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Going On The Record with Drum Kits: Studio Drum Kit Sales in 2022

Christian Wissmuller • ArchivesNovember 2022Roundtable • November 1, 2022

What precisely defines a “studio drum set,” you ask? For one, engineers tend to prefer a “drier” kit sound without overtones and room tone. Fair enough, but really what that often equates to is: the best available instrument.

Studio drum sets remain in high demand (big shock), as more and more musicians are finding access to the world of recording – at whatever level. We recently spoke with representatives from some of the major players in this market segment to learn about emerging trends and effective sales tools.

For your brand, what are currently the hottest selling acoustic studio drum kits?

Jeff Mulvihill: There are two definite answers here: First is our completely custom SQ2 series that has been exceeding our expectations all through our global pandemic business in addition to all of 2022 thus far. Our online configurator gives the user a vast range of choices to design the kit that only dreams are made of whether that be for a drummer’s playing experience, or for a recording engineer or studio owner. The second answer which I will focus on here is the Sonor Vintage series produced with German Beech shells appointed with rounded bearing edges for a very classic and vintage sound and feel. All these drums are manufactured using the Sonor Optimum Shell Technology producing drum shells with slightly undersized diameters contributing to the magic in the Sonor sound. Vintage series have quickly become a staple in the Nashville Recording scene primarily through the work of A-list recording artist Nir Z. We produced a fantastic series of videos on this series giving the listener a full look at what these drums are capable of with testimony from both Nir and record producer/engineer Joe West.

Mike Petrak: For ddrum, many of our artists and customers who are looking for a studio kit turn to our Dios series drums. The Dios series includes thin all maple shells that really resonant and have that tried-and-true maple tone many studio players look for.

Andrew Shrev: USA Custom. It’s still recognized as one of most sought-after drum kits for studio use.

 

Jim DeStefano: Within the DW Brand, we have three series of drums (Collector’s Series, Performance Series and Design Series). Each of the series are “studio” quality, so the differentiator is your ability to customize your choice and their respective price points. Performance and Design Series are all maple shell drums. They do have different shell layups, that contribute to their tonal character. Collector’s Series offers the most options. Within the Collector’s Series, all maple shells are our largest segment, but Maple Mahogany; Purple Heart and Birch are also popular choices, due to their unique tonal characteristics and how they perform under the mics.

 

John Palmer: Historically, these tend to be our upper-end series’, including original Imperialstar’s from the 1970s and original Superstar’s from the 1980s. We continue with this philosophy for today’s studios with our upper-end drums: STAR, Starclassic Maple and Starclassic Walnut/Birch being most utilized in recording studios today. An important design spec in the STAR and Starclassic drums is die-cast hoops, which are equipped on each of these series’. Die-cast hoops tend to reduce overtones, which tends to benefit studio microphone applications.

 

JM: The Black Panther Design Lab Versatus kit continues to impress engineers and producers in the studio. Mapex is known for blended hybrid shell technology and these drum shells are a blend of Maple and Mahogany enhancing and blending the best qualities that both of those tone woods are known for into one beautiful sound. This shell recipe coupled with the SAS (Soniclear Attenuation System) Ring System are really the secrets to the sauce here. Rather than using “reinforcement” rings solely for the purpose of keeping thin-shelled drums round, Mapex focuses on how the use of rings and their unique placement can affect the sonic character of the instrument. Recording artist Russ Miller has built up an impressive list of credits that these drums have appeared including album and movie sessions at a remarkably high level.

Terry Bissette: This is a tough one to answer. Our best-selling series by far and above is our Classic Maple series. This has been our strongest category for the last 20 plus years… That being said, specifically in the context of Studio and Recording applications, many are drawn to our Legacy series. It’s a very different shell design and delivers a very solid traditional sound. A sound you can depend on, a sound you’ve heard on tens of thousands of records. While Classic Maple is our primary “workhorse” series, the Legacy series delivers a “little something extra” under the microphone.  

 

Have you been noticing any trends of late when it comes to these types of drums? What are end-users looking for, specifically, when it comes to kits for studio/recording use?

