are known to be quite fragile - I was actually warned off them by one of Brady's authorized repairmen - and these shells are like stave shells but the "pieces" are held together by a small amount of continuous wood, rather than glue. (I'm assuming he isn't gluing the kerfs, otherwise the drum would use more glue than a steam-bent shell.) (Perhaps the vertical grain orientation also contributes to stave shells being more fragile, I don't know.) I would wait to make sure these shells prove to be robust before purchasing, unless the plan is to keep the drum on the shelf and only play occasionally.
@@jc3drums916As long as you don't do anything crazy I'm sure it'll be fine. From what I've seen there isn't any tension on the drum since with the kerfs it'll naturally just curved into shape, unlike steambent shells that have natural tension.
Sounded like a nice snare for sure. The gaps in there are interesting for sure. Part of me worried that it might be less stable, but time will tell as to how durable they are. I do like dry drums, and this one sounded that way - maybe due to the construction? Great video - new gear is always cool to check out!
sounds good but it doesn't sound like wood. paying this much money and have a so called "innovative" shell tech contruction (remains a stave drum no matter what people say and market it for) and end up with a metal sounding snare... yeah sounds about right innit?! i'd be pissed if i was the buyer. yes it sounds good but yes it doesn't sound like wood. which is the reason the buyer buys a wood shell. to sound woody. not metallic.
There are lots of comments about the durability of the shell, one glue point, etc. I don't know anything about woodwork, so I can't add to this aspect of the conversation. However, sonically, I really liked the dryness, the pop, and it sounded good at all tunings. Visually, an attractive drum, with those centrally fixed tube lugs. I liked it, and would love to hear one in person. Thanks guys, great video.
Thanks for the kind words and don't worry about the people commenting about durability of shell and all of that. Most of them don't know anything about woodwork either but just want to be critical for the sake of it. 😂
Rob Scallon built a snare in roughly this style as a joke with no drum building experience for a series I think about building instruments with things from Home Depot or something. I’m glad to see someone taking a serious run at it.
Hold up. You mean there's a company out there making drum shells essentially the same way Rob Scallon did building a "drum kit" in a day? But, obviously actually good. That's amazing. Sounded great with a nice pop!
Well, I'm going to be the lone dissenter. It's possible the audio on my computer(a home stereo) is not up to par, but it sounded no better than a wood Export to me.Especially at the high tuning...well, sound is subjective. The Sugar Percussion poplar snare on this channel is probably the best wood snare I'd ever heard.And I have no agenda.Please keep the content coming-excellent job-
This building technique could be the future for drums manufacturing, as the trend and the necessity to use even less chemicals is more and more present nowadays.
wood glues are VOC free now. and for most "eco friendly". and once pressed, a multi ply shell doesn't have a lot of glue remaining between the plies. because the pressure rejected the largest part of it. the glue thickness is minimal as minimal can be between the plies. so no "green bs" please.
Looks like it to me! I've been noticing this on my recent Remo heads as well and it's been bothering me, but I always assumed it was just my eyes. Come on, Remo!
That method is definitely not new. Commonly used to make round or half round table skirts and other round parts for furniture. The round tables are actually called Drum Tables. Probably the first commercially made drum shell using that method though. My big concern is the joint where the ends are joined together to complete the circle. Unless he is tapering the ends so they have full contact like a stave drum, that joint is made up of two small areas of end grain which is not optimal for joining wood. It has been recently be proven that end grain joints are much stronger that previously believed, but still not as strong as side grain joints, which a stave drum would be constructed with. Even if tapered like a stave drum, it is still end grain so still a potential problem. As someone else pointed out, a shell hollowed out from a log would have no glue so that would win the contest for least glue. The second would be the DW Supersolid. It is made from one thick board made flexible using anhydrous ammonia and then joined with a conventional scarf joint like a regular steam bent shell. Then the shell is machined to thin the center section of the drum and define the re-ring. So the only glue would be at that scarf joint which would definitely be less than this kerf method. Interesting adaptation of the kerf method. Good luck to him.
Don't see how that scarf joint uses less glue. Assuming shells of equal depth and thickness, a vertical line of glue, as used in the Kerf, is going to be less than the scarf.
