difference in sound between various sizes.

[AveyTare]

hello

i can't find anything about it. can you explain me the differcence between 18 and 20 and 22 kick drums? do bigger bass drums project more? is it ok to use 20/16 bass drum in rock?

i'm curious about difference between 14/5 and 14/7 snare drums. do they vary in pitch?

cheers

[punkuzz900]

Umm, all I will say is that the bigger the drum the deeper the sound, but a wider tuning range. For example with snares, a 14"x5" and a 14"x6.5" will be able to tuned to the same pitch but the deeper drum (14"x6.5") will be able to get tuned to higher pitches and will have a bit more body than the shallower drum. And yes, it is ok to use a 20" bass drum in rock, but most people will use a 22" for more kick and power, with bass drums, bigger and deeper will have more boom and presence, but you can get 18" bass drums that are unbelievable powerful! Hope I've helped a bit!

[burnthehero]

Deeper drums have a more full-bodied sound. Shallower drums have more projection.

If you're having a tough time decided what sizes to get, keep this in mind...You can always make a smaller drum sound bigger, but you can't make a big drum sound smaller.

[radiofriendlyunitshifter]

i'm using an 18" bass drum in my rock band. it does the job well.

your 20x16 is just fine for rock.

[AveyTare]

Deeper drums have a more full-bodied sound. Shallower drums have more projection.

If you're having a tough time decided what sizes to get, keep this in mind...You can always make a smaller drum sound bigger, but you can't make a big drum sound smaller.

shallower drums have more projection, but deeper have more full-bodied sound? i can't imagine that... i was thinking that the more full bodied the sound, the more it will project.

i still don't know if it's possible to buy just one bass drum and suit genres from heavy post-rock hitting to modern jazz. what do you think?

[baz]

If you're having a tough time decided what sizes to get, keep this in mind...You can always make a smaller drum sound bigger, but you can't make a big drum sound smaller.

...that's odd.

I can make my 22 sound like a 20 a lot easier than I can get the 20 to sound like my 22 ?

What am I doing wrong?

Barry

[Cymbalrider]

My kit has a 22x18 bass drum but the kit here at school is a 22x14. (I'm sure it also has to do with the school kit being a 70s Rogers too) but the 22x14 has a much deeper sound and is a lot more sensitive. My bass drum has more low end sustain but the initial pitch is still the same. 14 or 16" deep bass drums are the most versatile. Deeper bass drums tend to not be as responsive as there is more air being moved between the heads and it takes more time to do so. As for projection, I believe they are about the same though. The deeper drums send the sound forward more so it sounds quieter behind the kit than a shallower drum which just seems to explode in all directions. The same is true with toms. My 16x13 tom appears to have a higher pitch and less resonance than a 16x16 floor. Those extra inches in depth give the sound longer to 'warm up' in the drum before it comes out. As for making a small drum sound bigger, I'm not sure how that works unless you get into electronic enhancement. You can always muffle a larger drum though and tune it higher but smaller drums can only be tuned so low. For example big band drummers like Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich had 24 and sometimes 26 bass drums. On stage these things were hardly muffled at all and gave a loud boom. In the studio though they just sort of went "bp" and that's all. Of course back then, I believe they had to muffle them more in studio as the equipment couldn't handle the low end frequencies. The most versatile size is 22" however. The standard drum kit (22,13,16) was used in every genre of music for years and still is. Everything from Joe Morello to Neil Peart.