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Wood has long been the accepted
material for the building of drums. This is not just true of the
20th Century development of drum sets as we now know them, it's
pretty much been true of every drum built from the cave-man forward.
There are a number of reasons for this, first and foremost among
them being that, for cave-persons and most builders of percussive
devices ever since, logs were easier to come by than Fibreglass.
Rocks, skulls, metal, maybe even glass...but, to be sure, no
Fibreglass.
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are dozens of fine companies still building their drums out of
wood, and so they should; it is their field of expertise and,
what's more, they are in every way set up and equipped to make
drums the old fashioned way. There would be no point
whatsoever in Tempus Drums jumping on the bandwagon with these
other companies - the world doesn't need another wood-shelled
drum, at least not for the moment. But, that having been said,
does the world need a Fibreglass drum?
Well, yes, I think it does.
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From a few feet away, Fibreglass
drums look pretty much the same as drums of any other substance, but
there the similarities end. Acoustic studies have shown that Tempus
Fibreglass shells offer a number of enhanced and entirely desirable
properties for the drummer greater potential volume (depending on
how loud you want to be), greater resonance, a wider range of
frequency response, greater definition and focus to the sound of the
drum, extreme durability (a benefit to the less-delicate player),
and a lighter overall instrument weight. Tempus CarbonFibre drums
offer yet another variation on the theme of tonalities and sound
properties and, in addition, are even lighter to carry than my
Fibreglass drums.
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There's also an environmental issue
involved here; wood comes from trees, something we're beginning to
run short of and which are becoming steadily more difficult to find
in terms of the quality needed for good instruments. Fibreglass is,
literally, a glass-based product and glass comes, essentially, from
sand - something we're in no danger of running out of. The resins I
use are petroleum-based products and, OPEC rumours to the contrary,
geophysicists now believe the world's natural oil supplies will last
us somewhere between 500 and 1,000 years. So, aside from a few
controlled chemicals and a bit of dust, Tempus is doing a lot less
damage to the world than some of its competitors.
There's been a trend in recent years
towards thinner shells. Some of the bigger wood-shelled
manufacturers have put a great deal of research into developing the
thinnest possible shell, a shell without re-inforcing rings, one
which will have a brighter, more resonant sound. |
Physics aside, Tempus shells are the
thinnest shells in the world which aren't made of metal. It simply
isn't possible to build a wood shell as thin as mine with the
strength to support the stress of head tension. As to whether or not
the sound of my drums is superior as a result is not for me to
decide - what I can say with the utmost certainty is that Tempus
drums don't sound quite like anything else you've ever played.
Of course, there is one limitation to
the Fibreglass concept - my finishes are not quite as good as those
on the best lacquered wood drums; it just isn't possible for me to
match the kind of mirror-perfect sheen attainable on lacquered
wooden instruments. But, as a trade-off, Tempus shells carry a
finish which is extraordinarily durable. In fact, I've seen Tempus
kits which have been traveling for the better part of fifteen years
and which still look almost as if they just came from the factory.
In the final analysis, however, the
sound of the drum, or any instrument, is the only thing that
matters; it's the only factor which makes one brand preferable to
any other, and the choice is strictly a personal one.
On that note, I encourage you to sit
down at a set of Tempus drums and play with open ears and an open
mind - forget about price, materials, weight, shine, endorsers, hype
and promotion.
Just listen . . .
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