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One can never utulize too many sounds when trying to get creative with their drumset. Effects cymbals, accessories, elecronics all give you more options when you need them. If you have an extra snare drum that you dont regularly play with the rest of your kit, there are ways to turn this into an effects drum that will give you tons of possible sound combinations.

What follows is a guide that I hope will help you think outside the box when creating an effects drum, as there are numerous different sounds that you can achieve. Most of these can be made with things sitting around your house, so you dont have to shell out to spruce up your snare.

Possible Items Needed:
spring(s)
tambourine
bottle caps
rubber bands
guitar string
vibrating mechanism
imagination

Also check out some of my other drum instructables:
Drum Tuning
Cymbal Polishing
Cymbal Repair

By: drums787

If you are a drummer, you know just how important your cymbals are. Cymbal care is underestimated in its importance to the sound and life-span of your cymbals. Not cleaning a cymbal is just asking for trouble. Color changing, rust, cracking are all results of poor cymbal care. Its like not brushing your teeth.

When there weren't any specialized products for cleaning cymbals, drummers had to settle for using brass polish. Even though we've come along way since then, people are still using brass polish for cymbal care. There are a lot of products out there for polishing and cleaning cymbals, so lets discuss.


Also check out some of my other drum instructables:
Drum Tuning
Cymbal Repair
Effects Snare Drum


By: drums787

Some people may think of cymbals as accenting a drum kit, but in fact, they can be just as important to your sound as your drums are. As a drummer, the timekeeper of the band, you are usually striking the hihat or ride cymbal more than any other part of your kit, and where would you be without a crash cymbal? Not in a band is the answer.

There is no way around it; cymbals can make or "break" (lame pun intended) your career as a drummer. Cymbal care not only keeps your cymbals looking spiffy, but helps reduce the chance of them cracking and breaking. For tips on cymbal care, check out this instructable.

But if you want to try to fix your cracked cymbal or do something else with it (like make an effects cymbal), hopefully this instructable will give you some good ideas on how to do so.


Also check out some of my other drum instructables:
Drum Tuning
Cymbal Polishing
Effects Snare Drum


By: drums787

Perhaps the most important skill that a drummer can have is the know-how to get the proper balance and maximum performance out of their drumset. The ability to tune a drum or an entire kit is an invaluable tool for a drummer who wants to sound his (or her) best. Even experienced drummers have trouble tuning their drums, but with some good advice and a little practice, you can conquer the technique and be on your way to a better drumset. And a better drumset makes a huge difference.


Things you'll need:
-- a drum
-- a drum key
-- a drum head
-- patience


A few considerations before you begin...

1. Don't be cheap:
Its more than worth investing in good drum heads whenever you make a trip to the music store. Good, high quality drum heads will make a huge difference in the way your drum will sound, and the difference in performance between the low and high end drumheads is well worth the slight cost increase. I used to to work at Guitar Center, and I often explained this point to the customers when buying drumheads: a crappy drum with a good head can sound significantly better than a good drum with a crappy head. Brands such as Remo (the time-tested drumhead company), Evans (the industry standard for many pro drummers), and Aquarian (they have lots of unique sounding heads) are probably your best bet, but its worth experimenting. If you want an endless amount of info on various types of drumheads, its worth checking out The Drum Tuning Bible.

2. Consider your source:
This is my first instructable, so bear with me. If you have any suggestions I would appreciate the advice, as I am planning on writing several more. Also, the info that is to come is general knowledge and you will be able to find similar instructions on the internet. This is my method for dealing with this madness, and just about everyone will have their own way. Read around, experiment, and you will eventually find your own style.


Also check out some of my other drum instructables:
Cymbal Polishing
Cymbal Repair
Effects Snare Drum


By: drums787

Whether your instrument is the piano, oboe, drums, or your voice, sight-reading is an essential skill for a musician to have. This Instructable will teach you how to improve your sight-reading skills on your instrument.

By: jackbobpin

Take an old AM/FM transistor radio and make a quick modification so it picks up Air Traffic Control, Air Shows and other Civil Aviation Band transmissions. Amazing! Thanks to Cy Tymony for the Make Magazine article. See the Test Results in the video.



By: Kipkay

Want to build your own tube amplifier for guitar? There are many options: build a kit, build from an existing schematic, or branch off like I did, and try something different.

Maybe, like me, you'll design and build from scratch...

Check out the last step--it includes information added since this guide was first published.

Among the goals for this build:

--Build an amp with that MMM-good tube sound...
--Design it myself.
--Reuse salvaged and vintage components whenever possible, and save good stuff from the landfill.
--Make something unusual (6DG6GT's in a parallel single-ended configuration qualifies as unusual...as does the tone control....)

A whole lot of tweaking later, I've got an amp that pleases me. A small, but surprisingly LOUD amp that outputs something in the neighborhood of 8 watts (see the Power Amp Stage step for more info.) And the combination of 12AX7 and 6DG6GT tubes, though unusual, works quite well...

Oh, and this is a fairly hi-gain amp--i.e., it has a good amount of natural tube clipping and distortion, and a decently "dirty" sound. However, hi-gain and high volume are not the same....this amp is loud for it's wattage, but it's not a Marshall stack. It remains a studio type amp, but it is louder than all those Valve Jrs., Champs, Blackhearts, etc. which are so popular today....

Clean signal, no F/X.
Settings: volume 50%, tone 60%, presence 30% :



Clean signal, no F/X
Settings near max :
(Some "ghosting" on the highs is a resonating glass-door china cabinet about 5 feet from the amp...)



In fact, there's a little too much gain...

One thing's for sure...tackling such a project means many happy hours pouring over data sheets, studying schematics, checking output transformer specs, and tracking down NOS tubes....

Noteworthy: there's a certain aspect to this build.... I wanted to retain the feel and budget of the radio-amateurs and home-builders of the past. You can easily spend in excess of $1000 USD for a small tube amp kit alone (nothing but the best audiophile components.) There's an elitism about modern tube amps I tried to avoid (or maybe I'm just cheap ;0)

By: gmoon

This is a picture of my "not so complete guitar" but it is a start... I always loved old school rock and also most modern rock and recently am learning I just thought my old used guitar could use a "makeover"

By: slimguy379