Fiberskyn on 18" BD

rstix

Member
Hey Y'all I'm Ricky. This is my first post.

I've been playing drums for 10 years and I'm a junior at the University of Tulsa getting my BA in Music w/ a jazz emphasis.

So I heard some good reviews from the fiber skyn coated heads. I went to a drum clinic a couple months ago with Dave Hardman - the main percussion professor over at UCO - he was rockin' all fiber skyn heads. It makes sense because his long-time teacher was Jeff Hamilton.

I play a lot of jazz - anywhere from trio to big band - and besides lookin' super bad ass - I thought the fiber skyn head on my bd would fair better than my stock head.

FYI - I play a yamaha stage custom be-bop fusion size shells. So I special ordered an 18" fiber skyn. When I got it, I had a lot of trouble tuning it. So I brought it to my local music shop for a pro to help me tune.

We installed a standard remo without the a port on the resonate side. Tuned it up and couldn't get a good sound. It sounded like an orchestra bass drum. Hollow and empty.

So... we put two felt strips on the inside of each head - and re tuned it back up. I got a decent sound and took it to band practice. My band is funk/rock BTW - and so the whole band was thrown off by the new sounding bass drum. It had no thump or wallop - and even myself was throw off.

What I originally wanted was a Bd head that could play quiet trio jazz and loud funk rock. What I got was a motown/ super super retro sound that did not work for me.

I put back on the evans stock factory head and it sounded 1000x closer to what I wanted.

So... emadd? What do yall think is a good alternative for my style of play. Thanks!!!
 
Fiberskyn on 18" BD

quiet trio jazz = Yes

loud funk rock = No

You'll always have to compromise somewhere when trying for best sound for each genre. There are some that take the sound from a different genre and make it work in another. Keith Carlock comes to mind when it's funk bass drum sound we are talking about.
Steve Gadd when it's overall kit sound. I've never heard Steve play a kit with a snare, bass drum or toms that sound like Jack DeJohnette, Elvin, Art Blakey. Yet he makes his sound work.

IMHO: If you want the best sound for each you will need to live with compromise or get another kit for a different sound via heads and tuning

Jim
 
I've got an Emad and an Aquarian Superkick on my Yamaha Bop kits. For lack of a better description, I'd say the Emad is thicker and thumpier, and the Superkick is cleaner and more focused. I like both sounds equally, and either would work for your louder music, I think.

For softer stuff, you might have to try some type of muffling, as well as feathering the bass pedal lighter.
Last week I saw a guy using something kind of unique. You know the internal mufflers on some snare drums that you adjust by turning a knob? He had something sort of like it, but a lot larger on the outside batter head of his bass drum, and was playing quiet as a mouse.
 
I put an Evans EQ3 on the batter side and an EQ3 Resonant on the front. I also put an Evans EQ pillow that sits inside but does not touch the heads. I have only played rock and blues with it, and it sounds good. Outside it needs to be miced. Peace and goodwill.
 
I don't think the fiberskyn will work for you then. These guys are recommending good stuff. Personally I'd just get a Powerstroke 3, it's hard to go wrong with them.

I should mention as well, if you have any other stock heads on your drums: they should be replaced as soon as possible. Pretty much any head that comes stock from the drum manufacturer is just awful. I hope you found the sound you want.
 
Use a thin Diplomat weight Fiberskyn as a reso head with a felt strip across it.
Cut a small 3 inch dia porthole.
Use a Remo Powerstroke 3 coated as a batter head.
Tune the batter slightly tight. Tune the reso tighter.
You will have a great sound for both jazz and funk.
 
Use a thin Diplomat weight Fiberskyn as a reso head with a felt strip across it.
Cut a small 3 inch dia porthole.
Use a Remo Powerstroke 3 coated as a batter head.
Tune the batter slightly tight. Tune the reso tighter.
You will have a great sound for both jazz and funk.

