There are dozens of fine companies still building their drums out of wood, and so they should; it is their field of expertise and, what's more, they are in every way set up and equipped to make drums the old fashioned way. There would be no point whatsoever in Tempus Drums jumping on the bandwagon with these other companies - the world doesn't need another wood-shelled drum, at least not for the moment. But, that having been said, does the world need a synthetic drum?
Well, yes, I think it does.
From a few feet away, Tempus Fibreglass, CarbonFibre and CarbonKevlar drums look pretty much the same as drums of any other substance, but there the similarities end. Acoustic studies have shown that Tempus Fibreglass shells offer a number of enhanced and entirely desirable properties for the drummer; greater potential volume (depending on how loud you want to be), greater resonance, a wider range of frequency response, greater definition and focus to the sound of the drum, extreme durability (a benefit to the less-delicate player), and a lighter overall instrument weight. Tempus CarbonFibre and CarbonKevlar drums offer yet another set of variations on the theme of tonalities and sound properties and, in addition, are even lighter to carry than my Fibreglass drums.
There's also an environmental issue involved here; wood comes from trees, something we're beginning to run short of and which are becoming steadily more difficult to find in terms of the quality needed for good instruments. Fibreglass is, literally, a glass-based product and glass comes, essentially, from sand - something we're in no danger of running out of. The resins I use are petroleum-based products and, OPEC rumours to the contrary, geophysicists now believe the world's natural oil supplies will last us somewhere between 500 and 1,000 years. So, aside from a few controlled chemicals and a bit of dust, Tempus is doing a lot less damage to the world than some of its competitors.
There's been a trend in recent years towards thinner shells. Some of the bigger wood-shelled manufacturers have put a great deal of research into developing the thinnest possible shell, a shell without re-inforcing rings, one which will have a brighter, more resonant sound.
Physics aside, Tempus shells are the thinnest shells in the world which aren't made of metal. It simply isn't possible to build a wood shell as thin as mine with the strength to support the stress of head tension. As to whether or not the sound of my drums is superior as a result is not for me to decide - what I can say with the utmost certainty is that Tempus drums don't sound quite like anything else you've ever played.
Of course, there is one limitation to the shells as I create them - my finishes are perhaps not quite as good as those on the best lacquered wood drums; it just isn't possible for me to match the kind of mirror-perfect sheen attainable on lacquered wooden instruments. But, as a trade-off, Tempus shells carry a finish which is extraordinarily durable. In fact, I've seen Tempus kits which have been traveling for the better part of twenty-five years and which still look almost as if they just came from the factory.
In the final analysis, however, the sound of the drum, or of any instrument, is the only thing that matters; it's the only factor which makes one brand preferrable to any other, and the choice is strictly a personal one.
On that note, I encourage you to sit down at a set of Tempus drums and play with open ears and an open mind - forget about price, materials, weight, shine, endorsers, hype and promotion.
Just listen . . .