One Drum, A Hundred Movies: Hal Rosenfeld’s Desert Island Snare

One Drum, A Hundred Movies: Hal Rosenfeld’s Desert Island Snare

You might not recognize Hal Rosenfeld by name, but you’ve definitely heard his work. From Top Gun: Maverick to Only Murders in the Building, Hal’s drumming has helped shape the sound of some of the biggest projects in film and TV. And through it all—death metal cues, funky jazz vamps, cinematic symphony hits—there’s been one constant on the kit: his Dialtune snare.

“I initially saw it on Instagram,” Hal said. “I was skeptical.” Fair. Most of us have scrolled past something that looks too good to be true. But Hal wasn’t just casually scrolling—he was in the middle of orchestrating and recording for a movie, constantly switching snares to chase the right sound. Time was tight. Workflow was everything.

When he got his hands on a Dialtune, everything changed.

“This exact drum has been on probably a hundred movies or TV shows,” Hal told us. “Oftentimes, if I or someone else in a session thinks a drum doesn't have enough depth—it’s because I’m not using this one.”

The dial system is long gone. Covered in gaff tape. It’s been played to hell and back. And yet it’s still the one drum Hal reaches for, whether he’s laying down jazz grooves, building tension with cinematic percussion, or punching through a rock track. “It’s my desert island drum. I could do anything with this drum.”

When you’re recording film scores under intense time pressure, there’s no room for guesswork or delays. Hal summed it up: “Speed is so important. The speed in which you’re getting sounds, recording sounds, delivering sounds. With this drum, I don’t even have to move it off the stand. I just dial in what I need.”

To skeptics, Hal doesn’t make a pitch—he just points to the credits. Only Murders in the Building, Venom: The Last Dance, Deadpool and Wolverine, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Gladiator 2, Superman, and so many more.

“This drum is the real deal,” Hal says. “It speaks for itself.”