Production

From the very beginning, you will find the process of creating your Odery drums surprisingly pleasant.

The conception of your kit starts as you browse our catalog or website and begin to imagine and “build” your instrument in your mind. When it is time, you contact us to meet your partner in this process: your Odery consultant. From that point, your Odery consultant will help you turn your dream into reality as, together, you refine every detail of your concept. The end result is a unique instrument of the highest quality.

After finalizing the design, it is time to select the wood we’re going to use. You are welcome to schedule a visit to our plant to participate in this process.

Once the individual plies of wood are selected, we prepare them to be molded. We use forms developed and built at our factory by our own team. Before we start the binding process, wood is placed and removed in the forms until each drum reaches the perfect shape. Next, we bind the plies using an adhesive with the minimum possible chemical content. Most importantly, we don’t rush the drying process by using heat or forced-air. Time, patience and attention to this kind of detail create a finely crafted instrument rather than just a well-built drum. We respect the natural gestation time—so to speak—of your shells. This natural drying process brings out the true soul of the wood, a pure and organic sound.

After allowing approximately 18 hours for the shells to dry, your drums are removed from the forms and taken through the processes of facing and undercutting. Next, we apply the internal finish. We use a thin sealant—exclusively for protection and better wood finish—on all inner shells. Following that, we apply your choice of external finish. You have many options to choose from: covered, lacquered, waxed, or special order—whichever you desire.

Once that is complete, your drums go back for a final round of internal finishing before we drill them. The drilling of your drums is done with the utmost care using machines of our own design. Some components—such as the identification badge and other details—are hand-drilled and placed through careful and precise measuring.

Finally, your drums are ready to have their hardware and heads mounted.

At this point, we assemble all the lugs, floating system, heads and—the final touch—the Odery ID badge.

Your drum will also display an internal label, bearing the signature of every drum craftsman who worked on it, as well as an ID number. You can use that ID number to verify all the data pertaining to that particular instrument on our proprietary website.

This ID badge is the cherry on the ice cream sundae. It’s the very last thing to go on your drum. We created a brand new, modern, totally redesigned badge in 2013 to give your drum that exclusive Odery Custom identity.

After we finish the assembly process, your instrument is ready to be packed with the greatest care, and finally, shipped to you.

Once we ship out your drums, we look forward to that e-mail in our inbox telling us how satisfied you are with your brand new Odery Custom drums!