Interestingly, to me at least, I knew a local music store that made their own instruments for years, and had a kick drum shaped almost exactly like the one on page 1 of the pdf linked to (like a kidney bean). Of course, the head was ancient, as the creator had (IIRC) REMO put their heads on the hoops that he custom bent and sent to them.
Sounded different than a normal drum. Was pink sparkle coated, so perhaps that had something to do with it :)
The drum kit is still in the shop to this day (crazy old guy wants far too much for anything in the shop, as it has been there for an eternity, and well, all old is expensive, right?) I think about that set every now and then, as I myself was interested at one time.
Reminds me of my time in music school. The ear training department had a special resident visiting that week and their skill was such that someone joked you could jingle the change in your pockets that person could tell you how much you had and in which denominations.
I also like how unrealistic the "drumheads" proposed in the proof were: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearing_the_shape_of_a_drum