I used maple for 20 years, switched to a maple/walnut hybrid 10 years ago... Love it! Something about the hybrid that seems mix better than maple alone. Or, I'm just bias ;)
I use a Tama Silverstar Birch kit that I bought in 2014 that has never done me wrong. I like birch more than maple but I completely agree with you that no one cares about the difference, especially with what you said about that sound going out the window in the studio. I'm saving for a Starclassic Birch/Wallnut after having the opportunity to play one. Even if i'm the only one who notices the difference, it's still going to make me feel great when i'm playing
Have both. Birch seems a bit more articulate (attack) and maple a bit more resonance from shell. In the end- whatever inspires your instrument for you and own it- “Keep it in the pocket!” 😊
I like maple, hmmm I like birch, but I like mahogany too I can't decide. Hey honey what drums should I take to the gig tonight? She replied, "I like the pretty red ones!"
Drum size and shell thickness have bigger impact compared to just wood type differences. I'd probably pay more attention to those when selecting drums.
@@KirksDrumRoom Yes please! Like, I haven't seen a video explaining what makes bell brass snares (3.0mm thick) somewhat "special" compared to the standard 1.0-1.2mm thick snares that are commonly sold. I really haven't watched a video explaining to viewers how crucial drum thickness/ density is to your drum sound.
Yep, 💯. Bearing edge and shell thickness. Thin resonates better, but thicker shells are louder. Thin has a tendency to choke whereas thick goes as loud as you hit it. Sonor solved this long ago and Danny Carey sizes his drums according to it. I personally play birch because they sound good in any room. Yamaha chose birch on purpose for the RC because of its recording qualities. Birch sounds good in any room. Low ceiling? Birch doesn’t care. Not as soft and rounded, or warm as we’re told, but a thick birch shell allows YOU to control the volume. Sonor built thick shells on purpose. Maple took over after hair metal and TAMA began the trend of thin shells with the SC in 1994. Sonor didn’t change. They took their research to a German physics lab. They went along with the thin shell revolution with their Designers, but they made their name with the thick Phonics and Signature series, which Danny used on every TOOL track and Steve Smith used with Journey.
Great video!! I have a Gretsch Catalina Maple 7 piece (22 kick) and a Yamaha Stage Custom Birch (20 kick). I have the same heads on both (Evans coated G2s over coated Reso 7s on the toms and Frosted EQ4 on the kick) and the differences between the two might not even be the woods. Different lug counts on the drums, direct to shell vs suspension mount, some of the sizes, and ported vs non ported might all be contributing factors. With all those factors together, I find that my Gretsch has more warmth while my Yamaha has more punch. My next head change might give different results, I'm thinking of trying something different for both.
Very cool! Yeah, there are so many contributing factors to a drum's sound. Like I said in the video, sometimes I just change what I'm using because I'm basically bored. LOL
I have a 5 piece Yamaha Cranberry Red Stage Custom Birch set. The set has some resonance but attack is very precise in which I like. I have Evans Hydraulics on the toms, Evans EMAD 2 on the kick, Evans UV 1 on the snare. I am currently repairing a Pearl Masters 14x5.5 Maple Snare, I got it from a former church I used to play at and never got around to putting it back together. I’m interested in what the differences will be! Heads are Evans Hazy 300 snare side, Puresound 30 stand wires, Evans EC Reverse Dot
my primary kit is a late 70s earley 80s ludwig maple and poplar kit. i love the sound of it. the shells produce a warm and boomy effect. alot of mid and lows with alot of cut. they're pretty much traditional sizes.12, 13, 16, and 22 kick. love their sound. wouldn't part with them ever. i'm a ludwig guy , hopefully i'll be able to aford a ludwig maple classic kit in the future. but, i'm very satisfied with my current ludwig kit. but, would like also to aford a birch kit someday. love the sound of birch drums also.
I've always thought Ludwig makes some of the best shells in the business. No nonsense, straight up shells that sound great. Here's hoping you can get your birch kit soon.
Thank you! I'm about to buy my first kit. I'm an engineer; not a drummer. Your video re-enforced my opinion and thoughts. I'll be getting a Mapex Mars 5 piece kit. Thanks again for the confirming information.
Shell diameter, deepness, bearing edge angles and type of hoops all make a big difference. I simplified my choice by choosing metal vs wood. Within each is a whole 'nuther world. this doesn't even include the choice of heads or snares. You are right on!
