Re: Bearing Edges
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 11:36 pm
In my past experience in reshaping the bearing edges of both a djembe and a conga (both solid wood shell, just to add) I have learned that the contact area that a skin has with the edge has a significant influence in the sound of the drums. With the sharper edge you have less contact area, therefore more resonance of the membrane (skin). A larger radius of the bearing edge, therefore more contact area will generate less resonance of the membrane. This is pure fact. When there is more resonance there will be more sustained bass and midrange sounds and less high range sounds. They are there but have a muffled sound.
A master percussionist, or even a pretty decent one will be able to get great sounds from either type. He or she will make a choice whether it's the right sound for them or the style of music they want to play with the instrument.
In my opinion, the only thing that is of utmost importance with a bearing edge is that the whole contact surface, no matter what shape, must be true and flat. No high spots or low spots and perpendicular to the vertical centreline of the drum.
I use a roundover bit on the router and it has to be done on a router table, not by hand. The radius of the round over bit depends on the wall thickness of the shell. If the shell is thinner you will have a smaller radius, and a larger radius for a thicker shell. If you aren't savvy with the power tools then you can get reasonably inexpensive hand tools such as a beading tool, or other specialty carving tools to do it by hand. I have made many a woodworking project on the balcony of my old apartment just using hand tools!
The top perpendicular surface can be trued by resting a pane of glass across the top and a level as long as the bottom edge of the drum is reasonably perpendicular to the vertical centreline of the drum. Use a marker to mark the high spots and a block plane to remove the high spots and then plane the whole top surface the same shape before running it over the router.
It's not rocket scientist folks! Just a whole lotta fun!
A master percussionist, or even a pretty decent one will be able to get great sounds from either type. He or she will make a choice whether it's the right sound for them or the style of music they want to play with the instrument.
In my opinion, the only thing that is of utmost importance with a bearing edge is that the whole contact surface, no matter what shape, must be true and flat. No high spots or low spots and perpendicular to the vertical centreline of the drum.
I use a roundover bit on the router and it has to be done on a router table, not by hand. The radius of the round over bit depends on the wall thickness of the shell. If the shell is thinner you will have a smaller radius, and a larger radius for a thicker shell. If you aren't savvy with the power tools then you can get reasonably inexpensive hand tools such as a beading tool, or other specialty carving tools to do it by hand. I have made many a woodworking project on the balcony of my old apartment just using hand tools!
The top perpendicular surface can be trued by resting a pane of glass across the top and a level as long as the bottom edge of the drum is reasonably perpendicular to the vertical centreline of the drum. Use a marker to mark the high spots and a block plane to remove the high spots and then plane the whole top surface the same shape before running it over the router.
It's not rocket scientist folks! Just a whole lotta fun!