BD Foam

The foam is easier to keep in place, so the sound is consistent.
I think that's why there might be a difference in sound.
 
Always used a nice fluffy pillow my entire career :)
 
devonc97 said:
Is there much of a sonic difference between acoustic foam vs. a pillow, blankets, etc...?
Click to expand...

Probably not much. You can tailor foam more ie. width, depth, thickness to achieve your desired sound. Both help to tame unwanted mid frequencies. I use foam and it works great.
 
Depends on the drum, heads, room, tuning.

Trial and error is the best way. I like a big open sound but when that's not an option I use the Simon Phillips/Tim Alexander trick of rolling a towel up and taping it to the inside of the batter head.
 
devonc97 said:
...lining a BD with some 1" auralex without touching the heads...
Click to expand...

I use foam, some standard egg-crate style I found on Amazon (Auralex is a brand name, and can be quite expensive). As far as not touching the heads goes: I have tried this when I put a piece cut for a 14" deep drum in a 16" drum. It may come as a surprise, but the foam actually bounces around in there while playing -- the inside of a bass drum is a somewhat violent, dynamic environment. So, If you don't want it bouncing around, it's best to either cut it to touch the heads (where the slight pressure against the heads anchors it), or weigh it down with something (my mics do the trick).

Nice thing about foam is you can do the big, open sound. The acoustic-type foam can soak up the errant frequencies without killing the drum.
 
devonc97 said:
Is there much of a sonic difference between acoustic foam vs. a pillow, blankets, etc...?
Click to expand...

I was a big advocate for using a pillow with whatever head.

Then, someone talked me into the Emad.

I've been using an Emad ever since.
 
Years ago I got a thick piece of that orange-ish foam and cut it to fit snug against both heads.
If the foam was too much dampening I grabbed a pinch and ripped it off near each head until I was satisfied with just the right sound. I like this approach because you can get it to how you like it and it will always stay that way.

I'm a believer in trying to get a lot of different bass drum sounds and trying as many head combinations as feasible. Bass drum to me is very personal. More so than snare.
 
I use an old Mexican blanket I cut into strips that are a foot wide and 5 feet long, I don't always use it but when I do I put a strip in the drum against the resonant head either to kill some of the high end or some of the resonance.

I remember buying a kit from someone off craigslist a few years ago and they had the bass drum FILLED with blankets, not sure what they thought they were doing!
 
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