To Port or not to Port...

I am well aware that one can mic a bass drum that does not have a ported front head. We do that I our church, and it sounds great. However, when going to different acoustic environments, I prefer to mic a bass drum with a ported head. To each his/her own. Peace and goodwill.
 
I'd only port if I was going to record it.
 
It really depends on what you want it to sound like. Basically non ported kicks go "boom" and ported kicks go "thwap". My 22x18 Renown came with an unported reso. It also came with an EMAD batter. Which is a really mixed thing, the dead EMAD with an ringy front head. I first pulled the foam ring out of the EMAD and it sounded much better. But the boom was so great that I could feel the drum vibrating though the pedal. So I relieved it with a port. I can still get some boom out of it by tuning the batter up higher. I replaced the EMAD with a SuperKick I had laying around and now it sounds more like Chad Smith than Ginger Baker. Which is what I wanted. Eventually I want to replace the batter with an EQ3 so I have more options on the open side of things.

My Safari kit has an unported reso head. With the tiny 16" kick, it needs the boom and sustain to carry into the room. Cutting a hole in that drum would make it nearly inaudible.
 
Mary, it's a choice thing. There's no best way. Using a non ported head affords you far greater playing choices. There's a big difference in sound between burying the beater & not, & that allows you to select totally different feels. I use 20" bass drums extensively, & porting is something I do for some applications, for some not. In a rock setting, if I need to mic the bass drum, I'll sometimes mic both heads. That gives me a lot of sound choices through a PA by balancing the slap of the batter head with the sustain of the front head.

Play what feels & sounds best to you. Mic'ing solutions can always be found to suit your taste, both live & recording.

As for general home playing, you will always get a more satisfactory sound & feel from a lightly ported head if you bury the beater 100% of the time, but learning to work with the choices that a full reso head offers, is a very worthwhile use of your practice time.
 
So I have decided not to port for now. I do have a powerstroke batter head that I am going to try on the kick and see how that sounds. I meant to have changed out heads by now but have to decided to work with the stock head until I'm sure Ive gotten the full range of sound out of it so I can appreciate the difference of sounds when I do switch. Thanks for all the great advice!
 
If you do decide to port it, you probably don't want to do it like this - LOL

When I bought this bop kit used, someone had cut a fairly big hole in it, and then put one of those Holz (sp?) things on it. Not sure if it's due to the small size or what, but it rattled and buzzed like crazy.
I thought I would do a temporary fix, and cut most of the head out. Haven't gotten around to getting a new head for it yet, but despite the really goofy look, it sounds good now.

Before and after pics. The second pic also shows a size comparison of the 18 w/riser (on the left) compared to the 20" (right side):
 
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Good thread...I had the same question...I will not port my head...now I just need to change the batter head..but yeah it's best to get used to the sound of the stock heads first and then upgrade for sure
 
Good thread...I had the same question...I will not port my head...now I just need to change the batter head..but yeah it's best to get used to the sound of the stock heads first and then upgrade for sure

You don't have to get used to the sound of the stock heads. When I bought an intermediate kit some time ago, I bought new heads for it before I brought it home and swapped them out. Unless it's an upscale kit, the stock heads will not be anything I'll like, so I just get what I always use and put those on. Then I'm happy ;)
 
You don't have to get used to the sound of the stock heads. When I bought an intermediate kit some time ago, I bought new heads for it before I brought it home and swapped them out. Unless it's an upscale kit, the stock heads will not be anything I'll like, so I just get what I always use and put those on. Then I'm happy ;)

Well maybe because you already know what the stock heads sound like,I'm just starting and personally I would like to know how stock heads really compare with better quality heads...I want to know the different sounds and gain experience man :)
 
Well maybe because you already know what the stock heads sound like,I'm just starting and personally I would like to know how stock heads really compare with better quality heads...I want to know the different sounds and gain experience man :)

Ah, then you'll only be doing this once ;)
 
Ah, then you'll only be doing this once ;)
True :) Even the stock heads supplied with high end kits & supposedly "made by" are typically crap. I must confess, I fail to understand the logic in these decisions. If you make a "high end" kit, surely you want it going out sounding it's best? - Apparently not, although they'll all deny that of course.

Buying all new heads (& yes, the reso's are just as important) is a significant cost, & should absolutely be taken into account when comparing kits to buy.
 
True :) Even the stock heads supplied with high end kits & supposedly "made by" are typically crap. I must confess, I fail to understand the logic in these decisions. If you make a "high end" kit, surely you want it going out sounding it's best? - Apparently not, although they'll all deny that of course.

Buying all new heads (& yes, the reso's are just as important) is a significant cost, & should absolutely be taken into account when comparing kits to buy.