JP: It depends on the music… certainly there has been a return to a “low-fi” sound in some genres, including Indie Pop and Neo Soul. What I’m hearing in those genres (and others) is a lot of muted tones, achieved by liberal use of external dampening on drum heads. I believe it is important to start with an excellent fundamental drum tone, then modify as needed from there. You can always moderate tone and sustain, but you can’t add them in as easily.

 

TB: In recent years, more shallow bass drums (14” depth) and “standard” size toms. Power-toms and extra-long bass drums went the way of the dinosaur many years ago. I also notice engineers are wanting to hear warmer tones. Not only in drums, but in cymbals as well. Our Legacy Mahogany series fits the bill perfectly. It’s a little warmer and darker than our Legacy Maple series. Not to be confused with “dull’ by any means. If anything, Legacy Mahogany delivers a pronounced rich tone with a lot of body.  More “Ooomph” if such a word exists…

 

JM: End users are looking for a balanced and natural drum sound regardless of the tuning range. At one time in the industry the race was on for the ultimate in mounting systems that would allow as much resonance in drum tone as possible and after achieving that through many different developments, the pursuit became controlling that resonance to achieve the desired balance. Sonor Vintage series has this balanced pre-EQ’d type of character in any tuning range.

AS: We been noticing an increasing trend/request for more direct-to-shell mounting on our rack toms. Sonically, (as it pertains to Gretsch USA factory drums), we have not noticed much difference between using GTS mounts vs. Direct-To-Shell. It’s ironic how drummers want their toms to have a ton of sustain and in most studio circumstances, engineers and producers apply tape or moon gel to dampen most of the drums anyway.

 

JD: This isn’t a new trend, but I think most drummers are biased to smaller sized drums in the studio. I believe you can always tune a smaller drum down to a lower pitch. It typically retains a great resonate quality and the tuning range is flexible. On the other hand, larger drums might be more challenged when tuned higher, as they can choke when tuned up to a higher pitch.

Another consideration when choosing a kit for the studio is shell material. As noted above, some drummers opt for different wood shell species because they are looking for a different tone characteristic. As an example, Maple is a very warm resonant wood with a long decay. Birch shells have much quicker resonance, are not as warm and have bright attack. The shell material type is a personal consideration and choice.

 

MP: There are couple of trends that I’m seeing. A lot of players are looking for or using Birch shells. The shallower depth bass drums seem to be the way to go now too. As for what users are looking for in a studio kit, they will be looking for a kit that obviously sounds and looks good, but a kit that works in a variety of musical situations. These same users will be looking for a nice snare selection for studio use as well.

JM: The trend in this space has been players and engineers looking for a drum sound that gets in and gets out cleanly without fighting the tuning or struggling with dampening. Mapex responds with drums that are engineered for this purpose from the instrument in a ground up, or musical- sound-first principle. This means identifying a sound characteristic or goal to reach through drum design, rather than simply making “the most resonant” or the “perfect maple sound” both ideas which have been pursued endlessly.

 

Supply-chain issues remain a challenge for many. To what degree is the production acoustic studio drum kits being impacted?

JD: We manufacture Collector’s & Performance Series drums in our Oxnard shop. For the most part, that production was not adversely affected by supply chain issues. Our Design kits are imported and in the height of the pandemic experienced a fair amount of delay, mainly due to transportation / shipping bottlenecks. For the most part that has returned to normal.

 

AS: We’re experiencing supply chain issues less often compared to a year ago, thank heavens. However, it still occurs sporadically which is still very frustrating. We’ve had situations where delivery for certain customer orders is delayed a couple of weeks because a shipment of a particular drum component has not arrived at the factory… that’s so annoying. All-in-all, we’re working through it and Gretsch is grateful that our customers understand this challenge.

