THE BASS DRUM TUNING THREAD

[Fendi]

I just bought an Evans Genera Clear 22inch bass drum head.. I'm still figuring out how to tune the bass drum.. Can someone help me and provide me some tips on muffling, tightness of the skin? thanks :)

fendi

[Stu_Strib]

If you want a slappy sound, then tune the head as low as it goes, but still has a slight tone. You'll probably see a couple wrinkles in the head, but don't overdo it.

Tune the front head low too, but then up a little bit more than the batter side. I like it to it to have a nice tone.

Then for muffling, depending on the size of your bass drum, I would use one pillow that bareley touches both heads. If you can't find one that barely touches, try having it barely touch the batter head, and most of it touching the front head.

I use EQ2 clear heads with a ported EQ3 head on front. Right now I'm using an Emad, and no muffling on that side, then the evans pillow on the front head.

Hope this helps.

[Fendi]

i have two pillows inside, how do i align them properly? help

[NUTHA JASON]

take an old thick drum head (i used to circle i cut out of my front head) and cut a piece the size of a side plate. tape it in place on the batter head so that the beater will hit it in the center. but only tape it on the top. there will be a tiny space between it and the batter. this clicks and deadens the ring on the batter skin slightly. as an added bonus it means that the head won't be worn away by the beater.


j

[Stu_Strib]

i have two pillows inside, how do i align them properly? help

Two might be too much. There is a point that chokes the drum out completely, and you have a 70s funk bass drum.

With one pillow try laying it length wise so an equal amount of it is touching both heads. If its a long pillow it will cover too much of the batter head. I only like it to barely touch my batter head. If its folde up and goes higher than the where the pedal strikes, then you probably have too much of it on this end...move some of it to the resonant side.

[GPinney]

I just bought an Evans Genera Clear 22inch bass drum head.. I'm still figuring out how to tune the bass drum.. Can someone help me and provide me some tips on muffling, tightness of the skin? thanks :)

fendi I am Greg Pinney. It is very simple to dampen your bass drum. Most drummers do this. Put a pillow or a medium size blanket in your bass drum. dont tighten the head alot. If you leave the head a little lose you will get a nice dampen tight sounding bass drum. (Only turn the tuning pegs about 2-3 1/2 times each.)

[DogBreath]

As always, Professor Sound's Drum Tuning Bible is a wealth of information:


http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/id6.html

[Fendi]

thanks so much everyone here for your advise, i finally manage to get my bass drum sound :D so check out: Fendi's Drum Riff

http://www.myspace.com/prognosian


This is my new evans genera 22inch clear bass drum skin.. Check it out, tell me what you think? thanks everybody!!

Fendi

[LittleRock]

I recently bought a Evans EMAD batter head (22") and a new resonant head with a port hole. I was one that could never get a good bass drum sound. This EMAD really transformed the sound of my kick. There is no internal muffling and it sounds nice and punchy. I took the recomendation from a fellow poster on this forum....thanks for the good advice.

[Superlow]

I find I don't have to use pillows for a nice punchy sound. I also don't use the ported kick drum head. I find that the hole really effects the sound of the kick drum. If you use a Powerstroke 3 for a batter head and Aquarian force 2 on the front. You can have a louder punch sound. I think the pillow makes your drum sound smaller.

[Marc Lajeunesse]

The evans Retro Screens on the resonant side gives it a loud punch and gets rid of a lot of the resonation in combination with an evans eq3. I love it.

[JT1]

Which is the easiest way to tune two bass drums to get the same sound? I have two but i can't really get them to sound the same can anyone help me out? Thanks JT

[mediocrefunkybeat]

It's a very difficult thing to do. My advice would be to count the turns you put in each head and model the other drum exactly on that. Personally I would try to tune both bass drums different, as Ginger Baker does. I think that allows for a more adventurous approach.

[Thinshells]

I try to get both my kicks in the ballpark, but I don't think they will ever be perfect.

The reason is, is that they are at different angles, and one is close to smaller, higher pitched toms as secondary resonant cavities, my rt kick is near larger, deeper toms. My right kick will always sound a little bigger and deeper.

