Snare Drum - Operation

Operation

The drum can be played by striking it with a drum stick or any other form of beater, including brushes and rutes, which produce a softer-sounding vibration from the wires. When using a stick, the drummer may strike either the head of the drum, the rim, or the shell. When the top head is struck the snares vibrate against the bottom head, also known as the resonate head, producing a cracking sound. The snares can often be thrown off with a lever on the strainer so that the drum only produces a sound reminiscent of a tom-tom. Rim shots are a technique associated with snare drums in which the head and rim are struck simultaneously with one stick (or in concert playing, a stick placed on the head and rim struck by the opposite stick), and rudiments are sets of basic patterns often played on a snare drum.

In contemporary and/or pop and rock music, where the snare drum is used as a part of a drum set, most of the backbeats and accented notes on the snare drum are played as rim shots, due to the ever increasing demand for the typical sharp and high volume sound. In more Latin and/or Jazz music, notes may be played as rim clicks where the sticks back end is placed on the edge of the top head and forced downward on the rim to the opposite side, to keep a more smooth and syncopated beat. The so-called "ghost notes" are very light "filler notes" played in between the backbeats in genres like funk, rhythm and blues. The famous drum roll is produced by alternatively bouncing the sticks on the drum head striving for a controlled rebound. A similar effect can be obtained by playing alternated double strokes on the drum, creating a double stroke roll, or very fast single strokes, creating a single stroke roll. The snares are a fundamental ingredient to the drum roll as they help blend together distinct strokes that are therefore perceived as a single sustained sound. The Snare Drum is also a very good tool to use to get used to the drumset with without playing the actual drumset.