professional head decision??????

[jimtyler]

I have a lot of performances coming up fairly soon. I am doing a new video shoot for some new material (hopefully 2 cameras this time) and have several clinics coming up in May and June. Many of you have heard the style of music I play, it is definitely different.
My problem is that I am unhappy with my drum sound as I practice.
I use a dozen roto toms, 4 homemade piccolos, and a regular set when I play, all tuned to pitched notes. It just seems like my clear heads have too much of a "plastic" sound to them. I want to warm up the sound a bit, yet at the same time keep or even increase the resonance, because it is important that the pitch has time to be heard and recognised.
Changing heads will cost well over $200 so I want to be sure I'm making the right choice for my particular sound. If you were me, what heads would you choose and why?
For me, the quality of the sound is much more important than the appearance, so yes, I'm willing to put coated heads on all those stupid roto toms if necessary.

[caddywumpus]

Experiment with one or two coated heads on the drum(s) you think it would make the most difference on. That should be your indicator for the rest of the drums. It sounds like you would like coated heads. They don't have the "ticky" attack that clear heads have and they do "warm" the sound by muffling certain frequencies. They do have good sustain, but some would argue that they have less than clear heads. I haven't noticed that much of a difference, myself. After all, how long do you actually want a drum to ring anyways? Is 10 seconds not long enough? (that's about how long my drums ring right now with 9 month old coated emperors)

[wolfmoon]

I'd say coated heads have a warmer sustain meaning... they have a nice growl instead of an annoying ring. Know what I mean?