Drumhead

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. [1]

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. Kevlar heads are also used in marching percussion.[2]

Tuning

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.[3] A "drum key" is a four sided wrench used to screw the tension rods into the lugs.[4]

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

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-05-26. Retrieved 2015-05-11.
  2. ↑ "The Complete History of Drumming". Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  3. ↑ International House of Blues Foundation. "Making a Drum" Archived February 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. 2003
  4. ↑ Drum Key Patent
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