head response / bounciness

C

CJM

Member
Is stick response off a head just a matter of how much the head is tightened? My drums have always been flabby and not very responsive. In the past I've played other guys' sets that had real nice bounceback on the snare especially, almost like a practice pad.

So lately I have been tightening up both heads on a couple snares of mine and been frustrated because it doesn't seem to affect the response at all. For fun I tightened up an old cheap Pulse snare to the max just to see what would happen, and nothing really changed.

Is it certain heads, certain drums, putting them on a certain way, or what? I'm still mystified.
 
Tuning the bottom head also has a LOT to do with the rebound. Also, the kind of rims you have will affect the rebound (die-cast vs. triple-flanged). If you find that it has nothing to do with the bottom head, that means your heads are just worn out.
 
Joe P said:
Tuning the bottom head also has a LOT to do with the rebound. Also, the kind of rims you have will affect the rebound (die-cast vs. triple-flanged). If you find that it has nothing to do with the bottom head, that means your heads are just worn out.
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That could be with my old dynasonic since both heads are very old. The Pulse has pretty new but has a stock bottom head which might not be very good.

How do the rims affect it? Does die cast make it more responsive or less? Do you tune to a sweet spot, or does tighter = bouncier?

I have a new Gretsch with die cast that I have not really experimented with yet because I like the sound I'm getting. The two older snares have flanged.

Sorry for all the questions...
 
I like bounce so I crank my heads. I also like the way my drums sound that way, it's a very ringing, "singing" sound.
I honestly don't see why the rims would make much difference.
I like to get almost the same rebound from my drums that I get from my practice pad.
But if you go that way you're obviously going to raise the pitch of your drums a good deal. And it seems to reason that the heads would wear out sooner because they're tensioned higher, although I could very well be wrong about that.
 
Sounds to me as if you have old heads that are stretched to the max. Over tightening will bend the hoop so be careful.
 
The stick's weight has a lot to do with the feel of the drum... light sticks (maple) tend to rebound more.

Bermuda
 
You really shouldn't have to go too tight to get bounce. I use a drum Dial and I tune on the tight side of the scale. I still leave a bit of Fatness in my snare sound. I would try new heads. Tune them loose at first and equalize the lugs. Then crank them only about 1/4 to 1/2 turn after that. Double ply batters have less bounce than single as a rule. Deeper drums also have less bounce. My 13 x 5 inch snare has a bit more bounce that my 14 x 6 inch.
I imagine that the rims could be a slight factor. I not sure how!
 
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bermuda said:
The stick's weight has a lot to do with the feel of the drum... light sticks (maple) tend to rebound more.

Bermuda
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Yes, I've found that to be true. I suppose it's just a matter of physics, maybe. I use pretty light sticks, 7A, and they bounce and frolic happily all over my drums.
 
CJM said:
How do the rims affect it? Does die cast make it more responsive or less? Do you tune to a sweet spot, or does tighter = bouncier?
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Well die-cast hoops, since they are cast out of metal from a mold, are much more resistant to bending, so they are usually a lot easier to tune. Also, die-cast hoops give the drum a different feel (not necessarily more rebound, but it does help you tune, and if tuning is your problem, then yes this will help). The rebound is much more consistent around the head than with a triple-flanged hoop. Maybe you could go to a drum store and see if there are any snare drums with die-cast hoops. There is a noticeable difference in feel, but don't go out and buy different hoops without seeing what you're paying for.

However, your problem is probably just old heads.
 
Joe P said:
The rebound is much more consistent around the head than with a triple-flanged hoop. Maybe you could go to a drum store and see if there are any snare drums with die-cast hoops. There is a noticeable difference in feel, but don't go out and buy different hoops without seeing what you're paying for.

However, your problem is probably just old heads.
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I have a new Gretsch snare with die cast but I'm not messing with it much because I use it on the job. I do like a fat sound so I just want to experiment with my extra snares for now.

Good ideas on new heads, sticks etc. I can't remember when I put the heads on my Rogers snare so maybe it's time.

Thanks everyone.
 
con struct said:
Yes, I've found that to be true. I suppose it's just a matter of physics, maybe. I use pretty light sticks, 7A, and they bounce and frolic happily all over my drums.
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I think it depends on what you're used to. I find heavier stick rebound more, or rather rebound harder so it's easier to feel.

But I don't see the point of tuning drums to a certain feel or responsiveness. I believe good sound should be the only goal.
 
Have only three things to say...

1. New Heads
2. New Heads
3. New Heads.

Seriously. It may be technique too! What kind of practice pad do you have? I use an HQ RealFeel. I use the easy bounce side to get my technique down, but, then it's really only half there. Turn it over to get a real work out.

Experiment with heads. a 14" head for your snare is just a bit more than a pair of sticks. Try some different heads. And then when you find the one you like best. Change it as often as you can! New Heads is like fresh sheets night in bed... @:) If you're not playing enough to change all of your heads, at least change your snare on a fairly regular basis.

Recap: (1) New Heads; (2) Work out! on a good practice pad. Not some sissy soft thing but on a real mans pad. Work out and Work out hard.
 
Joe P said:
Tuning the bottom head also has a LOT to do with the rebound. Also, the kind of rims you have will affect the rebound (die-cast vs. triple-flanged). If you find that it has nothing to do with the bottom head, that means your heads are just worn out.
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Hey man, this sounds helpful but how would the resonater head have an effect on the batter? I really need help with this too, it's pretty frustrating. My snare is a Mapex Black Panther 14x5.5, die-cast rims.

Cheers
 
If a bottom head is tight, the sound waves will bounce back to the batter head faster and with more energy. A tight reso head will give you a faster response and more bounce.
Have you tried new heads on the drum yet?
 
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Fiery said:
But I don't see the point of tuning drums to a certain feel or responsiveness. I believe good sound should be the only goal.
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This is an interesting one. Much like Jay, I prefer a tighter head so I tension for an optimal feel and then fine tune the sound from there. I may get a great sound out of a JAW tuning on a given drum, but if I don't like the response of the stick off the drum head then it just ain't gonna work for me and it will certainly affect the way I play.

I guess the 'trade off' between sound and head tension comes down to the drum. Obviously, the wider the tuning range on your drum, the less a specific head tension affects the sound quality.
 
bobdadruma said:
If a bottom head is tight, the sound waves will bounce back to the batter head faster and with more energy. A tight reso head will give you a faster response and more bounce.
Have you tried new heads on the drum yet?
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I changed my batter only a few weeks ago (Ambassador) and tuned my reso a month or two ago to a 'C' I think it was, tutorial from Bob Gatzon's stuff on Youtube. Still, the snare head is shit at bounce. How tight does the reso need to be?
 
acustomdrum said:
I changed my batter only a few weeks ago (Ambassador) and tuned my reso a month or two ago to a 'C' I think it was, tutorial from Bob Gatzon's stuff on Youtube. Still, the snare head is shit at bounce. How tight does the reso need to be?
Click to expand...

that's what always happens to me, too. Anyone got a drumdial approx of just how tight a reso works?
 
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