HELP WITH DRUM HEADS!!!!!!!!

Hey,
This is my first of many threads so please reply!!
As part of school, we're doing a school play and I'm in the band. (As the drummer... of course). I'm using my acoustic kit but it's not very good as I got it for a hundred pounds from a shop called LIDL's. I'm replacing the drumheads on it and need some help.

I'm looking for a warm, resonant, Bonham-esque sound for the toms and a snare sound that is bright but doesn't ring too much. I'd also rather get Remo's but will consider Evans if the difference is a lot better.

I noticed the Remo Coated Emperor's, Remo Coated Ambassador's and Remo Ambassador heads. For the toms, I thought Coated Emperor's over Coated Ambassador's. For the snare, I thought Coated Emperor over Resonant Ambassador. is this a good choice?

The kit sizes are as followed:
12" high tom
13" mid tom
16" floor tom
14" snare

Thanks and please reply soon.
 
The coated emperor over coated ambassador is a popular combo, and it's indeed the combo used by John Bonham, so you should be OK with your choice there.

On the snare drum I would prefer an coated ambassador or a coated CS with the white dot underneath as they're single ply heads and give a nice "crack" to the sound, but a coated emperor can be OK if it's the sound you're after.

Hope this helps.
 
A Lidl kit, eh? That's new to me!

I would usually recommend Ambassadors over Ambassadors. For this though, I'll say you've pretty much nailed it with your first suggestion - particularly for the toms. For the snare I would actually use an Ambassador batter over Ambassador resonant. Your suggestions are very reasonable.

If you can't get hold of the Remo heads, I would get Evans heads instead. The G2 is essentially identical to an Emperor and a G1 is identical to an Ambassador. I prefer Remo snare heads but for tom heads it makes very little difference.

Whereabouts in the UK? I might be able to direct you to a good store if I know the area.
 
The coated emperor over coated ambassador is a popular combo, and it's indeed the combo used by John Bonham, so you should be OK with your choice there.

On the snare drum I would prefer an coated ambassador or a coated CS with the white dot underneath as they're single ply heads and give a nice "crack" to the sound, but a coated emperor can be OK if it's the sound you're after.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, what's the difference between the Coated Emperor and Coated Ambassador? I want a bright but warm (if that makes sense) sound. I thought with the Emperor's, I could tune them tightly to get a bright sound.
 
A Lidl kit, eh? That's new to me!

I would usually recommend Ambassadors over Ambassadors. For this though, I'll say you've pretty much nailed it with your first suggestion - particularly for the toms. For the snare I would actually use an Ambassador batter over Ambassador resonant. Your suggestions are very reasonable.

If you can't get hold of the Remo heads, I would get Evans heads instead. The G2 is essentially identical to an Emperor and a G1 is identical to an Ambassador. I prefer Remo snare heads but for tom heads it makes very little difference.

Whereabouts in the UK? I might be able to direct you to a good store if I know the area.

Exeter in Devon. I just thought with the Emperor's, I could tune them tightly to get a bright sound but because they're coated, they'd still be warm. Please give your thought's on this!!!
 
The Emperors are two-ply and the Ambassadors are single-ply. With everything else equal, the Emperors tend to be a little deeper sounding and with slightly less sustain.

The only shop I know down there is Manson's. My grandmother lives in Exmouth so I know the area reasonably well but only the one music shop. If it had been Kent or Lancashire I would be more useful!
 
The Emperors are two-ply and the Ambassadors are single-ply. With everything else equal, the Emperors tend to be a little deeper sounding and with slightly less sustain.

The only shop I know down there is Manson's. My grandmother lives in Exmouth so I know the area reasonably well but only the one music shop. If it had been Kent or Lancashire I would be more useful!

But if I tune the Emperor's tightly, wouldn't it become brighter? And thanks for trying to suggest shops. And also I appreciate the quick help!!! Thanks!!!
 
But if I tune the Emperor's tightly, wouldn't it become brighter? And thanks for trying to suggest shops. And also I appreciate the quick help!!! Thanks!!!

It would be brighter but the Ambassadors would be brighter still. If you want a brighter sound from the Emperors, I would suggest trying clear Emperors.
 
Thanks, what's the difference between the Coated Emperor and Coated Ambassador? I want a bright but warm (if that makes sense) sound. I thought with the Emperor's, I could tune them tightly to get a bright sound.

