best muffler for kick?

[lovemysonors]

i've got a blanket inside right now, folded up and each end touching both heads.

would i get a fuller sound if i got a thick piece of foam and put it in the entire interior (going around the wall of the drum, not sticking it in the center)?

which is best for a solid, full sound?

[Ironcobra]

the denser, the better. buy an EMAD for the batter and put on the thicker muffling ring. you will hardly need interior muffling after that

[Cymbalrider]

I've seen something done that works really well and that is one of those muffle ring things that go inside the drum. There was just one near the batter side and the whole thing was pretty much controlled after that depending on the tension of the heads. I wouldn't go too much into just relying on heads though. I made the mistake of having two Powerstroke Fiberskyns on my bass and the thing is essentially dead. I would say if you are going to use some sort of controlled head then only use one. I had an EMAD before and I found it useless, for it never had a good sound and always had a plastic attack. The Powerstroke heads had a LOT more dampening potential and a better tone. Felt strips work great as well.

[Colonel Bat Guano]

The Powerstroke heads had a LOT more dampening potential and a better tone. Felt strips work great as well.

Those two would be my personal choices, too.

Powerstrokes in good, non-worn out shape are able to get a usable tone from almost anything without much fuss, IMO. (Especially for rock).

The felt strip on a single ply head is nice. I re-discovered how well this works. I guess there's a reason why it's been in use all those years. I went ahead and bought felt at a crafts store for like three bucks and cut my own strip from that. On a 20" BD, I use a Fiberskyn FA batter with a conservatively ported coated Ambassador.
..

[theberzh]

Use two EQ3 heads. If you like a hole in the second one, cut the hole. You will get different play and different sound depending on how big you cut the hole. Personally I like cutting the hole so big that you are leaving about 4 inches of the head left. I also like the coffee can size hole. You can also use a pillow but I don't like putting stuff in base drums. It kind of takes away the whole point of it being a drum.

[BrynnerAgassi]

I think it all comes down to trying different things. What everyone says here, its true, but you just have to find out what works for you...

Here is my two cents man,

I use an EMAD head, and the ONLY muffling I do (aside from the ring around the emad) is take a large towel, put it in there... Thats it, I drum on TAMA Starclassics, and it works great for me...

ALSO, im sure readers are probably going to think i have lost my mind, but of of the best sounds I have ever heard from a bass drum was a clear Ambassador, pillow to muffle, and I really think that was one of the fattest, punchiest sounds I have ever heard before.... Just my opinion!

But Powerstrocks I would really not recommend, they never sounded good for me, just too plastic sounding. The emads I have now I also have a rubber beater which gives it a slappy sound, also muffled with the towel, and good feel all around...

But then again you just gotta try different heads, different ways, muffle not muffled, and just remember, each playing situation and area will call for something different. Have fun with it and be creative!

[frank0072]

two little zebra pillows do the trick for me, I love the sound of my bassdrum

[Deathmetalconga]

two little zebra pillows do the trick for me, I love the sound of my bassdrum

That is the ONLY time I have ever seen a pillow in a drum that looks good. Other than that, putting bedding, clothing and appliances inside the bass drum always looks awful.

The best way to preserve the sound of the drum and cut down on overtones is to buy thick heads and tune them carefully. If your heads are thick enough, you will need nothing else to strangle the sound of the drum.

[Joe P]

If you want the sound of a very-muffled bass drum, go for the Remo Powersonic
Check it out, theres a video here: http://remo.com/portal/products/3/8/49/680/cl_powersonic.html

[drumbandit]

I use an aquarian SuperKick 1 and the regulator reso head and I don't need any extra muffling at all. It sounds the nuts and has minimal hassle, really easy to tune as well.

Tom

[Class A Drummer]

the denser, the better. buy an EMAD for the batter and put on the thicker muffling ring. you will hardly need interior muffling after that

I agree. My friend has an EMAD (thx to my advice to buy it lol) and just jammed a huge blanket on the inside. A little too big actually. He cant really fit on his resonant head on the bass drum anymore. BUT, the bass sounds so cool.

[grue]

i agree with a good tune and a EMAD is all you need. except for one of those aquarian light impact thing.

[goughy]

My method on muffling my bass drum is a little different. My BD is 20x14" so I don't expect a big sound out of it. And I use an evans eq4 batter head. Before going to these heads I usually had some form of remo 2 ply head and for dampening I had a big piece of foam int he shell touching both heads. It never really had great low end and never sounded great to me.

Anyway, a drum shop in Brisbane put me onto the idea of the eq4 head. They said that thicker cymbals have a higher pitch and thinner have a lower. It's the same with drum heads. So I've given it a go and I love it. I've never had a larger bass drum so I can't say if this would work for them, but for smaller drums it gives a great sound.

But, back to muffling. They suggested something I hadn't thought of before. It's a product called dacron or sometimes known as cortelle. It's the white pollyfibre stuff you sometimes see wrapped around lounge seat cushions. You should be able to get it from an upholsterer (I just happened to be one!!! :) ). It's about an inch thick. I use two pieces of this in the bottom of my drumm touching both heads. And my drum has never sounded better. A great full sound with plenty of attack and enough low end and a nice controlled decay.

The other thing they said about using foam in drums is that while it does dampen, it also effectively reduces the internal diameter of the drum since air dosen't flow through it. The dacron is light and porous enough that it dosen't have as much effect on the internal dimensions of the drum (air flows through it easier) and I can say that it was a dramatic difference.

As I said, this might not be the solution for a big bass drum, but giving the dacron a go would be a cheap solution. It dosen't cost much and is generally just plain white.

Anyway, just some thoughts on something to try.