It's a hard fact that being a drummer is not a cheap occupation. Most drummers will agree that, when buying your first kit, it's best to have a good look around and buy the best secondhand kit you can afford. This will rarely be more than £200 worth and there's no reason why it shouldn't last you a long time. So when you reach the stage when you want something better and you go down the shops to have a look around and you see a single snare drum for more than your whole kit cost, then you're entitled to expect something with a sound which is better than anything you could imagine or, at least, a drum that sounds better than yours, makes the tea and reads you a book at bedtime.

The Project One snares neither make tea, nor do they read — not out loud anyway — but they do have two unique features which help you to achieve the snare sound you're looking for without any unwanted buzz or ugly overtones.

The first of these features is the double shell. Where other snares have one shell the Project Ones have two and the air space in between forms a secondary sound chamber. A series of holes in the top shell support provides communication between the main chamber and the sub chamber and a large microphone hole in the outer shell opens into the sub chamber, eliminating the frequencies picked up from the heads and sound reflections from the inner surface of the outer shell.

The second feature is the floating snare buzz control. This consists of a felt pad on each end of the snare which presses against the wires and restricts the response. The applied pressure is controlled by four adjusting nuts (two on each pad) with the purpose of cutting out buzzes caused by the sound coming from other drums and other instruments.

As far as the actual sound goes there is very little to choose between the 6½" 2009 and the 8" 2010.

With the snare at maximum tension and the heads tensioned high, both produce a very clipped, military sound. As the snare tension is released the sound becomes more rasping, the 2010 producing a slightly warmer 'crunch' compared with the 'crack' of the 2009.

Throughout a wide range of top head tuning, all unwanted overtones are eliminated by the external tone control, two of which are supplied with each drum. The tone control comprises a felt pad on a spring steel arm which is attached to one of the tension bolts. The pad presses against the head and pressure is controlled by way of a lockbolt which fits your tension bolt key. While the tone control restricts the return vibration, thus stopping most of the overtones, the natural vibration of the head is left unimpaired.

Even with the top head tuned very low the sensitivity was excellent and, what's more, the head maintained its tuning after a lengthy and ferocious battering.

I must just mention at this point that the snare buzz control should not be done up too tight, if at all, for live playing as it does restrict the response from the snare and the buzz created by foreign sound sources is practically unnoticeable in live playing.

In all variations of top head tension and snare tension the sound was fantastically pure, giving exactly the sound intended by the user without the need for sticking lumps of foam and tape all over the heads and spending ages trying to make fine adjustments. The great thing about these snares is their simplicity. The controls are so easy to use that you can find the sound you're looking for in a matter of minutes.

However, I feel that all the technology that has gone into the Project One snares only comes into its own in the studio and is wasted in live performance.

The effects of buzz and tone control and the practicalities of the sub chamber must be invaluable in recording where sensitivity is so important. Both the 2009 and the 2010 are of such a high standard that I really can't choose between them.

"Now that a drum of this capability has been created," say Premier, "can you settle for anything less?"

Consult your bank manager.

PREMIER 2009 + 2010 Snares: £209 + £219