MAPEX SONIClear™ Edge Technology

Mapex rethinks the critical impact of the bearing edge on drum tone with a new approach that will help get your kit in tune fast while offering a broader tonal range.

When one mentions someone having a “sound advantage” over someone else, it means that you clearly have the upper hand. In the case of Mapex, this term has a literal as well as figurative meaning.

All drum shells have a bearing edge—the routed edge on which the drumhead sits, and seats, for tuning. Typical drumheads have an angled rise on the Mylar’s outer perimeter where the head rises from the counter hoop to the playing surface. Historically, this slanted outer perimeter is where most bearing edges make contact with a drumhead. Drummers placing new heads on a drum would experience the head wobbling, more or less, when first placed on the drum before tuning.

As drummers we’ve all experienced the frustrations of tuning. You finger-tighten the drum, give a few turns of a drum key crisscrossing the drum, then work on stretching the drumhead by giving “CPR” thrusts to the head, or standing on it, or whatever trick you use to get the head to “seat.” And even after all that effort, getting a solid, pure tone out of a drum is a work of art, skill, and finesse.

Mapex’s recently launched SONIClear™ Edge technology, which is now standard on all Mapex MyDentity, Armory, and Mars Series shells, allows the drumhead to sit on a flatter (less sharp) bearing edge. This means it sits completely and solidly flat on the bearing edge, with no movement at all.

Why does this give Mapex a ‘sound advantage’? When you place a drumhead on most shells, you rely on the tension to “pull” or “stretch” the head until the flat area of the underside of the head is pulled tight to the flat surface of the bearing edge. Getting this right can take a lot of effort, as described above. With the SONIClear™, you’re starting with the flat area of the head already resting on the flat area of the bearing edge. With just a finger-tightened drumhead, you start to experience tone with the drum.

This largely takes the guesswork out of tuning because you have a consistent tension around the drumhead. The benefit is a head that tunes with much more ease than typical shells and also allows for a lower, deeper, and stronger fundamental tone.

So now that we’ve covered the physics, let me break down the Advantages of the SONIClear™ Edge:

• Immediate Tuning
• Easier Tuning
• Wider Range of Tone
• Typical “tuning tricks” not necessary
• Great Drum Sound

It seems like it would be only fair to list the disadvantages as well...but I can’t find any. So make sure to check out the Mapex SONIClear™ technology when you’re making drum choices, because Mapex really can give you a sound advantage.