There is actually a german guy who makes drums like this from old whine barrels. There is even a whole documentary about him on youtube. Search: Wie man ein Schlagzeug baut | SWR Handwerkskunst
Boris makes some cool looking drums (we've never had the opportunity to experience them in person) with a great story but it's important to clarify that his process uses classic stave construction, which is also what you'll fine with wine barrels themselves. As mentioned, the Kerf drum build process doesn't involve utilizing individual pieces of wood - it's a single piece with partial cuts allowing for the board to be wrapped into a complete cylinder.
I really enjoye all of your videos.... I have one question,please, what is the ridesymbal in this video....??? Sorry for my rather bad english.... Allan
Probably a custom cymbal. Sounds like the same one they use in most/all of their videos. Check the video descriptions of other videos, they sometimes mention what the cymbals are.
this method might be new for building drums but bending wood like this isn't, under normal circumstances the wood needs to be steamed to prevent cracks ...
Please don't discourage people from trying new things- this is how innovation happens. In this case, it yielded a fine instrument and I can't begin to tell you how many junky drums with gorgeous finishes are out there with people fawning over them. I encourage you to take some time to visit the Kerf website, read about how this method came to be used with shell manufacturing, and recognize your blindspots.
Well, if we’re looking for the least ammount of glue for a drum shell… I’d place my bet on “true” solid shells, carved out of the single tree sectiin. That’s no glue at all.
This drum sounds really good, but for $800 I'd rather buy the tried & true workhorse of a snare that it the Ludwig Supraphonic. The Supraphonic isn't one of the most widely used snare EVER for nothing.
For what it’s worth, if you don’t have a Supeaphonic yet, get a 70’s LM400 and it’ll cost you $350 at most (the one we use all the time was $225 about 6 years ago). Please don’t go blowing $800 on a chrome-over-aluminum Supraphonic. If you’re starting to look into drums like this Kerf snare (which is arguably a bit more specialized in sonic capabilities) then the assumption is either that this more closely fits your needs and/or you’ve already got the Supra side of things covered.
Call me old fashioned, and therefore concerned about nature, but: Where do you buy your mahogany these days? I like the sound, I honour the craft behind it, but that’s no go for me.
@@SoundsLikeADrum, it’s the mahogany. I know they can’t use birch, because that kind of wood might not be usable for the whole process, but I wonder if maybe something like cherrywood could work as well. The use of mahogany, even if it’s certified plantation quality (involving huge monocultures and the problems coming with them) is still a major natural disaster. A whopping 40% of the world’s stock on the market is of unknown origin, caused by an uncontrolled black market involving all social and environmental issues we’ve been told about in the last 40 years at least. If mahogany were my only solution for building this drum, I’d not do it.
Wow, that's really interesting and certainly deserves some additional research. We've had mahogany drums on our show before and don't recall anyone ever bringing this up (it's quite a common material for drum shells, though maybe not as common as something like maple). It would be interesting to know whether this wood is in fact from the Swietenia genus. Definitely some food for thought. What wood(s) do you use in your builds? Thanks for chiming in!
@@SoundsLikeADrum, my dad was a forest ranger for the state of Bavaria over here in Germany and two of my uncles were carpenters, so I grew up with the smell of wood everywhere and though I know a bit about dealing with it I’m far from being able to build a drum. I’m just a drummer who makes a living by taking care of handicapped people and repairing/building bicycles. Since my teenage years in the 80s, while checking out sick trees in my dad’s forests, I’m very engaged in environmental issues, hence my concern. I really do like your focus on sound in general and your thorough analysis of the “why”, right up my alley! Thanks for that. Please keep it up!
I really dont think this is bringing anything new to the table. it may be a quicker easier construction for the maker using less wood to start with, but sonically nothing new.
That's certainly up to you to decide. I believe we presented information and evidence that disagrees with your assessment. We also had the opportunity to compare it to some other drums here in the studio and it was certainly different. Again, these are snare drums. We're not talking about differences on the level of multiple orders of magnitude (this is still a snare drum...). But this was certainly as significant (perhaps even more so) than the difference between certain shell materials, for example. Also, to understand CNC and the construction process is to have some serious respect for the R&D + precision required to fabricate drum shells in this manner. I know we live in an age where hot takes are rewarded but maybe you'd benefit from holding off on deciding that this isn't bringing anything new to the table.
