Making your kit sound good

[Mystic]

I would like to make this thread as a universal thread for everyone to share what they do to get the sound that they like out of their kit. I want everyone to go ahead and throw down whatever they want to tell everyone how do you get your kit to sound unique to how you want it to sound and what gear you use to obtain these sounds easily. I will start off, by saying I use heavy sticks and double ply heads to get a high volume low and powerful sound out of my toms. Now I know a lot of you will probably say just use the search tool, but this is more of a universal thread so people can figure out right away cool tips to get good sounds :)

[elliotdrummer7227]

I would like to make this thread as a universal thread for everyone to share what they do to get the sound that they like out of their kit. I want everyone to go ahead and throw down whatever they want to tell everyone how do you get your kit to sound unique to how you want it to sound and what gear you use to obtain these sounds easily. I will start off, by saying I use heavy sticks and double ply heads to get a high volume low and powerful sound out of my toms. Now I know a lot of you will probably say just use the search tool, but this is more of a universal thread so people can figure out right away cool tips to get good sounds :)

to stop snare buzzing i put a bit of tape on the snare wire(at the end)

[king fail]

My tips for a killer bass.

1. Learn how to tune it, lol.
2. Run it wiiiide open baby. Pillows belong on your bed.
3. Unbury the beater; burying it practically negates the previous tip.
4. I find the "sweet spot" of the BD head is usually around 2 inches off centre; If I hit it dead centre it just sounds dead to me.
5. Try and get it parallel to the floor; you'd be surprised how much difference the angle makes

[Mystic]

My tips for a killer bass.

1. Learn how to tune it, lol.
2. Run it wiiiide open baby. Pillows belong on your bed.
3. Unbury the beater; burying it practically negates the previous tip.
4. I find the "sweet spot" of the BD head is usually around 2 inches off centre; If I hit it dead centre it just sounds dead to me.
5. Try and get it parallel to the floor; you'd be surprised how much difference the angle makes

I already learned new things from this thread lol, question about this, how do you hit the head off center? and what has to be parallel to the floor?

[Mystic]

to stop snare buzzing i put a bit of tape on the snare wire(at the end)

Do you put tape around the wires or tape them against the head?

[king fail]

I already learned new things from this thread lol, question about this, how do you hit the head off center? and what has to be parallel to the floor?

To hit of center, adjust the beater...
The bass drum (I believe) should be parallel.... prevents warping of the hoops and makes a big difference in sound.

Don't take my word for it though, check the end of this video out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCCqSgrw_2M&feature=channel_page

[Mystic]

To hit of center, adjust the beater...
The bass drum (I believe) should be parallel.... prevents warping of the hoops.

How could it not come out parallel? Sorry I'm probably making this to be harder than it is, but Wouldn't it be parallel no matter what? And about adjusting the beater are you able to slide the beater mount across the bar that it is mounted on? Just tell me if you don't want to try and explain it anymore I am just really confused by this, I will definitely try adjusting it next time I am on my kit though, thanks for the tip.

[Mystic]

Wait do you mean parallel as in the tom mounts at the top are parallel to the floor? I'm just trying to figure out what you are comparing the floor to, to make it parallel.

[wert90]

i think it means....

so that the front of the bass drum is the same height as the back of it. if the spurs are too long/high, this wont be the case.

and yer im interested in this anti snare buzz thing.

as for my sound? im still experimenting.

[Mystic]

i think it means....

so that the front of the bass drum is the same height as the back of it. if the spurs are too long/high, this wont be the case.

and yer im interested in this anti snare buzz thing.

as for my sound? im still experimenting.

Oh I see, I have the legs in the front set to the top so they are as far from the ground as I can get. So is he saying I should try and get them to be level with the batter side? Tell me about your experiments you do with trying to get different sounds, they may benefit someone here.

[veggo32]

Learning pitches and notes will get your drum kit sounding great. No matter if you tune to specific notes or not, at some point after you crank each lug 2 times etc. etc. You will have to pick a pitch/note to tune your drum to, so in my opinion this would be the most important thing to have in order to achieve a great sound.
Drum head selection and quality of the kit are also important. They are a close second and third.
The great thing about tuning to specific notes is after you have worked at finding each drums' sweet spot/ideal note, when you go for a head change or your drums need to be retuned after a day or week or so, its a no brainer, you pull out your pitch pipe/tuner or whatever and you bring the drum back up to the desired note. There is no wasting time or experimenting (unless you want there to be), you spend less time tuning and more time playing, that is the goal.
Hope this helped.

