Single Ply Head Users

I'll try the air vent experiment. I have to change a couple heads anyway.
I'll tape off on the outside on a few too, just to see what happens.

I use Coated Ambassadors (on everything but the snare).
I use double butt end sticks.
I play regularly in a Heavy Rock, and a Hard Blues/Rock band.

Even playing hard in some large venues, I don't dent heads normally at all.

In the life span of the heads, which could be 6-9 months, there might be one small dent in the 16" FT, and maybe 1 in the 12 or 13" tom (depending on what I feel like using during that time period). The 18 will never get a dent (or, hasn't gotten a dent that I can remember, can't say it won't ever haha!). The left side FT hasn't gotten a dent yet (since 93--the heads have been changed since then, yuck, yuck).

I had a head or two get a dent in it early, but that was when I had my kit as the "house kit" for all the drummers to use for a benefit.
The kit was basically not changed at all as far as floor tom heights or angles.
The tom not that I noticed either.

I can only assume it was from the angle that someone would normally come down on a drum at by the way they hold their hands.

Out of all the drummers (6) only maybe 1 of them had any training, or lessons. Not sure about that 1 person really--good player, not a hack, but, I don't know his background.
I had school orchestra and regular private snare drum lessons for about 4 years (stopped because I didn't want to go into competitions, and the teachers were kinda big into it. NOT for me).

MAYBE it's how someone strikes the head?

MAYBE it's the angle of the drums--mine are flat for FT's, almost flat for the tom.

I play heavy, and get a sound with some girth to it, but I play at all dynamic levels, mainly with Moller, and I play OFF the heads, not into them.
THAT may be the real reason for dents. Not EVERY stroke someone played is going to be "off" the head.

I play off the bass drum too, and that may be why I get 5-6 years of great sound and feel from an Ambassador bass drum head. With a single ply bass drum head, you'd think it would be dead sounding after about a year, but, by just changing that patch I use, the head feels new every time I do it--till I think I should probably change it (I had 7 years on one bass drum).

How often do you play per month? I am trying to learn something from you here. :)

Also, I think it's due to the angle of the stick as it strikes the head. That is, the more parallel the stick is to the head, the lower the chances are of denting the head. I don't remember where I learned it, but I remember learning that the stick should be as parallel to the heads for this very reason. It was on that day that I improved the angles of my drums. At the same time, I stopped denting heads. Although, I was also working on my technique like a madman, so I guess that played a role because I was striving for allowing the stick to do most of the work instead of me doing all of it.

So, my heads last a long time, including my bass drum - and I don't use a patch. However, I don't get to play my drums very often either. Maybe a couple of times per month for a couple of hours at a time. We gig maybe once every other month and we do 3 sets to fill a 4-hour night. I don't mind though because I can't afford new heads and sticks!

Anyway, how often do you play per month?
 
Re: Single ply head users needed....

I could be reaching. Trying to determine that. I would think there would be more back pressure on the heads in an unvented drum compared to a vented drum. At least that's what my logic tells me. If that is the case, then it is a better situation, dent-wise, than an unvented drum. Whether it is enough to resist dents is the question. I definitely like the little bit of extra rebound on an unvented drum.


The term 'back-pressure' might be a little misleading in this application. Air being moved inside a drum is subject to a pressure (atmospheric) which has no direction, the air set in motion inside the drum is not being moved against a flow.

As someone already mentioned air does compress. Normal atmospheric pressure (we'll say 14.7 psi) is the resistance, inside a closed chamber like a dbl headed drum there's less air that needs to be compressed, add an air vent and you're connecting that chamber with the pressure/resistance outside.

A single headed drum would encounter more 'back-pressure' (resistance) than an enclosed shell with two heads on each side, much like an auto engine with no header/exhaust pipe encounters more back-pressure (full atmosphere) than the amount of atmospheric resistance in an enclosed tube (header/exhaust pipe). Set the engine/car in motion (transverse mounted 4 cyl exhaust fwd) and the engine experiences 'true back-pressure' (an air flow), that of which increases as the vehicles speed increases.

Venting a drum will, much like an engine exhaust header, creates a small, momentary vacuum inside the shell as air is forced out. Also much like an engine exhaust header, a drums air vent must be 'tuned' (in the case of a drum shell- size and placement) to optimize the effect.
 
Anyway, how often do you play per month?

It adds up to about 30, up to 40 hours a month (practicing, rehearsals, messing around...) I guess.
Not a ton of playing per week. It's just not possible anymore with family stuff, etc...

If I change a set of heads, the left side 16, and the 18 really wouldn't need to be changed, it's the 13 (or 12) and 16 mainly.

The snare lasts about 10 months to a year (Coated Emperor with a TOP Dot) of gigs (I mainly use 1 Black Beauty for all the gigs).

I have one Brass Edition that I've used pretty much exclusively at home for rehearsals and whatever, so maybe 6 months on that head before I want to change it (same batter head). So... say and average of 25 hours a month, and 6 months is 150 hours of playing on that snare head.
 
It adds up to about 30, up to 40 hours a month (practicing, rehearsals, messing around...) I guess.
Not a ton of playing per week. It's just not possible anymore with family stuff, etc...

If I change a set of heads, the left side 16, and the 18 really wouldn't need to be changed, it's the 13 (or 12) and 16 mainly.

The snare lasts about 10 months to a year (Coated Emperor with a TOP Dot) of gigs (I mainly use 1 Black Beauty for all the gigs).

I have one Brass Edition that I've used pretty much exclusively at home for rehearsals and whatever, so maybe 6 months on that head before I want to change it (same batter head). So... say and average of 25 hours a month, and 6 months is 150 hours of playing on that snare head.

After reading this, I think I can say now that heads last a little longer than I thought. This is going to help give me a little more peace of mind about my heads from here on out. So, I thank you for taking the time to type all of that!
 
MAYBE it's how someone strikes the head?

MAYBE it's the angle of the drums

It's also how the head is tensioned. A tighter head will be harder to "dent".

I haven't dented a head since I can't remember when.
 
I have the heads tighter too. More of what people have referred to as jazz/big band tuning in the past.
Wouldn't doubt that the heads are helped by it for not denting on me--but others have put a small dent or two in them.
 
I'm really beginning to think that the more parallel the stick is to the heat, the lower the chances are of getting dents.
 
I'm really beginning to think that the more parallel the stick is to the heat, the lower the chances are of getting dents.

That pretty much sums it up.

I noticed that on the church kit that I mentioned in another thread. When I started to readjust everything for me from the previous drummer I noticed that he had the rack tom facing him, nearly vertical. Well, not quite, but a very steep angle anyway.

I like my rack toms about as low as they can go, almost touching the bass drum. I'm not a very tall guy so they have to be pretty low. Another reason I prefer 20" kicks, but that's another subject...
 
That pretty much sums it up.

I noticed that on the church kit that I mentioned in another thread. When I started to readjust everything for me from the previous drummer I noticed that he had the rack tom facing him, nearly vertical. Well, not quite, but a very steep angle anyway.

I like my rack toms about as low as they can go, almost touching the bass drum. I'm not a very tall guy so they have to be pretty low. Another reason I prefer 20" kicks, but that's another subject...

Same here, except I haven't been able to get a 20" kick. I have a 22", and the bottom hoop of my 12"x10" is just far enough away that it doesn't touch the bass drum hoop when I play it. I don't have to worry about my 10"x9" because both toms are to the left of my bass drum.
 
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