 

MP: Supply chain for these types of kit was severely affected. Supply chain issues were not only affecting production of acoustic kits, but for all of our products and all industries for that matter.  COVID-19 caused a chain reaction in every sector of the supply chain. At first with all the factories shut down, production was the biggest issue. After that, raw material pricing increased drastically. Then there were shipping issues with the cost of shipping or even obtaining a container. That compounded with the great demand of products during the pandemic put a tremendous strain on the logistics of the supply chain. Right now, there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel. I think and feel by mid-2023, all supply chain issues will be somewhat back to normal. Maybe not for all industries, but a least MI. Only time will tell.

 

JP: Yes, we have experienced unpredictable times, for sure. How you plan for that? The good news is we have been able to stabilize our production and are back to consistently producing drum sets at this time. Most of the supply chain challenges we needed to work through were for the sub-parts needed to complete a drum set, things like tension rods, hoops and other metal parts. But our product development team reacted to the challenges from the start and worked really closely with our suppliers to minimize delay issues. We still run into some problems here and there, but for the most part, have returned to a more consistent and normalized manufacturing flow.

 

TB: There have been a few rough moments and bumps in the road over the last two years, but we’ve managed to be relatively unaffected. (DHL loves us- Haha!)

 

JM: On the production side of the business the challenge is volatile raw material prices which make pricing the end user challenging to keep consistent. There have been more industry-wide price increases at odd times over the last couple of years than ever which have been felt differently across the distribution, retail, and consumer sectors. However, that is not the leading challenge right now. The main impact has been the rising and unpredictable cost of sea container freight over the ocean, coupled with extreme delays in truck and rail movement across the U.S. Inflation, labor shortages, war, and increasing fuel costs all play a part here.

JM: Rising raw materials cost and continued  COVID-19 outbreaks in the manufacturing regions of China have continued to affect production beyond what most consider as the most familiar pandemic period, but the most up-front challenge has been sea freight container prices and trunk/rail challenges once the product hits the U.S.

 

What strategies have you observed successful MI retailers adopting when it comes to promoting and displaying these types of kits?

JM: In my view the most successful retailers doing well in this space are the ones with a complete and well-rounded approach to business participating in both traditional physical showroom retail, web-based shopping cart style retail, and heavy presence on social networks.

JP: When looking for high-end studio kits, the consumer needs to be able to hear and experience a variety of drums and receive enlightened information about them. The best case scenario is to be able to audition the drums, critically listen to them, carefully check how they are put together, how they tune, etc. The best retailers will allow drummers the time and space needed for them to do this. By giving drummers a variety of choice, they provide drummers different brands and different series’ to allow them to really explore options. To have detailed information about drum specifications and sounds that can be achieved with each drum set is also super valuable. The better a sales person is informed, the more they can gain trust with the drummer/consumer to help them find the most appropriate kit to their needs. Bottom line, the more drum set options and information the retailer can have, the more informed choice the consumer can make.

 

TB: Retailers that are full line stores and offer recording gear use their intimate knowledge in engineering to champion our Legacy kits. That seems to move the needle with studios and churches. They strive for the “best of the best” sound and an instrument that is easy to mic up and roll with. If it takes too long to dial in a great drum sound, you’ve lost the inertia, the momentum, and, sometimes, the battle.

 

MP: Retailers usually do promotions to help sell drum sets. Promotions can be a partnered effort or retailers doing their own thing. Some examples are: Free shipping, free add on tom with purchase of a shell pack or even doing an exclusive configuration or color. Also, with today’s new, information and content consumed on social media, it’s important to have a solid footprint on all platforms to ensure your products are being seen. This is important for both the manufacturer and retailer.

 

AS: I feel there’s two important methods for promoting kits for studio/recording use. The first is an audio/video presentation that various dealers already conduct for their websites and social media platforms. The second is to display the kit on their showroom floor and not stack them or display it 10 high where you can’t physically sample the kit. Nothing beats physically playing and hearing a USA Custom kit. Once you do, you immediately understand why they are the preferred choice for studio/recording use.

 

JD: The use of social media and YouTube videos have contributed greatly to the promotion of all drum kits. When it comes to presentations, several of our dealers create unbelievably great content that showcases the sonic differences between different shell types. Some of the best videos include room vs direct mics that highlight and accentuate the audible differences. Consumers appreciate these presentations, and it really sets the dealers apart.

