I have found detailed descriptions of this on a few drum company's sites. Here is what SPAUN has to say about it;
As the shell thickness increases, the drum becomes louder, with a slightly higher pitch, and has a more focused note (less ring and overtones). They accentuate the "crack" with an increase in power while maintaining warmth and sensitivity.
Here is a little more from OCDP;
Vented snares
The vented snare drum is a snare shell with a large opening cut into it. These large openings are called vents and dramatically increase the volume and sensitivity of the drum while decreasing the shell resonance. In short, the vented snare is louder, more sensitive, dryer, and more explosive than any other drum you have ever played.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Multi Ply snares
By adding plies to a drum, you raise the pitch and make the drum louder. A 20 ply is going to be very loud and have a fairly high pitch. But a 50 ply snare drum will be almost deafening with an extremely high pitch with lots of attack. These thicker ply drums are made to be played very loud and tuned fairly tight. They do not work very well down tuned for a fat snare sound.
Regarding metal snares, I recently read something good about the sound properties of each metal... I think it may have been in Modern Drummer magazine, but I will look around and see if it is on the web somewhere. Best of luck with Conaway! I am about to have him make me an acrylic kit... I can't wait.