[drumtechdad]

to stop snare buzzing i put a bit of tape on the snare wire(at the end)

Not real handy if you want to use the snare with the snares off, or if you'd like to adjust their tension.

Have a look at this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcHAFgafPkE) and this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNNGBVA66Hk&NR=1)

You want less snare buzzing, use snares with fewer wires. It works.

[randomhero243]

if you cant seem to get your toms to sound right. stop changing your batter head but instead change the resonant head. my toms refused to sound how i wanted until i finally bought some coated g1's and threw em on there. sound like a dream now

[Mystic]

Check out Bob Gatzen's videos on youtube, he gives a good explanation about how to tune everything and get it to be at a perfect pitch, and he has a good video about snare wires and another one about getting your drums to resonate fully. All very good videos I enjoyed them.

[trkdrmr]

I like Bob's tips. He has been more helpful than "professor sound." Visually, and audibly demonstrating setup is the best way to do it.

I have decided to give G plus coated a try on my kit.

[Mystic]

I would try Evans, but the thing is, I'm biased so I won't try them, however I will try Aquarian some time. Not that Evans are bad, I think they have nice heads I just don't like the name. What i found made my toms sound best is matching the tone on my batter heads with the tone on my reso heads. My reasoning behind this is because I like the toms to sound powerful and have a really loud full sound and I think when you match the tones it amplifies the sound of that one tone cause you don't have 2 different weaker tones, but 1 tone with double the force. Now bass drum and snare I am trying to figure out still, I also found that 2 ply muffled heads on toms are specifically for low tones, they tend to choke a lot easier within higher tunings. I tuned my 18" floor tom down a lot and it resonates much better with a much more low end sound. Another thing I seemed to notice is projection in wood. My friend's m birch mapex bass drum projects a whole lot better than my poplar export, but I experienced other bass drums having better projection than mine in many other circumstances. Maybe it is just poplar that doesn't project well or maybe I am tuning my heads the wrong way, or maybe it is even the acoustics in the rooms I am playing my set in. I am on the quest to figuring out how to get my poplar bass drums to project and another comment to make is my friend has a body pillow in his m birch as well and I threw one in mine, but in mine it only seemed to lower the volume yet increase the attack, but his seemed to get great attack and punch while maintaining a pretty good volume. If anyone can comment on how to get poplar pearl export bass drums to project in sound it would be great.

[trkdrmr]

I would try Evans, but the thing is, I'm biased so I won't try them, however I will try Aquarian some time. Not that Evans are bad, I think they have nice heads I just don't like the name. .

I prefer evans to aquarian, because they are punchier and less diffuse. My kit is aluminum, so any drumhead sounds good and is always easy to perfectly tune. Definitely zero issues with projection. It has projection that resonates through walls.

"Don't like the name"? Did someone named Evans beat you up? Not sure what is wrong with the name since they are very consistent with quality.

[Mystic]

I prefer evans to aquarian, because they are punchier and less diffuse. My kit is aluminum, so any drumhead sounds good and is always easy to perfectly tune. Definitely zero issues with projection. It has projection that resonates through walls.

"Don't like the name"? Did someone named Evans beat you up? Not sure what is wrong with the name since they are very consistent with quality.

See you just have to understand that I don't like that name. I don't know why and i don't know what it has to do with me using them. I already said I think their heads are fine, but the name just doesn't fancy my personality. I think thats what it is, a personality thing. I happen to like some of their heads I have tried, but I just won't go as far as to buy them. It's just me so you just gotta accept it lol.

[trkdrmr]

See you just have to understand that I don't like that name. I don't know why and i don't know what it has to do with me using them. I already said I think their heads are fine, but the name just doesn't fancy my personality. I think thats what it is, a personality thing. I happen to like some of their heads I have tried, but I just won't go as far as to buy them. It's just me so you just gotta accept it lol.

You'll get over that one day. You are simply locking yourself out of options.

I wouldn't care if they were called frog puke drum head company as long as they worked well.

Personally, I think the name "Remo" is Italian for "inconsistent" or "coating flakes off." But that's more about experience than some nomophobic reason.

[Mystic]

You'll get over that one day. You are simply locking yourself out of options.

I wouldn't care if they were called frog puke drum head company as long as they worked well.

