Once set with a screwdriver it worked well and all buzzes were chased quickly away. Only by taking off the snare set could the adjustable position of the mechanism in relation to the lever be seen clearly. ![]() ![]() The version on the steel drum was at least intact, but even with the fine adjustment as tight as possible, a long, uncontrollable snare buzz couldn't be eliminated. With nothing to hold them in place however, a few whacks of the stick combined with a little gravity, and down she started to go. This could only be achieved by pulling both sides up along their nylon paths by hand. The lever on the 3 Ply wooden snare moved the mech into the off position, but wouldn't lift it back into the on. Sadly neither of these identical systems on the test drums were in working order on arrival. In principle the idea of creating even snare tension by connecting the straining mechanisms on either side of the drum with an internal rod which, activated by the usual level, moves both parts up or down simultaneously, sounds both logical and desirable. See also the on/off internal damping with added fine adjustment (good design), but (and it's a biggie) a very mysterious snare action. Ten lugs (good for fine tuning and keeping it) are set in sprung, angular boxes. However, Western guilt aside, the drums look solid enough. God knows what kind of remuneration the Taiwanese factory worker receives, but to keep prices down to this kind of level, luxury for them must be a shoe on each foot. Straight out of their boxes, both drums reflect my oft-made comment that in terms of quality and value for money, drummers have never had it so good. But getting the sound of a Piccolo snare from one of these would be no problem. If anything it does add crispness to the sound, and volume depending on tuning and damping. Deep in size don't necessarily mean deep in pitch. Here we pause to make a small but important observation. With this in mind, Aria sent two of their new, Taiwanese-made snares round, one wooden, one metal, but both 8in deep. The search for a better, newer or just plain louder sound goes inexorably on, and the player with only one drum to choose from probably considers him (or her) self unfortunate and unhip. None of this Middle Of The Road 5- or 6in stuff. Either the shallow crack of the 4in deep Piccolo or the heftier thump of the 8in job. Props to anyone who can guess which song the excerpt is from.If you're thinking of acquiring a new snare this year, the fashion is all about extremes. Also threw in the Hammonds B3 'cause I have a Hammonds fetish. Then I applied some reverb to the snare, kick and toms using the plugin "Ambience" by Magnus Smartelectronix (which is free, by the way. Not only do I have control over all the sounds, I can master each component individually. So what I did is separate each component into its own midi track and combine the drumkits to create a mighty "hybrid" kit. ![]() I like the snare from the Heavy kit, but I also want the kick drum from East Bay, the crash cymbals from Smash, etc etc etc. They each have bits and pieces that sound good but none sound good as a whole IMO. So the drumkits that come with Garageband are ok.
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