@@SoundsLikeADrum I think the video is excellent - all of yours are - and I respect the "how" of this novel process. What I'm missing in the narrative is the "why".
drop it on a hard floor or it gets bashed sideways some other way and those wee kerfs are likely to break open theres only a 1mm or so of material. One breaks, the entire drum falls apart. And why is this "patented"?? why do americans want to privately own everything? Kerfing is a long established method used to create curved forms in wood
Are you in the habit of dropping your drums? Maybe it's time to start taking better care of your gear... As for patenting, I haven't reviewed the patent myself but I would imagine that it's specific to a particular approach to drum building that Kerf Drum Co. developed. Just because a method is common in furniture or even in things like acoustic guitars doesn't mean that it can't be patented when developed for alternative applications like drum shells. This is quite common and it's not just Americans doing it.
@@SoundsLikeADrum only an idiot would make a habit of dropping any drums or cymbals, but it can happen accidentally with the best will in the world. And you have to admit, objectively, this particular drum is going be susceptible to damage.....a bunch of loose staves with only 2 of them glued edgewise, with basically a 1 mm (or less) venneer round them?? As it happens I once made a segmented drum shell 14 x 6 from larch or pitch pine if I remember correctly, 1/4" thick shell walls. it (just the shell, no nut boxes fittings heads or hoops on it) accidentally😆 fell approx 5 feet off a shelf. As it was falling I thought oh well...thats done for, but it actually bounced like a ball and was not damaged.
sounds good but honestly, not calling that a stave drum is like saying milk is not liquid like water. just because they leave a small portion of the wood to keep the staves attached to each other? come on... i'm kinda fed up with marketing bs. and btw, the least amount of glue seen in a drum shell belongs to CNC machined shells in the mass. you literally have no glue. gives you the real wood tone that belongs to the type of wood because there's no tension that modifies the tone of the shell. cringe episode. sorry guys. but it sounds great! can't deny that.
Hmmm, the fact that the process is undeniably different, no other drum builder appears to be making shells this way, and this method doesn’t involve glue between the kerfs (not that anyone ever said this was the least amount of glue in a shell or that there’s some sort of contest going on here…) the way stave construction does seems enough to differentiate it. Talk to some wood workers and refer to a barrel as something with kerf joints or an acoustic guitar as using staves and you’ll be corrected because they aren’t the same. Unlike plenty of other overhyped “nothing burgers” in our industry, Kerf Drum Co. doesn’t make any hyperbolic statements about what their shell construction is or offers. So what are you really cringing at? We treated this drum the way we do every other snare for our Spotlight series. It seems like you liked the sound but are hung up on the construction method and the fact that we claimed that it’s different (which, it really is…).
@@SoundsLikeADrum YOU've been fooled. it's a stave drum no matter what you say or believe. the piece of wood they leave basically replace the role of the tape used to hold staves together. OH YEAH so innovative.... come on... give me a break. i build my own drums since over 10 years now and i've tried all techniques. the only one i didn't do is the CNC machined. because i can't afford a CNC beast. you said in this video that the shell has the least amount of glue. what do you try to do here? BSing me? sorry find another horse. it isn't anything new. just a marketing bs to find a place in the drum world.
@jiboo6850 It seems like you're hung up on not wanting to call a method by it's name. However similar they may be, kerf and stave construction are not the same, and it feels like you're trying to argue against some hyperbolic claim of massive innovation that no one here has made. It's a different process...okay? Please go back and watch the portion that you're misquoting at 2:20 - "it has the least amount of glue of any wooden drum shell we have ever seen". No bullshitting - that's 100% correct. Ultimately what matters here is the sound which, as you stated above, "sounds great! can't deny that." Not sure why you're getting so agitated about us highlighting the unique manufacturing process along with the sound, particularly when you think it sounds great.
Happy to hear you like the sound of the snare! A couple of the fundamental differences between a stave shell and our kerf shells--- stave shells are made up of several 'staves' glued together with edge grain seams, which is why the grain runs vertically on a stave shell, where as kerf shells have horizontal grain and are made up of one piece of wood. Stave shells are turned round on a lathe after the glue-up, where as ours come out of the glue clamping jig already round from the machining process (no lathe turning or steaming required), ready to finish sand. Stave shells also have anywhere from 8 to 50 different seams / glue joints, where our kerf shells only have 1. Our kerf shells are their own unique shell construction, but if we were drawing parallels to other methods, I can find more similarities to a steam bent solid wood shell, which consists of horizontal grain and one glue seam. Truly no marketing bs here, just a small company trying to introduce our product that we're excited about to the players.
Kerfing is common in wood construction to make curved components (sometimes used in combination with segmenting and steam bending), but it's always been my practice to glue the inside of each kerf before clamping / putting into a form (not just the single joint, as described at 2:26). Without glue to fill each joint, I would be concerned with years of wood expansion / contraction at the exterior of the drum, specifically at the 'surface' of each kerf. That's the spot where the wood cells are under the most tension...