Personally, I think the name "Remo" is Italian for "inconsistent" or "coating flakes off." But that's more about experience than some nomophobic reason.

Locking my self out or sticking to what I know I like? I don't want to go blowing money on other stuff when I don't know if I like it more when I am using something I have become to really like. See what I mean? It's more than name, it's experience with the company and I happen to like Remo, I have no quarrel with Evans I think every company has great heads they make, they sure get the job done a lot better than I ever could. So why switch when I'm not having any problems? Now let's add the scenario that I am just starting to have major problems with the company and I was getting faulty heads constantly, I would certainly switch, but to my next choice, Aquarian. Same thing with them if they became as you would say "inconsistent" I would then eventually try Evans. Make sense?

[trkdrmr]

Locking my self out or sticking to what I know I like? I don't want to go blowing money on other stuff when I don't know if I like it more when I am using something I have become to really like. See what I mean? It's more than name, it's experience with the company and I happen to like Remo, I have no quarrel with Evans I think every company has great heads they make, they sure get the job done a lot better than I ever could. So why switch when I'm not having any problems? Now let's add the scenario that I am just starting to have major problems with the company and I was getting faulty heads constantly, I would certainly switch, but to my next choice, Aquarian. Same thing with them if they became as you would say "inconsistent" I would then eventually try Evans. Make sense?

I take it you don't have much of an income. I say that because I can go out and buy a few drumheads to try and it won't break me. I spent a whole $79 on 5 new drumheads. Big deal. In fact, all drumheads eventually wear out and they get replaced. If nothing else, it's an experience thing. If you are happy with one brand, stay there. Just don't rule out something else...because of a name or never having tried them. I never would have discovered how much better I like evans if I stuck with the inconsistent remo, or the diffuse sounding aquarian. But those are good reasons to move on and try new things.

[Mystic]

I take it you don't have much of an income. I say that because I can go out and buy a few drumheads to try and it won't break me. I spent a whole $79 on 5 new drumheads. Big deal. In fact, all drumheads eventually wear out and they get replaced. If nothing else, it's an experience thing. If you are happy with one brand, stay there. Just don't rule out something else...because of a name or never having tried them. I never would have discovered how much better I like evans if I stuck with the inconsistent remo, or the diffuse sounding aquarian. But those are good reasons to move on and try new things.

When did I rule Evans out, all I said was I won't use them because of the name. I stated I have tried and liked them before I thought they were good, how is that ruling them out. Now I don't use them regularly because I tried and liked remo more, but maybe this has to do with my bass drum projection problem. I will have to test out another brand of bass drum head to try and achieve projection, and about income, I blow money on heads all of the time, but I have 6 toms a snare and 2 bass drums so it does get a bit pricey when I am trying to keep up with all of my other gear that I am upgrading. I just replaced all of my reso heads and now I am at the experimental part, now that I have completely decked my kit out with new heads, each time 1 of them breaks I try a different one. I am just in the early stages of experimentation though. I have only been playing for a year and a half so I think my research and experiments has been remarkable for the time being.

[BattleArmor]

I take it you don't have much of an income. I say that because I can go out and buy a few drumheads to try and it won't break me. I spent a whole $79 on 5 new drumheads. Big deal. In fact, all drumheads eventually wear out and they get replaced. If nothing else, it's an experience thing. If you are happy with one brand, stay there. Just don't rule out something else...because of a name or never having tried them. I never would have discovered how much better I like evans if I stuck with the inconsistent remo, or the diffuse sounding aquarian. But those are good reasons to move on and try new things.


I understand what you are saying. You don't know if you dont try!

But, if you spend 79 dollars on heads then don't like them it is sort of a drag.

[trkdrmr]

When did I rule Evans out, all I said was I won't use them because of the name. I stated I have tried and liked them before I thought they were good, how is that ruling them out. Now I don't use them regularly because I tried and liked remo more, but maybe this has to do with my bass drum projection problem. I will have to test out another brand of bass drum head to try and achieve projection, and about income, I blow money on heads all of the time, but I have 6 toms a snare and 2 bass drums so it does get a bit pricey when I am trying to keep up with all of my other gear that I am upgrading. I just replaced all of my reso heads and now I am at the experimental part, now that I have completely decked my kit out with new heads, each time 1 of them breaks I try a different one. I am just in the early stages of experimentation though. I have only been playing for a year and a half so I think my research and experiments has been remarkable for the time being.

