Hey Mr. Welch - Hey Mr. Welch !
WTS tuning system
Hey Mr. Welch - Hey Mr. Welch !
I was staring at my load-in day, incomplete Music City Drum Show booth when an attendee walked up. I don’t remember our introduction, but it was a funny line about being Mr. Welch. He saw my banner and ask me if I was Michael Welch. I gave him my card and he gave me his. He’s Samuel Welch
I’ve been familiar with his Welch Tuning System from social media videos. I regret not finding his booth and checking them out in person.
I’ve been looking at his beautiful well documented web site. It has great detail information about this genius tuning system.
My simple explanation is: you hand tune the drum with a control knob. Cables loosen and tighten the heads and hoops simultaneously. Watch the videos, you’ll see for yourself.
A very interesting aspect of this system is that it’s like early single tension drums. Opposed to double tension lugs where you can tune the top and bottom individually.
For several years my favorite bass drum is my (Boom Boom the Bass Drum) 1920s C C Conn 12 x 26 single tension instrument. I play a modern batter head and the original calfskin head on the front. I’ve tuned this drum many ways, but the sound I want is low, without pitch.
I also play a Leedy Drums 5 x 15 nickel over brass drum from the 1920s. It was originally built as a thumb screw tuned drum. It’s been converted into a single tension drum.
In my opinion, single tension drums produce a more natural sound. I’m not a scientist. I did take a science of sound class decades ago in Junior College. It was very interesting and actually got into the vibrating frequencies of membranes, tympani and other drum heads.
All of this is my opinion) The 2 heads of a single tension drum are relaxed and not fighting for “pitch dominance” I know this is jive Mumbo jumbo.
The bottom line for me is this. I love single tension drums. This is, in my opinion, one of the things I love about the WTS concept.
If you listen to the drums in the videos, they are resonant and very tonal, naturally. My old Leedy snare drum has a similar sound.
In conclusion, it was great to meet another Welch. I have zero DNA from his part of the country.
BaDaBoom
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