Drums For Dummies
Chapter One
Drum Basics
In This Chapter
* Understanding what a drum is
* Discovering how a drum makes its sound
* Identifying the parts of a drum
* Recognizing the modern drumset and traditional drums
Drums are members of the membraphone family of musical instruments
and are considered one of the world's oldest, dating back thousands of
years ... yawn. Bottom line, a drum is a musical instrument that creates a
sound when you hit it. What distinguishes a drum from, say, a soup pot, is a
membrane (I call it a head from now on) strung across a hollow chamber
(called the shell).
Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against soup pots. Or garbage cans or
matchboxes or any other improvised drum for that matter. They can be just
as fun to play and listen to as a regular drum - just look at the rhythm group
Stomp; now they have fun. Face it though, a soup pot may be satisfying to hit
for a little while, but sooner or later you're gonna want a more refined sound.
Enter the drum. A well-made and wel ... read full excerpt from Drums For Dummies ebook
