new drumheads

hey there... I planning to change all my drumheads and i d like some help for choosing ...
my drumkit is pearl forum ..with 12-13 -16" toms 14" snare and 22" bass drum.....

here are some links with exactly the sounds i d like to be able to get.....

toms: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri4Ige29IPA&feature=related
bass drum and snare: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Inpep8L9SGA

so what are your experiences with drum heads and what u suggest me to get?

now i am using remo pinstripes on toms and ampasador on snare with ampasador resonants
and i am pretty much satisfy with my tuning and the sound i get... on toms i use control rings... My question is... i am thinking to put powerstroke 4 this time for toms ( 2 ply with ring inside )
and i wonder if the muffling will be too much if i put external control rings over them ?

why are you looking to make your toms sound SO dead?

you seem to be going to great lengths to kill any resonance the toms might have. And in a live situation, resonance is your friend. What your hearing in that video is completely different to how those drums will sound when your sitting behind them. Thats a heavilly deadened and equalised studio environment.

Not to sound cheeky (cos i know it will lol) but if your looking for that much of a THUD then cardboard boxes are much cheaper than drums sets

let your toms breathe.. stick on some coated emperors on the toms for a mix of tone and control.

shrink said:

why are you looking to make your toms sound SO dead?

you seem to be going to great lengths to kill any resonance the toms might have. And in a live situation, resonance is your friend. What your hearing in that video is completely different to how those drums will sound when your sitting behind them. Thats a heavilly deadened and equalised studio environment.

Not to sound cheeky (cos i know it will lol) but if your looking for that much of a THUD then cardboard boxes are much cheaper than drums sets

let your toms breathe.. stick on some coated emperors on the toms for a mix of tone and control.

Click to expand...

thnx for the reply

I am not looking to make my toms so dead.. i just want them low pitched and muted with fast decay but with good sound quality( not like some completly untuned toms)...
So probably i ll put control rings on them... isnt better to get drumheads with built in ring then?

I think it would be better to get heads like Emperors that are two-ply and use moongels as necessary to get the dampening you want. The advantage is that you can get your toms as muted as you want and undo it all if you want. If you go for dead heads, there's nothing you can do to un-deaden them.

Personally, I'd use one or the other. If you're buying pre-muffled heads, then drop the control rings. If you want to keep the rings on then look to use an ambassador batter or maybe even emperors (Evans G1 or G2 equivalent). I think both is just overkill and will crush the life out of your toms. Ok for your lively practice room, not so good for projection in a live situation.

Agree with MikeM though. I think your best approach will be ambs or emps and then dampen with moongel if absolutely necessary. Remember, the sound on the recordings provided, is unlikely to be the actual sound of the drum.

thnx guys .. i ve found this interesting video on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot31HbyOlWE and I can obviously notice the differences ... You are right about the dead sound... i finally consider that's better to get a single ply or 2 ply heads without any ring and use external rings instead, like emperors... many drummers use emperors according to the official remo website so they cant be wrong right? of course is a taste's matter...

I use emperors over ambassadors myself.. and i tune the reso slightly higher, and i find the combination of tone/attack/decay to be spot on. If i needed any less, i could apply a tiny sliver of moongel to dampen it down a little.

i think a similar option for you would be wise. That way when you go live or play in a larger space, you can take off the moongel to let your drums be heard over the band.

Remember that against other instruments, if you use over dampened toms, you just simply wont be heard.