Ok... no need to justify, if you like aquarian, more power to you. Staying with what works is just fine.

[Mystic]

I understand what you are saying. You don't know if you dont try!

But, if you spend 79 dollars on heads then don't like them it is sort of a drag.

Youve got it spot on

[trkdrmr]

I understand what you are saying. You don't know if you dont try!

But, if you spend 79 dollars on heads then don't like them it is sort of a drag.

I suppose, but I have spent more money on gas, dinner and a movie that sucked and a date that turned out to be a psycho.

At least I can re-sell the drumheads on consignment or something.

Again... $79, I have a job. I can afford that once in a while. I am not talking a weekly event here.

$79... Noooo!!!!! Now I can't afford my mortgage!!!!

Big deal.

[drumtechdad]

When I get the itch to try new heads, I boil it down to 2 or 3 candidates and buy one head of each for just one drum, say, a 12". Try them out one after the other and you'll see how they sound on your drums and get a pretty good idea of what a set of them would sound like without spending a fortune.

I only play a 4-piece, but my kid plays a friggin' 7-piece kit--I'm not going to "try out" a full kit of heads I may end up not liking. ;-)

[Mystic]

When I get the itch to try new heads, I boil it down to 2 or 3 candidates and buy one head of each for just one drum, say, a 12". Try them out one after the other and you'll see how they sound on your drums and get a pretty good idea of what a set of them would sound like without spending a fortune.

I only play a 4-piece, but my kid plays a friggin' 7-piece kit--I'm not going to "try out" a full kit of heads I may end up not liking. ;-)

Good point :D, btw I think it is so cool that you have a kid that plays too. My dad is a string player, went to school to learn how to play strings and such, and it is so cool to be his son and get to jam with him, I bet it is really awesome to have a kid who plays the same instrument though. Getting to teach them everything you know and them actually being interested. To me that is one of the greatest things I think a parent could ask for (imagining I had a kid). I don't know if I actually want a kid, but if I did that would be so awesome if he liked to do what I do, and want to learn what I know.

[megashock5]

if you cant seem to get your toms to sound right. stop changing your batter head but instead change the resonant head. my toms refused to sound how i wanted until i finally bought some coated g1's and threw em on there. sound like a dream now

Quick question, when you replace your batter heads, can you move the old ones to the bottom and use them as resonant heads? Or is that considered a no-no?

[elliotdrummer7227]

Do you put tape around the wires or tape them against the head?

well i used to put the tape on the wires but i have recently tried it on my new premier cabria xpk kit but it sounds like junk so i need another way to stop it!!

elliot "moose" frost

[trkdrmr]

I did try the g-plus coated. two words: epic fail.

I got two recommendations from another Trick endorser.

g2 coated over resonant glass. (Brings out low end)
g1 coated over resonant glass (balanced/more open sound)

I am going with the g2 coated.

[TTNW]

mmmmmmmmmm Re: Heads and Sticks

Tune first then muffle if needed. Playing drums wide open has helped develop my ear for tuning.
Replacing reso heads more often.
Tune a little higher than you think you should. Un mic'd and live it makes a difference.
Change what sticks you use regularly. I like to alternate between beefy and light sticks.

Overall kit stuff to get a unique sound:

Often I will use a sizzle on my ride. Sometimes a chain rattler, sometimes an inverted cymbal on an x-hat under the ride.

Popcorn snare. On many songs it works and I like it also for intros and funky beats.

Oversize hi-hat cymbals. 16 rock crash with a medium crash on top.

Jingle ring on hats or mounted tambourine on bass drum that rattles when everything gets a movin'

[megashock5]

Has anyone here used the DrumDial tuner? Saw tons of glowing user reviews on three different sites. Slightly pricey, but thinking about picking one up based on what I'm reading.

[trkdrmr]

Has anyone here used the DrumDial tuner? Saw tons of glowing user reviews on three different sites. Slightly pricey, but thinking about picking one up based on what I'm reading.

I have one, utter waste of cash. A better investment would be buying the two dvd's:
Bob Gatzen drum tuning
Jeff Ocheltree Trust your ears.

If you have been playing more than 2 years, you should be able to ear tune...period.