With less toms, it's easier, but the kicks are still at different angles with respect to your ears and seating position.

It really has to come down to what MFB said: same heads, same tension.

[NUTHA JASON]

if you've spent the money on the drums you may as well spend a tad more on the sound. buy a tension watch from tama. this is about as accurate as you might get. some bass guitar tuners might help as well.

like most people say get them similar but don't worry if they are slightly different as this will make for more musical variety particularly where you are playing paradiddles and double stroke rolls etc.

j

[mediocrefunkybeat]

If you're really concerned about the sound and want them absolutely exact; then you're going to have to go for broke and get triggers. Triggers and a MIDI module will cost you, but nowadays a lot of metal drummers trigger their bass drums partly due to difficulties in tuning them the same.

[Thinshells]

if you've spent the money on the drums you may as well spend a tad more on the sound. buy a tension watch from tama. this is about as accurate as you might get. some bass guitar tuners might help as well.

like most people say get them similar but don't worry if they are slightly different as this will make for more musical variety particularly where you are playing paradiddles and double stroke rolls etc.

j

I am contemplating getting one of those. I found that the right head combo is 80% of the battle. I am digging these Aquarians... I am not fighting with a cold/thin sound anymore.

[DoubleBassUrFace]

What can i do to get the best sound out of my bass drum.

i got a blaket inside, a powerstroke 3 on the front with port hole. and an evans emad batter. The size is 16 deep i think, and 20 diameter.

not to mention it had a tom mount on the top but i took it off. so there are holes in it :(.

[Sticksman]

Blankets muffle the sound, giving it a more "clicking" noise instead of a booming bass sound. Finding the best head and tuning it like-wise for whatever you like playing is the way to go. That Powerstroke 3 is a good step in that direction, but I would suggest Aquarian's SuperKick II.

[drumbig]

Thry this, take the blanket out tune the reso head up to med-hi tention and the batter to a med- lo tention.This is not absolute you will have to find the tention combo that works best for your drum and heads but it should get you close. You definately don't need a blanket with an emad but the emad reso might help. Let me knpw if this helps.

[hardhitter]

Evans Adjustable Dampening EMAD !! That is the best head that I have found! You can adjust the Dampening with the rings on the outside of the head!

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Drums/Percussion/Sticks/Accessories?sku=441393

[stick platinum]

the blanket isn't needed cause of your emad

[DoubleBassUrFace]

Thry this, take the blanket out tune the reso head up to med-hi tention and the batter to a med- lo tention.This is not absolute you will have to find the tention combo that works best for your drum and heads but it should get you close. You definately don't need a blanket with an emad but the emad reso might help. Let me knpw if this helps.

i did it, i didnt get a good feeling at all, it rang like a soab. it was louder, but i got a bad sound off it, i put the blanket in, got a real good sound, but not loud enough.

the tuning u told me sound great with blanket tho.+

[drumbig]

O.k try this then. Take the muffle ring your not using on your emad( they come w/2) and attach it to the inside of your reso head with pieces of duct tape. Mabe then you won't need the blanket:) IMO the least amount of muffling you can use to obtain a good sound is desireable. I have absolutely no muffling on any of my drums and my bass drum is completely emty and they sound great.

[wooltonboy]

Yes, I agree with the "no blanket" theory!
I have been experimenting with my Delite 20" kick, and have come up with the following:
I use an Aquarian Superkick 2 as the batter head, tuned medium-low.
I use a Remo Fiberskyn FA as the reso (for that vintage look), but any regular reso head will do.
I tune the reso head a little higher than the batter, but at the bottom of both heads, I have a rolled up towel taped to the shell, just so it touches each head. I used peel-and-stick weatherstripping to secure the towels, as duct tape leaves a nasty residue, and I didn't want that gooey mess on the inside of the shell.
This little 20" kick now sounds like a cannon, but still has that "thump" due to the slightly dampening towels. This method will work just as well with the EMAD.
This was the sound I was after.
Cheers
Phil

[DoubleBassUrFace]

idk, when i had the blanket out, no matter how i tuned either head, their was still the son of a bitch ring.

