Drums: Beat Head Snare Drums
Author: Steve Clarkson
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Musicians create 'their sound' and style given the tools they have and every once in a while you may get lucky enough to play with the very best - though there are no real guarantees. I once witnessed Roger Taylor having a 'drummers' moment' during rehearsal for a gig at Mt Smart Stadium. There I was chatting to Freddie Mercury when he kicked his snare drum off its stand with such force that it went flying, cursing at it as he did so, saying "…this fookin' snare drum sounds fookin' terrible".
Not being able to get a good sound can be a drummer's worst nightmare and I knew exactly how Taylor felt in that moment, as surely do many drummers who have at times found a snare lacking. This must be what drives Matt Vickers of Beat Head Drums (www.beatheaddrums.com) to handcraft his brilliant-sounding drums. His 'without compromise' approach takes the pain out of guesswork, and while the drums are not cheap ($1000 for the Road King series and $1600 for the Exotic wood series as a guideline - but current exchange rates are part of the equation), in that sense they are great value for money.
Matt emerged as a drummer in the 1980s band Marginal Era and started building custom snare drums from his adopted Swedish home in the early '90s. He is now producing a variety of natural wooden snares that are simply drop dead gorgeous. From the BHD website there are just the two series to select from, but being a custom drum maker Matt likes personal contact with customers to discuss individual wants and needs around the sound, size, hardware etc. Once ordered it will likely take a month for the Road King series and up to three months for the Exotic series, depending on wood choice, before delivery here. Being a Kiwi himself, Matt has fitted a few local drummers up already and it is through some of them I got to try Beat Head Drums myself.