Emperor = 2 plys, Ambassador = 1 ply

The emperor will produce a warmer, deeper pitch and tone than an ambassdor due to the 2 plys designs.

You'll get a bright (attack) and warm (deep) sound with the emperor, now it depends what you mean by "tightly", but 2 turns after the finger tight point is quite tight, just experiment and adjust higher or lower to suit your taste, reso head same as batter or a bit higher should do.
 
Emperor = 2 plys, Ambassador = 1 ply

The emperor will produce a warmer, deeper pitch and tone than an ambassdor due to the 2 plys designs.

You'll get a bright (attack) and warm (deep) sound with the emperor, now it depends what you mean by "tightly", but 2 turns after the finger tight point is quite tight, just experiment and adjust higher or lower to suit your taste, reso head same as batter or a bit higher should do.

What do you mean by bright attack? I heard a lot of people use it but don't know what exactly it means.
 
Thanks, what about Coated Ambassador's on the resonant side? Just a thought.

I would just stick to clear Ambassadors on the resonant. You could use coated heads and there wouldn't be any great issue with it but it's not done so often these days. Generally the resonant head is aiming for quite a bit of sustain so a coated head can take some of that away.

It wouldn't matter massively. The main difference for batter heads between coated and clear would be the 'attack'. The attack increases slightly with a clear batter head. Coated heads sound a little warmer and you can use brushes with them more effectively.

I run coated Ambassadors over clear Ambassadors on my toms. It's worked very well for me but I tune my toms higher than most. Coated or clear Emperors over clear Ambassadors would be a very conventional setup but versatile and effective providing you can tune them well.

Attack is the sound of the stick hitting the head. Like a fist hitting your palm - it makes a bright 'slap' sound. Stick attack is very similar but with the drum note following it.

Getting deeper into sound theory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADSR_envelope#ADSR_envelope this link refers to synthesisers but the principle is the same.
 
So which is better, Coated Ambassador or Coated Emperor?

From what I've heard, the Coated Emperor sound great but people suggested the Coated Ambassador as well. The Coated Emperor provide me with what I want. Bonham-esque sound, bright and warm. Yes the sustain is reduced but my snare rings out a lot so I could use the reduced sustain to my advantage.

So please a straight suggestion. Coated Emperor or Coated Ambassador?
 
I would go with the Emperors in your case. I'm assuming your snare is also a steel snare and could probably be helped by taming with an Emperor. Make sure you tune it well. Look up 'Bob Gatzen' on YouTube for some really great tuning tutorials.
 
What do you mean by bright attack? I heard a lot of people use it but don't know what exactly it means.

Difficult to explain if your not familiar with it.

You want a sound that bright, right? so brightness comes from the higher frequencies of the head, attack is the perception of the sound when stroked by the stick, it's how much "snap" you'll hear when hitting the drums, as an example, a shell with no bottom head have plenty of attack, as the air can fully escape from the drum with a lot of projection.

Hope this make sense to you. lol
 
I would go with the Emperors in your case. I'm assuming your snare is also a steel snare and could probably be helped by taming with an Emperor. Make sure you tune it well. Look up 'Bob Gatzen' on YouTube for some really great tuning tutorials.

Thanks, and the snare is wood. But because it's really cheap, it rings like a metal snare. I think the Emperor's are a good choice because they offer everything I want. Thanks!!!
 
Difficult to explain if your not familiar with it.

You want a sound that bright, right? so brightness comes from the higher frequencies of the head, attack is the perception of the sound when stroked by the stick, it's how much "snap" you'll hear when hitting the drums, as an example, a shell with no bottom head have plenty of attack, as the air can fully escape from the drum with a lot of projection.

Hope this make sense to you. lol

I sort of get it. Thanks! I think I'll go with the Coated Emperor's on all drums batter side and Coated Ambassador's on the resonant tom heads and Clear/Resonant Ambassador's on the snare resonant side.
 
Same as Coated Emperor over Coated Ambassador, but with a brighter sound, more attack and less emphasis on the medium pitch of the sound, more responce from the batter head too.

I meant the coated ambassador on the snare (both batter and reso). My snare rings out like mad so would it have the same effect as coated emperor's over clear ambassadors?
 
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