- Also called:
- side drum
- Related Topics:
- tubular drum
snare drum
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What is a snare drum?
A snare drum is a percussion instrument used in military and orchestral settings. It has a cylindrical shell made of wood, plywood, or metal, and its batter heads are typically calfskin or plastic.
The snare drum gets its unique sound from the gut, nylon, wire, or wire-covered silk strings (snares) stretched across its lower head. These snares vibrate when the drum is struck, creating a snappy, penetrating sound.
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How does a snare drum produce its sound?
A snare drum produces sound through the vibration of its parts. When the upper head, or batter head, is struck with sticks, the vibration is transmitted to the lower head, or snare head, by air vibrations inside the drum. Gut, nylon, wire, or wire-covered silk strings (snares) are stretched across the lower head. These snares vibrate sympathetically with the lower head, creating a snappy, penetrating, relatively high-pitched sound.
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What are the main parts of a snare drum?
A snare drum is a percussion instrument with a cylindrical shell of wood, plywood, or metal. The main parts include the batter head (upper) and the snare head (lower). Across the snare head are several gut, nylon, wire, or wire-covered silk strings called snares. The snares vibrate against the lower head, creating a snappy sound when the batter head is struck with sticks. The heads are held in place by a flesh hoop and a counterhoop, with tensioning screws or metal rods. A mechanism may release the snares instantaneously.
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How is the snare drum played in a band or orchestra?
The snare drum is a percussion instrument used in military, orchestral, and popular music. It has gut, nylon, wire, or wire-covered silk strings (snares) stretched across the lower head, which vibrate sympathetically with it, causing a snappy, relatively high-pitched sound.
In orchestras, the first documented use of the snare drum was in 1706 by Marin Marais in his opera Alcyone. It reappeared in Rossini’s opera La gazza ladra (1817) with a solo part but did not become a standard orchestral instrument until its use by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov and other Russian composers of the late 19th century. Modern compositions and jazz playing may require special effects, such as releasing the snares, striking the rim, or using fingers, nonstandard sticks, or wire brushes.
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What makes the 'snare' on a snare drum important?
The "snare" on a snare drum is important because it creates the instrument's distinctive, snappy sound. The snare consists of several wire or wire-covered silk strings stretched across the lower head of the drum. When the upper head is struck, the snares vibrate sympathetically against the lower head due to the air vibrations inside the drum. This produces a penetrating, relatively high-pitched sound. A mechanism developed in the 20th century allows drummers to release the snares instantaneously for special effects or to avoid unwanted vibrations.
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How has the snare drum been used in different styles of music?
The snare drum, a percussion instrument with strings (snares) stretched across its lower head, creates a snappy sound through the vibration of these snares.
The snare drum has been used in military, orchestral, and popular musical styles. Its military use dates back to the 14th century, when it was paired with the fife in Swiss infantry regiments to keep marching pace and beat signals. Orchestral use began in the early 18th century and became a standard by the late 19th century in the works of Rimsky-Korsakov and other Russian composers. In modern compositions and jazz, special effects are required, such as striking the rim or releasing the snares.
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snare drum, military and orchestral percussion instrument having several gut, nylon, wire, or wire-covered silk strings (snares) stretched across the lower, or snare, head; the snares vibrate sympathetically with the lower head (to which vibration is transmitted from the upper, or batter, head by air vibrations inside the drum), causing a snappy, penetrating, relatively high-pitched sound. The modern snare drum has a cylindrical shell of wood, plywood, or metal 5–12 inches (13–30 cm) high and 14–16 inches (35–40 cm) in diameter; deeper models, called field or guard’s pattern drums, are used in many military bands. The heads, beaten with two tapered sticks ending in small knobs of wood or nylon, are of calfskin or plastic. They are held in place by a flesh hoop (around which the membrane is lapped) and a counterhoop. Membrane tensioning is by screws that act independently on each head, by metal rods, or, now chiefly in military bands, by rope lacings.
Snares were known in ancient Egypt and occur on many modern Middle Eastern tambourines. In medieval Europe they appeared on the upper head or sometimes both heads of the tabor drum. Large versions of the tabor developed into the side drum when two sticks, rather than one, were adopted and the snares were transferred to the lower head. It was suspended at the player’s left side by a belt or a shoulder strap and was paired with the fife in Swiss infantry (lansquenet) regiments from the 14th century onward, subsequently spreading throughout Europe. The military role of the lansquenet’s drum was crucial: it kept the marching pace and beat signals to action.
Early forms of the side drum were equal to or slightly greater in height than in diameter. They utilized thicker membranes and sticks than modern instruments, producing a heavier, less brilliant sound. The drum changed most drastically in the 19th century, becoming shallow, and often gaining a brass shell and rod or screw tensioning. Although since the early 17th century the tension of the snares could be controlled by a screw or lever, only in the 20th century was a mechanism developed to release them instantaneously (for special effects or to avoid unwanted sympathetic vibrations caused by other instruments). Before the 20th century the membranes of snares were usually of gut.
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Military playing of the snare drum was learned by rote and oral tradition into the 19th century, and only with the drum’s eventual orchestral use did players need musical notation. Certain drummers in Basel, Switzerland, maintain a particularly difficult traditional playing technique. Modern compositions and jazz playing may require special effects, such as those obtained by releasing the snares, striking the rim, or using fingers, nonstandard sticks, or wire brushes. The first conclusively documented orchestral use of the snare drum was by the French composer–viol virtuoso Marin Marais in a storm scene in his opera Alcyone (1706). It reappeared in Rossini’s opera La gazza ladra (1817; The Thieving Magpie) with a solo part but did not become a standard orchestral instrument until its use by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov and other Russian composers of the late 19th century. A concerto, the Geigy Festival Concerto for Basel drum and orchestra (1958), was written by the Swiss composer Rolf Liebermann.