Heads for recording

piperdoog

Silver Member
Hello, quick question, I'm heading into the studio here pretty soon, and wondering about head choice, the bass drum I have covered, like the sound I'm getting out of it. Currently I'm running coated emperors over clear ambassadors, have always liked the combo trusted through and through, the heads are broken in and are great but was curious if a clear emperor on the batter would be better for recording?
I'm running it on an birch Sonor S classix.
Cheers.
 
If you like that combo you should stay with it. Clear heads will give you a different sound that you may or may not like for recording. Heads are a tough choice and if you find a combination you like, its sometimes best to stay with it.
 
Stay with the combo you know best. Setup in a studio is a very expensive time to start experimenting. I'd usually suggest going to a coated batter if you normally use clear anyway. A coated batter will reduce overtones, take out some of the highs & attack, & generally warm the tone. If needed, adding a bit of bite into the tom sound is easy to do with a touch of eq. Extracting tone is much more difficult.

The only change I would suggest, funds permitting, is a new set of heads, at least the batters. This will improve sustain & tone, & if you get your usual heads, your investment isn't wasted. Have fun, I love studio time!
 
Many times in a recording situation, engineers are looking for a resonant, big fat tone from your toms. Alot of guys, myself included, go with a single ply batter head in the studio. They produce a bit more resonance and tone. Tuning is key in this situation and it also depends on the shell material of the drum. I used clear ambassadors on my Yamaha recording customs (birch shells) and they sounded phenomenal. Coated ambassadors sounded best on my maple kits.

If you are not used to recording and are unfamiliar with how single ply heads sound and feel on your kit, I would stick with what you know and try to get a great sound from your kit as is. Maybe down the road you can experiment to see if you like the single ply head sound and feel.
 
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