Drumhead

For other uses, see Drumhead (disambiguation).

Drumhead mounted on a drum

A drumhead or drum skin is a membrane stretched over one or both of the open ends of a drum. The drumhead is struck with sticks, mallets, or hands, so that it vibrates and the sound resonates through the drum.

History

Originally, drumheads were made from animal hide and were first used in early human history, long before records began.

In 1957, Remo Belli and Sam Muchnick together developed a polymer head (also known as Mylar) leading to the development of the Remo drumhead company.

Despite the benefits of plastic heads, drummers in historical reenactment groups such as fife and drum use animal skin heads for historical accuracy. Skin heads are used on most hand drums, including djembes, frame drums, bongos and congas, although in recent years, companies such as Remo have begun manufacturing synthetic counterparts for certain hand drums such as congas. Another common material used for drumheads is aramid fiber, such as kevlar. More durable fiber heads, such as kevlar heads, are used mostly in marching percussion.

Tuning

1 Holder clamp, 2 Rim, 3 Tension rod, 4 Lug, 5 Snare butt

A drum "hoop" or "rim" may be made of metal, wood, or other material and is used to hold a drumhead against a drum shell, either with bolts through metal "claws" attached directly to a hoop, or bolts through holes in a flanged rim. The bolts, called "tension rods", are screwed into threaded "lugs" attached to the drum shell, in order to tighten and tune the drumhead. A "drum key" is a four sided wrench used to screw the tension rods into the lugs.

Muffling

Drummers muffle their drums using special drumheads. Some drumheads come pre-muffled such as Remo Powerstroke Pro. Most muffling is done by external muffles such as Muff'l Strips or Bass Drum Muffles

Manufacturers

• Evans
• Remo
• Aquarian
• Kentville Drums
• Attack
• Coreelo
• Earthtone
• Honsuy
• RMV
• Stern Tanning

See also

• Vibrations of a drum head for an illustrated mathematical treatment.
• Drumhead court-martial, a court-martial held in the field to hear urgent charges of offences committed in action, or figuratively a hearing held in undue haste.

External links

• Accessory Fetish A Complete List of Drum Head Manufacturers