EQUATORIAL TONEWOODS
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The most exotic looking of all wood types, the Equatorial Tonewoods used to create our custom drums are also the most musical.
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Unlike most other woods in drum making – maple, birch, poplar, gumwood, and oak, KAW tonewoods have extremely dense cell structures because they grow exceptionally fast in the damp and hot jungle-like forests of our islands of Trinidad & Tobago, and South America. That combination of heat and moisture boosts the resonance, making these the most musical woods in drum making.
Depending on your tone preference, you can choose from Purpleheart, Teak and Mahogany. These hardwoods - arranged top to bottom by degree of hardness – are the ultimate for drum shells that resonate with pure tone at all volume levels, in all types of music.
PURPLE-HEART
PROJECTION. CUT. CLARITY
As its name suggests, Purpleheart has a purple hue that gives this tonewood a beautifully unique and exotic appearance. With its fine to medium textured grain, it is extraordinarily dense and hard. That density is due to the interlocking cellular structure being so tightly packed.
This denseness means sounds are projected out from, not absorbed into the wood, so there is cutting projection. Tonally, the lows are deeper and the highs are higher.
Sonically, Purpleheart reaches the extremes and has everything in between.
TEAK
CRISP ATTACK. CUTTING DEFINITION
Teak isn’t just exotic; it is luxury. Known as the ‘king of woods’ it is more likely to be found in fine designer furniture or luxury sailing yachts than drum shells, though at KAW we love it because with its combination of crisp crack and cutting definition underpinned with a warmer, woodier tone, it sits between Purpleheart and Mahogany.
The natural oil within its cells not only ensures the durability of teak and its resistance to atmospheric changes, but the density of that oil warms the sound and reduces excessive overtones.
It may be exotic looking and a wood of luxury, but teak also sounds wickedly good in any groove.
MAHOGANY
WARM. EXPRESSIVE. PUNCHY
Mahogany adds a darker twist to the tone. With its open wood grain, this timber, despite being one of the hardest and densest of tonewoods, is the least dense of what we use.
The open cell structure of mahogany minimizes overtones, resulting in a smooth, low-end boosted response. The reduced resonance of this wood means a warmer sound is delivered with a more dry and direct degree of punch.
Mahogany custom drums are great for studio recording, but the comparatively dry punchiness of this wood also cuts clearly in live gigs.
