Moody Drum Kit Review

Moody Drums are a boutique drum company from Melbourne, Australia that hand craft their instruments and Adrian got to have a play on a Jarrah wood kit by this amazing drum company.
“More wood and less glue means a better tone.”
Years ago drums were made from wood. The wood had a particular sound that it imparted to the drum and it was made by an experienced craftsman skilled in producing a musical instrument with a unique personality.

With mass production, drums are now manufactured in the millions using the same process and materials that doom them to essentially sounding the same.

Instead of using solid timbers that impart a unique tone to the drum they are made with thin veneers glued and clamped into a mould with almost as much tone deadening glue as wood. The artisan drum company has been replaced by the multinational with a massive marketing budget. In an insatiable quest for something new to say, they spend millions to feed us a stream of hyped up product changes which are more about fashion than genuine innovation.

“Reinventing the artisan made drum.”
Moody Drums hand build drums in a method that guarantees every drum has a unique character.
Each Stave drum shell is made with pieces of wood glued side by side into a circle and then machined to the perfect diameter and thickness.

The construction of the drum shell looks similar to how a Cooper makes a wine barrel. The wood grain runs vertically, up and down the shell. Studies of how sound energy transfers through wood confirm the most efficient transfer of mechanical energy is along the grain, rather than across the grain. Moody build drum shells with the direction of the grain running vertically so when the drum head is struck it transfers energy into the drum shell more efficiently and causes it to vibrate or resonate more effectively. Proper shell resonance is essential to a rich, full drum tone.

A drum shell made from solid timber allows the true tone of the timber to emerge because there is minimal glue used in it’s construction.

The tone is also influenced by the character and density of the wood and the thickness of the shell. The grain of timber is made of cells arranged like straws, which conduct energy most efficiently along their length rather than across their width. To optimize this, Moody Drums use timber with the straightest grain possible. Timbers are carefully inspected and selected for faults. Timbers with overly wavy or interlocking grain, knots, cracks, internal checking or splits are discarded.

Staves selected to construct the drum shell are machined from select grade, stable kiln dried timber and grouped for matching density and tightness of grain.

Moody Drums manufacture their drum shells with more staves than other similar drums. A 14” snare drum for instance is made with 30 Staves. This gives the drum greater structural integrity and propensity to stay in round.

The angles of the Staves are machined carefully by hand to ensure a perfect joint. With perfect angles the Staves are glued and clamped into a circle ready to be machined into a finished shell. The final shell will have no “compression” or internal stress because the angles of each Stave are correct and not forced together to create a join. High-tech glues and perfect joinery mean it is unnecessary for the joints to have any extra mechanical fastening such as a finger joint or tenons. Our glue joints are stronger than the wood itself.

With mass production of drum shells historically coming from the northern hemisphere, those readily available timber species such as American Maple and Birch became the staple.

Australian timbers have emerged as an exciting alternative. With similar densities and characteristics of legendary drum shell timbers such as African Mahogany, Brazilian Rosewood and American Rock Maple, timbers such as West Australian Jarrah and Tasmanian Blackwood are seen as exotic by the rest of the world but easily and sustainably available for our use.

As a drum shell material Jarrah has a wonderful mid to low range frequency response allowing a wide tuning range. Toms are dark and warm sounding. Snares have an incredible projection and attack with a large tuning range and are particularly outstanding in the medium to low end tunings.

“Shell thickness is important.”
One of the most important factors in a Stave shell drum set is the thickness of the shells. Too thick and the drum suffers from a lack of proper shell resonance.

Moody Drums machine their tom shells as thin as possible. They incorporate a thicker integral reinforcement ring in the top and bottom part of the shell. This gives the important bearing edge more integrity and the drum shell more strength overall.

Moody Drums shell thickness is perfect for proper shell resonance. Snare and bass drum shells are similar in their design of having an integral thicker section top and bottom for reinforcement but are slightly thicker shells, giving excellent attack, crack and projection whilst retaining great shell tone.

“Transferring energy.”
Bearing edges are crucial to drum performance. They are the vital contact point for the vibrating drum head to transfer mechanical energy into the drum shell to produce a great tone.

Moody bearing edges have a single 45 degree angle inside the drum and at the contact point, a rounded edge on the outside to best facilitate this transfer of energy into the shell. A slightly sharper edge is used on the Snare drums for increased sensitivity and attack without losing the distinctive character of the shell’s tone. Similarly Bass drums use a sharper rounded edge for great attack and projection.

Mass produced drums mostly feature high gloss Two Pack or Polyurethane finishes. Designed to make the drums durable, unfortunately the opposite is usually true.

Moody Drums timber drum shells are sealed and finished with a unique recipe of hard wax finishes. Applied by hand and buffed to a soft satin hand rubbed finish, they seal and protect while not choking or “plastisizing” the timber. This ensures the drum sounds as open and as natural as possible allowing the drum’s materials to shine sonically and visually. It is recommended to apply the Moody finish at least every 12 months, a pleasurable process that adds to the tone of the wood shells. The finish is durable and easily repairable with the impact of small scratches and dents lessened by re-polishing.

“Heirloom quality drums made from sustainable materials.”
Moody Drums manufacture from timbers sourced from reputable suppliers of sustainably managed forest products. Our products are made to last and their quality adds value to the material. Moody Drums take pride in producing the kind of drum set that you want to keep forever and maybe pass on to your kids. We think they will be as collected and as coveted as some of the great artisan built drums of the past.

If you’re in the Melbourne area, head down to Prahran and have a play on these beautiful hand crafted drums from Moody that Adrian was using throughout the review.