Launched in 2009, Drumcraft made its debut on the US market at the Winter NAMM Show 2011 last month. Drumcraft is a new brand that not simply offers quality drums, it strives to implement all that German engineering and design are about into drum building. The company believes that an instrument is more than just the sum of the assembled parts. Not only in obvious measures like design and sound, but also in the philosophy of all production related issues such as sustainability and respect for nature and humans.
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This philosophy has brought Drumcraft quite some success in a short time. In 2010 Drumcraft's flagship range, the Series 8 drums, won a red dot design award, one of the most prestigious international design awards.
In the first video Winfried Holl, Head of Research & Development at Drumcraft, explains how the company always tries to follow design rules like "form follows function". See how the cylindrical shapes of the drums return in the small parts and how the simple aesthetics reflect the clear German design.
In the second video Winfried explains how Drumcraft's Series 8 - their professional range - are crafted from either full South Siberian birch, a-grade North American maple or 7 mm extruded seamless transparent Acrylic. He also makes clear why they make 6 ply toms, 7 ply kick drums and 8 ply snares.
In the third video Drumcraft's Head of Research & Development states how a construction engineer coming from the race car industry has been of help. Some of the problems that drum builders are facing today were solved in the automotive industry in 1925, according to Winfried Holl. In the video Winfried shows some clever innovations such as their version of the remote hi-hat calbe and snare drum throw-off.
More examples needed? Take the Zero Gravity Mount for instance, designed to keep the drum in place while you change the heads unlike many other tom mount systems. Or the memorylock inside the tripod braces of the Series 8 stands that ensure easy setup over and over again. Or the nylon washers between the bracing of the stands to ensure smooth action and noiseless stands.
The fourth and last video reveals Drumcraft's environmental vision: the company only composes shells with hand selected lumbers that have been harvested according to environmental standards. Their varnishes are water based, combining ecofriendly production processes with good looks and road worthy finishing.
Formaldehyde is heavily suspected to be cause cancer, so Drumcraft decided to use formaldehyde free wood glue. This is not the standard in the industry as it is expensive and you cannot see, smell or touch the difference. But it's another example of Drumcraft's green vision.
And they're going the same road with other materials. Take the rubber feet on their stands: they are actually not rubber but some newly composed, sustainable synthetic that exceeds rubber properties in every aspect.