Bass drum head help

[alex-likes-drums]

Apologies if this has already been asked, I have searched the forum and I can't find the answer.

I recently have discovered an odd sound coming from my bass drum, I recently reheaded the batter head it for recording with an Evans Emad2. Along with this I cut a 5 inch hole in my 24" bass drum.

The drum has started to make a short metallic tone at the end of every hit. A bit like the same sound you get when kicking one of those cheap balloon-like plastic footballs (soccer).

I'm convinced the sound is coming from the reso head as the metallic noise only started after I cut the hole in the head (a pain when recording). I have muted the batter side and taken all tension off the reso side and hit the reso side and the noise still occurs.

I've got a Gretsch renown and the reso head is the normal coated Gretsch head that comes as standard with the kit.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[Les Ismore]

I've got a Gretsch renown and the reso head is the normal coated Gretsch head that comes as standard with the kit.

I'm convinced the sound is coming from the reso head as the metallic noise only started after I cut the hole in the head...


If you cut the hole too close to the edge as in you cut away some of the dampening ring, that's your problem.

[alex-likes-drums]

Haven't cut any of the dampening ring, any other suggestions?

[Terrence R]

Did your Emad batter come with 2 foam rings? If so, tape the larger one to the inside if the reso head. I think this will solve your problem.

Also, those emads sound best tuned very low, just above wrinkle.

[Sjogras]

By the "plastic football metallic sound", do you mean that kind of high pitched, weird sound? If that makes any sense. ^^

Are you sure that it's actually the bassdrum that makes that sound, and not something else resonating with it? Move the BD away from the kit, see if the noise remains.

[Markadiddle]

Originally Posted by Terrence R

Did your Emad batter come with 2 foam rings? If so, tape the larger one to the inside if the reso head. I think this will solve your problem.

Also, those emads sound best tuned very low, just above wrinkle.

Had the same problem when I first used that head. I tuned it JAW, used the larger foam dampening ring and voila! Problem gone!

[porter]

Maybe one of the screws in your BD is loose. That happened to me once. It might be the EMAD ring as well, I've heard of them not adhering to the drum properly before.

[opentune]

Originally Posted by abapicaltaenia

Maybe one of the screws in your BD is loose. That happened to me once. It might be the EMAD ring as well, I've heard of them not adhering to the drum properly before.

+1.

Remove your emad, try older batter head and see if still happens.
If still happens tune reso up/down to check if it goes away.
If still happens, try a felt strip on reso.
If still happens return to forum.

[IDDrummer]

Are you hearing that sound all the time, or just when you record? It is pretty common to get that sound if you are just sticking a mic inside the drum for the first time, so it could be a micing technique problem rather than a head problem. If that's the case, you'll need to adjust your mic position and/or put something like a piece of foam inside your bass drum to absorb those frequencies. It doesn't have to touch the heads, it's just there to adjust the acoustics inside the drum and avoid those weird reflected frequencies.

Let us know what pans out.

[audiotech]

I'm not saying that this is the cause of your problem, but many of the drums in the Gretsch Renown series have had trouble with loose vent holes. If you want to dismiss this as the problem, just put you finger over the vent hole and hit the drum. Two of my rack toms had this problem when they were new.

Another thing that it could be is maybe the bass drum is causing a stand to rattle or have sympathetic vibrations that is affecting some other metallic object. We're always tracking noise problems such as these in the studio.

Dennis

[porter]

Originally Posted by audiotech

I'm not saying that this is the cause of your problem, but many of the drums in the Gretsch Renown series have had trouble with loose vent holes. If you want to dismiss this as the problem, just put you finger over the vent hole and hit the drum. Two of my rack toms had this problem when they were new.

Totally forgot about this, it might be your issue as well. Unfortunately there are a lot of nonspecific metallic ringing sounds you can make on a drumset.

[uniin]

try chuck a towel inside the kick... it doesnt need to touch any of the heads, but just something inside to displace the air a bit does help.

[wildbill]

Originally Posted by Terrence R

Did your Emad batter come with 2 foam rings? If so, tape the larger one to the inside if the reso head. I think this will solve your problem...

I did this on one of my bass drums and got exactly the sound I was looking for.
I didn't have to tape it on though. The resonant head already had an internal ring, and the foam ring slipped right into it.
I wasn't completely satisfied with that bass drums sound until I did this. Works like a champ.

[Terrence R]

Originally Posted by wildbill

I did this on one of my bass drums and got exactly the sound I was looking for.
I didn't have to tape it on though. The resonant head already had an internal ring, and the foam ring slipped right into it.
I wasn't completely satisfied with that bass drums sound until I did this. Works like a champ.

Nice. What kind of reso was it? I'm interested in finding a reso that I don't have to TAPE the foam ring to. The reso you're using sounds really convinient for me.

[wildbill]

The stock Yamaha 20" Stage Custom bass resonant head comes that way.

[canada_rokzz]

Aquarian Force II also has a ring built into the outside edge of the reso...

Aquarian Regulator has a floating ring in the center of the reso head. I have not tried one of these yet.



I went to Aquarian heads because the emads were always cracking (3 personally) on the foam ring retainer and I never did like the sound of the Evans reso's. Powerstroke II OR 10 for me now with a Force II and I have no need for pillows or whatnot...

[maxhammerstrike]

I recently switched from a powerstroke 3 to an emad2 and I really like it. I'm using an emad ported reso. I really like the combo, but I also thought I heard a strange sound so I ended up with a felt strip on the reso, sounds full and tight with nothing else inside.