What's a good instrument sound for military?

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tenor drums or kettle drums. as long as you don't want a snap sound like in the snares, those should do. that compares favorable to the drum sound in that clip.

Some inspiration.

Oh okay. I don't mind the snap sound in the snares, it's just that there is not enough bass in them to invoke as much suspense or drama though, I feel.

You say kettledrums, would be better than the ones in the clip, but how so? I think the ones in the clip are taiko drums but sound a bit different. If they are, are you saying that kettledrums are more military sounding than taiko?

Another possible option might be to add a lot of bass to the snares, but if I do that, will it sound mililtary like, to the audience?

Don't let's forget the master of dramatic themes:

Okay thanks. Both those soundtracks are really good too. I especially like the one for The Rock.

What about this drum sound at 16:47 into the clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_tFVajBINg&t=990s

It sounds kind of like a snare but is that an electronic drum?

Also, in the Hans Zimmer one, at 4 minutes in, on The Rock composition, what drums is he using throughout that piece? They sound like snares to me, if that's right?

Last edited by ironpony on 16 Feb 2020, 3:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Something very Bond-movie-esque over about that soundtrack.

Which one? The Rock one?

There is also the bass drum here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhfQHjljzdU&t=72s

So I guess if you want the audience to feel a military feel, which type of drum is better, between the kettledrum, the bass drum, or the taiko, to create that feeling more?

use a mixture of percussions, the snares, the tenors, the odd daiko drum, kettledrums, bass drums, thunder drums. "wellington's victory" made use of the latter. you could add some or most or all of those things to an existing recording with snares to augment them. don't forget chromatic chimes or actual ceremonial bells to emulate church bells a'toppling all over or ringing in victory just like in the 1812 overture.

Okay thanks. I tried a mixture but I feel like they kind of cancel each other out, and maybe only one drum in the orchestra is best, maybe.

if you want just one, my advice is to use a marching bass drum, but with a variety of strikers, such as regular trapset drumsticks, bass drum beaters, other household objects such as flyswatters to get a superficial slapping sound upon the bass drum membrane. you are only limited by your imagination.

Paint roller sections stuck on lengths of broom handle might work for that application. There's a little more oomph to them than the standard drumstick and they're padded for a dull ominous pounding sound.

Oh okay thanks. By marching bass drum, would this drum be one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhfQHjljzdU&t=79s

looks like it. as an alternate you could use a concert bass drum [4-6' in diameter, about an octave deeper in tone, those beast have an air and ground-vibrating rumble to them. to get higher sounds from them, you can tune them a bit higher [which will make them a bit louder to a point] or you can you regular drumsticks on them rather than beaters. or as a compromise you can use tympani beaters on them which are smaller and tighter than bass drum thwackers.

One sound that always screams "military band" is bass drum and cymbals played on the same beat. Often with a fast "drag" on the snaredrum too. Also, bugles! Or trumpets/cornets imitating bugle calls. Those are military signals which are limited to the notes of a single major chord as the bugle has no valves.