[drumbig]

Oh yeah one more thing, if you have a completely empty bass drum you can't bury the beater( rest the beater on the head) because all you will hear is the front head ringing.

[xkevinx]

if you have a powerstroke 3 on there you should be able to get away with very little muffling. i suppose it depends on the sound you're looking for. I would reccomend getting something small to muffle with. a small strip of foam works really well for me, and i play with a evans g1 skin. The tighter your batter skin is, the more ring you're going to get so you might want to try loosening that too. With proper tuning and skins you can usually attain a very natural sound for whatever you're looking for with very minimal muffling. good luck!

[Stu_Strib]

Try a pillow that barely touches both heads. If that is too dampening, then try two evans pillows, one on each head ($60 though, for something that can be done for free with pillows around the house).

I personally like the feel of a pillow stuff inside, but like the sound of an open bass drum, so there is no happy medium for me. I constantly go back and forth. Right now, I'm settling on a medium sized pillow touching both heads (Evans Emad and Evans Eq3 w/port). It has a good feel, but the bottom is lacking. It would sound killer mic'd up though.

[Rhythmic Disciple]

I've recently tried an Evans EQ3 coated batter head. Notice I didn't say 'white coated', it's actually a clear head with a coating (which creates a kind of 'frosting' affect so you can't see inside the drum!). I'd never seen anything like it until recently, so I thought I'd give it a bash. Verdict - Exceptional depth and warmth.

The resonant is a white coated EQ3 with 5" port hole.

It all adds up to a nice warm sounding drum with plenty of low-end depth.

Also, I assume you are a DW player? Didn't you get a pillow in the BD? If so, use it!!!

[DoubleBassUrFace]

I've recently tried an Evans EQ3 coated batter head. Notice I didn't say 'white coated', it's actually a clear head with a coating (which creates a kind of 'frosting' affect so you can't see inside the drum!). I'd never seen anything like it until recently, so I thought I'd give it a bash. Verdict - Exceptional depth and warmth.

The resonant is a white coated EQ3 with 5" port hole.

It all adds up to a nice warm sounding drum with plenty of low-end depth.

Also, I assume you are a DW player? Didn't you get a pillow in the BD? If so, use it!!!

nah dude, i just really like dw, i couldnt afford any-a-that. Im prolly gonna order a custom kit from conaway, which will cost me 2500, either that or from truth. itll cost around the same.

[Class A Drummer]

if u wanna muffle the sound u can put a pillow a rag t-shirt blanket pretty much anything and it will be a tighter sound. you can also put duct tape possibly... i never tried that but it cud help :D

Keep drummin.

[Togg]

Get a friend to play the drum while you stand ten feet in front of it, that no pillow ring will make all the difference!

It takes time to get used to but I have always got a better recorded, and live sound without damping.

[Stu_Strib]

I've recently tried an Evans EQ3 coated batter head. Notice I didn't say 'white coated', it's actually a clear head with a coating (which creates a kind of 'frosting' affect so you can't see inside the drum!).

Oops. I accidentally ordered one of those yesterday. They call it "frosted".

[nhzoso]

Has anyone else tried a metal patch? I put one on my crappy stock head and it had a nice effect. Still not where I want it but much better than just a hole and towels. Towels muffle the ring but the metal beater patch makes up for any loss. Next item for me is an aquarian sk-II. Might want to try that think it cost me about $6

[toolskid]

you can try a rolled towel gaffa'ed tight! Then place it in a low smile shape against the batter head inside the drum. This minimal dampening can be really effective!

[jollymosher]

please help me i can get my snare and toms to sound good or great, but not my bass drum please give me ideas of what to do (thomas lang has the sound im looking for... (veiw the viddys on this site) i am using an emad front, a stock batter and an iron cobra.

[Gear_Head]

I think his bass sounded great, I would be interested in the responses as well.
Ryan

[ernehudspe]

If you want a slappy sound, then tune the head as low as it goes, but still has a slight tone. You'll probably see a couple wrinkles in the head, but don't overdo it.

Tune the front head low too, but then up a little bit more than the batter side. I like it to it to have a nice tone.

