Getting rid of my mind destroying snare sound

riddle

Member
I recently got a Remo Coated Ambassador as my batter, it was my first head change and i didnt change the resonant.

I've played with the stock heads for about a year, the top being tama hazy 200 and an unnamed resonant.

Problem is, i was pleased at first at the ambassador, and somehow the flaky piercing sounds are getting to me, i didnt have this problem with stock heads. Is is because there is too much difference in batter and resonant? or my tuning? i like a focused, warm, ploppy, thucking sound with depth, not too cracky but attacks well despite it not being cutting.

I've figured out it was the resonant because i tried replacing the thin head with my ex-batter head i got the ploppy sound but it was too dead, so im just wondering what i should do..

i have a swingstar snare, 14"x5.5" thanks for your helpp
 
You had a hazy 200 for the batter head?? That thing is the thinnest drum head made, and made for the snare side. I surprized it lasted a day.
 
um.. hazy 200 coated yeah, and a very thin for the resonant, ill take pictures if i can, i use o-rings so they were okay...until now

ever know how depressing it is when your snare sounds horrible? its too open and choking
 
Attached are my old heads, do you think its okay if i put the chipped off coated as my resonant?
 

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First things first . . . that is a Tama "200" not an Evans Hazy 200, which is a snare resonant head.

Snare reso heads are ultra-thin, and need to be. Try getting a hazy ambassador snare side to go with your coated ambassador batter.

Then you need to tune well. If you're new to tuning snares, try these links:

Tuning snares

Reducing snare buzz part 1 and part 2.

Note that a well-tuned snare drum will have some ring. It'll be a nice ring, not an obnoxious ring.

Different snare drums have their sweet spot in different places--some like the reso higher than the batter, some like the reso lower than the batter. The only solution is to experiment.

If after experimentation you still don't have the sound you want, time to try a different batter--I'd go for a coated CS next.
 
First off, it's a Tama Swingstar snare the tuning and tone are going to be limited so don't expect a dream-like sound here. Second, the snare reso head makes a huge difference in the sound. Next, the type of resonant head matters as well. An "Ambassador Snare" is 3mil compared to a Diplomat Snare at 2mil. Thinner snare side heads have a drier sound than the heavier ones but are more sensitive. Next, Coated Ambassador heads can be tuned to a huge array of sounds from low, dry and powerful to high, resonant, and lively. The final issue would be the snares themselves. Different types of strands yield different tones and sounds as well. The tonal difference in my Mapex, Slingerland, and Ludwig snares was huge when switching to Puresound snares from the stock budget ones (actually the Slingerland ones were high quality but had worn out). I would get yourself a Coated Ambassador with an Ambassador Snare Side resonant head and a set of Puresound snares (the Custom 16 is a great standard size). Tune that drum up and you should have a great sound even for a Swingstar snare.
 
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