Yep, so many parts that affect the sound of the drum. My next video is about picking your first, all around snare. Of course it's incredibly subjective. But it'll be how I've seen it over the decades. Hopefully I can get it finished by next weekend. Many thanks for watching!
I feel like maple has a more wet and wide open feel whereas birch is more contained and quiet sounding so I wouldn’t go so far as to saying it doesn’t matter what one uses. It’s true that one should always make the best with what instruments they have with them at the time but it definitely helps to try to understand why one may or may not like the sound they are getting so that they can change it or replicate it. Especially if there are options in a large studio, drummers should be able to consciously choose which drum set will create the best feel for the musical situation and, most importantly, feels best to them.
Spot on, Kirk. Often, people ask, "Is there a difference?" They should be asking, "Does it matter?" My mindset: these days, I'm less interested in the details of the instrument; I want to hear what someone *does* with the instrument. Besides, to my ears there isn't that much of a difference between birch and maple. Based on my experience (mainly with snare drums), if you compare drastically different woods - say, mahogany vs. purpleheart - *then* one will be more likely to notice a difference in sound. In the real world, though, how often to we actually do an "all other things being equal" A/B comparison? My kits? Most are maple, but I still have my late '70s Ludwig kit with the maple/poplar six-ply shells. (Snare drums, I'm all over the place - twenty years as a hobbyist DIY drum builder.)
Then there was the time that the parents of one of my drum students gave me the heads up that he was getting a new drum set for Christmas. First lesson after the holidays, I said, "Tell me about your new drums!" "Well...they're red." That's my boy.
Thanks for this honest assessment of wood and sound characteristics. A small effect noticeable to the player but not audience. Drum hoops, heads,tuning, depth, diameter play more significance.
i have a thinner shelled maple kit and a thicker shelled birch/maple/birch hybrid kit, I personally like the birch sound having more attack and presence, the sizes and tensions and heads will give them plenty of resonance or dry them up, but deep and boomy or deep and dead seems to be popular tensioning and thats just not what a sound guy is going to give an audience anyways, its nice to have some brightness and attack to go with a little bit of resonance, seems to be generally what sound guys tend to give live or in studio, then sort of the jazz sound in smaller acoustic venues🤷🏻♂️ to each their own though
Good info! I have a Tama Star Classic and not sure which one it is. I can’t find any markings to indicate which one. I bought it used and believe it dates to the early 2000’s. Do you know of a way to tell which one it might be? Thanks!!
In the 90s the maple had a painted on badge and the birch (called the Performer) had a traditional metal badge. No idea if/when they changed this as the lines progressed.
Great advice and I totally agree, nobody cares which wood you play, only that you - can play! Like he said, they're going to get the mic and eq treatment by your sound guy so what you hear isn't what the audience is hearing. For practice, it's still important to play a kit that sounds good to your ear as that builds confidence. The quickest way to do that is learn to tune and spend the money on better heads.
Maple with die cast hoops is my preference. I think maple has more character, more weight to the sound and low sustain. I have had birch sets and liked them. My favorite birch set was a Tama Silverstar I sold not long ago and miss it.
@@KirksDrumRoom that's what they say, but personally I think they increase it. I'm already planning on replacing the triple flanged on my masters maple complete with die cast. I tried putting them on my 12" pearl tom and they were definitely louder and sustained longer. I wanted a masters set or a session custom set but ended up buying a new set of masters maple complete. I see that they already went back to die cast across the board on the pearl professional drum lines like Tama does.
I have an INDe maple kit, an 80s Tama Superstar (birch), a 60s Ludwig (maple/poplar/maple?) and a Yamaha Stage Custom birch. They all sound great. IMO single vs double ply head makes more of a difference.
Maple has a fantastic sound! And it definitely doesn't sound as 'pointed' as Birch (at least to my ears). But I still stand by the fact that no one really cares, outside of us, what our drums are made out of. We each have our favorite, and that's so cool we can have our own sound. But, depending on the venues/rooms we might be in, the sound changes automatically. Then the sound guy gets a hold of it, and it's no longer 'our' sound. Like I said in the video, I'm very lucky to have both. When I want to hear something different I can change my kits. But I never just stay with one. I find it exciting to change sounds every so often. But I do believe Maple will probably be considered the 'go to' for quite sometime.
I'm actually going to do a video on the differences of sound between these two. Even though I've never been asked for a specific drum material due to sound in a professional setting (live or studio), they do have different sound characteristics. It's just unfortunate that the sound man turns what sound you have into his own vision most of the time. And hopefully he gets it right.
