New Arbiter Advanced Tuning Drums

January 29, 1998 -- In 1883 Emile Boulanger patented a drum which could only be tensioned by tightening a great many screws. In 1996 Ivor Arbiter took out a patent on a drum which tuned with just a single screw - and in a fraction of the time. The resulting Arbiter drums with their 'Advanced Tuning System' are being heralded as the future of percussion... today.

On conventional drums, with six to ten screws to adjust, changing the pitch of the head can never be an exact science. Now, with AT's single-screw tensioning system, you really can tune the drum... precisely.

The heart of the AT system is the 'Vee-clamp'. Long proven for high pressure engineering applications, such as jet engines, the 'Vee-clamp' ensures that the drum head is always evenly in tune within itself. You simply can't get a bad sound.

A - Custom build undrilled maple shells.
B - Quick release hinges.
C - Steel "Vee-clamp" with its precision-cut tuning bosses and regular drum-key operated tension-screw.
D - Hand-spun steel counterhoop is gripped by the clamp and stresses the head as it is tightened against the lower ring grooved into the shell in the nodal area.
E - Split lower ring. As the drum is tuned, the split lower ring contacts within its groove, strengthening the drum and maintaining its circular form.

The 'Arbiter AT' design employs unique custom-built 12-ply maple shells made to exact specifications and finished in 'hard-glaze' lacquer; the tuning and snare mechanism's isolation-mounting method avoids the necessity of drilling holes through the shells thereby preserving their integrity and allowing maximum resonance and response.

Since there is just one airhole in the shell, compressions caused by striking the batter head are transmitted virtually intact to the bottom head allowing great response to the widest spectrum of volume and tone resulting in a 'big' impressive sound. Another component of this sound is the 'AT' system's lower ring being positioned at a point where it doesn't disturb the shell's natural resonance. The ring also provides completely even circumferential loading thereby maintaining the circular form of the shell indefinitely.

For more information, contact:

AT Drums
Arbiter Group PLC
Wilberforce Road
London, NW9 6AX, United Kingdom
Phone 0181 970 1913

Arbiters website is at http://www.demon.co.uk/arbiter/atdrums/.