Last update 3/3/05

Setup example | Size and Price

The single-head Tom popular in the 1970's is virtually gone from the contemporary music scene. Initially gaining popularity because of its wide melodic range and clear attack, the single-head tom was simply a regular tom tom with the bottom head removed. This created dramatic problems including short sustain and unwanted (crevice) ripping noise. In the recording environment these unwanted characteristics were corrected artificially through electronic enhancements. Because of the undesirable characteristics, eventually the single-head tom lost its popularity. For 2003, Canopus has revitalized a single-head tom that delivers all of its advantages while addressing crevice noise and sustain problems.

Consideration of the shell for a single head drum.

In general, to gain stabilized results a drum must resonate as a whole. When a double-headed tom is struck, the energy given to the top head is saved in the shell allowing sustain to resonate with the bottom head. This produces controlled decay. Also, the top head vibrates, moving the air in a balanced movement with the bottom head. In a sense, the bottom head muffles the unwanted vibration of the top head, preventing unwanted crevice noise. (A)

In the case of the single-head tom, when the player strikes the drum the structural balance of the instrument is broken. The top head is fixed with a metal hoop and lug parts while the bottom has no fixed parts. As a result, the shell does not resonate as a whole, the components do not vibrate in a matched fashion with the other parts of the drum, and undesirable crevice noise is created. In fact, the vibration of the different parts tend to cancel each other and sustain is lost accordingly. (B)

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The development of Canopus' single-head tom began by using a shell without reinforcement. Of course, the immediate result was no different than taking an existing tom tom and removing one head. The first tests focused on the edge design in order to find the most melodic tones possible. Once this was achieved, modifications of the shell were made to deliver a well-rounded and fat sound. Good results were gained by adding a thin reinforcement to the shell, but the perfect sound still eluded the developers. Even reinforced, the shell made unbalanced vibrations and did not cure all of the problems.

A reinforcement of extra thickness was introduced to compensate for the mass of the head and lugs, and the results were again improved. The sound energy generated from the head collected in the shell to circulate as vibration energy. The extra mass of the reinforcement produced a reasonable resistance in the airflow of the tom. This was a significant improvement, but more work needed to be done. (C)

While the thick reinforcement controlled the unwanted crevice noise, the structural shortcomings created poor sound projection and short sustain. The solution to these disappointing characteristics was found by making an oblique cut in the reinforcement to allow smoother airflow and proper balance in the sound. (D)

To deal with the unbalanced structure of the single-headed tom, Canopus intentionally created an unbalanced shell specification. The result is clear attack, exceptional dynamic range, broad frequency response, and proper sustain without any crevice noise.

Setup example Combination of even-inch size toms excluding 13-inch tom provides setting of well-balan-ced tuning in each tom. Only singe-headed toms can produce such melodic flow of drum sounds. In case of 3 toms setting, this selection will provide melodic tunes covering from high to low sound range. This will bring colorful expression that double-headed toms would NOT produce.