Drummers - Pressed or Cast Hoops?

JB, maybe you can start a thread on the difference between cast rims and pressed rims.

Jonbouy

Cast hoops on perfect bearing edges sound awesome on a well tuned expensive drum, they wont warp under tension.

There you have it.

The main advantage and also disadvantages of cast hoops.

Aside from the boxier tone from a good cast hoop it is even more imperative to get the bearing edges right even more important is that heads have a tendency not to be completely accurate.  A little ruche around the edge of a head will render it completely useless on a cast hooped drum where as you might get away with it on a pressed steel one.

My preference in the studio was for mostly pressed hoops precisely because you had more scope for getting rid of an errant frequency or overtone and also because there was often a likelyhood of having a complete change of sound from big and fat to a real ska type 'ring' going on I most often used to use a cheap as you like Pearl 'Export Series' snare for that kind of abuse, light and bright with a wide range of accessible tone.  The fewer lugs with coarse threads helped with that range too as changes could be done really quickly.  The only drawback is they had a tendency to detune over time for which I found spraymount on the threads was a good cure.  So if you ever come across a gummed up, sticky old cheap Pearl snare think of me, I used to leave them all over the place.

For a player of a kit though for the best tones, that great Gretsch sound is hard to beat.  But being as I was an endorsee much of the time (I stress this was more likely to do with my sales ability rather than any virtuosity)  I ended up going through a wide range of brands, gear and all different kinds of materials used.

Hoops for me though are the thing that exerts the single greatest influence on a sound.  And them big ol' cast fellas are hard to beat...

Take it away Charlie...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQEF_KCOgPc

I usually put more effort into drum tuning than is really called for, it a "less than desireable" tone creeps me out.

UbiquitousBubba


Drum tuning is an art.  I was playing in a band once where somebody rescued a beat up snare drum from a garbage can.  I put new set of heads on it and it sounded fantastic.  I ended up putting aside a couple of other snares for this one. 

A few minutes or hours spent tuning a great drum sound is better than several hours spent trying to fix it in the mix.  (in my opinion) 

My personal preference for drum sounds (depending on style) is a medium-high pitched snare with a lot of "crack" to it, a deep, thumping kick with a felt beater, and melodic toms with a distinctive transient and a bit of a ring. 

I usually put more effort into drum tuning than is really called for, it a "less than desireable" tone creeps me out.  (Sorry, wrong thread)

Jonbouy

I usually put more effort into drum tuning than is really called for, it a "less than desireable" tone creeps me out.

I mean that is about the top and bottom of it (no pun) but then you get these people that tune (or claim to) chromatically.

What's that about?  Them people creep me out.

It's a drum sound I'm after, not no steenking glockespiel.

Some of the rituals certain people go through though are great fun to watch.  (says JB trying to hide his slide rule and torque wrench... )