Then for muffling, depending on the size of your bass drum, I would use one pillow that bareley touches both heads. If you can't find one that barely touches, try having it barely touch the batter head, and most of it touching the front head.

I use EQ2 clear heads with a ported EQ3 head on front. Right now I'm using an Emad, and no muffling on that side, then the evans pillow on the front head.

Hope this helps.
Yes Stu, ( I always look for your tips and use them quite often, I'm not ashamed of stealing good ideas....lol) Something else you might want to try! tune per the information above, take the pillow out and roll up a small towel and stuff it between your bass drum pedal and your batter head. For me this works very well for a tight sounding but somewhat singing bass drum...Buddy

[harryconway]

I find I don't have to use pillows for a nice punchy sound. I also don't use the ported kick drum head. I find that the hole really effects the sound of the kick drum. If you use a Powerstroke 3 for a batter head and Aquarian force 2 on the front. You can have a louder punch sound. I think the pillow makes your drum sound smaller.
I'm with Superlow on tryin' to keep pillows and laundry out of the kick. I run a clear Powerstroke3 batter and an ebony Powerstroke3 reso. on my 20x14 and I get a real tight and punchy sound out of that drum.

[Theo]

Hey...i would like to share with you something that has been playing on my mind for a long time.

For the record i own a Sonor 20x17.5 Birch Bass Drum.

I have been checking the forum for bass drum tuning threads and i have found that a lot of people really dig the batter side tuned really low just until the wrinkles go.

On my kit which i just got...i have tuned both the batter and reso head extremely tight...as tight as i could...I found that this gives the bass drum a really REALLY good BOOM! No pillow and no hole in the front. I have never recorded this kind of setup though and i am wondering if it would sound like crap.

I am thinking of detuning the batter head completely just so the wrinkles go...and leaving the reso extremely tight the way i have it now, and adding a pillow inside the bass drum so the edges touch both heads. Do you think this would be a good idea? I keep thinking i must be missing something since everyone detunes their batter head so much.

Also...do you have any other ideas how i could create a good BOOM sound suitable for funk, r&b, really tight pocket kind of stuff? Keep in mind i have no hole in my reso.

Thanks.

[konaboy]

What kind of heads are you using? I like the Aquarian Superkick series batter heads. No need for anything in the drum for muffling, the head just booms.

I guess the real question is why do you want to tune your head lower if it sounds good the way you have it. If what you have tuned is working for you it doesn't really matter how everyone else does it. Keep in mind everyones taste for sound is totally different and so are their kits. If you tune the batter down and leave the reso tight you'll probably not get the depth and punch you are looking for, I would keep them both in the same tuning range. The reso a little tighter is one thing but if you have it cranked up tight it will probably ring alot and not give you that short fast punch.

I wouldn't say people detune their heads, they actually tune them to that wrinkle free point originally.

[ege_the_drummer]

I know how you feel Theo. I had the same problem.

What I did was I got a Remo Powerstroke 3 w/ the falam patch on it and tuned it relativley low. Then, I tuned the reso head about medium loose and muffled about 30% of the bottom portion of both heads. When I first tried it I got an incredible punch for it and I havent touched the tuning since! Hope this helps!

[IDDrummer]

I find that, unmic'd, the higher tuning sounds better, giving good projection and a fuller sound. In mic'd situations I like the lower note that a looser head produces (and the mic provides the roundness and punch). I never tune mine quite so low it wrinkles, though. I like to hear a defined, clean tone.

The reso tighter than the batter can work very well, though you may have to work to find the optimum relationship between the pitches of the two heads. Have fun!

[tmc]

8< snip snp snip >8
Also...do you have any other ideas how i could create a good BOOM sound suitable for funk, r&b, really tight pocket kind of stuff? Keep in mind i have no hole in my reso.

Thanks.

Hey Theo.

In a mic'ed situation, mic placement can make a pretty big difference in your bass drum's sound. Try everything you can think of, mic inside, outside, near the batter, further away from the batter, one mic inside, and another outside, etc.