I mean exactly that. No one you play with cares what your drums are made out of. Concentrate on making the drums you have sound good. That's the only thing that matters, not the drum material.
@@KirksDrumRoom I'm sure as long as they sound good, nobody cares. They're just going to say, those sound good, what are they? If they don't sound good They're not going to care what they're made of. 😂
I'm glad someone finally said it. You do have your difference in low end and high end kits but the material plays the smallest affect on the sound
That's how I see it. Plus, sound guys/studio guys will alter what everyone else hears anyway. LOL
Buy an instrument because I like the color of it? I like that idea.
Right?! Ahahaa! 😆
Facts
I used maple for 20 years, switched to a maple/walnut hybrid 10 years ago... Love it! Something about the hybrid that seems mix better than maple alone. Or, I'm just bias ;)
I think the maple/walnut combo is wonderful! A fantastic sound.
I use a Tama Silverstar Birch kit that I bought in 2014 that has never done me wrong. I like birch more than maple but I completely agree with you that no one cares about the difference, especially with what you said about that sound going out the window in the studio.
I'm saving for a Starclassic Birch/Wallnut after having the opportunity to play one. Even if i'm the only one who notices the difference, it's still going to make me feel great when i'm playing
I love it when drummers find THEIR sound. How awesome! What heads do you use on your kit?
Have both. Birch seems a bit more articulate (attack) and maple a bit more resonance from shell. In the end- whatever inspires your instrument for you and own it- “Keep it in the pocket!” 😊
I agree. Birch seems more 'controlled' (articulate), and maple, just like you said, more resonant. Both are great.
I like maple, hmmm I like birch, but I like mahogany too I can't decide.
Hey honey what drums should I take to the gig tonight?
She replied, "I like the pretty red ones!"
Exactly! LOL
I currently have a Maple/gum combo DW Jazz series.
That's a drum I know nothing about. How would you describe the sound?
Drum size and shell thickness have bigger impact compared to just wood type differences. I'd probably pay more attention to those when selecting drums.
You make a fantastic point here! I can definitely back this.
I also think that the impact of drum thickness isn't really a topic that is discussed much in drums. Would be grear if you could discuss it too :)
@@andrewlau2939 Great idea! I'll add that to the queue. I can see that one taking some deeper research. Should be fun.
@@KirksDrumRoom Yes please! Like, I haven't seen a video explaining what makes bell brass snares (3.0mm thick) somewhat "special" compared to the standard 1.0-1.2mm thick snares that are commonly sold. I really haven't watched a video explaining to viewers how crucial drum thickness/ density is to your drum sound.
Yep, 💯. Bearing edge and shell thickness. Thin resonates better, but thicker shells are louder. Thin has a tendency to choke whereas thick goes as loud as you hit it. Sonor solved this long ago and Danny Carey sizes his drums according to it. I personally play birch because they sound good in any room.
Yamaha chose birch on purpose for the RC because of its recording qualities. Birch sounds good in any room. Low ceiling? Birch doesn’t care. Not as soft and rounded, or warm as we’re told, but a thick birch shell allows YOU to control the volume. Sonor built thick shells on purpose. Maple took over after hair metal and TAMA began the trend of thin shells with the SC in 1994. Sonor didn’t change. They took their research to a German physics lab.
They went along with the thin shell revolution with their Designers, but they made their name with the thick Phonics and Signature series, which Danny used on every TOOL track and Steve Smith used with Journey.
Great video!! I have a Gretsch Catalina Maple 7 piece (22 kick) and a Yamaha Stage Custom Birch (20 kick). I have the same heads on both (Evans coated G2s over coated Reso 7s on the toms and Frosted EQ4 on the kick) and the differences between the two might not even be the woods. Different lug counts on the drums, direct to shell vs suspension mount, some of the sizes, and ported vs non ported might all be contributing factors. With all those factors together, I find that my Gretsch has more warmth while my Yamaha has more punch. My next head change might give different results, I'm thinking of trying something different for both.
Very cool! Yeah, there are so many contributing factors to a drum's sound. Like I said in the video, sometimes I just change what I'm using because I'm basically bored. LOL
I have a 5 piece Yamaha Cranberry Red Stage Custom Birch set. The set has some resonance but attack is very precise in which I like. I have Evans Hydraulics on the toms, Evans EMAD 2 on the kick, Evans UV 1 on the snare.
