The Art of Drum Making

hat is a solid shell drum? Solid shell drum is made from one piece of wood. That is, a single plank of wood is cut, steamed, bent and glued. Matching reinforcing hoops are added at the top and bottom of the shell to stabilize and strengthen it.

History

All drums were made from one piece of wood before the development of multi-ply shell technique, which was introduced in 1930's and quickly spread to all major companies because it was much easier and quicker way of making drums. The idea of solid shell drums became popular again in 80's with the snare drums from Noble & Cooley and Johnny Craviotto.

Why is one piece drum shell acoustically superior to multi-ply drum?

In a ply-wood drum shell there is a layer of glue between each ply. Glue is a sound inhibitor. In the traditional solid shell construction there is almost no glue. That is why drums made in traditional way have noble sound and unsurpassed tonal characteristics. Although the explanation is purely physical, the result is magic. We dare say that istruments made in Antonio Drums craft shop are the works of art.