[Mystic]

Ya drum dial sounds like a rip off, but I never tried one so I can't say for sure. Anyway this last weekend I tried something with my snare. So I replaced the reso a few weeks ago with a remo diplo and that is the really thin one by the way, but I was scared to crank it up because of the thinness of it. So this weekend I grew some balls and cranked it up a couple full turns on each lug, and omg did it sound amazing. So I learned something, don't underestimate the durability of a thin head, it may create a beautiful sound when tuned right. Another thing I would like to bring up, while I was tuning my toms I found that yet all 6 of my toms were in tune with each other, like as a note principle, individually they did not sound the best. So I kept retuning and messing with each one individually and I figured out that if you tune the reso and the batter to certain notes, they will come to a balance. This reminded me of tuning a guitar by ear, if you have experience with a guitar say your tuning to drop D, which is just tuning the low E to a D, you can just pluck the D and the low E until they have the same resonating sound. While your trying to get them to the same sound you will notice you can hear the notes kind of wobbling like a wave like WoowWoowWoWoWoWWW
until you get it spot on with the other string. So tuning the reso and batter reminded me of this, if your ear is good enough to hear the 2 different tones you can figure out why you get a bad overtone and fix it easily. Keep in mind that each drum individually has a "sweet spot", which imo is the warmest and highest volume sounding spot you can get out of the drum. So try to tune your drums by using notes that sound good with each other, you can figure these notes out by using a keyboard, piano, guitar or anything with scales you can refer to, probably most instruments. So hope that benefits someone.


P.S. I also found a good use for the clear muting rings people like to use when they can't tune properly. I stopped using them for a while, but I noticed one of my heads getting warn out so I looked at it and it was starting to deform in the middle, like get overly stretched and became wavy. So I threw one of those rings on it and it was like a miracle cure, I was getting a weird overtone/dead sound out of the spot I was hitting, and the ring seemed to repair the sound and make it warm again, but I would still recommend replacing it asap, the ring is what I like to call a quick fix. :D

[trkdrmr]

Y

P.S. I also found a good use for the clear muting rings people like to use when they can't tune properly. I stopped using them for a while, but I noticed one of my heads getting warn out so I looked at it and it was starting to deform in the middle, like get overly stretched and became wavy. So I threw one of those rings on it and it was like a miracle cure, I was getting a weird overtone/dead sound out of the spot I was hitting, and the ring seemed to repair the sound and make it warm again, but I would still recommend replacing it asap, the ring is what I like to call a quick fix. :D

I use a studio ring on my snare(s) if I am searching for a drier, and staccato sound, not for tone. Sometimes, ya gotta just open er up....no rings, moongel, etc...

[Mystic]

I use a studio ring on my snare(s) if I am searching for a drier, and staccato sound, not for tone. Sometimes, ya gotta just open er up....no rings, moongel, etc...

huh? I was saying I used it to kill the weird sound I was getting from my damaged head, I don't usually use them for anything, but I found it was a good use for that.

[trkdrmr]

huh? I was saying I used it to kill the weird sound I was getting from my damaged head, I don't usually use them for anything, but I found it was a good use for that.

HUH? why the confusion? I just stated what I use them for.

[timmdrum]

When did I rule Evans out, all I said was I won't use them because of the name. I stated I have tried and liked them before I thought they were good, how is that ruling them out.

I think I get it... you're saying "I won't choose Evans heads solely on the fact that they're named Evans", right? Not "Because they're named Evans, I refuse to try them." That would be saying you rule them out because you don't like the name Evans.

Incidentally, my last name's Evans, but that has no bearing on my reply, nor of my choice of heads. I've actually used Remo more but I've liked some Evans heads. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the G-Plus (single 12 mil) and EC-1 (single 14 mil!)... Everyone I've asked is saying that the G-Plus heads sound more dead & tubby than the EC-1's, which are thicker...?!? I think I need to hear a pair of identical toms each with 1 of these heads, tuned identically, and hear for myself. Evans needs to get some sound samples up on their website!!

[Mystic]

HUH? why the confusion? I just stated what I use them for.

I don't know, didn't know what you were getting at with the quote.

[Mystic]

I think I get it... you're saying "I won't choose Evans heads solely on the fact that they're named Evans", right? Not "Because they're named Evans, I refuse to try them." That would be saying you rule them out because you don't like the name Evans.