X10
I think glue adds some strength as well.
That's what I'm thinking as well. I'm wondering how well the outside kerf would hold up over time i.e. spitting, breaking, etc. An outer veneer would give it more strength.
Thanks for this note! Indeed it is common in woodworking, I've used it several times in my career as a furniture builder for curving solid wood parts. In carpentry it is typical to glue the kerfs since they are cut in a more crude way, requiring less precision than necessary for a quality instrument like our snares. We use the worlds thinnest carbide tipped saw blade to cut these kerfs (clocking in at 0.034" wide for the tooling nerds out there like me) on a CNC machine. With just the right precision and geometry - all the kerfs close up when we bend the shell, making it a rigid cylinder / drum shell, requiring only one glue seam.
I'm not impressed by these shells. I can see issues with long term expansion and contraction. I don't care for the visual aspects of the outside shell due to the kerfing.
I know that a lot of acoustic instruments use kerfing on the inside of the body, but it's more for adding strength but the construction of an acoustic guitar is VASTLY different than the construction of a drum shell. drums are under a great deal of tension due to the heads being tensioned at various tension levels, acoustic guitars don't have this type of varying tension.
for everybody worried about how well they hold up to temp, humidity, pressure, etc (a fair concern) - i've been touring with one of these drums for a year now. planes, tour bus, hot trailers, cold trailers, etc. haven't had a single issue!
Why on Earth doesn't this channel have more subscribers yet?!? Most professional and informative drum channel on YT IMO!
I'm happy the way it is !
There’s only so many drummers in the world and only so many drummer nerds like ourselves that care about drum nerd things???
it just sounds like a snare
🙄🤦♂️@@360.Tapestry
I love Mahogany drums. So warm and fuzzy 🥰😍😍😍
It would be really interesting to hear this same construction with a few other woods for comparison!
I like how you can see the segments on the outside as it's not perfectly round. Gives it a unique look.
Great demo! How you describe the drum matches how my experience with them has been. I've got a 14x7 and a 14x3, both are great and in regular rotation at my recording spot. Definitely louder/more bombastic than most wood drums I've ever played, and while I don't have a particularly heavy sound, the 14x7 is my "arena" recording drum. Tons of transient and projection. Really fun! Also they feel built like a tank.
Thanks for your support since day 1, Dan!
Thanks so much!
I have a piccolo snare from this company. It sounds and looks amazing. Hope this dude gets more popular.
I'm a luthier that builds guitars and kerfing is used to meet the body sides to the top and back on an acoustic guitar. I never thought that same kerfing technique would be used on a drum shell. My mind is kinda blown right now.
Talked to the Kerf guy at the Chicago drum show in ‘23. Nice guy. His drums sound very good in person.
We'll be there this year again -- see ya there?!
Sounds very versatile, it'll be a consideration when I'm in the market for a new snare drum.
These seem like a perfect snare for a big band kit. Loud and clear to cut past a horn section but with a calftone head would be warm and articulate with brushes. Would love to see that demo'd. And while kerfing has been around a long time... new usage so kudos on the innovation for drums use.
I'll be curious to see if there's any long-term stability issues if used by a heavy hitter.
Sounds AMAZING. It sounds more like a deep aluminum snare... just crazy how its deceiving my eyes and ears...
I loved it at every tuning, but especially at 7:29.
Only time will tell how well they hold up in temperature and humidity changes, but I like what I'm seeing so far. ❤
Another review well done.
It's a novel design, beautifully engineered and executed, and it sounds great - well done Kerf Drums 👍🏻Thanks for the close up demo SLAD! 👊🏼
Thank you!!
This is a BEAUTIFUL sounding drum 👏🏼
Huh...that's cool. I like the idea of as less glue as possible inside of the drum and it does sound amazing. Nice balance of body and overtones in all tunings. Pretty nice concept. Great video. Thanks a lot guys!
This drum is almost identical to the Gretsch Swamp Dog. Everything seems to be the same (I think) - except for the shell construction.
I had that drum for a long-time, thought it was great, but could never quite get the sounds I wanted out of it. This Kerf drum though, sounds like an improved version to the Swamp Dog. Really inspiring.
I'd love to get one in your hands. Feel free to reach out any time!
