There are various factors to keep in mind when selecting a banjo, and ultimately it comes down to your personal tastes and musical style.
Before making your selection, it is essential to determine your budget range. There are excellent resonator banjos available for every price point and their resonators can also be easily removed for practice sessions in dorm rooms.
The History of the Resonator Banjo
Resonator banjos are most associated with bluegrass music, though their sound can also be heard across other genres. Traditionally, most banjos had a circular pot (called “pot”) with tensioned heads similar to drums; modern banjos tend to include an additional metal “tone ring” to clarify and project their sound more effectively.
Resonators provide an additional sound chamber, creating louder and brighter tones, which make bluegrass music particularly well suited to this instrument. Furthermore, their metal construction gives the banjo an eye-catching design element that stands out among similar instruments.
When purchasing a resonator banjo, consider the type of wood used for its resonator and rim. Maple provides crisp, focused sound while mahogany adds depth and warmth. In addition, think carefully about whether you prefer removable or integral resonators; removable ones offer greater tonal adjustments; while integral ones maintain more traditional aesthetics.
The Sound of the Resonator Banjo
Resonator banjos are louder than open-back models, making it easier for musicians to hear themselves play bluegrass music before an audience. Resonators banjos are particularly useful for bluegrass musicians putting on performances before large audiences.
This type of banjo features a curved bowl called the resonator attached to its pot, which acts like an echo chamber to project soundwaves created when plucking strings back towards listeners – creating much louder music than open-back models.
Resonator banjos may be great for bluegrass music, but they might not be suitable for beginners. Since open-back banjos produce more of a mellow sound, beginners may benefit from starting off with one and gradually upgrading when their experience increases. Resonators tend to be heavier than open-backs so extended jam sessions might cause discomfort with them.
The Construction of the Resonator Banjo
Resonator banjos differ significantly from their open-back counterparts in that they feature a metal resonator on its back that amplifies sound emanating from strings; an open-back banjo relies on soundhole projection to project its sound, while this new style uses an additional metal resonator which amplifies it further for louder and brighter music production.
Resonators add an attractive aesthetic touch to a banjo, distinguishing it from other musical instruments. But it is essential to keep in mind that its sound remains unchanged without one.
Clawhammer or Scruggs style banjo playing on an open-back banjo can be perfectly acceptable, but if you plan on performing for larger groups or an audience, resonator banjos are undoubtedly more suitable than their open-back counterparts due to being louder and easier for an audience to hear over other musical instruments. Furthermore, their weight adds stability that will allow your notes to sustain for longer.
The Sound of an Open-Back Banjo
Banjos can be quite loud instruments, often played alongside string bass and drums to accompany various styles such as bluegrass music.
Resonator banjos produce louder sounds due to the way that sound waves produced when plucked strings rebound off of its head and out the rim, producing less sustained sounds but nonetheless creating an extremely loud noise.
There is a wide range of banjos, and each is constructed from various wood types. The type of wood that makes up your banjo will influence its tone; those constructed from hard woods tend to produce higher frequencies, longer sustain times and greater clarity compared to their counterparts made out of softwoods.
Many new banjo players don’t understand what a resonator is or why one banjo may feature one while another does not, let alone any distinctions between open back and resonator banjos.