Head Choice Advice - Starclassic Birch - Please Help

FreddyFrooh

Junior Member
Hi everyone
So i gone and bought myself a 2005 Starclassic Birch (14", 24", 12", 14", 16") which sit looking ever so pretty underneath Sabian AAX/HHX's
At the minute i'm sporting clear Emperors on top and Diplomats underneath
My problem is that i'm either getting too much flappiness if i tune low and, i don't really know how to describe it but it's like a beachball if i tune high
The solution i've thought of so far (other than generally improving my tuning abilities) is to buy some Coated Pinstripes and Coated Diplomats OR EC2 Clears and EC resonants
What i'm after is just the note of the drum, clear and without any other ring that speaks and then dies without resonating for a year
Can i get some advice on whether my ideas will bare me the labour fruit that i'm after or if anybody has any better ideas
Thanks :)
 
My problem is that i'm either getting too much flappiness if i tune low and, i don't really know how to describe it but it's like a beachball if i tune high

There has to be a happy medium between those two extremes, so that's what I'd shoot for finding.

Since you already mentioned improving your tuning abilities that's where I'd concentrate. What you're using are just about the industry standard for versatile tom tom head choices; choosing different heads in hopes of postponing having to improve your tuning skills isn't much of a solution. None of those other head choices are going to be that much different in sound and no more forgiving of uneven tuning.

I'd concentrate on getting the batter head perfectly in tune with itself at the pitch you're looking for and tuning the bottom head to blend well with the pitch of the batter. Some people like the batter and resonant to match, or a little lower or higher ( I like either matched or slightly higher on the reso ).

I'd also start with a single drum (like the 12" tom) and trying some different tuning strategies on just that drum until you get a sound you like. Don't be afraid to try several different tunings before settling on one. Sometimes significantly higher or lower on one head can give a totally different sound than you might expect.
 
Diplomats aren't the most commonly used as tom resos; Ambassadors are pretty much the standard. But if you can't get a good sound out of the heads you have more work on tuning may be in order. The short note you're after would need to come from some sort of muffling, which could be a pre-muffled head or some Moongel, tape, studio rings, etc...
 
Maybe you could try an Ambassador as reso. The Diplomats are very thin, and maybe they don't support the Emperor batter head in a good way.

And, of course, tuning is probably involved.
 
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