"Wet" Sounding Snare Head(s)

cobamnator

Senior Member
I have a 14" x 5.5 Ludwig "Blackrolite"

Right now It has Aluminum die cast BATTER hoop, triple flange rezo hoops, Remo Coated Ambassadors (or Evans G1 / genera), and Evans Hazy 300, and a 18 strand snare wires.

I have the bottom head cranked, the top head medium tight. I tune the top head differently all the time though.



However, this snare sounds too "Dry" for me. It isn't the driest sounding snare...by far it isn't.

But how do I get a little more Focused, Wetter, Fat, Studio like sound out of it?

Is there some head or tuning change that I should do?
 
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Besides the 5" Aluminum NEVER being able to sound like a 6.5 un-beaded Brass shell.... ;-P....

Try using a standard 2.3 on top.
This will make the overall sound not so "condensed" and dry sounding.

On my Acro, I've had great luck with a coated Emp on top (med tight) getting close to the sound on that video. The bottom head is a Remo No Collar snare side clear (SA0314TD). It's tight.
I also have 42 strand wires on the drum. Tried it on a fluke, and it sounded great, so I keep them on.
The 42's beefed up the sound, and it sounds bigger than a 5" depth, but still has the same "5 inch snare response" with the sticks. The crack is still there with the 2.3's on rimshots, but it's not as dry, or short a sound as a DC.

I actually prefer this Acrolites sound over my 400. There's just something about it that sounds cooler to me. Maybe it's the 8 lugs instead of 10/...I don't know...

Another head that sounds fat and wet is a Coated Pinstripe.
Yet another, that I personally us a lot is a CS Emperor (BE0114-22). It's a Coated Emperor with a Top Dot. This head works great on the Acro for me, and it's on most of my snares. It's NOT the same head as the Emperor X.

Here's a link to that snare side head.
http://www.interstatemusic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_109814

Good luck!
 
I have an Aquarian Focus-X head on my Blacro, and that's pretty dry...

But I have an Aquarian New Orleans Special head on my 14 x 5 'battleship grey' Acrolite--probably an 80s model. I tune it lower for quieter, folk-rock gigs, and it certainly sounds wet. It doesn't sound much like the drum in the video link, however, but you might want to check out the New Orleans special head--it's basically a clear head with a coated 'dot' that covers all but an inch or so around the edge. It gives you some ring and body and what to my ears seems 'wet'.

Hope that helps?

Later
 
I have an Aquarian Focus-X head on my Blacro, and that's pretty dry...

But I have an Aquarian New Orleans Special head on my 14 x 5 'battleship grey' Acrolite--probably an 80s model. I tune it lower for quieter, folk-rock gigs, and it certainly sounds wet. It doesn't sound much like the drum in the video link, however, but you might want to check out the New Orleans special head--it's basically a clear head with a coated 'dot' that covers all but an inch or so around the edge. It gives you some ring and body and what to my ears seems 'wet'.

Hope that helps?

Later

Yes, I will have to check that head out.

I think I am going to take that link down. I don’t know if that is the best example of what I want.

I still want a Wet, Fat tone, but I don't want a very ringy sound either.

See, right now my snare sounds too...Present. If that makes any sense.

I wonder if lowering the Bottom snare head would be ideal....
 
Try using a standard 2.3 on top.
This will make the overall sound not so "condensed" and dry sounding.


I am using an aluminum Die cast, which is very light and doesn't choke the drum.

However, I put that on there Because the 2.3 on batter was way too...trash-can-overtone-tone. If that makes any sense.
 
I used to have a problem with choked, dry, papery sounding snare drums, and one of the problems was a bottom head that was too tight. Couldn't hurt to loosen it up a little...



Ok, I'll definitely try this. Because I tend to CRANK and CRANK the bottom head, to the point where the rim is level to the bearing edge (!!!!). It sounds good on some situations but that's what’s probably gone wrong.

Funny thing is, a couple days ago, a drummer buddy came over and played my kit and he loved my snare. His exact words were, “You gotta show me how to tune my snare”.
 
Aluminum shells make for a dry sounding drum. Get a brass or bronze snare for a wetter sound.
 
I don't believe it has as much to do with the shell as it does with tuning. For a wet snare sound tune your bottom head lower than your batter. Think about it if your getting a dry sound from tight bottom and medium tuned top head then wouldn't the opposite be true for a wet snare sound? Do this and you will get a wet sound.
 
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