Why called snare drum

In his opera Alcyone, French composer Marin Marais used a snare drum to evoke a storm, Gauthreaux points out in his dissertation. It was, at the time, a unique use of the instrument. For many years, it remained more common for composers to use the instrument to create a military atmosphere. In post-Civil War America, the snare drum had also made its way indoors for use in entertainment. Vaudeville was popular, as were the Dixieland and ragtime styles.

Largely for economic reasons, it became ideal for one drummer to play the instruments previously assigned to two: chiefly, the snare drum, bass drum, and cymbal.

William F. Boston-based drum maker Harry Bower had developed a throw-off system around the same time that Stromberg patented his. While World War I slowed production for companies like Ludwig, the conflict had little effect on the innovations that were being made. The single-flanged metal hoop made its appearance around the end of the war and was followed a few years later by the double-flanged hoop. While the Slingerland Drum Company is widely believed to have become the first to use the Black Beauty name, when it first introduced its engraved, black-nickel-over brass drum in , a George B.

Drum makers had started using brass after the Civil War, during which brass shells had been imported from Europe. In , Leedy introduced its Marvel parallel-action strainer Fig. The s represented the first golden age of snare-drum building, marked equally by quality craftsmanship and practical, functional designs. Larger ensembles, led by the likes of Duke Ellington and his orchestra, became popular and the snare drum continued to evolve. In , George Way, working for Leedy, developed a swivel-nut lug design, which made tensioning easier.

The following year, Ludwig patented its parallel-action strainer system, which made changing the snares themselves a simple task. In , Ludwig produced the Super-Ludwig, a drum with a second set of snares inside the drum, beneath the batter head. The drum was renamed the Super-Sensitive Fig. It was reintroduced to the marketplace in These innovations were being made even as the industry entered a period of upheaval. Conn purchased Leedy in and bought Ludwig two years later.

The latter reemerged in as the William F. Ludwig Drum Company, which, under legal pressure from C. In , Slingerland, the former banjo- and ukulele-maker that had gotten into the drum business 30 years earlier to compete with Ludwig, purchased the Leedy name and parts from C.

If the s represented the first golden age of drum-building — marked particularly by the Black Beauty drums that had been produced beginning in the late teens — the next few decades saw great changes in musical styles, which, in turn, dictated which types of snare drums the players of the day used. Evans redesigned the snare drum; he used a plastic Mylar drum head instead of the traditional calfskin. The mental snares were introduced in the 20th century.

Presently, the snare drum is not only used in marching parades but also in different genres of music like the pop, jazz, and even the modern orchestral music. The drum has eight 8 to eighteen 18 snares which are made of nylon, plastic, silk, metal extended across the snare head.

The snares produce terse sounds; the name of the drum was culled from its sound. The snare drum is usually placed on an adjustable stand to allow the player adjust the height and the angle of the drum. The drumsticks or mallets determine the sound of the snare drum. For example, the military music sticks are different from the ones use in playing jazz wire brushes.

A typical drumstick for playing the snare drum is thin and tapering to the tip. Mallets and sticks used for playing the snare drum are thin and tapering, made of wood and sometimes coated in plastic. For military music the sticks are thicker and heavy and for other music such as jazz the sticks are thinner - the type of sound dictates the type of stick to be used.

Other sticks used for the snare drum include wire brushes often in jazz , small mallets those used for the timpani , hard felt mallets produce course sound , and marimba beaters produce a darker sound upon release. Inside of the drum there is a between 8 and 18 snares, which are made of plastic, metal, nylon, silk, or other material, stretched across the snare head. The snares are what make the crisp sound of the snare drum possible. This is also the reason it is called the 'snare drum'. When striking the snare drum the drummer can create noise by hitting the instrument's head, rim, or shell.

When playing the snare drum the stick is sometimes allowed to bounce back and hit the head again - a technique referred to as mammy-daddy beats.