hydraulic dream heads

[Colin1374]

what is the difference from a hydraulic drum head to a normal one?

[hungrypo]

a hydraulic head is a two-ply drumhead (two layers of plastic) with oil in between the layers. they are very thick, and very dead sounding.

ps. next time use the search function, or someone on here is going to rip your head off about it. i personally didn't mind answering the question.

[Colin1374]

oops my bad that was pretty inconsiderate on my part, I usually search too so I should know better.


so, very dead sounding? i wonder if I could hear a preview on how it sounds like on a rack tom...

[larlev]

They really aren't that dead sounding.....actually in the right situation they sound great..

I always recommend this....buy a 10" or 12" and see if you like it..I would buy one for the smallest tom you have.

If you play at home by yourself...these are great heads....playing live unmic'd.. bad heads..
If these are tuned properly they really don't sound much different than g2 clears with moongel. The difference being of course is you can remove the MG and have an open sound, with the hydraulics your stuck at what you got.

I have had a hydraulic and a g2 side by side on a 12"......there is some difference...but to me not that noticeable....maybe I am getting old...

[wooltonboy]

They get a really bad rap actually.
I remember using the blue hydraulics years ago, and they were VERY dull and lifeless.
I also remember reading something on the Evans message board a couple of years ago, that stated that the Hydro's have changed, and are more lively and more open sounding than the ones from the past.
I experimented by buying a 16" floor tom Hydro, and although still not to my taste, they are definately more open and resonant than the old ones.
I see in Modern Drummer the occassional drummer using them also, although like stated above, if they are miced, they probably sound awesome.
cheers
Phil

[Sesh]

This may just be my opinion, but they sound absolutely terrible as bass batter heads - they are totally unuseable - no tone, no matter how you tune they just sound like a cardboard box. As tom batter heads though, they're great in certain situations, great for creating the old Gadd sound (aja type period) for example.

[Salicete]

I have found that Evans Hydraulics are great for taming ring and unwanted overtones on less expensive kits. They tend to focus the sound of these types of drums and can provide a quite respectable sound.

My son has them on his Pearl Export kit and they sound great, with or without amplification. The most noticeable improvement was on the smaller toms; it made a huge improvement over a standard G2. If you like lots of sustain, these are not the batters for you.

[altered_beast]

what is the difference from a hydraulic drum head to a normal one?

More to the point, what's a hydraulic dream head?! Could make sleeping pretty interesting!! : P