I am currently repairing a Pearl Masters 14x5.5 Maple Snare, I got it from a former church I used to play at and never got around to putting it back together. I’m interested in what the differences will be!
Heads are Evans Hazy 300 snare side, Puresound 30 stand wires, Evans EC Reverse Dot
That sounds like a very studio friendly kit with that setup. You can get a lot of music done with that!
my primary kit is a late 70s earley 80s ludwig maple and poplar kit. i love the sound of it. the shells produce a warm and boomy effect. alot of mid and lows with alot of cut. they're pretty much traditional sizes.12, 13, 16, and 22 kick. love their sound. wouldn't part with them ever. i'm a ludwig guy , hopefully i'll be able to aford a ludwig maple classic kit in the future. but, i'm very satisfied with my current ludwig kit. but, would like also to aford a birch kit someday. love the sound of birch drums also.
I've always thought Ludwig makes some of the best shells in the business. No nonsense, straight up shells that sound great. Here's hoping you can get your birch kit soon.
Thank you! I'm about to buy my first kit. I'm an engineer; not a drummer. Your video re-enforced my opinion and thoughts. I'll be getting a Mapex Mars 5 piece kit. Thanks again for the confirming information.
You bet! And enjoy your new kit!
Shell diameter, deepness, bearing edge angles and type of hoops all make a big difference. I simplified my choice by choosing metal vs wood. Within each is a whole 'nuther world. this doesn't even include the choice of heads or snares. You are right on!
Yep, so many parts that affect the sound of the drum. My next video is about picking your first, all around snare. Of course it's incredibly subjective. But it'll be how I've seen it over the decades. Hopefully I can get it finished by next weekend.
Many thanks for watching!
I feel like maple has a more wet and wide open feel whereas birch is more contained and quiet sounding so I wouldn’t go so far as to saying it doesn’t matter what one uses. It’s true that one should always make the best with what instruments they have with them at the time but it definitely helps to try to understand why one may or may not like the sound they are getting so that they can change it or replicate it. Especially if there are options in a large studio, drummers should be able to consciously choose which drum set will create the best feel for the musical situation and, most importantly, feels best to them.
Very solid points! Thanks for offering these up.
I have both
Sakae birch and a late 70s Gretsch. It is true that no one cares what wood the drums are made of as long as it sounds good.
I love the 70's Gretsch sound!
Best video about this ❤
Many thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
Spot on, Kirk. Often, people ask, "Is there a difference?" They should be asking, "Does it matter?" My mindset: these days, I'm less interested in the details of the instrument; I want to hear what someone *does* with the instrument.
Besides, to my ears there isn't that much of a difference between birch and maple. Based on my experience (mainly with snare drums), if you compare drastically different woods - say, mahogany vs. purpleheart - *then* one will be more likely to notice a difference in sound. In the real world, though, how often to we actually do an "all other things being equal" A/B comparison?
My kits? Most are maple, but I still have my late '70s Ludwig kit with the maple/poplar six-ply shells. (Snare drums, I'm all over the place - twenty years as a hobbyist DIY drum builder.)
Then there was the time that the parents of one of my drum students gave me the heads up that he was getting a new drum set for Christmas. First lesson after the holidays, I said, "Tell me about your new drums!"
"Well...they're red."
That's my boy.
@@malletjazz Ahahaa! 😂
Exactly!
Thanks for this honest assessment of wood and sound characteristics. A small effect noticeable to the player but not audience. Drum hoops, heads,tuning, depth, diameter play more significance.
You are correct. I couldn't agree more.
Me personally I like birch toms and a maple kick.
I can see where that could be a really nice combo.
i have a thinner shelled maple kit and a thicker shelled birch/maple/birch hybrid kit, I personally like the birch sound having more attack and presence, the sizes and tensions and heads will give them plenty of resonance or dry them up, but deep and boomy or deep and dead seems to be popular tensioning and thats just not what a sound guy is going to give an audience anyways, its nice to have some brightness and attack to go with a little bit of resonance, seems to be generally what sound guys tend to give live or in studio, then sort of the jazz sound in smaller acoustic venues🤷🏻♂️ to each their own though
So much truth here.
Good info! I have a Tama Star Classic and not sure which one it is. I can’t find any markings to indicate which one. I bought it used and believe it dates to the early 2000’s. Do you know of a way to tell which one it might be? Thanks!!
I would say to contact Tama with one of the serial numbers from the drums. It 'should' be located on the badge. If not, look inside the drum.