I have no hole in my reso, and I have the heads tuned really low (just past finger-tight) with a small pillow inside barely touching both heads. My mic is inside the bass drum about 12" from the batter head pointed, more or less, at where the beater hits. I get a nice punchy sound (a little like Neil Peart's bass drum sound), although I'd like to up the attack a little...

-Michael

[Pete Stoltman]

Just thought I'd share a little story with you guys. I've been playing drums for thirty eight years and think I have a pretty good handle on how to make my drums sound good. This weekend I was playing a gig and as we were setting up the guy who runs sound asked to hear my bass drum. He was standing right in front of me, no mikes on yet and in fact my set wasn't even completely set up. I hit the bass a couple times and he immediately said "oh that's going to be way too boomy, can you muffle it or shove a blanket in it?" I told him I would take care of the "boominess" and that he would love the sound. I DID NOTHING. I just finished setting up the drums placed the mikes and then told him to go out front and give a listen. Once he was out away from the stage I hit the bass drum and he immediately smiled. "Wow that's perfect, what did you do?" I just told him it was a little drummers trick with some extra tweaking. The point of this story is to not necessarily accept that the sound that is heard is the same as when you are sitting behind or standing directly in front of the drums. If the sound guy had told me it was still too boomy I was prepared to do a little actual tweaking but experience has taught me to trust my ears and know that things have a way of sounding different depending on perspective.

[catlover]

You are right Pete, the same thing happened to me ! You pointed a real problem playing live gigs : sound engineers dictatorship !!! (more often with drummers !) Would this guy ask a Stradivarius player to fill his violin with foam because it sounds better to his ears???
My drums sound the way I want it to sound, and I never let a sound guy tell me how they should !

[Pete Stoltman]

Yeah Catlover, those Strads just have too much sustain! Once you've learned how to get good sounds from your instruments trust your ears guys. Sound techs are supposed to help you sound good, not the other way around. Of course this all assumes that you, in fact, can get your drums to sound good to begin with. Drums produce lots of overtones and frequencies that techies hate dealing with. Good tuning and proper mike placement will take care of most sound issues.

[groovemaster_flex]

wasnt sure wut forum to put this in, so i put it in this one.

how do you have your bass drum tuned? loose, tight? do u stick a blanket or a pillow inside of it? do you have a hole cut in the skin?

thoughts, opinions, ideas, all are welcome =)

[cdrums21]

Try the search button for bass drum tuning and/or bass/kick drum heads, as well as looking at the thread "cutting a hole in the bass drum". There should be enough info in all of those posts to get the answer you're looking for.

[groovemaster_flex]

almost forgot about this thread...

actually it the general idea of this thread wasnt on me getting tips on tuning drums, it was just how people tune their own drums... personal preferences.. a general discussion, not giving someone advice on tuning.

[Drummer Karl]

I have my bass drum tuned pretty tight for a jazzy boomy sound, havn`t got holes or something like a carpet in it. I have a 22x18" bass drum.

Karl

[tentpole]

I tune mine a bit loose.I don't have a hole in it.I have 2 blankets in it,a big one and a smaller one.

[groovemaster_flex]

i have a 20x16 bass drum. nothing inside it, no hole, tuned so low you can almost see the wrinkles on the skins.

[harryconway]

My 20x14 has a P3 clear batter and an ebony P3 reso. No port and wide open (no laundry inside). Nice tight sound. My 26x14 has a P3 clear batter and an ebony Ambassador reso. with a HOLZ port. It too is wide open. Total rock boomer, just like it was made to be. My 28x14 has the same head set up as the 26, but a small block of foam glued to the shell that touches the batter head for a little more sound control. Super boomer.

[On The Real]

I play an 18"x22" Tama Rockstar Custom bass drum.
Although i've tuned it with a Drumdial, it doesnt seem to cut it for me.
Im looking for a better sound, somthing like Thomas Langs bass drum off Creative Control.


If anyone can help me, that would be great.
-Thanks

[moe.ron]

i found the drum dial tunes drums a little higher than i want so maybe you need to take it down alittle. plus i don't think you'll be able to get thomas sound that easily, i think he has a rather large bassdrum but i'm not sure.

