5.5 vs other size snares

[ZackPomerleau]

I've been thinking of picking up a less expensive drum since I travel a lot and like the sound of the Supralites. All my snares are either 5s or 6.5s. I've never owned a 5.5 and am curious to why one would go that route vs the other common sizes.

 

[bongomania]

Go ahead and measure those 5” drums of yours.

 

[JDA]

4" drums a little quicker
6.5" and + drums a little slower
5 5.5" possible Goldilocks
but you'll enjoy her 3.5,4. 4.5. 6. 6.5.7. 7.5. 8" sisters too

 

[idrum4fun]

5.5" deep snare drums are very common. Just check out the different manufacturer's websites to see this. Common depths are 3.5", 4", 4.5", 5", 5.5", 6", 6.5", with many companies offering even deeper snare drums. If you were around during the 80's, it was common to see 8" and 9" deep snare drums!

-Mark

 

[drummertom]

When I ordered my J-M kit I got a 5.5 snare. Very versatile in my opinion.

 

[bellbrass]

I've got a really nice 5.5 for sale.

 

[shilohjim]

I just got a 5.75 x 14 Japanese made Pearl sensitone, and it tunes up or down equally wonderfully. It maintains body throughout the entire tuning range. Not too pingy when cranked, and not too sloshy when brought down.

 

[Elvis]

Depth is relative.
More depth gives you an increase in perceived resonance.
Less depth gives you a decrease in perceived resonance.
Some say it can lower the note. I like to think of it more as a darker colouring to the note the drum is tuned to.
In my experience, sensitivity is more a product of head selection, tuning, the snares themselves and you well they lay out on the head.

Elvis

 

[Seb77]

Somehow most classic metal drums are 5". but wood drums came in 5.5 (Gretsch , Ludwig). I think of them as right down the middle, nothing extreme, but versatile. Tighten the batter head and it's a bright drum, lower it, maybe adds ome extra mass, and it's a low sounding drum. Not extremely low, but low enough. Check out Steve Gadd in the early 80s, he never used a deep drum for his low sounds.

 

[musiqman]

I always saw 6'' depth as the perfect middle size between the standard 5,5 and 6,5.


Funny that I now only own 7'' deep snares.

 

[funkypoodle]

For me 5.5 is the magic number!

 

[SteveB]

I play 5.5's almost exclusively...the reason being I tension the drums up pretty tight, just shy of choking, so the feel changes from one drum to another. A 5 would be my next choice. Live in a room you can hear quite a difference but its the feel of the rebound I'm going after..not the depth. I have a 3.5 which I like for certain things but it is a much harder drum to play because you can't lay into it as much. I've had up to 7.5 inch drums, still kept quite tight and they have a little more balls, but through a pa its barely noticeable. You can make a 5" very deep sounding with the right eq...just add some 250-350 hz to bring the punch out. I usually prefer a drum that cracks although i've backed all size drums way off to get that mushy ballad fat back sound. That said nothing sounds worse to me than a low pitched drum without any muffling...like a bag of feed hit with a baseball bat with an annoying after ring. I hear quite a bit of that these days but you can keep it! I almost always muffle a snare at least some....tape at the edge, etc. Different strokes!

 

[madsplash]

I play 5.5's almost exclusively...the reason being I tension the drums up pretty tight, just shy of choking, so the feel changes from one drum to another. A 5 would be my next choice. Live in a room you can hear quite a difference but its the feel of the rebound I'm going after..not the depth. I have a 3.5 which I like for certain things but it is a much harder drum to play because you can't lay into it as much. I've had up to 7.5 inch drums, still kept quite tight and they have a little more balls, but through a pa its barely noticeable. You can make a 5" very deep sounding with the right eq...just add some 250-350 hz to bring the punch out. I usually prefer a drum that cracks although i've backed all size drums way off to get that mushy ballad fat back sound. That said nothing sounds worse to me than a low pitched drum without any muffling...like a bag of feed hit with a baseball bat with an annoying after ring. I hear quite a bit of that these days but you can keep it! I almost always muffle a snare at least some....tape at the edge, etc. Different strokes!

100% agree with everything you said here. Love the feel of 5 or5.5 the best by far over anything else.

 

[bellbrass]

I also have recently gone away from the 6" or 6.5" sound altogether. 5" or 5.5" all the way for me.

 

[glynch]

For me 5.5 is the magic number!

Me too. It's the perfect middle ground.

 

[Obiwandrumobe]

T'isnt the depth.

'Tis the Drummer.

 

[Targalx]

T'isnt the depth.
'Tis the Drummer.

This right here. The "biggest sounding" snare I have is my 5.5"x14" Yamaha SD-495. Two of my "smaller" sounding drums are my 7x14" Oak Custom and 7x14" Beech Custom Absolute. As an earlier post mentioned, it's all about perceived sound.