You know I was going to get an emad reso head with a port - but I was talked out of the port by a few people. The port pushes out too much air on an 18" bd and the other reason is because a sound a engineer should be able to mic a bass drum well without a port. I guess it's just if he is in a rush a port might be easier to get the kit adjusted.

Anyway - I'm not doggin' what you said - I'm so close in a debate now between an emad coated or the powerstoke 3. I was just playing an emad all night on a gretch catalina and it sounds great - really beefy.

The gretsch catalina has is 18x14 and my yamaha stage custom bop is 18x15 - so I'm assuming I can't go wrong with the emad as it should sould similar. Funny thing that set has an evans reso port on it and it sounds fine...now that I think about it.. I guess it really dosen't matter in the long run!!

RS
 
You know I was going to get an emad reso head with a port - but I was talked out of the port by a few people. The port pushes out too much air on an 18" bd and the other reason is because a sound a engineer should be able to mic a bass drum well without a port. I guess it's just if he is in a rush a port might be easier to get the kit adjusted.

You can dampen a powerstroke to sound like an EMAD :).

Also, I don't understand the "pushing too much air" thing. 24" bass drums push exponentially more air but people still use ports in them.

And finally, sound engineers SHOULD be able to. That doesn't mean that they always WILL be able to. You could just buy another head and port your current one.
 
I play a Yammie Tour Custom Maple Bop with an 18" kick.

I put the clear thin EMAD on the batter side, (stock reso-so far) and it works great. The fact that I can change the response on the fly among three options is useful to quickly dial in to different requirements.

I wouldn't be too hasty to get the thicker or coated variants, but that's me.
 
I play a Yammie Tour Custom Maple Bop with an 18" kick.

I put the clear thin EMAD on the batter side, (stock reso-so far) and it works great. The fact that I can change the response on the fly among three options is useful to quickly dial in to different requirements.

I wouldn't be too hasty to get the thicker or coated variants, but that's me.

yeah i hear the coated is better for jazz, country - clear for rock, harder stuff

I'll probably get the clear - at school we use the coated but never any rings!
 
Based on the desired sound that you described for those applications, my go-to head would be an Evans EQ4 frosted.

You could definitely try an EMAD (especially coated!) and have it tuned up into a bop range with the smaller ring. The EMAD is Florian Alexandru-Zorn's (who plays everything from brush jazz to more experimental stuff) go-to bass drum batter, though he often tunes lower. You can hear some samples of him with it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ays4G3MiKQ8

Cheers!
 
Based on the desired sound that you described for those applications, my go-to head would be an Evans EQ4 frosted.

You could definitely try an EMAD (especially coated!) and have it tuned up into a bop range with the smaller ring. The EMAD is Florian Alexandru-Zorn's (who plays everything from brush jazz to more experimental stuff) go-to bass drum batter, though he often tunes lower. You can hear some samples of him with it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ays4G3MiKQ8

Cheers!

YES! That is some freaking tasty brush drumming there. I actually have this gig every monday night, which is a spoken-word poetry/ hip-hop cypher thing - it's a 4 piece thing drums, bass, sax, and guitar and we play jazz standards and improve stuff behind poetry and rap. I usually use brushes, but just bought a pair of hot rods to try out tonight. --- After watching this video I'm thinking about staying with brushes and just watching this more of Florian Alexandru-Zorn's stuff
 
YES! That is some freaking tasty brush drumming there. I actually have this gig every monday night, which is a spoken-word poetry/ hip-hop cypher thing - it's a 4 piece thing drums, bass, sax, and guitar and we play jazz standards and improve stuff behind poetry and rap. I usually use brushes, but just bought a pair of hot rods to try out tonight. --- After watching this video I'm thinking about staying with brushes and just watching this more of Florian Alexandru-Zorn's stuff

I highly recommend that you buy "The Brush Secret" (Florian Alexandru-Zorn's DVD). I've owned this for several months and it's great for having a contemporary approach to brush playing, ESPECIALLY in the area of horizontal playing.

Your Monday gig sounds perfect for the results of studying this material .

Jim
 
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