Sounds fantastic! It seems like the next step up would be a one-piece shell carved out of a log wider than 14" in diameter. It turns out that exists- and it's expensive (of course)
Id like to try that, keep the bark, trim the bark for the heads
hmm...interesting construction method. So, since there is a slight gap between each "section" out by the edge of the shell, you don't get total shell resonance. Would leave the shell with a "drier" sound than most, I would think. Now, with only one glue joint, let's see what happens with this shell a few years down the road. Will it hold together? Thanks for the vid, as usual
Steam bent shells also have one glue joint so I wouldn't be worried at all
@@unggoyfarmer True, but steam-bent shells have a scarf joint that has more surface area, thus more glue. I don't know enough about woodworking to know which joint type is stronger, or if it even matters. The gaps also suggest to me that the shell, strength-wise, is essentially equivalent to a super-thin shell, like one or two plies of wood. Stave shells are known to be quite fragile - I was actually warned off them by one of Brady's authorized repairmen - and these shells are like stave shells but the "pieces" are held together by a small amount of continuous wood, rather than glue. (I'm assuming he isn't gluing the kerfs, otherwise the drum would use more glue than a steam-bent shell.) (Perhaps the vertical grain orientation also contributes to stave shells being more fragile, I don't know.) I would wait to make sure these shells prove to be robust before purchasing, unless the plan is to keep the drum on the shelf and only play occasionally.
@@jc3drums916As long as you don't do anything crazy I'm sure it'll be fine. From what I've seen there isn't any tension on the drum since with the kerfs it'll naturally just curved into shape, unlike steambent shells that have natural tension.
Sounded like a nice snare for sure. The gaps in there are interesting for sure. Part of me worried that it might be less stable, but time will tell as to how durable they are. I do like dry drums, and this one sounded that way - maybe due to the construction? Great video - new gear is always cool to check out!
One of my favorite channels on RUclips, period. As for this lovely snare drum, it definitely sounds like a snare drum! 😊
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoy our work.
I love that snare! Almost sounds like a Ludwig Supraphonic or a hammered brass. Love your vids. I always look forward to your next. Thanks guys.
sounds good but it doesn't sound like wood. paying this much money and have a so called "innovative" shell tech contruction (remains a stave drum no matter what people say and market it for) and end up with a metal sounding snare... yeah sounds about right innit?! i'd be pissed if i was the buyer. yes it sounds good but yes it doesn't sound like wood. which is the reason the buyer buys a wood shell. to sound woody. not metallic.
There are lots of comments about the durability of the shell, one glue point, etc. I don't know anything about woodwork, so I can't add to this aspect of the conversation. However, sonically, I really liked the dryness, the pop, and it sounded good at all tunings. Visually, an attractive drum, with those centrally fixed tube lugs. I liked it, and would love to hear one in person. Thanks guys, great video.
Thanks for the kind words and don't worry about the people commenting about durability of shell and all of that. Most of them don't know anything about woodwork either but just want to be critical for the sake of it. 😂
Hollowed out log drum is the drum that doesn't have any glue at all. I have a maple one and it sounds great.
Rob Scallon built a snare in roughly this style as a joke with no drum building experience for a series I think about building instruments with things from Home Depot or something. I’m glad to see someone taking a serious run at it.
Hold up. You mean there's a company out there making drum shells essentially the same way Rob Scallon did building a "drum kit" in a day? But, obviously actually good. That's amazing. Sounded great with a nice pop!
Well, I'm going to be the lone dissenter. It's possible the audio on my computer(a home stereo) is not up to par, but it sounded no better than a wood Export to me.Especially at the high tuning...well, sound is subjective. The Sugar Percussion poplar snare on this channel is probably the best wood snare I'd ever heard.And I have no agenda.Please keep the content coming-excellent job-
I should say "no different" than a wood Export...
Thanks for the kind words, though I think you may have us confused, as we've never featured a Sugar Percussion snare drum on this channel.
This building technique could be the future for drums manufacturing, as the trend and the necessity to use even less chemicals is more and more present nowadays.
wood glues are VOC free now. and for most "eco friendly". and once pressed, a multi ply shell doesn't have a lot of glue remaining between the plies. because the pressure rejected the largest part of it. the glue thickness is minimal as minimal can be between the plies. so no "green bs" please.
@@jiboo6850 I wasn't aware of the modern manufacturing, but it makes sense, because it is safer and the save glue by applying less.
THATS cool!
Nice drum!
Thanks for the video
Thanks for watching!
