Take a cetain size tom and use the same heads on both lets say a ten inch and make sure you tune them equally. The Maple tom will sound brighter somwhat louder in a sense, and more rounded, while with birch, it's sort of deeper and more resonant. Birch is just a sexy tone man straight up...
...man, let me help you....
Maple - it has smooth mid's and high's with slightly boosted low end frequencies. (Resonant wood shell)
Birch - it has boosted high frequencies with a slight reduction on the mid's and a nice
low end. That's why this wood is good if you need your drums to cut (great attack)
and have more presence. (Low Resonance Level)
African Mahagony - Great low end frequencies with smooth mid's and reduced high frequencies. This wood
gives you a great "Thunderous Lows" and if you're whole kit is made out of this, you'll
have that old skool, stank, funk sound. lol (Great for floor toms and bass drums)
Oak - This wood is very projective. This is the "Loud and Bright" wood. Great for unmiked
situations.
...Birch drums are desired in the studio because they provide more attack and don't have that much resonance as a Maple shell drum. To say that Birch is more resonant than Maple is really not correct.