Will do thank you
In the 90s the maple had a painted on badge and the birch (called the Performer) had a traditional metal badge. No idea if/when they changed this as the lines progressed.
Pretty sure if it doesn't say, then it's birch.
I dont have any drums😂. I play guitar and Ive always wanted to learn drums.. thanks for this vid!
I've tried guitar a couple of times. As much coordination as I have, I can't get my hands/fingers to work with guitar. Ha! 😄
Great advice and I totally agree, nobody cares which wood you play, only that you - can play! Like he said, they're going to get the mic and eq treatment by your sound guy so what you hear isn't what the audience is hearing. For practice, it's still important to play a kit that sounds good to your ear as that builds confidence. The quickest way to do that is learn to tune and spend the money on better heads.
So very true! Drumheads can make such a difference.
I'm learning and laughing at the same time. Thanks! I'm a guitarist, though.
Ahahaa! 😄 Thanks for coming to the party. LOL
Great video. True.
Many thanks!
Maple with die cast hoops is my preference. I think maple has more character, more weight to the sound and low sustain. I have had birch sets and liked them. My favorite birch set was a Tama Silverstar I sold not long ago and miss it.
Maple certainly sings! No doubt.
Do the die cast hoops cut some of the sustain?
@@KirksDrumRoom that's what they say, but personally I think they increase it. I'm already planning on replacing the triple flanged on my masters maple complete with die cast. I tried putting them on my 12" pearl tom and they were definitely louder and sustained longer. I wanted a masters set or a session custom set but ended up buying a new set of masters maple complete. I see that they already went back to die cast across the board on the pearl professional drum lines like Tama does.
@@NEALBABBITT Very cool! Thanks for the info!
I agree 100%.
Maple snare! Birch shells! I love the reso of my snare but the quick decay from my Toms and Kick
I love that about drums. You can mix and match for the sound you like.
Both
Yep! 👍🏻
I have an INDe maple kit, an 80s Tama Superstar (birch), a 60s Ludwig (maple/poplar/maple?) and a Yamaha Stage Custom birch. They all sound great. IMO single vs double ply head makes more of a difference.
I totally agree!
Not to mention coated v clear.
@@JohnD72277 I'm notorious for switching between coated and clear. Seems like every couple of years I make the switch. Ha! 😆
birch all the way.
Birch is a great sound!
@@KirksDrumRoom my comment was based on the colour 😂😂😂
@@TheSickNeeds Got it! 😂😂😂
Correct 😂 buy what u like. The cosmetics also +100 to sound
Nailed it! 👍
You get more juice out of the maple,,, it gets fully tested once you play with a band, the maples have more tone, more juice,,., so yes it matters
Maple has a fantastic sound! And it definitely doesn't sound as 'pointed' as Birch (at least to my ears). But I still stand by the fact that no one really cares, outside of us, what our drums are made out of. We each have our favorite, and that's so cool we can have our own sound. But, depending on the venues/rooms we might be in, the sound changes automatically. Then the sound guy gets a hold of it, and it's no longer 'our' sound.
Like I said in the video, I'm very lucky to have both. When I want to hear something different I can change my kits. But I never just stay with one. I find it exciting to change sounds every so often. But I do believe Maple will probably be considered the 'go to' for quite sometime.
I have a maple drumkit.
You cannot go wrong with maple. 👍🏻🥁
Playin' both for yr's, & no difference to MY ears... (appearance/"curb appeal" REAL factor!)
So much truth!
Question: "Hey can you describe some of the sound characteristics of maple vs birch? I care to know.
Answer: "Nobody cares!"
I'm actually going to do a video on the differences of sound between these two. Even though I've never been asked for a specific drum material due to sound in a professional setting (live or studio), they do have different sound characteristics. It's just unfortunate that the sound man turns what sound you have into his own vision most of the time. And hopefully he gets it right.
I think 💬💬💬💬💬💬🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 Maple drums is the go to Tone Wood!
Worst comparison video of anything ever. Basically it doesn't matter, soi formative
Just offering up my professional experiences over the years. What shell material do you use/prefer?
Nobody cares? What do you mean?
I mean exactly that. No one you play with cares what your drums are made out of. Concentrate on making the drums you have sound good. That's the only thing that matters, not the drum material.
@@KirksDrumRoom I'm sure as long as they sound good, nobody cares. They're just going to say, those sound good, what are they? If they don't sound good They're not going to care what they're made of. 😂
@@NEALBABBITT there's so much truth to your words! 😂
Too much talking...
True, that it's more of a light rant.