Incidentally, my last name's Evans, but that has no bearing on my reply, nor of my choice of heads. I've actually used Remo more but I've liked some Evans heads. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the G-Plus (single 12 mil) and EC-1 (single 14 mil!)... Everyone I've asked is saying that the G-Plus heads sound more dead & tubby than the EC-1's, which are thicker...?!? I think I need to hear a pair of identical toms each with 1 of these heads, tuned identically, and hear for myself. Evans needs to get some sound samples up on their website!!

The thing is, I don't refuse to use them if I have to, but I refuse to buy them, so in a sense I guess I would be ruling them out of the money factor, but I would still use them if they were the only head I had handy or if I was playing someones kit. Nothing against the name in particular it just doesn't appeal or sound as sharp to my ear as say Remo or Aquarian, I like Evans I just don't care to buy the name, its a weird thing I suffer from, I am slowly getting over my namophobia lol, I started by buying a Meinl stick bag instead of pro mark, yay everyone clap lol. Don't take offense to my choice I am just trying to figure out in my mind how to get over the fact that name doesn't matter, well it does to an extent (i.e. buy a quality name) but it is a lot easier to buy from someone you trust than someone you have never bought from before, see what I'm getting at or am I just ranting? lol anyway

About your question on the heads though, just buy 1 of each for 1 size tom and test them both out on the same tom, and sound clips would be cool, but people would probably get confused and say stuff along the lines of "why don't my drums sound like these when I use those heads" and the reason would be, because they are on different wood shells than yours, but it would still be cool to be able to use them as a reference to each other. Good feedback guys :D keep the comments and questions rolling in.

[Christ-Hammer]

I have been switching between 1 and 2 ply heads, but I can't figure out what I like more. It seems like when I use single ply it's harder to get a nice tone, but you get more volume and a brighter sound. With 2 ply it seems like you sacrifice volume for a pre made sound that the manufacturer made, but I have this thing in my head telling me that using 2 ply is wrong and I should let the drums open up with single ply after watching Danny Carey's Lateralus video.

[topgun2021]

I use a Evans st dry snare head, it took me a week to tune it, but it turned out so nice!

I also tune to resonance, none of that tune to a note because:

1) I have no clue how to

2) I don't see how that does anything.

[Christ-Hammer]

Well I kind of trust the tone tuning fact. I watched a Bob Gatzen video about it and he demonstrated it. I think you can come up with some interesting tones with that idea, but I could be wrong.

[legobeast]

Pure entertainment!

This thread is far out, man!

So educational, yet so entertaining at the same time.

I particularly enjoyed the 'Evans' debate. It reminded me a lot of my own concerns.

Although so many people rave about the value of "Moongel", I just can't bring myself to try it out, even though I am sure I could use some. It's the "Moon" bit that freaks me out. I'm scared of far-off places. Do they sell anything similar called "Earthgel". I could cope with that!

[Christ-Hammer]

Well I have Moongels and I would say they are definitely worth the money, but I still like the sound of rings more. Even the fact that you don't like the name, with $5 or so you can get a set of 4 of them and they are one of the best ways to dampen, so try them out when you got some extra pocket change. Anyway I am down to the point to where if I buy a head I don't care what name is on it, if it makes a decent sound I don't care lol.

[SGT_Drummer]

the only tip i could throw in here would be an old trick i used to do to cut back on over-resonance. (yes, they can ring TOO much)

the answer is DUCK TAPE!! (proof positive that yes! duck tape can fix anything) i would only use them on batter heads. I would take the reso heads off, do a quick tune on the batter, then apply a few SMALL strips of duck tape. they have to be very small other wise you lose ALL resonance. then i would put the reso head back on, tune to desired sound/pitch/tone/whatever, then proceed to give the batter head a final tuning. it worked nicely but was very time consuming so i quit doing it after awhile.

this method also increases head longetivity. i had to replace my snare head about 2 years after i started playing, on the head i got to replace it i applied the duck tape method. 14 years later when i passed that snare down to my sister it still had the same head on it, and it still sounded good. it definitely did not sound new, but it did sound good. 14" remo coated weatherking if anyone was curious.


also, if you break cymbals, try stacking the broken ones. very interesting sounds can be achieved. or there is a guy in joliet, IL that fixes them. by fixes i mean he cuts out all the broken parts so they are still useable. they have a different sound after which makes for a very unique overall sound.

[Christ-Hammer]

I use a Evans st dry snare head, it took me a week to tune it, but it turned out so nice!

