DW Drum Production

To craft the finest drums in the world takes more than a just a commitment to quality, innovation and the art of drumming itself. More than anything else, it takes a passion for creating drums as sonically distinctive and visually unique as the drummers who play them.

Featuring American Rock Maple logs grown in the forests of the Northeastern United States and Heartwood Birch logs carefully selected for their exotic appearance, each drum kit is a work of art begun by nature and hand-finished by DW.

DW craftsmen begin forming the drum shell by laying up two to three plies of thin wood veneer that are cut to DW’s specifications from select maple or birch logs on site at the mill. Each ply is placed in cross-grained directions, adding strength and stability to the shell. The strength, consistency, thickness and roundness of the shell, along with the type of wood used, are the prime factors in determining the quality of sound the shell will produce. Once the plywood has been heat pressed under extreme pressure (1), each lay-up is then trimmed to the exact length required to form the specified diameter of the drum shell with no gaps or overlaps in the seams. The craftsman then applies a thin layer of specially formulated adhesive to both sides of the core plies and hand rolls the shell, staggering the seams for strength before they are placed in a diameter-specific circular press (2). A combination of heat and pressure forms the wood into a round, consistent and uniform drum shell (3).

Thin maple reinforcing hoops are then added to the top and bottom of the shells, and the shell is once again pressure heated to secure the hoops. While thin-shelled drums have a deep, warm tone, the addition of reinforcing hoops helps increase the strength of the shell at the point of greatest tension and raises the pitch of the shell to increase its articulation and projection. DW reinforcing hoops are graduated so that their depth increases as the shell’s diameter increases.

Once the shell is completed, a master drum technician begins the TimbreMatching™ process by tapping the shell to hear its fundamental pitch at the point where the shell resonates most freely (4 & 5). With the basic pitch of the shell determined, a “family” of snare drum, tom-tom and bass drum shells are chosen to fill the high, middle and low positions in the kit’s frequency spectrum. Each TimbreMatched™ set of drums assures minimization of pitch overlaps and maintains the desired intervallic relationships. The shells are also inspected for consistency and richness of grain. Just before final assembly, a digital tuner is used to find the exact note-value of each shell. The note is stamped on the inside of each shell, indicating the drum’s tuning “sweet spot” and later becoming a convenient reference point for tuning. The kit is then labelled so that its individual drums will remain together from this point on.

Following TimbreMatching™, one of the five different types of DW Drum finishes is applied to create the custom look and maintain the custom sound that have made DW Drums famous. Each of these five styles, FinishPly™, Satin Oil, Lacquer, Exotic Lacquer and Lacquer Graphics has been developed to provide drummers with the widest variety of finish choices available, while at the same time protecting the shell and providing the stunning appearance that is synonymous with a DW drum.

FinishPly™ finishes have become a very popular Collector’s Series® finish option due to the durability of the laminate and proprietary manufacturing techniques that insure the drums achieve DW’s superior tonal characteristics. Satin Oil drums are an excellent choice for studio applications. They are hand-sanded to smooth the surface and enhance the wood grain (6), and are then given a vintage-style, low-lustre treatment that is applied by hand to color, seal and protect the wood. Whether Exotic, solid, stain Specialty or Graphics, Lacquer finishes remain a staple finish choice for many of the world’s top players. Lacquer can require over a dozen separate steps that include staining, spraying, sanding and buffing, depending on the color and transparency desired (7). Following the completion of spraying and sanding, the shell is buffed to a mirror-like gloss using a combination of hand and patented machine buffing techniques (8). For Exotic Lacquer finishes, a veneer of rare highly figured wood is cut to size and used as the outer ply of the outside lay-up during shell creation. For Graphics, the drums are custom airbrushed in one of five available Graphics finishes. Regardless of the finish selected, all DW Collector’s Series® drums pose the same quality construction and superior sound that have made DW The Drummer’s Choice® for decades.

Once the finish is applied, DW craftsmen continue the production process, which consists of several steps that further refine the kit’s sound producing capabilities and prepares it to become a complete musical instrument. The first phase of drum production is the multi-step application of each drum’s vitally important bearing edges. The shape, position, consistency and uniformity of the bearing edges are critical because the quality of the edges will determine how efficiently the head will vibrate. Ultimately, this is what makes a drum truly “sing”.

The edging process begins with grinding the shell on large sheets of sandpaper to achieve a perfectly level surface, then cutting the top and bottom edges at a precise angle and position. Using specialized table routers, DW’s expert craftsmen cut somewhat sharper angled bearing edges on snare drums and tom-toms than they do on bass drums, bringing out the snare drum’s and tom-tom’s upper frequencies and attack and the low-end and punch of the bass drums (9). A 3/16-inch countercut is applied to the outside of the shell to provide a more concentrated narrower edge for better articulation. In conjunction with the slightly undersized diameter of the shell itself, this countercut creates a more traditional floating-head system, optimizing the head-to-shell marriage. Since the quality of the bearing edge is so important in determining the quality of the drum’s sound, DW’s edges are inspected and re-inspected at regular intervals to ensure their perfection. The new, optional ESE (Enhanced Sound Edge) employs an even sharper angled bearing edge that is cut on the resonant side of 8” through 13” toms only and can provide an even greater resonant characteristic if desired.

Snare beds are then added to the snare drum, and the holes for lugs, vents, badges and mounts are carefully measured and drilled using a variety of conventional and computer-controlled manufacturing equipment (10).

Once the drum kit has been created, it reaches the final step in DW’s custom drum making process, final assembly (11). This is where custom hardware in chrome, black chrome, satin chrome or gold is installed.

In assembly, the drum kit is first equipped with rattle-free air vents and a numbered badge. DW’s trademarked “turret-style” lugs are then attached to each shell using torque wrenches that are set to tighten the lug screws without choking the shell. To achieve maximum resonance, rack-toms receive DW’s custom-designed, patented STMs (Suspension Tom Mounts) complete with TB-12 mounting brackets. Floor toms feature TB-12s with unique resonant floor tom legs that are also designed to promote maximum resonance.

Bass Drum Muffling Pillows are then placed in the bass drum, while optional MAY Internal Drum Mics are factory installed. It is also at this point that the top and bottom sections of Edge Snare Drums are added to their wood centers.

Nearing the end of assembly, each drum is equipped with specially designed, crimped-hoop/Clear-Coated heads. Toms and snares then receive heavy-gauge, cold-rolled steel, proportionate counterhoops and bass drums receive matching wood hoops and die-cast claw hooks. Snare drums also receive a patented DW Delta or swivel throw-off and custom DW TrueTone® snare wires as well as optional die-cast counterhoops. Finally, to facilitate increased tuning range, DW’s patented True-Pitch® tension rods are installed.

The one-of-a-kind drum kit is then tuned by hand (12), carefully inspected and packed for shipping. A DW Collector’s Series® drum set can be played right out of the box and, just as any fine acoustic wood instrument, will mellow and sound even better with age. It’s an investment that can be coveted for years and rest assured no detail has been overlooked. Quite simply, it’s your style, your sound, and your set.