How to make small drums sound bigger, fuller, warmer? (Gretsch Catalina)

[Bran]

Hey everyone,

My drum kit is a Gretsch Catalina. It's a glorious little guy, with an 18" bass to boot.
It sounds pretty good miked, and, provided there's good acoustics in the room, sound good unmiked.

My only issue is it... often doesn't. I got my carpet removed and I'm seeing the whole extent of my drum technician-ignorance.
They sound awful.

My question is, can I make my smaller drums, espically the bass, sound fuller, more complete, with a deeper, warmer sound? Any heads, tuning suggestions?

Thanks!!

[Anthony Amodeo]

I have the same kit

mostly use it for jazz gigs and lighter rock stuff.....but for the rock stuff I change the tuning a bit and get a pretty big sound

I put an Emad on the kick and tune the batter head much looser than the reso....I also keep the reso complete do to playing jazz gigs ...I think this helps bring out the fullness of the drum....and being an 18" you need all the body you can get

coated Remo Emperors top ...clear Ambassadors on the bottom for the toms and tuned the same way.....top head about 50 to 100Hz lower than the bottom....if you desire more ring ....less Hz difference between heads

they sound great...that beautiful woody Gretsch tone

then I can totally switch gears and crank them up and get that legit bebop sound

very versatile drums

that 18" will never sound like a 22"..........but you can get it to punch

[Drumolator]

I have the same set. Here are the heads I use:

Bass drum: Evans EQ3 batter, EQ3 Resonant (tuned a little higher than the batter), Evans EQ Pad (modified) in the bottom, not touching the heads

Toms: G2 clear on top, EC Resonant on bottom (tuned a little lower than the top)

I do not use the snare. In fact, I no longer own it.

As said above, it will never sound like a 22" bass drum. Mine sounds deep and punchy. When I used it outside, we had to mic it, but we also had to mic a 22" bass drum when I had one.

If a room has bad acoustics, there is not a whole lot you can do if you are not micing it. My front head has a built-in hole. A solid bass drum head, such as an Evans EQ1 Resonant may provide a deeper sound. The stock heads are OK, but I ended up replacing all of them. When I tried a Remo Powerstoke 3 as the replacement for the original bass drum batter head, it sounded better than the stock head but not as good as the EQ3 I have on it now. The EQ 3 Resonant sounds better than the stock front head.

I watched some videos on the Evans web site that helped me get the most bass from the bass drum. An Emad batter may give more bass than the EQ3 I am using.

I really like my little Gretsch set. I hope you can get yours sounding the way you want. Peace and goodwill.

There's a saying in boxing -- "the good big man will always beat the good smaller man."

Having said that, once miced, a small kit can sound huge.

[drumdevil9]

One thing I have to say, if you have the stock batter on the kick, toss it. Get a Powerstroke or Emad like Gvd said and it'll be a big improvement. I have this kit and I use a Remo Fiberskyn Diplomat Powerstroke on the kick. Sounds good. Right now I'm using it for a rock band rehearsal/writing session so I'm using Evans G2s on the toms tuned fairly low. This also sounds pretty good. I also have a set of Fiberskyns for the toms which sound great too. I have G1 resos.

I am a fan of the snare. I get a nice "pop" out of it and have gotten compliments from sound men. Right now I'm using a coated Ambassador and stock reso.

[harryconway]

Originally Posted by drumdevil9

a coated Ambassador

+1. If your using clear heads, remove 'em. Save 'em for days that you want a bright sound. Coated heads will give any drum a warmer sound.

[toddbishop]

That'll be a little bit of a challenge-- I've honestly never been thrilled about the sound of the Catalinas. Do what Gvda says-- the Emperors should fatten them up as much as they can be. For that sound I tune the bottom moderately high, and the top wherever you want it-- very low to high.

[johnnylaw]

+1 on the (Clear Single-ply) EMAD. The bonus is the resonance is quickly tuneable with foam rings in or out. Still with stock reso which one member thought might be a Powerstroke 3 (?).

I put Vintage emperors on the batter side of the toms, and a coated Ambassador on the bottom of the floor tom. I have to say, they sound good to me!

I do not play really loud in giant rooms, but I get a good versatile sound, so its easier to play a variety of music.

The Kit is a Yamaha Tour Custom maple (18", 14", 12").

Tune carefully, and have fun.

Cheers!

[bigiainw]

Originally Posted by Bran

Hey everyone,

My drum kit is a Gretsch Catalina. It's a glorious little guy, with an 18" bass to boot.
It sounds pretty good miked, and, provided there's good acoustics in the room, sound good unmiked.

My only issue is it... often doesn't. I got my carpet removed and I'm seeing the whole extent of my drum technician-ignorance.
They sound awful.

My question is, can I make my smaller drums, espically the bass, sound fuller, more complete, with a deeper, warmer sound? Any heads, tuning suggestions?

Thanks!!

Trade them in for bigger, fuller sounding drums? Just sayin....

[P33v3]

A Kick Port helped my little Gretsch Catalina Club Jazz out a lot. I have an 18 inch BD on that also.

[JBoom]

Regardless of the heads you use, the way to get the fullest, biggest sound out of a drum is to tune the top and bottom heads to the same pitch, and have that pitch match the fundamental pitch of the drum itself.

Obviously, that's easier said than done.

That said, it may not be the warmest sound, but it's a good place to start and tweak from there. Also, if the room you're in has bad acoustics, you may not ever get a pleasant sound. One thing I do, because my room has bad acoustics, is to wear studio headphones while playing. It's not ear protection, but it does get rid of the bad overtones flying through the room and lets me better judge the sound coming from the drums.

[Anthony Amodeo]

Originally Posted by JBoom

Regardless of the heads you use, the way to get the fullest, biggest sound out of a drum is to tune the top and bottom heads to the same pitch, and have that pitch match the fundamental pitch of the drum itself.

Obviously, that's easier said than done.

That said, it may not be the warmest sound, but it's a good place to start and tweak from there. Also, if the room you're in has bad acoustics, you may not ever get a pleasant sound. One thing I do, because my room has bad acoustics, is to wear studio headphones while playing. It's not ear protection, but it does get rid of the bad overtones flying through the room and lets me better judge the sound coming from the drums.

that is not necessarily how to get a bigger sound

that will get you the most resonance ...but not the biggest sound

to make a small drum sound more full and punchy , and a bit more like a bigger drum .... your best bet is reso head about 50 to 100Hz higher than the batter

[JBoom]

Originally Posted by Gvdadrummasum

that is not necessarily how to get a bigger sound

that will get you the most resonance ...but not the biggest sound

to make a small drum sound more full and punchy , and a bit more like a bigger drum .... your best bet is reso head about 50 to 100Hz higher than the batter

Fair enough. I guess "biggest" is subjective. I interpreted it as "most resonate."