Help Bass Drum decision

xplotaqlo

Junior Member
I have a maple custom absolute drum set, but my bass drum is 22x14 and I will be playing hard rock that will be needing the 24" punch, I was looking for a 24x18 maple bass drum but the only thing that I found was a 24x18 birch one. I would like you to give me your opinion in mixing maple toms with birch bass drum.
 
I don't think that's a big issue. The birch bass drum will be a bit brighter than if it were maple, & deliver a bit more attack & volume. Actually, I think they'll partner quite well, especially in a rock context.
 
The kick will sound fine with the rest of the kit. However I also think your current kick will sound just fine as well. If you're playing hard rock, presumably you'll be mic'd up for any gigs you play. What the sound guy does with his equipment is going to have a much larger impact on the sound than an extra two inches of diameter and four inches of depth.
 
if your using a pillow or blankets inside your drum, change your head combo to a set that will not need any extra dampening, removing them will increase the actual air space inside the drum and will create the illusion of a larger / louder drum, ie: a 22 without a pillow will sound very much like a 24 with a pillow due to the loss of space taken up by the pillow, i use an aquarian super kick and ported regulator and i get asked all the time if my kick is a 24.
 
I also have a Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute set of drums and the size of my bass drum is 22" x 18". The only type of dampening I use is the Evans EQ4 batter head that has a fixed internal ring. Depending on how I tune this drum, it sounds enormous with all the sonic attributes that Yamaha drums are noted for. I've played these drums in virtually every type of genre I can think of, except metal, and there's never been a time I felt that I needed a larger bass drum.

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To answer your question about the sound differences between the maple and birch shells in the Absolute series, depending on how you have them tuned, you probably won't hear very much. If your ears are attuned to minute differences, you might hear a bit more attack from the birch shells with all else being equal. Being a bass drum, there's a lot of low frequency energy being displaced, so you won't hear very much top end extension from the birch shells.

Dennis
 
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