Resonant bass drum head?

nstarkey

Junior Member
I dont know what i should do for my resonant bass drum head. I own a Ludwig Keystone, and i still have the stock head on it. It sounds great and all, really big open sound through mics at gigs. Would it be worth it to get it ported at all? I still have the issue of my beater having a slight rebound issue, but i'm working on my technique. Would porting it help that issue at all? Also, what are some good resonant bass drum heads that i could try?
 
Porting your resonant bass drum head will change the feel and sound of the drum. One head that I really like for this is the Aquarian Force II resonant bass drum head. However, If you want to keep the Ludwig logo you would have to port the stock head.
 
I'm not gonna touch on the drum you have. That's for the vintage people to handle.

If you port your head a few things change. First thing more air can move freely. If you want the drum's sound to be more to the point, then that's good. You might not want that though.

If you have an issue with your beater coming off the head, it's either your tuning or your technique. Tuning will be the tuning of your batter head. If it's too tight and not enough air moves out of the head you can have those issues.

It really comes down to what you want the drum to do. If you want that bouncy big band sound then you need to work on technique. If you want to play with the response of the head then looking into porting the drum and tuning different will address that.

I'd love to play big band again so I'll devil's advocate you to play with the tuning of the head.

Play with your instrument. Tune it low. Tune it high. Switch between ported heads and unported heads. Have some fun with it. Don't treat it like a problem. Treat it like your chance to be an awesome drummer. What's more fun? Having people on a forum tell you what to do, or you in there with your drums trying every which way? I'm not trying to disuade you from talking with us fellow drummers, cause we'll all chime in, but I'm encouraging you to just play with tunings and all that.

First thing I look at if I don't like how my foot comes off the bass drum head is the head and my pedal. Start from the source and work your way out.
 
I would save the stock logo head and go with another head if you want to port.
You may want to keep the logo head Un-ported for future use.

+1 on the Aquarian Force II.
 
I don't port my bass drum's resonant heads, but if you do, most logoed resonant heads are available though most Five Star shops if you decided that you made a mistake.

Dennis
 
I dont know what i should do for my resonant bass drum head.
Perhaps replace it (more on that, later).
I own a Ludwig Keystone .....
Size? 20x14, 22x14, 22x16, 26x14 ... ?
..and i still have the stock head on it.
Keep it, for sure, but let's face it. Ludwig changed to the B/O badge in the 70's..... you're playing a 40 year old reso. head.
Would it be worth it to get it ported at all?
I'd start with getting a new reso. Remo Ambassador will be close to the Ludwig head. Play with a new head for a while, if you decide to port, port a new head, not the original.
I still have the issue of my beater having a slight rebound issue, but i'm working on my technique.
Getting the beater off the head as quick as you can....
Would porting it help that issue at all?
Porting might completely take away the bounce. But different tunning, a different head combo, switching out your kick pedal beater, all these things can and will probably stop beater bounce as well.
Also, what are some good resonant bass drum heads that i could try?
All depends on "what kind of sound" are you striving to get?
 
I don't port my bass drum's resonant heads, but if you do, most logoed resonant heads are available though most Five Star shops if you decided that you made a mistake.

Dennis

Dayam Dennis... I knew we had something in common ! Hey, have you checked out that Aquarian Modern Vintage reso, no port, with the felt strip attached straight down ?? Talk about a cool take on typical ring, dime-a-dozen design.
 
you're playing a 40 year old reso. head.

Actually, this is the NEW Ludwig Keystone. It just came out this summer. My bass drum is a 24x14. I might end up getting a resonant powerstroke III for it, and port that. I have a powerstroke III on my batter side. I might have to mess around with the tuning on it. It is kinda tight. Maybe a medium-tight right now.
 
I Would go with Powerstroke III reso.-head!
 
My bass drum is a 24x14.
Larger kicks will bounce back more. I played 22x14 and 22x16 kicks most of 30 years. Never experienced any beater bounce. I moved into 28x14 territory and changed my kick pedal, at the same time, and I inherited some beater bounce. Took about a week to sort it out.​
I might end up getting a resonant powerstroke III for it, and port that. I have a powerstroke III on my batter side. I might have to mess around with the tuning on it. It is kinda tight. Maybe a medium-tight right now.
The Powerstroke3 is one of my favorite batter heads. I had a 20x14 that I put P3's on, batter and reso., gave that little drum a lot of punch with very little/no overtone. Mostly, if I run the Powerstroke3 batter, I run a ported Ambassador reso. I used that combo. a lot, on my 28x14 and 26x14 kicks.​
 
It's possible to get the best of both worlds. I port my bass, just big enough to get a mic in there. The Holz 4" work pretty good for me. If the hole is too big you won't get the resonance you want off the reso head. Anyway... I put a SM57 inside the drum about 4 inches from the batter, this gives great attack. Then I have a Audix D6 outside the drum about 2 inches from the center of the reso head, this gives me the low end and boomy-ness that I like. While tweaking the mics EQ and levels you can get almost sound you desire. Turn up the highs and mids on the 57, turn down the D6 level to get that tight punchy sound, vice versa for that big boomy jazz sound. And everything in between.
 
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