Bass Drum Pillows or no pillows

I have a small piece of foam rubber at the bottom of my bass drum. Seems to get rid of the over tones. It barely touches the batter head.

At the bar I play at, the sound guy puts a pillow in my bass drum and puts a microphone in it. He likes a loud bass drum thump coming out of the P.A. system.

The sound guy is also the owner of the bar and he is the one that pays me. So I never say a word.............


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Evans EMAD 2 batter with an Evans EQ pad is in my primary bass drum 16*20. I've got an old battered pillow that just touches both heads in my 16*22 bass and a small orthopedic pillow in my 16*16 bass.
 
Another big NO here.

I will admit, however, that currently I do have a giant pillow in my kick drum. It isn't for sound purposes though, it is because I live in a duplex and I would like to continue to be able to drum in a duplex without police intervention. Without the pillow my kick sounds HUGE, and I made the decision to kill its sound after getting the drum all tuned up and realizing that a 24" kick has a massive sound too big for considerate neighbors. As much as I hate the deadened kick sound, I like not being hassled about playing drums (so far).
 
Depends on many factors. The feel you like, the head you use, and the sound you're going for.

I prefer a clear or coated ambassador on my bass drum, and I use some foam (about 2" or 3" thick and about 20" long) that touches both heads, and a small packing blanket or towel on top of that. Most pillows are too big for the sound I like.

If you're using a single ply head with no dampening, you're basically playing a concert bass drum. Hardly appropriate for most music.
 
At the bar I play at, the sound guy puts a pillow in my bass drum and puts a microphone in it. He likes a loud bass drum thump coming out of the P.A. system.

The sound guy is also the owner of the bar and he is the one that pays me. So I never say a word.

He is also a mess and a sloppy drunk so that further adds to my no pillow policy.

I did used to stuff my kick with a large comforter and a bedsheet to quiet the sound for unmiked practice but now we have a PA in our home and I have developed much better dynamics.
 
He is also a mess and a sloppy drunk so that further adds to my no pillow policy.


No. Before the show he is almost sober. And I am the one who removes the stuff out of my bass drum. LOL


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My Saturn kick drum has an EMAD 2 batter and white Aquarian Regulator reso. Killer sound and feel, no pillow required or desired.
 
For the last 20 years or so the drumhead companies have been making great sounding bass drum heads, that have eliminated the need for a pillow...
 
I play double kick, and without a pillow I don't get enough definition and the playing surface sucks.

1 for team pillow.
 
No pillow for me.

None of my bass drums (22", 20" and 16") have a pillow in them. The muffling you get from a Superkick or EMAD is plenty for me.
 
No pillow on my Odery 22", small Evans pad in my Ludwig 16". Heavy blanket in my Gretsch 22", but I use this for practice and rehearsals, so no need for a big sound. But trial and error works every time.
 
I play double kick, and without a pillow I don't get enough definition and the playing surface sucks.

1 for team pillow.

Make that 2!

While I understand the "purist" point of veiw, the reality is for most live situations the sound tech doesn't have time to mess around with mic placement to find the perfect sound for that boomy bass drum. They want a tight, punchy THUMP that cuts through the mix and doesn't muddy it up.

I copy Gavin Harrison in that I have my pillow proped up against the batter head and just barely touching the resonant. I still get a massive, low tone but I just don't have a reso head the goes boooooooooooong for hours on end (much to the delight of the local sound guys. haha)

I've always been a fan of that old 70's rock sound (think Barriemore Barrlow). I love how it sits in the mix!

-Jonathan
 
Do you use pillows or other muffling in your bass drum ?

This is a very old photo, but it's still 100% up to date. :)

Bass%20Drum%20Muffling.png


This is just two old bath towels rolled together. The head is an Aquarian Super-Kick I. I also use a black Regulator with no mic hole. I get a wonderful thunderous punch.
 
I've been using an Evans EQ pad for years now and I love it. Just big enough to give me a focused sound, but not so big that it completely kills the low end.
 
I think that the only drummers that benefit from a pillow are the Metal players who need that click sound because of the speed at which they play.
For the music that I play I am happy with a PS3 or PS4, or an SKI or SKII with a controlled resonate head..
If I use a standard Ambassador or Diplomat as a reso head, I use a felt strip to dampen it.
Sometimes when I use an inside mic to record my bass drum I place a towel in the bottom of the drum and I set it to just touch both heads.
 
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Three of my kits are wide open. The SKII provides all the muffling I require. I make an exception, however, with my DW Collectors kit. Still running an SKII but I use the pillow that DW installs at the factory. I'll put my trust in Mr. Good as the kick sounds great. With all that said, I've yet to run across an engineer in a studio who didn't want to shove something in the kick drum.
 
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