A membrane stretched across a drum shell. There are two types of drumheads, batter heads (which are struck to create a sound with the drum) and resonant heads, which vibrate sympathetically in response to movement in the batter head.
Calf or other animal skin was the original material used for drumheads, while modern heads are typically made from mylar. (Certain drums, such as djembes, congas, and frame drums still often use skin heads.) Marion “Chick” Evans is given credit for developing the first synthetic (polyester) drumheads, circa 1956. This was significant because it was the first “weatherproof” drumhead — it was not affected by temperature or humidity. Remo Belli and Sam Muchnick created the first mylar drumheads in 1957.