 

JM: The most successful strategy that I have seen with these kits has been through retailers that have the willingness and capability to understand some of the revolutionary technologies associated with Mapex Black Panther Design Lab drums. Talking with customers about the afore-mentioned SAS sonic ring system, the attenuating floor tom legs, the SAS finish scale as it pertains to sound, the MAATS mount technology and further BPDL innovations for even just a few minutes can make the difference in showing just how incredible they really are.

 

Does your brand have any recent or upcoming studio drum kit models you’d like to draw MMR readers’ attention to?

MP: Yes, we just release our new Dominion Birch kits. They look and sound amazing, not to mention a great price point especially with everything on the rise. Please check out our website and socials for all information on these kits as we will be promoting them in the coming months. These kits also are coming in at a good time since, like I mentioned earlier, many players are looking to Birch wood.

 

JM: The most recent addition to the Sonor Vintage series is a Rosewood Semi-Gloss finish that really captures the historic Sonor look that many long-time enthusiasts consider the classic Sonor look.

AS: We do not but next year Gretsch turns 140 and we’ll be introducing a very special drum kit to celebrate our “double platinum” anniversary… stay tuned.

 

JM: Later in 2023 we will unveil a new chapter in the BPDL lineup adding to the Versatus series and the acclaimed Cherry Bomb Series in step with our efforts to produce instruments that cover the entire sonic pallet.

TB: Just our current Legacy Maple and Legacy Mahogany series. They’re the “tried and true” movers and shakers that have been around for decades in one form or another.

JD: I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that we are celebrating our 50th Anniversary at DW this year. John Good, our co-founder and, as Neil Peart dubbed, “Wood Whisperer,” has just completed a special limited-edition kit offering that will be unveiled at our 50th celebration in November. It will incorporate yet another wood species that we have never used before. Please stay tuned for that.

JP: We think our STAR series is really amazing in critical studio environments. We offer shell builds with either Bubinga, Maple or Walnut, all with die-cast hoops. Each of these shells has their own unique sonic attributes. By exploring different drum head options, each of these is capable of a huge array of sounds. We know Starclassic Maple and Starclassic Walnut Birch drums are consistently appreciated in the studio environment, as well. We are constantly exploring and developing new ways to create excitement in these series, so new products are definitely on the horizon.

Expectations for this market segment in the coming months?

JD: With the significant rise of home recording and social media/YouTube artists, the demand for studio kits for all companies looks optimistic. Barring a significant change to the economy, the drum business should keep on rolling.

 

JP: With the increase of high-end home studio activity during  COVID, we believe the studio recording segment will continue to be an active aspiration for many drummers and recording enthusiasts. We love the sonic explorations and creativity we consistently hear from this passionate community. We look forward to continuing to offer the highest quality acoustic drums to inspire these drummers and engineers to explore their most creative options.

 

JM: I am looking at the coming months with let us say “cautious confidence.” There is enough demand and respect for the legacy and iconic status of Sonor to continue to claim our share of sales in the market, but I am mindful of the boom we saw last year during, and coming out of, global pandemic business. Assuming that the market will stay as strong would be a mistake.

TB: We expect an uptick in this area. We’re seeing more customers strive to upgrade their gear in recent years. Drummers always want to sound better, either in the studio or live. And studios like to promote premium gear on their websites to draw more sophisticated customers. 

 

MP: With all the hurdles over the past 2 years with the pandemic and huge demand for instruments during this time, I see the market slowing down slightly as people begin to get back to their normal routines. I know other segments of the MI industry have really slowed down, almost to a halt, but drums are still going steady. We will keep our fingers crossed!

 

JM: The expectation for this market segment is optimistic but I do not think we will see the same demand as this time last year. Many customers out there are prone to very quick and easily digestible standards in this segment, but those who are truly seeking new, innovative, forward-thinking technology built for a true sound and musical purpose should find that Black Panther Design Lab drums totally deliver.

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