[jayhawkdrummer]

Just experiment until you find that sound your after. Find out what heads he uses (head selection makes a big,big difference in sound) as well as if he ports the front head or not (that can make a big difference). Also, since you have the drumdial (i have one also, amazing) experiment with different tensions. Your never going to sound exactly like him (especially since your using completely different drum sets) but you should be able to get what your looking for.

Hope that helps

[harryconway]

Once you make a drum head selection, you'll probably have to compromise the Thomas Lang sound a bit. Work more with making the Rockstar sound as good as it can.

[atomicsoy]

hey, i just bouhgt a m series kit. im trying hard to tune the bass, gee its so hard to get the sound i wanted.. i want a deep bassy sound from it. it had the original heads, which is a remo 1 ply muffed on both sides. then i took off my powerstroke 3 from the old drums n put it on... cant get the deep sound.

so my question is, can someone help me how to tune it up? i followed the steps in the tuning bible, but cat get there... how should i tune it?

oh and how much pillow stuff to put IN it?

[Stu_Strib]

For me, bass drums are completely different than tuning toms.

I've always had the best success with tuning the front bass drum as low as it goes then up a turn or two on each lugh. Then I tune the batter head as slack as it goes before it wrinkles and becomes dead. That gives the lowest fundamental pitch without sounding like cardboard, and without booming and boinging and needing muffling.

I use Emad coated and EQ3 coated heads.

Stu

[atomicsoy]

so muffing (putting pilow and stuff inside) is not neccesary? does the resonant side realy affects the sound?

[Bruce M. Thomson]

This is my first post.There was a drummer who was not happy with his Bass drum sound, he was using an Emad batter head on a 22". There were a few responses and they were all correct.
A)Tightning often improves over loosening
B) I like tune the bass to an E as well, it works.
C) You really need to match the Emad head with it's resonet Partner
D) Your pedal could be the problem, not the tuning.
and finally, don't fuss too much, I have many times in the past and it has often turned out that I made the wrong tuning decision, once that bass player kicks in much of what you thought was bothering you dissappears.
These are things I have picked up from other drummers and salespeople over the years but I never got the advice all at once. This a great site and look forward to reading the various post's

[komodo]

Howdya remove impact badges

[xX5thQuarterXx]

Hey guys so i just picked up a PDP LX 6 piece. I have no complaints about it besides the kick drum. I put the small PDP pillow in it, that didnt work. Then i put foam about an inch think all the way around the inside of the drum.

Is there anything you guys to to keep the ringing down. Any tunning ideas i might be doing wrong?

[fourstringdrums]

Get new pre-muffled bass drum heads. On the PDP I recommend the Evans EMAD or an Evans EQ3 (or 4 I can't remember which). Until then I would put a regular bead pillow in it although that will probably be too much muffling. The supplied pillow with the stock heads didn't do much when I first got the PDP set either.

[xX5thQuarterXx]

I orgot to mention i have the EMAD2 With the bigger of the 2 muffling rings on

[maddrummr]

Well i own a pacific and i had to tune the bass drum tighter (with the stock head) on both sides to get a decent sound. I only used the pillow they gave me and i got a sound that i could live with.
Now my uncle got me a Remo Ambassador bass head. Im not totally satisfied but it will do. I tuned both sides real low and got a sound similar to bonhams bass sound in When the levee breaks. I like the sound but its not something that i will keep permanantly.
Just my 2 cents

[osamasgoat5467]

If you want to stop ring completely with new heads you want an Evans EQ3 with one or even two EQ pads on the batter. For resonant head go with a head like an EQ3 that has a hole in it or for even less resonance a Retro Screen. To keep your EMAD 2 and get the sound you want get one or two EQ pads. For more attack get AF Patches.

[drumtechdad]

Now that I'm teching for my son rather than myself, I've discovered what a few here have said: that the sound from the driver's seat is nothing like the sound from the audience.

Further, I find that a lot of drummers want their bd to sound like their favorite recording--from the driver's seat. They make their bd very dead with pillows, etc. In the unmiked situation this is guaranteed to make the bd nearly inaudible from the audience.

An unmuffled bd carries and cuts through the band much better. Have someone play the drum and listen from a distance--the difference is night and day.

