I'm wondering about the pros and cons of buying Maple or buying Carbon Fibre drums. Does anyone know the real differences, and if you were to buy a special kit, would you stick to one or the other? If so, why?

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i dont know carbon fibre, but if it has similiar properties to acrylic the material does not absorb sound waves like maple does, therfore it compresses the air and projects more sound. it will have better resonance in term of sustain but not necessarily good tone or the desired tone.

what makes maple desirable is the warm tone. the shell absorbs,i believe low frequencies and projects a more controlled higher, clear tone. less resonance and more punch.

it can depend greatly on your preference to tuning. im moreso into muted and flat<basically shitty> tuning by default of not understanding what acrylic drums are best suited for. ideally acylic drums<this may apply to carbon fibre>are best utilized with the thinnest head possibly, like the way bonham tuned his drums, thin heads,loose tuning. that sound may not be the best for a high paced metal band, a blast would become a wall of resonance, a drumroll becomes a solid continous sound,especially if you play a show in a brick room or some place that doesnt absorb well. so higher tempos=less definition. on the otherhand it would be great for slower music,greater dynamics range, many tonal qualities to each drum<rimshots, headbending,hitting different areas of the surface,controlling the sticking range etc>

alot of metal drummers go for the muted, but good tone of lets say maple,beech and such. the thing about muting is no matter where or how you hit the drum it usually sounds the same, muting in essence narrows dynamics, this is not a bad thing, metal overlooks alot of the subtlety of jazz or classical percussion<tympanies come to mind>even, because it obviously has to deal with a higher volume,distrortion where such effects will be lost. muted is valued for distinctly audible rudiment playing and high definition for fast playing, it follows the sound of triggers and mixes well with the attack and punch of the bassnotes.

im still trying to understand the various qualities of wood, alot of it is like preferences for fine wine, its an eye of the beholder/aquired taste type of thing. im not big on custom drums but i went to a custom shop locally that makes birch drumsets<Eames> and i was reduced to a state of drooling over 2-3k drumsets that sound so amazing.

im moreso in the camp of buying decently priced gear and treating it like gold now that ive given the subject much thought. a 600$ tama,reconfigured hardware if needs be,maybe a custom snare,good heads changed frequently, a strong understanding of the tone i want will get the job done cheaper.

its way too against my principles to own a 3k drumset let along another grand or two in hardware and cymbals. ive had dudes fly face first into kits ive owned, seen entire cages filled with cymbal trees fall forward, have gotten some asshats mixed drink all over my cymbals and shells,been ripped off before. maybe if i played jazz to old fuckers who eat dinner and behave themselves id own some serious drums. i could really get into dynamic approaches showing many tonal qualities of a drumset in a setting where people will notice and appreciate it. with metal half the people are literally slamming each other to the sound of raw aggression, its moreso what you play than the way in which the stuff is played.

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That's cool. Good post. I was asking because I have the itch for a new set, (That doesn't mean I have the money) and I was looking at some set made by Monolith.
I don't know a lot about drums and theory, or resonance and shell material and all that shit, so thanks.
So if I understand you, I get the feeling I should stick to wood drums instead of the Carbon Fibre drums, so that the drums will sound "sharper" by absorbing some of the resonance, right?

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It's not really an answer to your question, but i bought this cheap kit for rehearsal, and the shells are made with something that looks like compressed wood or something (at first i thought it was plastic or something alike), and it actually sounds better than my kit here at home :?
To be honest i don't really know what type of wood i have here at home (huh huh huh) but i do know it sounds shittier than the cheap version.

thats the gist, but definately talk to other drummers who may know more about carbon fibre kits. i could be wrong on some counts about maple, thats just what i gathered from reading drum forums and stuff. i do know maple is the most popular wood right now and i think it suits those hydraulic 2 ply heads and powerstroke bassheads the best.

my acrylic kit is definately different from any wood kit i previously owned and i suspect carbon fibre would be similiar, i could be wrong tho.

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