Philharmonic 8-ply Maple "Pancake" Snare, Nicotine Finish

The smallest member of Pearl’s Philharmonic snare drum line-up is here: the PHP1325 “Pancake” 8-Ply Maple Snare Drum.

Contemporary repertoire demands and performance environments push innovation in instrument design at Pearl. Tom Freer of the Cleveland Orchestra collaborated with Pearl designers to create the new 13x2.5” Philharmonic “Pancake“ snare drum. This maple snare drum meets the demand for a solo and audition drum that could be “whisper quiet” and professional-grade for years of use. In other words, maximum sensitivity was needed in the smallest possible format.

The musical challenges presented were met with a variety of solutions affecting nearly every aspect of the drums’ design. First, the extremely compact 13”x2.5” 8-ply maple shell necessitated the creation of a single point lug system. Next, special modifications were made to the snare mechanism, allowing for the snare assemblies to be correctly positioned and tensioned against the bottom head while maintaining the adjustability of the Philharmonic Triad Strainer. In addition, new snare assemblies were developed for this model using light gauge music wire in a proprietary graduated tensioning system that creates that signature Pearl out-of-the performance quality. The PHP1325 adds a new range of ultra-quiet response and clear snare tone to Pearl Philharmonic.