Once again, it's Bob Gatzen to the rescue! And he agrees with Caddywumpus.
Once again, it's Bob Gatzen to the rescue! And he agrees with Caddywumpus.
Actually he would say the 12 mil heads would sustain longer since they have more mass
Mini hijack......apologies, but I'm still on topic and it seemed pointless to start a new thread..
I've read much on this topic since joining the forums, but the argument still seems to be very much unresolved. Is someone able to settle the resonance dispute for me once and for all?
I've always thought that the thinner the head, the more sustain. Due to the fact that it would be more flexible and therefore move more air etc. But the physics debate is that more mass = more sustain. If this is the case, wouldn't something like an emperor x or even hydraulic heads be optimal for more resonance? Whereas my limited experience with them seems to indicate that the opposite is the case.
It's a concept I just can't get my head around........any takers?
It's a function of the diameter of the head, and the force with which one is moved and the tension of the head. Thicker heads will resonate longer if they are hit hard enough to start vibrating, and it would take a lot of force to get a 3 cm head going. A thinner head hit with the same force would resonate shorter. Also, a very thick head becomes loses flexibility, so it needs to increase in diameter. This is also where the tuning comes in - a thinner head tuned very loose will be dead; a thicker head tuned tight will be rigid. Think guitar strings, there is a note where each one sounds best. The same works for drum heads.It is solved, there is no debate.
More mass = more sustain EXCEPT for 2 ply heads.
However, there does have to be a breaking point as to where this rule in physics would stop. Like previously posted, a 3cm thick 1 ply head won't be too resonant or have much sustain. There is a cut off point, and that is where the uncertainty lies.
In my home experiments I found that the GPlus (a 12 mil single ply head) did in fact resonate longer without losing the good tone of a 10 mil head. I use the G Pluses on all
my toms, I prefer them to a 10 mil head, which also sounds great. If I can get a 1/2 second more resonance from my drum, it's worth it to me, and to my ear the 12 mil head does just that.
Once again, it's Bob Gatzen to the rescue! And he agrees with Caddywumpus.
*k-ch!* (sound of a can of worms being opened)
Your best bet, in my opinion, is to get a clear 10-mil head (whether that be Remo Ambassador or Evans G1 or whatever...). In my experience, they have the most sustain, more so than the 7-mil heads, and more than the Gplus (12-mil). If you want your tone to be warmer at the cost of your sustain being shortened, get a coated 10-mil head. If you want a lower tone from your resonant head, again at the cost of a shorter sustain, get one of those Evans EC Resonant heads.
Quite silly. On Gatzen's video the EC resonant sustains much longer than the rest.