I was thinking i needed a Maple snare but this my fill that spot 😀, well if i can afford it 😂😂
Remo’s quality control needs some investigation 😂
Is the black dot under on the top head slightly offset from center?
Yep 🤷🏼♂️
Looks like it to me! I've been noticing this on my recent Remo heads as well and it's been bothering me, but I always assumed it was just my eyes. Come on, Remo!
yep I'm done with Remo! recent batch of Clear emperor, I paid large for is inconsistent, and other shite!
That method is definitely not new. Commonly used to make round or half round table skirts and other round parts for furniture. The round tables are actually called Drum Tables. Probably the first commercially made drum shell using that method though. My big concern is the joint where the ends are joined together to complete the circle. Unless he is tapering the ends so they have full contact like a stave drum, that joint is made up of two small areas of end grain which is not optimal for joining wood. It has been recently be proven that end grain joints are much stronger that previously believed, but still not as strong as side grain joints, which a stave drum would be constructed with. Even if tapered like a stave drum, it is still end grain so still a potential problem.
As someone else pointed out, a shell hollowed out from a log would have no glue so that would win the contest for least glue. The second would be the DW Supersolid. It is made from one thick board made flexible using anhydrous ammonia and then joined with a conventional scarf joint like a regular steam bent shell. Then the shell is machined to thin the center section of the drum and define the re-ring. So the only glue would be at that scarf joint which would definitely be less than this kerf method. Interesting adaptation of the kerf method. Good luck to him.
It sounds like you're arguing some statements that we didn't make but we hope you're doing okay and wish you good luck as well.
Don't see how that scarf joint uses less glue. Assuming shells of equal depth and thickness, a vertical line of glue, as used in the Kerf, is going to be less than the scarf.
There is actually a german guy who makes drums like this from old whine barrels. There is even a whole documentary about him on youtube. Search: Wie man ein Schlagzeug baut | SWR Handwerkskunst
No, he makes stave drums.
Boris makes some cool looking drums (we've never had the opportunity to experience them in person) with a great story but it's important to clarify that his process uses classic stave construction, which is also what you'll fine with wine barrels themselves. As mentioned, the Kerf drum build process doesn't involve utilizing individual pieces of wood - it's a single piece with partial cuts allowing for the board to be wrapped into a complete cylinder.
@@SoundsLikeADrum thx for the clarification. I do get the point now😂. my mistake. I really enjoy your videos.
I really enjoye all of your videos.... I have one question,please, what is the ridesymbal in this video....???
Sorry for my rather bad english.... Allan
Probably a custom cymbal. Sounds like the same one they use in most/all of their videos. Check the video descriptions of other videos, they sometimes mention what the cymbals are.
It is indeed a custom clone of an old Zildjian A. We go into the details in this video on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/old-clone-by-68740053
It’s a Swiss roll with the cuts for any bakers. lol
Well, whattaya know... it sounds like a snare drum!
Big surprise there...
6:38 Audioslave - Show me how to Live vibe
What ride are you using here? Sounds fantastic
Thanks! It's the same one we've used in almost every video. Full details in this Patreon post: www.patreon.com/posts/old-clone-by-68740053
Sound is very similar to a snare drum.
this method might be new for building drums but bending wood like this isn't, under normal circumstances the wood needs to be steamed to prevent cracks ...
Yep, check out his website for the backstory. Drums aren’t his first exploration into woodworking…
I don’t understand how they could have gotten a patent on this method. It’s not a novel woodworking technique.
It’s the shell design: patents.google.com/patent/US10621961B1/en?oq=10%2c621%2c961
What we've patented is using this method to make a cylinder, for a musical instrument (drum shell), basically.
Great video, but I mean, it still sounds like a snare drum 🤷😂 drum companies need to stop trying to re-invent the wheel I think
Please don't discourage people from trying new things- this is how innovation happens. In this case, it yielded a fine instrument and I can't begin to tell you how many junky drums with gorgeous finishes are out there with people fawning over them. I encourage you to take some time to visit the Kerf website, read about how this method came to be used with shell manufacturing, and recognize your blindspots.
Well you certainly wouldn't need a drum line. This snare produces an extremely robust punch.
Yep. Sounds like a drum.
Hopefully this doesn't come as a surprise...
Well, if we’re looking for the least ammount of glue for a drum shell… I’d place my bet on “true” solid shells, carved out of the single tree sectiin. That’s no glue at all.