I also tune to resonance, none of that tune to a note because:

1) I have no clue how to

2) I don't see how that does anything.

Well after some experimenting I found out that tuning to the note actually works, and like you said you tune to resonance, you are still tuning to a note. Every sound the resonance makes is a note, but the trick is to listen to each head individually and compare it to another instrument if that makes sense. Like I used a tuned guitar for this one, and I noticed the incident when I was tuning my guitar to drop d comparing it to the d string it made a similar sound to the problems we have with drum resonance. As I was tuning it, it made a wavy sound and it got less wavy as I got closer to the note, so this helped me a lot with tuning my drums to make a sweet resonating sound. Fact proven,
Thanks Mystic and Bob Gatzen

[Christ-Hammer]

the only tip i could throw in here would be an old trick i used to do to cut back on over-resonance. (yes, they can ring TOO much)

the answer is DUCK TAPE!! (proof positive that yes! duck tape can fix anything) i would only use them on batter heads. I would take the reso heads off, do a quick tune on the batter, then apply a few SMALL strips of duck tape. they have to be very small other wise you lose ALL resonance. then i would put the reso head back on, tune to desired sound/pitch/tone/whatever, then proceed to give the batter head a final tuning. it worked nicely but was very time consuming so i quit doing it after awhile.

this method also increases head longetivity. i had to replace my snare head about 2 years after i started playing, on the head i got to replace it i applied the duck tape method. 14 years later when i passed that snare down to my sister it still had the same head on it, and it still sounded good. it definitely did not sound new, but it did sound good. 14" remo coated weatherking if anyone was curious.


also, if you break cymbals, try stacking the broken ones. very interesting sounds can be achieved. or there is a guy in joliet, IL that fixes them. by fixes i mean he cuts out all the broken parts so they are still useable. they have a different sound after which makes for a very unique overall sound.

I discovered that too much resonance is due to poor tuning, no need for duct tape. When you get the batter and reso tuned to the same note or an octave higher/lower w/e you want, it will reduce bad overtones and it will give it a much nicer sound. I realize now after some drumming experience that resonance is actually a drummers best friend. The only time I would use any form of dampening now is to dampen a really low end set, there are certain kits out there that just sound bad on their own and dampening will make them sound quite a bit better, but it will never do a drummer justice to dampen a high end kit unless they are miced up.

[veggo32]

If you have some cymbal felts lying around (I don't do this myself but I've tried it and it works) cut a thin piece of duct tape and put 1/3 of it on the felt and then tape to the drum hoop so it holds the felt on the head. When you hit the head the felt will jump up allowing the head to do its thing, when the felt returns to the head it will stop the ring. You can experiment by taping the felt so its further or closer to the hoop, also you can try different size felts depending on how dampened you want it.
I saw this on a Russ Miller Dvd.

[SGT_Drummer]

I discovered that too much resonance is due to poor tuning, no need for duct tape. When you get the batter and reso tuned to the same not or an octave higher/lower w/e you want, it will reduce bad overtones and it will give it a much nicer sound. I realize now after some drumming experience that resonance is actually a drummers best friend. The only time I would use any form of dampening now is to dampen a really low end set, there are certain kits out there that just sound bad on their own and dampening will make them sound quite a bit better, but it will never do a drummer justice to dampen a high end kit unless they are miced up.

yeah the set I primarily used this technique on was VERY low end. I won't do it on my new set, and the primary reason i stopped do this was because i learned how to tune properly lol.

[Music is Awesome]

Anyone know what heads i would need to get my toms to sound like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae1tBkA2ZB8

[MadJazz]

Making your kit sound good.

How?

One word: Powerstroke3

This head is great all-round, for snare, kick and toms. It's the most popular head for kick and often seen on snares but few people have thought of trying it with toms. At the same time they wonder how to eliminate overring without killing sustain. That's exactly what PS3 does!

Instead of messing with 2 ply heads and adding moongel, try this one. It also keeps the good stick rebound of a 1 ply.
Just don't take a coated version for toms, unless you like your floor tom to have a bright stick attack.

Don't get fooled, this head is not the same as an ambassador with O-ring. The O-ring is much thicker and more intrusive than on PS3. The difference between amb with O-ring and PS3 is night and day.

I'm still waiting for a diplomat weight PS3. This would be the ideal head for 8-10" toms.

[Abel]

Bob Gatzen has some great tips. I also consult the Drum Tuning Bible.

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