Florance Drums

[Third Mainer]

Evening all,
I've been searching through the forum to no avail, save a few references. What is the general consensus on Florence Drum Co.'s products?
Mike Pearson

[33rdaladrummer]

I think Florance drums are made from Keller maple shells. Keller shells are made from several layers of veneer. While 2-ply shells were being made by a few manufacturers during the war (e.g., William Tompkins), Keller shells are constructed differently. Keller shells are made with a butt seam instead of an overlap. And modern rotary cut veneer looks different from traditional flat sawn. Also, all the layers of glue in between the 5+ plys in Keller shells makes for a heavy drum. Either way, most drums used during the war were made from a single piece of solid wood, about 1/8" thick, steam-bent into a circle.

If you're looking for a drum constructed the same way they were during the war, what you want is a steam-bent drum. Even Cooperman has made drums using multiple plys of veneer at times in addition to their steam-bent model, although I have heard that they used Jasper shells, a Keller competitor. A steam-bent drum can be easily identified by the overlapping seam. Wait a minute. I take that back. Old Glory and Carroll have overlapping seams but they are made from plywood. Here is a link to my blog with some of the steam-bent drums I've made:

drumandfife.blogspot.com

Evening all,
I've been searching through the forum to no avail, save a few references. What is the general consensus on Florence Drum Co.'s products?
Mike Pearson

[DeBlueTailFly]

I bought a drum from Jim in 2004. It’s a great drum, defiantly not a Cooperman but it has a nice sound. The shell is made of ply and the finish isn’t the best in authenticity, but its light and overall plays well. The only thing I do not like are the hoops. I’m not too sure what kind of wood he used on mine but with enough rim shots they will start to splinter. I originally ordered mine with synthetic heads (before I was concerned with accuracy) and to my surprise he put a skin looking Remo head on the bottom and even removed the tacky "REMO" off of both sides. But after four years of heavy use and a damp 145th Gettysburg I left it with him to replace the heads. When I got it back it had a clear head on the bottom, the emblems had not been taken off and the brass D ring and hardware, I had used to replace the stainless stuff it came with, was gone. The easily obtainable crisp sound it used to have is gone ever since, now it takes a lot of playing with the ears to get the best sound. So I’d say my latest dealings with them haven’t been as good. If authenticity is your number one id just build your own like Will, if sound is your number one than id go with a Cooperman, or if you are looking for a decent drum for a decent price than you could go with Florence.

[Ambrose Bierce]

I will weigh in here, though I admit, my knowlege of drums is not nealy as wide or deep as Will's (in fact, I own a drum that he refurbished and it is quite nice--so, if you want to get a drum from a guy who knows his stuff, Will would be my recommendation). This, however, is not an endorsement of him over others since the root of your question is an opinion of the Florance Drum product.

My son has been drumming for four years and started on a Florance. We still have it and it has been a solid and good drum for many events. Florance makes a good, medium cost drum and I like its tone and size. However, like most drums produced by Cooperman and others, no drum is truly authentic to the period due to a variety of construction details and techniques. As with any good reproduction it comes down to pattern, materials used, and construction. All three have to be in consonance and often (but not always) details equals dollars.

I own three drums in addition to the Florance and each has advantages and disadvantages, to include the original shell Will refurbished for me. Jim Florance knows a lot about period music and instruments, to include construction and produces a quality product, but if improvements (calf skin heads, snare strainers, better rope and tensioning tugs, removing the mufflers, better reproduction labels, etc.) are not made, then the drum stands alone as an instrument, but not as accurate a reproduction as you might seek. If you don't know what improvements to make, then you are probably not sure what to look for in order to make those improvements in the first place. This is a general "you" and not meant as a personal dig, just to clarify.

That all said, the drums Florance makes are moderately priced and meet general criteria for CW musicians, but they are not "out of the box" authentic and require improvements and additions to make them so. If you are a purest, then starting with the shell it is not like the originals, but only a narrow population will be able to tell the difference in weight, etc., and the rest really just want to hear sticks making noise. If that bothers you starting out, no matter what you do to the drum it will not be "right." In our case, it is right enough for what we use it for and is correct in sound and visual appearance, though if we didn't tell anyone the differences they wouldn't be readily apparent anyway.

Save getting an original shell and having Will or other knowledgeable craftsman refurbish a drum for you, whether you buy Florance or Cooperman the criteria listed above pertaining to reproductions is about the same and a Cooperman will run you close to $500 more for the name alone and I am not sure that the sound is that much better since most comparisons to that are done with modern criteria. A wooden drum shell that is roped with nylon and has plastic drum heads and modern snare tensioner is just a modern snare that looks old. My son has played with many fife and drum bands and the tone of his drum, though period correct, is questioned by people with "correct" drums since his doesn't sound like what people are used to hearing. Thus begins an education piece, but if his drum is the only correct drum at the muster, then he is the odd one out, if that makes sense?

I hope that helps, Mike, and I will gladly answer other questions if you have them.

Thanks.

Ivan F. Ingraham
Formerly of the SGLHA, among other groups.

[33rdaladrummer]

I agree with Ivan that while a ply shell is not correct, cost is often a factor, thus having calf or goat skin heads with no muffler on a ply shell is preferable to a steam-bent shell with synthetic heads and a muffler. And it is true that a drum set up the period correct way (no muffler) will be questioned because almost all reenactors have mufflers in their drums. What is really a shame is that some people know better and just don't care because they think a muffled drum sounds better. On the other hand, Keller shells and Cooperman ply shells for some reason do tend to have more of an objectionable ring when left unmuffled compared to steambent shells.

Cameron brought up Cooperman and their sound-quality, but like Ivan stated, this is probably not a fair comparison because the drums most people have heard, whether they were Cooperman's steam-bent model or Cooperman's ply model or a drum by another maker probably had mufflers. I think the term "crisp" that is used to describe a drum's sound mostly is in reference to muffled drums. Only in the best weather conditions and only when a drum is properly maintained will a unmuffled drum get a "crisp" sound. In humid weather drummers will have to rely more on skill than a muffler or a plastic head.

There is really no excuse for having plastic heads or mufflers on drums. Goatskin or calfskin from Pakistan is the same cost or even cheaper than plastic and a muffler is nothing more than a rag that can easily be ripped out.

But with everything being considered, I wouldn't recommend anyone purchase a brand new Florance or any other ply drum considering the fact that the shells can be purchased from Keller for around $100, and the last time I checked hoops could be purchased from Cooperman for around $20, so a Florance might not be much of a bargain after all. Cooperman even sells the raw steambent shells if you ask nicely, but I have never personally purchased one.