The Big Fat Snare Sound Brands Don’t Want You To Know

Want to know the Big Fat Snare Sound that brands don’t want you to know? It’s so simple it often gets overlooked. Drummers use various methods to achieve that ‘Big Fat Snare’ sound which include; Big Fat Snare products, wallets, towels, tea towels, t-shirts, O-rings, gaffa tape, newspapers, A4 sheets of paper, cardboard, gels, felts and a tone control. Not forgetting actually detuning the drum completely! Still, there’s one solution that will help you attain that Big Fat Snare sound as-well-as providing back up should you break your snare drum head – another drum head!

Reuse A Spare Drum Head

We all like a bargain right? Well, reuse a spare drum head for that Big Fat Snare Sound! You will also have the benefit of having a spare head should you break one. The reason brands don’t want you to know about this is because you are recycling. This will save you money and indeed give it more uses. So, if you don’t already, reuse a drum head and leave it in your snare drum case.

Can you reuse a used drum head if it’s all pitted? Yes, you can also reshape your drum head by using a hairdryer or heat gun. You heat up the plastic gradually and gently until it resets itself back to its original state.

Another Way to get that Big Fat Snare Sound

Another way to get that Big Fat Snare Sound is to detune the drum and strike the drum head dead centre. This gives it that baseball bat hitting a birthday cake type of sound. This is the most obvious old school approach but it is very effective and obvious. The disadvantage to this method is that you are stuck with that snare sound until you retune the drum. Fine if it’s recording in the studio but what about at a gig when you need several snare sounds?

The use of items such as; Big Fat Snare, a newspaper, piece of card/paper, upside down drum head etc, allows you to keep your original tuning. Simply add or remove those said items and you give yourself options in sound.

The fun thing to do is just experiment with those different options. Remember, you can pay a small fortune for products that effectively do the same as if you recycled a drum head. So if your budget is tight, bear that in mind.

Holds Me Tight

I wrote Holds Me Tight to accompany my video above. It’s an Americana / Country style tune which seemed apt for a deeper snare sound.

If you’d like to hear my other compositions, check out my playlist on YouTube.

What have you used to get that Big Fat Snare Sound? Leave me a comment below.