Take a stroll through the  drums section of today’s modern music superstore, and as you peruse the variety of cymbals you will no doubt conclude “These are not my grandfather’s cymbals.”  The striking variations in the shapes, sizes, and colors of available cymbals is truly profound!

Of course the most popular seem to be the more traditional round perimeter, brass, sloping, with the hemispherical bell, type of cymbal.  These include the typical, heavy, 22″ Ride Cymbals formed from a heavier gauge piece of brass.   But this general description can also be used describe crash and hi-hat cymbals.

These are usually left unfinished with a very shiny brass look just like they did after being ‘turned’ on the lathe.  Some manufacturers finish theirs with a protective ‘clear coat’, preventing (or at least delaying) the need for actual cymbal polishing, a chore few drummers relish the thought of.

In recent years some manufacturers have created a colorful variation of the clear coat; a protective color coating.

They even come in beautiful black finishes.

I love the look of this black beauty!

Some have left areas of the cymbal dull and unfinished, and other areas shiny, creating a look with striking contrasts.

Then there are ones with a pattern of large holes that vary in hole size, placement, and quantity.

Some are hammered and contain holes.  (Not sure that’s proper English.   Can “holes” actually be “contained”?)

Others have been stamped out into strange shapes, some with holes, even slots too!

Some consist of two or more layers of brass stacked on top of each other, making for a unique, metalic ‘clack’ with a quick decay.

Some have been made flat and have attached “jingles” or “zils” similar to a tamborine.

Then there is the matter of flatness:  Whereas most are sloped to some degree, others are intentionally made completely flat, no bell intended.

Then there is the “china” variety, with its distinctive curled outer edge.

Some “Chinas” also have a unique conically shaped bell.

And of course, I would be remiss if I left out the “Gong” family of brass bangables!

And just when you thought there could not possibly be a further variation in the family of ’suspended pieces of metal to hit’, here comes the . . .  whatchamacallits!

Yes, there continue to be no rules even when it comes to cymbals.  (After seeing some of those last ones, I don’t think a couple of rules would be too restrictive.  Do you?)

We carefully cut the laminate into pieces wide enough for each drum shell and long enough to wrap around each one with just enough to overlap.  Then they were laid out and spray adhesive was applied.

The first time we laminated drum shells, there was a slight misalignment at the seam where the laminate wrapped around and butted up against the starting point.  Despite the best of care taken to exactly align the starting angle, it will never be perfect.  This misalignment  is not visual with the drum heads on anyway, so it was not a big deal.  But it would be a real problem if the laminate wandered so much that it obstructed the shell area where the drum head  contacted the shell.  And the larger the diameter shell, (a bass drum for instance), the more critical this wandering problem would be magnified.  To ensure that this problem would not ruin the project, we devised a way to allow the laminate edge to be trimmed and excess removed, even after the laminate had been applied.

The photos below show a half-inch margin of duct tape being applied to mask the spray adhesive so that excess could be trimmed and removed after the fact.  Note: This was only done to the sides of drum shells where heads would be used.  (I have sometimes heard of single-headed drums being called “Melodic” drums, or “Concert Toms”, I believe.)

Alignment lines were made to mark where on the drum the laminate seam would be and to aid in starting it at a 90 degree angle.  When the seam is located inline with the attached drum hardware it helps in preventing the laminate from pulling loose.

Now came the time to spray the shells with adhesive.

Then the masking (duct tape) was removed.

Using the alignment marks, the laminate was carefully lined up at the starting point.

Then it was carefully rolled by hand using much pressure to ensure adhesion.

Another concern that had to be addressed was accurately cutting the seam-edge of the laminate.  In order to get a good measurement without completely gluing the entire sheet to the shell, a piece of poly sheeting was used to cover the final area of  adhesive, allowing the drum to be rolled, and trimming marks to be scribed.

This cut is somewhat critical:  Unlike the typical original drum fabric that most manufacturers use that wraps around the shell and overlaps, this must be is a butt-joint, and this seam will show!  The better the job, the better it will look.

Erik used a cutting tool he had that was not actually made for laminate, but it worked quite well.

To further touch up the seam, we used a fine file on the cut line.  Once the laminate wrapped around the shell and fit together well, the poly sheeting was removed, and a slight mist of spray adhesive was added.  Then the last of the rolling was completed, leaving a tight seam.

The side of the drum shell not needing a head, (for those drums with a head on only one side), we used a router to trim the laminate to the shell.

For the drum head side of the shells, we used the router as above, but then used a table saw with the fence set to allow only 1/2″ of laminate to be trimmed off the edge of the shell.  (Of course the blade was set to barely cut through the thickness of the laminate as the shell was turned.)

Because the shell edge had been masked when the adhesive was applied, the trimmed pieces were easily removed.

After all the laminating was complete, the edges were cleaned of any adhesive residue.  Then the hardware holes were carefully drilled from the inside out, using my angle drill motor, using the original shell holes as a template.  Then the hardware was re-installed, and the drum kit was reassembled.  The operation was a success!!!

Timbales

Timbales also make a nice addition to the conventional drum set, enabling the drummer to throw in the occasional, more metallic sounding, ‘Latin flavored’ fill.

Typically Timbales  are found in the arsenal of a percussionist, along with Congas, Bongos, Cowbells, Tamborines, Woodblocks, Claves, Windchimes, etc.   They are almost always found in pairs, but again, there are “No Rules”, remember?

Timbales are available in a variety of sizes and depths too.

No Rules for Drum Sets means you’re free to build your Percussive Playground however you want.  The designer of this drum kit (shown below) has utilized Octabons, Timbales, Rototoms, Windchimes, a Tamborine, and no doubt other percussion instruments into his kit:

The flexibility in customization of the modern drum kit is only limited by your imagination, (and your budget of course).

Rush’s Neil Peart (on one of his smaller drum sets)

A kit more typical of what Neil Peart uses (Below)

And so far we have only discussed the acoustic percussive building blocks that can be used!

No Rules means you’re free to create your own hybrid drum set, a mixture of acoustic and electronic drum sounds, as Neil Peart has done with this Hybrid drum kit (Below).

No Rules = No Limits

Additionally, electronic drums can be played by hitting the drum ‘pads’, or alternatively they can be played, or ‘triggered’, by installing small piezoelectric triggers to your acoustic drums!  And since the electronic drums can be programmed to playback virtually any recorded sound, where does it all end?

That’s the point to all of this:  It Doesn’t End.

NO RULES means NO LIMITS!

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