Still waiting to get sent one of those.
PA Lovetone make some sweet solid drum down in Aus.
We do have a builder here in Spain, Yiva Drums. He even makes his own lugs so they don’t go through to the inside of the shell.
This drum sounds really good, but for $800 I'd rather buy the tried & true workhorse of a snare that it the Ludwig Supraphonic. The Supraphonic isn't one of the most widely used snare EVER for nothing.
For what it’s worth, if you don’t have a Supeaphonic yet, get a 70’s LM400 and it’ll cost you $350 at most (the one we use all the time was $225 about 6 years ago). Please don’t go blowing $800 on a chrome-over-aluminum Supraphonic. If you’re starting to look into drums like this Kerf snare (which is arguably a bit more specialized in sonic capabilities) then the assumption is either that this more closely fits your needs and/or you’ve already got the Supra side of things covered.
Call me old fashioned, and therefore concerned about nature, but: Where do you buy your mahogany these days?
I like the sound, I honour the craft behind it, but that’s no go for me.
Are you taking issue with the use of mahogany or wood in general?
@@SoundsLikeADrum, it’s the mahogany. I know they can’t use birch, because that kind of wood might not be usable for the whole process, but I wonder if maybe something like cherrywood could work as well.
The use of mahogany, even if it’s certified plantation quality (involving huge monocultures and the problems coming with them) is still a major natural disaster. A whopping 40% of the world’s stock on the market is of unknown origin, caused by an uncontrolled black market involving all social and environmental issues we’ve been told about in the last 40 years at least.
If mahogany were my only solution for building this drum, I’d not do it.
Wow, that's really interesting and certainly deserves some additional research. We've had mahogany drums on our show before and don't recall anyone ever bringing this up (it's quite a common material for drum shells, though maybe not as common as something like maple). It would be interesting to know whether this wood is in fact from the Swietenia genus. Definitely some food for thought. What wood(s) do you use in your builds? Thanks for chiming in!
@@SoundsLikeADrum, my dad was a forest ranger for the state of Bavaria over here in Germany and two of my uncles were carpenters, so I grew up with the smell of wood everywhere and though I know a bit about dealing with it I’m far from being able to build a drum. I’m just a drummer who makes a living by taking care of handicapped people and repairing/building bicycles.
Since my teenage years in the 80s, while checking out sick trees in my dad’s forests, I’m very engaged in environmental issues, hence my concern.
I really do like your focus on sound in general and your thorough analysis of the “why”, right up my alley! Thanks for that.
Please keep it up!
Sounds like a drum.
Shocker, right?
I really dont think this is bringing anything new to the table. it may be a quicker easier construction for the maker using less wood to start with, but sonically nothing new.
That's certainly up to you to decide. I believe we presented information and evidence that disagrees with your assessment. We also had the opportunity to compare it to some other drums here in the studio and it was certainly different. Again, these are snare drums. We're not talking about differences on the level of multiple orders of magnitude (this is still a snare drum...). But this was certainly as significant (perhaps even more so) than the difference between certain shell materials, for example. Also, to understand CNC and the construction process is to have some serious respect for the R&D + precision required to fabricate drum shells in this manner. I know we live in an age where hot takes are rewarded but maybe you'd benefit from holding off on deciding that this isn't bringing anything new to the table.
@@SoundsLikeADrumPERIODTTT 💥💥💥
@@SoundsLikeADrum I think the video is excellent - all of yours are - and I respect the "how" of this novel process. What I'm missing in the narrative is the "why".
@@bashcoder since they are using less glue at only 1 joint, It allows the shell to really sing. The resonance is extremely precise.
@@brandonclement Thanks Brandon
I think it’s a cool way to make a drum, but I think it’s sounds awful. It could be the dot head…otherwise it’s dark and…dull?
I'd be interested to see how much they want for one of these, because this is a really boring sounding drum
Wow, really? Boring compared to what? We’d love to know what’s at the top of your list.
@@SoundsLikeADrum just sounds a bit flat, lifeless, and lacking in a bit of personality. Although, generally I do prefer metal drums
drop it on a hard floor or it gets bashed sideways some other way and those wee kerfs are likely to break open theres only a 1mm or so of material. One breaks, the entire drum falls apart. And why is this "patented"?? why do americans want to privately own everything? Kerfing is a long established method used to create curved forms in wood
Are you in the habit of dropping your drums? Maybe it's time to start taking better care of your gear...
