by yoni » Fri Apr 25, 2003 6:10 pm
Hey guys,
An interesting topic I also got into before here, but had more thoughts on it ...
I like the sound of natural heads and materials - with at least the head made of organic material (skin). The shell I like best when it is of organic or natural material (wood in congas and bongos, and clay and metal, as in doumbeks).
I think JC said artificial sound because those sounds are derived partly from artificial, synthetic materials (the other part being our hands). It's true you can make any material sound nice if you play it long enough, but there's an undeniable difference to me between the sounds of natural and artificial heads, period! And to me the naturals also feel better (good ones), just more "right" to me.
I have some drums with synthetic heads and use them at times. They do last way longer and cut through sonically. But there sure is that difference, in sound and touch. There's nothing like the tone of a natural head to me, no way. The substance is just impossible to duplicate by man, and its amazing complexity, plus maybe the very fact that the skin was alive, all make for a sound that I find supreme.
My pops made an instrument that became a museum piece. It's an electric guitar made of a skeletal-like steel structure and is in a few museums now. He played with his fingers, which I find gives a "warmer" sound than with a pick, and was quite into that steel guitar for some years, and made it sound wild. But he eventually tired of the feel of the thing - stainless steel is cold, and he went back to building minimalist wood electric guitars in his apartment, without the help and trouble of "big business" (he got in a bad deal over mass-production the steel guitar, wasn't built to proper specs., etc.). He eventually laughed it off and said: "That's where the thing belongs, in museums. It's great to look at but cold to touch."
There I go, way off topic again. I can like all kinds of sounds from all kinds of materials. Electric sounds can be great and are unattainable by acoustic instruments (and vice versa), but somehow I do ultimately prefer acoustic sound, same for natural heads over synthetic... just a matter of taste.
As someone else here says, my 2 cents.