Bass drum help

I have read through quite a few posts using the search and still cant really seem to find or atleast understand the answer I am looking for, I am currently using an EMAD batter and just the standard DW reso, as much as i enjoy the dark wet punch,i need something a bit fatter/deeper/more sustain. what would you all recommend to pretty much cock pump my bass drum and give it another 6" as far as heads go?

Thanks
Adam

tbdd said:

what would you all recommend to pretty much cock pump my bass drum and give it another 6" as far as heads go?

Thanks
Adam

Click to expand...

Funniest thing I have ever seen on this site! i wish I would have thought of it first.

Anywho, how are your heads tuned? Are you using an EMAD or EMADII? Reso port? Is there any kind of muffling in the drum? You stated you are getting a dark and wet punch. It sounds like you might want to tune the drum up a bit to give it some beef (length and girth.

Less muffling is the answer.
Remo Powerstroke 3, Evans EQ3 or EQ4.
If you're really bold go for an Emperor or G2!

Sometimes you have to tune a bass drum UP to get what you want. Good luck.

Just the EMAD i do have a port hole and only one little pillow in there and i took it out for trial and it sounded a bit iffy, i'll try tune it upand see how it goes until i can get me some new heads.

Thanks

I ran that same ported reso with EMAD for a few years. On my new kit, I decided I wanted an internal mic and complete logo on the front. So, I have NO port on the reso and just cut a 2" wide felt strip across the inside of the reso to give me some control. It sounds better to my ear having no hole in the reso using EMAD also. You can adjust the strip away from the center to give you more or less reso. It sounds very, very good.

Here's what I did for a while to get that exact sound:

Resonant: Aquarian standard bassdrum reso head, with 4" hole. I ordered the Regulator, but they didn't send it so I duplicated the Regulator's muffling on this head with gaffer tape and bits of foam.

Batter head: Aquarian Force I, with some cloth inserted in the dampening ring and gaffer taped into place.


Resonant head was tuned as low as possible, only barely above finger tight.

Batter head was tuned as low as possible, but high enough that it didn't sound flat, but started filling out the sound without losing any punch. I had unanimous praise from every sound engineer who mic'd up my kit while I had my bassdrum tuned this way.

I use no extra muffling inside the kick drum - no pillows or towels or anything. Only the heads themselves have any muffling.


I've just put on an Aquarian Super Kick II, which is two-ply as opposed to single ply, and the muffling ring is glued on. It's a bit punchier, I haven't played around with it in a venue or mic'd up though, so I don't know how the sound compares.