Hey, How do you get Pearl Competitor Series snare drum to sound like DCI Snares?

I was wondering, is it was possible to replace the Competitor Series stock "super hoop," with an Pearl FFX Hoop?

I was unaware that DCI snare drums were required to have a specific sound?

The real answer is that you can't do what you want- the hoops and strainer/guts are completely different. Unless you're going to shell out the cash for a new strainer, hoops and new heads, let it go. It would be better to skip the upgrade and just by the championship drum.



Again, it won't do you much good without a new strainer. The only similar parts between the championship and competitor are the tension ring and tension posts.

The short answer: You don't.

The long answer: You'd have to replace the top rim, bottom rim, strainer, and shell, which would cost more than a new drum.

How can you make it sound staccato and short, because I got hired at a middle school and those are the snares they have. I'm not to familiar with Pearl competitor series.

Will it sound nice and crisp if i just leave the thin bottom head on and replace the top head with a white max?

What are your recommendations?

You're not going to get it to sound as tight as a higher-end marching snare. It's simply not built to handle the same tension. You should be able to get it to sound decent, but it won't sound the same. If you've got the free-floating Competitor model, I'd shoot for something between a modern Kevlar snare and old-school cranked Mylar. You should be able to get a reasonably crisp sound without risking damage to the drum.

I'd suggest keeping an Ambassador-weight Mylar head on the bottom. I don't know if the shell could handle the torque from a Kevlar or fiber head. Even if this were a high-end drum, you might be surprised how many of us prefer Mylar bottom heads anyway.

On the top, it might take a little bit of experimenting to find the best head. A White Max might work, but I might be inclined to try something that's designed to sound good at slightly lower tensions, like maybe an Evans Hybrid.

Whatever you do, keep in mind that the Competitor drums just aren't built to handle the same stresses as Championship drums or other high-tension marching snares. The triple-flanged hoop just won't hold up. Resist whatever temptation you might have to tune the drums like the Blue Devils or SCV.

If you have the non-free-floating Competitors, stick with Mylar on top and bottom. On those drums, you'll want to be really careful not to crank too tight, even with Mylar. If you need to (or want to) go with Mylar heads, the Remo Powerstroke 77 is probably the best one available today.

We used to have a line of competitors at the highschool, the big thing that was ALWAYS stated by the drum tech was, NEVER put a kevlar head on the drum. Note we had the freefloaters, but he claimed the kevlar heads will screw up the drums, and we had no clue how long we were keeping the drums. This shows the true age of the competitor series. Bottom line, the competitors are only really around for middle schools and begginer lines/practice drums. They are old and outdated, They can't handle the kevlar head. (at a high tension at least)

They used to use A remo head with a reflective dot in the middle, I know this because we recently found the "lost stock pile" of snare heads not to long ago. Just becuase of the sheer fact that the snares used mylar, They did'nt have the staccato DCI sound your talking about. This is probably a good thing if you are working for a middle school, a little more room to breath on cleanliness.

I would say just run it like that. You would'nt really want to strap up middle schoolers with kevlar heads anyway, Unless you have one of those amazing california middle schools, that are better then any highschool I've seen in real life.

You're right that they can't handle super-high tension, but I believe the free-floating Competitor hasn't been on the market more than a few years. It's not an old and outdated design, just a cheap one.

If you want to try to get a little more tension out of those Competitor drums, you might be able to do it by replacing the flanged rim on top with a cast one. Every once in a while, you can find some used rims on eBay. I still wouldn't crank the living daylights out if it, though. (Are the tension rods 5mm or 6mm?)



Well, he is in California and if his middle school competes, there's a pretty decent chance they'll go up against some monster programs. Springstowne Middle School competes on the same circuit as falconsnare209's high school and won the Scholastic Marching A division at the Union City WGI regional. There is no separate middle school division -- they beat all the high schools in "A".

On a side note... Go Springstowne! (Gotta show some love for my old junior high school.)

This is exactly what they have.

reply with suggestions because we will be competing with some of those middle school lines. My middle school is far from ready.



[email]http://www.steveweissmusic.com/product/1107073/marching-snare-drums[/email]

I think this is what I would try:

Top: Evans Hybrid
Bottom: Ambassador-weight Mylar (Remo Ambassador, Evans MS3, etc.)

As for being ready... Just give it your best shot. Let the kids know to judge their success not by their placement, but by how far they exceed their own expectations of themselves. (And you, as the instructor, should help them set those expectations high, but within reach.)

I've never used evans, but you most likely have more expirience than me so I give Evans a shot.

thanks for the instructor leason,


I'm kind of nervous

hahahah

Quality-wise, I've found Evans heads to be on par with Remo. Both companies make good stuff and each has a few unique products. "Brand whores" who blindly stick to one company are missing out, whether we're talking about heads, sticks, or whatever.

I personally haven't tried the Hybrids, but since they're designed for slightly lower tension, I'm thinking they might be a good match for your Competitor drums. But who knows 'til you actually try it.

One warning: You might want to avoid the Hybrid snare-side (bottom) heads. One of the guys on this board has run into problems with the fiber in them cutting into the shell and wrecking the bearing edge. (Besides, anything more than plain Mylar might set you up for over-torquing the bottom head and damaging the drum.)

As for the instructor "lesson"... I've seen a few groups of kids get their spirit crushed when they show up to their first competition and get blown out of the water. Especially with beginners, let them know that it's OK if they don't get first place (or second or third). If they push themselves each week, they'll see it reflected as the numbers climb or the gap narrows between them and the other schools. If they keep working week after week and year after year, they'll start collecting trophies, but it may not be a realistic goal right away.

Really, I thought competitor was the first free floating drum that Pearl put out?

No, "Competitor" is just the name for their lower-end lightweight drums -- much like Yamaha has their Power-Lite series. The Competitor non-free-floater has been around for years and the free-floating version is a more recent addition to the lineup.

Pearl's first free-floating marching snare was the Championship FFX we all know and love, introduced in 1990. There have been a few small changes to the design since then, but nothing too major. (The snare strainer has been redesigned twice and a reinforcing ring was added for the bottom head.)

I'm the tech (and tenor player) for our line. Our band director got us all new competitor drums.
For the snares, we have Evans MX White batter. I actualy have them cranked nearly as high as our old FFX's. They actually sound pretty decent. They've been cranked for quite awhile now and no sign of destruction has been shown. I could crank them a little more, but I think I would be pushing it.
Tenors, they comestock with 1.6mm rims, which get out of roumd very easily, especially on drums 1 and 4. Since drum 1 was the worst I got a new 2.3mm replacement rim and it made a world of difference.
As for the basses, the black paint on the rims chips off VERY easily. I would suggest a new paint job every season at least.

The overall quality of the Competitor series leaves a lot to be desired, but if you're on a somewhat low budget and have a director that knows virtually nothing about drums, this is what you end up with...ugh -.-

I agree, plus a die-cast hoop on the top head will give a shorter, more staccato sound even if you leave the bottom hoop alone.

I picked up a set of Evans Hybrids for a new "project" snare (Remo Legato -- I collect oddballs) at Columbus Perc. friday, and the Hybrid bottom now has broad strips of "reinforcement fiber" instead of thin strands. I'm not sure how this is going to affect the sound, but I imagine this should take care of the previously reported shell gouging problem.