Material selection for sound generation system

Abstract

A bass drum is a percussion instrument made by a cylindrical shell and two membranes (drumheads) stretched over it. The batter drumhead is the vibrator element that produces the sound and the shell and the resonant drumhead are the resonant elements that modify it. Modern music genres seek for certain bass drum’s sound: a sound with a short duration with specific timbral characteristics. In order to achieve this, in recording and live sessions, the resonant drumhead is removed and half of the bass drum is filled with blankets or pillows, to stop the batter drumhead vibration. Also, the sound is processed to achieve the desired sound. The objective of this project is to improve the system’s acoustic sound by modifying the resonant drumhead’s tension and by applying an acoustic material: polyurethane foam with open cells panels. The ideal sound is obtained using actual techniques and it will be used as reference. All three possible configurations are recorded. With resonant drumhead tuned at: A) higher, B) same and C) lower tune than the batter drumhead. Results are compared with the ideal sound’s frequency spectrum. The system’s sound is improved when the resonant drumhead is tuned lower than the batter drumhead. Sound is affected along frequency range from 15 to 500 Hz...