Question about "snare drums

[Lemsky]

I've seen recently a lot of drummers with 2 snare drums on their kit

and usually one of the 2 snares his "little".

is this only a "jazz thing" ?

[FourStrongWinds]

its usually a smaller, higher tuned snare used lots in Dub, Reggae, Ska and i guess Jazz too

im always telling our drummer he should consider one but hes not fond of them lol

[jff]

That's been the trend in drum set-ups for the last few years. Sort of like drum cages were in the '80s, or a second floor tom placed next to the hi-hat in the '90s.

[a.miller]

I agree with all that's been said. Seems like it's often a piccolo snare, to get that really crisp crack.

[jff]

Perhaps these second snare drums have become so popular because almost every mainstream music style has begun incorporating elements of hip-hop.

[In a little rowboat]

im not a drummer, but im know the second snare with the resonator clicked off pretty much makes that drum a timboli, whole different sound...

 

 

j

[foolnrain97]

whole different sound...

This is the overall goal. Adding another timbre to the collection. Increasing the possibilities, so on and so forth. I've not really ever associated it with any one style of music(especially not jazz), I've always seen it as a personal choice of the player. A lot of times, it is a smaller snare drum(soprano or piccolo). Also in the pictures in the first post, I don't think the first one actually has a second snare drum, those just look like additional toms to me. But, in the other two pictures, the snare drum that would be in front of the player is wood and matches the rest of the kit, that is, it was made for that drum kit. In both cases(though not always the case) the second snare drum is a steel shell. That is a really different sound(even if the snare drums are the same size). I'll stop now.