My 2012 Pearl masters came with all clear Remo ambassadors and Powerstroke bass heads. It cost around $300.00 +or- to put new heads on my kit thats a big number. I port my bass I think it mic's up better
 
True :) Even the stock heads supplied with high end kits & supposedly "made by" are typically crap. I must confess, I fail to understand the logic in these decisions. If you make a "high end" kit, surely you want it going out sounding it's best? - Apparently not, although they'll all deny that of course.

Buying all new heads (& yes, the reso's are just as important) is a significant cost, & should absolutely be taken into account when comparing kits to buy.

And not to derail the thread a bit, but why do beginning players never budget for good cymbals as well?

And when people complain about spending hundreds for an entire new set of heads, you should realize that eventually you're gonna spend that money. If you were going to take the drums out on a gig, its doubtful you'd use the supplied stock heads.

Drumming is expensive, and if you're going to do it right, it will require a change in priorities. I suppose it's good that people are getting their feet wet, though.
 
I think some lessons are just best learned on your own. Sometimes you have to experience the bad to know what the good sounds like. I haven't put my powerstroke head on yet (just haven't had the time) but will do so soon. Personally I need to know what the stock heads sound like so I can appreciate the differences.

I follow all kinds of theads on here about heads, pedals, etc. etc trying to gain information and knowledge but until I realize for myself what the low end equipment sounds like, I have no idea what I don't like about it or what to look for when I'm able to spend more money on something (does that make sense? I hope so). I'm not as technical about these things as some are, I guess.

I didn't spend much on ANYTHING as a noob because I wanted to make sure that it was something I was going to stick with before sinking a lot of money into a hobby. Admittedly, cymbals were the first things I replaced because I couldn't stand the sound of banging on tin cans (which is what my cheapies sounded like to me) but it also allowed me to appreciate the differences in the quality of cymbals and why the good ones are so much more expensive. Heck when I started...I didn't even know the difference between 'bright' and 'dark' cymbals, much less knowing which I wanted and which would best suit my needs for my style of drumming. It would have been silly for me to go out and spend a lot of money at that time on better cymbals just to end up with something I really didn't want.

Sure if you're out playing gigs or with a band where you want the sound quality the best I can understand the investments but for some of us, it's not only a matter of budget but learning from the ground up. And I don't want to spend a lot of money on something that I don't know anything about so I need time to find out what sounds I'm looking for and what I should invest in to get those sounds.

Again, I don't know if any of this makes sense but I'm just trying to put it in the perspective of a noob who is trying to figure things out.
 
I think some lessons are just best learned on your own. Sometimes you have to experience the bad to know what the good sounds like. .

I totally subscribe to this. IDK, sometimes I resent it when people try and "get to the head of the class" without putting in the required work, money and time into it. Getting a good drum tone takes a long time, it's nothing like a guitar where you can just buy a different pedal. I've spent many thousands of dollars on heads, hundreds of hours experimenting with different head combos and tunings, I practice the way I hit the drums on a regular basis, and expend much mental energy trying to play and sound good.

Perhaps I'm being harsh, because when I did most of my experimenting, there was no one to ask advice from, no internet. So I guess I can't blame them for trying to save some ag. But I do anyway lol. If you don't work hard for it, I'm sorry I don't think you deserve it, that's my personal feeling towards it. It's larger than that though. The experience you get from trying and failing gives you something you just can't get from not failing. In the end it's YOUR ears that need to be pleased. Mary this is not directed at you, I am in agreement with you that people need to experience things for themselves.
 
If our own ears didnt like variety, there would only be one head. theres a reason each manufacturer has a number of heads to choose from. I recently bought a new ludwig snare and it came with a coated Ludwig head. It looks and feels like a remo emporer. I was about to change it to a Vintage Emperor but when I tuned it, it was perfect so im using the Ludwig head for this saturdays gig. As far as porting like this thread was in the first place, my bass had a small rough 4 inch hole already in it from the previouse owner. I just bought a Kick Port 2 for it. Mostly because I got a chrome one and it looks good on the black head with silver sparkle drums.
 
I am personally 100% against porting bass drums. The reso head is where all of the depth and low end comes from. And porting it will only sacrifice this depth.
If you can externally mic toms and snares without the need for a port, why not do the same for a kick?
 
For me, it depends upon what I'm playing. Fast double bass stuff means port the drum, playing in a rock club with a miked kit also means port it. Good luck in trying to get an average rock club sound man to want to deal with anything but a ported kick.

Funk, pop, lighter stuff I usually prefer the full reso head sound.

It's best to have more than one reso head.
 
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