As for patenting, I haven't reviewed the patent myself but I would imagine that it's specific to a particular approach to drum building that Kerf Drum Co. developed. Just because a method is common in furniture or even in things like acoustic guitars doesn't mean that it can't be patented when developed for alternative applications like drum shells. This is quite common and it's not just Americans doing it.
@@SoundsLikeADrum only an idiot would make a habit of dropping any drums or cymbals, but it can happen accidentally with the best will in the world. And you have to admit, objectively, this particular drum is going be susceptible to damage.....a bunch of loose staves with only 2 of them glued edgewise, with basically a 1 mm (or less) venneer round them?? As it happens I once made a segmented drum shell 14 x 6 from larch or pitch pine if I remember correctly, 1/4" thick shell walls. it (just the shell, no nut boxes fittings heads or hoops on it) accidentally😆 fell approx 5 feet off a shelf. As it was falling I thought oh well...thats done for, but it actually bounced like a ball and was not damaged.
sounds good but honestly, not calling that a stave drum is like saying milk is not liquid like water. just because they leave a small portion of the wood to keep the staves attached to each other? come on... i'm kinda fed up with marketing bs. and btw, the least amount of glue seen in a drum shell belongs to CNC machined shells in the mass. you literally have no glue. gives you the real wood tone that belongs to the type of wood because there's no tension that modifies the tone of the shell. cringe episode. sorry guys. but it sounds great! can't deny that.
Hmmm, the fact that the process is undeniably different, no other drum builder appears to be making shells this way, and this method doesn’t involve glue between the kerfs (not that anyone ever said this was the least amount of glue in a shell or that there’s some sort of contest going on here…) the way stave construction does seems enough to differentiate it. Talk to some wood workers and refer to a barrel as something with kerf joints or an acoustic guitar as using staves and you’ll be corrected because they aren’t the same. Unlike plenty of other overhyped “nothing burgers” in our industry, Kerf Drum Co. doesn’t make any hyperbolic statements about what their shell construction is or offers. So what are you really cringing at? We treated this drum the way we do every other snare for our Spotlight series. It seems like you liked the sound but are hung up on the construction method and the fact that we claimed that it’s different (which, it really is…).
@@SoundsLikeADrum YOU've been fooled. it's a stave drum no matter what you say or believe. the piece of wood they leave basically replace the role of the tape used to hold staves together. OH YEAH so innovative.... come on... give me a break. i build my own drums since over 10 years now and i've tried all techniques. the only one i didn't do is the CNC machined. because i can't afford a CNC beast.
you said in this video that the shell has the least amount of glue. what do you try to do here? BSing me? sorry find another horse. it isn't anything new. just a marketing bs to find a place in the drum world.
@jiboo6850 It seems like you're hung up on not wanting to call a method by it's name. However similar they may be, kerf and stave construction are not the same, and it feels like you're trying to argue against some hyperbolic claim of massive innovation that no one here has made. It's a different process...okay? Please go back and watch the portion that you're misquoting at 2:20 - "it has the least amount of glue of any wooden drum shell we have ever seen". No bullshitting - that's 100% correct. Ultimately what matters here is the sound which, as you stated above, "sounds great! can't deny that." Not sure why you're getting so agitated about us highlighting the unique manufacturing process along with the sound, particularly when you think it sounds great.
Happy to hear you like the sound of the snare! A couple of the fundamental differences between a stave shell and our kerf shells--- stave shells are made up of several 'staves' glued together with edge grain seams, which is why the grain runs vertically on a stave shell, where as kerf shells have horizontal grain and are made up of one piece of wood. Stave shells are turned round on a lathe after the glue-up, where as ours come out of the glue clamping jig already round from the machining process (no lathe turning or steaming required), ready to finish sand. Stave shells also have anywhere from 8 to 50 different seams / glue joints, where our kerf shells only have 1. Our kerf shells are their own unique shell construction, but if we were drawing parallels to other methods, I can find more similarities to a steam bent solid wood shell, which consists of horizontal grain and one glue seam. Truly no marketing bs here, just a small company trying to introduce our product that we're excited about to the players.
idk kinda sounds like a cheap snare to me :/
Wow....really? How are you making this comparison? Do you not think this drum was at least on par with the drums we typically use in this series?
Really cool technique! Nobody's mentioning the off center dot, tho. Is it just my eyes?
How much?
You would have to check with Kerf Drum Co. for pricing. We aren't a retailer.
Our snares are available currently between $750 - $900.