Bass drum

The bass drum or bass drum ( English: bass drum [ ˌ beɪs dɹʌm ], or kick drum ) is a percussion instrument that is used as part of the drums for the generation of deep sounds and can be found in different variations. It arrived in the 18th century on the Turkish Janissary music to Europe.

Use in different areas of music

In orchestral music, the cylindrical drum is usually vertical, inclined or horizontally on a stand. It is usually played with big, wrapped in fur or felt mallets. It measures 50 to 80 cm in diameter and 40 cm in depth, and is mostly a natural skin (often calf skin) covered. The longer ringing, when compositional demands prevented by muffling by hand. Sometimes pair of basins ( cymbals ) are attached to the top of the drum.

In wind music bands and marching bands, the big drum with shoulder harness is worn over his chest. The weight savings are great drums for marching bands are most often made specially from thinner wood as an orchestral drums.

In a conventional drums, the bass drum is the rhythmic but also visual basic element of the structure. It has a diameter of 18 to 24 inches, a depth of 14 to 18 inches usually is played with a mallet attached to a pedal ( pedal ). At the top it has mostly a holding rose for the attachment of tom-toms.

In the metal and rock music sometimes two bass drums are used, so that the drummer can use to play very fast rhythmic figures both feet. A cheaper and more convenient option is the application of the double bass technique is to play a single bass drum with a double pedal. In both cases it is possible to dispense with the foot on the simultaneous hi-hat game.

Since the 1980s, it is (especially in the electronic dance music) to replace the usual "natural" bass drum as well as other percussion sounds by synthetically - electronically generated sounds ( see electronic drums).

Acoustic properties

A bass drum has a frequency response with deep fundamental frequency ( about 50 Hz) and with a barely above 5 kHz wider margin overtone spectrum at maximum sound pressure. Their sound is used in many styles of music as the backbone of the rhythm. Especially supporting their role in modern dance music and techno, although their sound is there usually generated electronically with samplers or drum machines, through an initial medium-frequency sine or square curve that falls within a few milliseconds to less than 20 Hz and decays.

Construction

Boiler

The boilers are manufactured in various design, thin boiler with reinforcing rings (up to the 1970s common) or from 6 - to 10 -fold kreuzverleimtem wood. Often, maple or birch wood is used, but other types of wood are used for the generation of bass drums. In the 1960s, Beech Shells for example, were very common and upper class drums sometimes tropical wood has even been used (example: Sonor Signature).

Clamping screws and clamping rings

The hoops for higher-quality bass drums are usually made of wood and secured with ten to twelve tuning screws. In the category up to the mid- drums, only eight clamping screws are attached. Older bass drums, up to about the 1970s, in size 20 ", only have six clamping screws. Also Far Eastern Airline Stan bids are often only equipped with less clamping screws, which is problematic when it comes to larger drums ( for example, 22 " ), because a sufficient mood of the fur areas then can not be done.

Skins

The skins are nowadays almost exclusively of one or two-ply plastic film. The resonant head often has a hole, which allows miking inside the boiler. This one takes, however, a non-negligible loss of sound pressure and thus resonance in buying what causes the drum far less concise and " crunchy " sound. Especially in the 1970s it was quite common to play without resonance heads.

Insulation

With special pillow or cushion rings a sometimes perceived as annoying ringing can be damped. These insulations you reach a duller, bassigeren, drier sound. Up to the 1970s many manufacturers upgraded their drums with large built-in dampers (see Premier), or with Filztuchstreifendämpfern such as Ludwig or Sonor, which were clamped between the head and the boiler.

Hardware

The drum stands on feet, today prevent their metal spikes or rubber feet slipping until the 1970s this was a problem, however.

As Bass Drum Bracket bracket is called, which is required for the installation of pools and toms on the bass drum. The Bass Drum Rosette usually comes with one or two receiving holes and is included in the rule in the delivery of the bass drum. In this recording the holes Tom holding joints, or sunk for pelvic attachments. Sometimes, however, deliberately avoids attaching a rosette, called this undrilled boiler to allow the instrument, the weight of the toms and / or pelvis unhindered, can vibrate more freely. In this case, toms and cymbals are hung exclusively on stands or a drum rack.

Up to the 1970s, most were of bass drums next to the Tom recording that was partly also easily mounted on the side, in addition still shots for a separate cymbal holder. As lugs is called the shots, in which the clamping screws are sunk.