With pre-muffled heads today you can dispense with the blankets and pillows. FWIW I use PS3s on batter and reso (unported) with the batter tuned just above wrinkle and the reso tuned so it gives a nice tone a bit higher than that. Lots of folks get good results with other heads and tuning methods.

For miked situations we keep a ported PS3 reso on hand, as well as a rolled-up towel just in case. Many inexperienced sound guys just cannot handle an unported reso and rather than argue (or have them eyeing the reso with a box cutter in hand) we give them what they want. (They're responsible for how you're going to sound and there's no profit in pissing them off.) Still, no pillows or blankets, they're just not necessary in most cases. We might put the rolled up towel against the reso if they still complain of boominess.

Still, the most important lesson I've learned from being on the other side of the drum kit is let your drums ring if you're playing unmiked. It sounds better and carries better, too.

[ghuyuiq]

This sounds a little stupid, but I find I get the best sound out of my export bass drum by tuning both heads as tight as possible, and I don't use pillows or a porthole... The batter is a PS4, the reso is the original pearl head. Don't know how it sounds miced though...

[aydee]

For me, bass drums are completely different than tuning toms.

I've always had the best success with tuning the front bass drum as low as it goes then up a turn or two on each lugh. Then I tune the batter head as slack as it goes before it wrinkles and becomes dead. That gives the lowest fundamental pitch without sounding like cardboard, and without booming and boinging and needing muffling.

I use Emad coated and EQ3 coated heads.

Stu

Hi, I just got a Yamaha Absolute Maple Custom, which came with a PS 3 stock head which sounded 'decent'. Having tried a EMAD on an oak Custom earlier, I tried that on my 22" BD, and I cant get it to not sound 'clicky'. I've tried going high & low on both sides. Any thoughts would be appreciated. thanks

[fourstringdrums]

Hi, I just got a Yamaha Absolute Maple Custom, which came with a PS 3 stock head which sounded 'decent'. Having tried a EMAD on an oak Custom earlier, I tried that on my 22" BD, and I cant get it to not sound 'clicky'. I've tried going high & low on both sides. Any thoughts would be appreciated. thanks

If you want more "click" I'd use a plastic or a wood beater, or at the extreme a Danmar bass pad with a metal disc and a wood beater.

[aydee]

If you want more "click" I'd use a plastic or a wood beater, or at the extreme a Danmar bass pad with a metal disc and a wood beater.

thanks, but I meant 'NOT clicky'.

[fourstringdrums]

thanks, but I meant 'NOT clicky'.

Oh woops, I misread. Yeah I found the EMAD to have alot of attack no matter what I did. Are you using a felt beater? That might help some.

[aydee]

Oh woops, I misread. Yeah I found the EMAD to have alot of attack no matter what I did. Are you using a felt beater? That might help some.
Yes, am using a felt beater ( Pearl Eliminators). Am curious to know if the EMAD, because of its plastic muffling sleeve, has a naturally 'clicky' thud compared to some of the other heads.
thanks,

[fourstringdrums]

Yes, am using a felt beater ( Pearl Eliminators). Am curious to know if the EMAD, because of its plastic muffling sleeve, has a naturally 'clicky' thud compared to some of the other heads.
thanks,

That very well could be. You might want to try the coated version. I found that to not be as clicky.

[stasz]

Free the bass drums! I finally took the pillow out of my kick and it's much more open, sounds so much better. My parents upstairs also noticed the difference in sound (my dad said his computer chair was rumbling from the noise :P). I'm looking into something like the Evans EQ pad to help control some of the overtones, and shorten the sustain so I still get the boom without too much rumbling.

[Bruce M. Thomson]

I use the Evans EQ pad and it works great, I recommend it.

[spartacus1989]

it completly depends on taste on how you tune your bass drum. Progressive drummers like Mike Portnoy and Neil Peart have their bass drums at a very low tuning and hardly any dampening. Were as jazz drummers use a fair bit of dampening and higher tuning.

[mytquick87]

Fendi- your drumriff sounds awesome, im trying to get my bass sounding the same way- whats your heads combo on them?