To muffle or not to muffle?

Dizeee

Senior Member
Opinions please on my currently empty bass drum - although having just heard the recording back I note that mic on the camera is not in a great position, but you get the jist.

Having replaced both skins and feeling happy with the result I am not sure I need anything to go inside it.

Any thoughts? Thanks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4bRMxvWUd4
 
It sounds fine, in that room, at that distance, with that recording device. As soon as you take those drums into a different space, or put a mic to it, it will be a different sound. Remember also that a drum with a nice boom or decay by itself, will sound different in the context of a band.

But it sounds fine as-is. :)

Bermuda
 
Are you burying the beater?
 
What Bermuda said hit home to me. I decided to take the muffling out of my bass drum before a gig because it wasn't cutting through. Tried it out at home and it sounded great. Really satisfied with the sound. Get to the gig and it sounded awful during the soundcheck. A huge conspicuous BOOM that wasn't right for a Seventies-style funk band. I had to quickly take off the batter head, panicking and sweating, and threw my soft snare case in there, tuning it with seconds to spare.
 
Doesn't sound like it needs muffling to me. As others have stated though, different rooms will make the drum sound very different and you need to tweak for the room. The carpet is probably eating up a lot of the sustain, so in a more reflective room you might find you need to throw something in there, depending on what sound you are going for. Also depending on what sound you're after, you might want to slack off the batter head a smidge.
 
No muffle. Sounds good to me. But take Bermuda's advice to heart - being adaptable in different sounding rooms and situations will do wonders for your sanity and confidence.
 
Please tell us how it is now tuned or what you did to get rid of the "papery thwack" . Both head tight, medium, one head loose. How is it now.
 
Yes all comments re rooms appreciated, although it will be staying where it is.

I changed both heads, batter head is now medium tight, I would say a few turns in from finger tight, and as even as I can get all round. The outer head is probablt similar and ever so slightly looser, although they are very similar. I just threw them on and hoped for the best, and was amazed at the difference. My toms didn't change sound as much with new heads but this is like a different drum.
 
The sk2/ resonator combo doesn't need any extra dampening. You can control how much more sustain you want (it won't be a lot!!) by tightening batter and reso. Try all kinds of different things until you like it. Then try again becsuse you may like different combos.
 
Since you asked for some thoughts...ported drums don't really do it for me anymore. Coupled with burying the beater is a dual attack on the bass of the bass drum. There's no real solid bottom end. It's castrated. Burying the beater is problematic with a full front head and an empty drum though. Multiple bounces. But the low end boom is missing for me. Burying the beater kills the bass tone for me. It doesn't allow any nice round boom. I tried cutting a 1" port in a tom once. It killed the drum. I have no reason to believe it would be any different on a bass drum.

Keeping it as it is, I'd tighten the reso head way up for a punchier tone. Or get that beater off the head. Or both actually. It sounds on the dull side to me.
 
When the drums are by themselves, it's totally up to you. If it sounds good, it is good. It's when they're in a band context that things get tricky.

In certain live situations, where the drums are mic'd, and the PA has subwoofers, you might want some muffling. An unmuffled drum will ring out maybe a bit too long, and/or the heads may also vibrate sympathetically from a loud bass or keyboard amp on stage. The sound engineer might leave the noise gate on the bass drum signal set to whatever setting it was previously, or not engage it at all. Having a towel or drum pillow, in this case, can help your band achieve a good sound with very little time and effort.

Also, the "thwack" sound that you're not so fond of at the moment may come in handy if your band has loud, distorted guitars, or other aggressive sounds. The sound of the beater striking the drum head may not be pleasant on its own, but it will help to cut through a dense mix of heavy instruments. OTOH, if the band is playing acoustic instruments, or has a mellower sound, a soft "boom" is all you'll need.

So, maybe keep a towel on hand, just in case. Ported bass drums are handy.
 
Cheers all.

I will experiment with the skins tightness. I do sometimes feel some resonance through my foot though almost like there is too much air trying to escape.
 
I guess I don't tend to change the BD much. I basically have a 1/4 of an old blanket type sleeping bag in there.

I do vary the snare though and the same thing applies. It's not one specific thing, it depends on he room and the musical situation. It's impossible to know unless you're there.
 
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