Beginner's bass drum setup

lowdowner

lowdowner

Senior Member
I'm new to drums and have a kit by Odery - the Eyedentity 22" jobbie. Love it but when i've seen other people's kit they seem to either have a hole in their rear drum skin, or a blanket or pillow inside. Mine has neither... what are they all about and should I add one or t'other?

thanks for any advice :)
 
Installing a blanket or a pillow inside of a bass drum, or "Stuffing" does these things.
It stops the heads from vibrating as much as they normally would and the drum produces a "thump" sound instead of a "boom" sound.
Stuffing lowers the volume output of a drum.
Stuffing makes the beater bounce on the head less after the head is struck if you hold your foot down on the pedal.

Cutting a hole in the resonant head of the drum, or "Porting" does this.
The hole allows air to escape the drum faster and the drum will not sustain sound for as long a period of time as an un-ported drum will. The heads will simply vibrate less.
The porthole allows sound to escape the drum in a focused mannor providing more of a "Punch" sound instead of a "Boom" sound.
The beater will not bounce as much on the batter head after the drum is struck if you hold your foot down on the pedal.
 
Wow - complete reply - thanks :)

But do people cut holes in their skins themselves? And why doesn't it come like that in the first place? I'm nervous doing surgery on my spanking new gear... :(
 
Nice kit. The port hole that some drummers put in the resonant (front) head is there (a) to allow a microphone to be positioned inside the drum without removing the while head and (b) to allow easier access to the inside of the drum if you want to add/remove any internal muffling.

This brings us to the second point. Pillows, blankets, bits of foam etc are typically placed inside the bass drum if you're looking got that closed THUD sound. It also helps to tune the batter head of the drum low or to what is often called Just Above Wrinkle (JAW).

If you want a bright open BOOM sound from your bass drum then tune it a little higher and don't put anything inside it.

Good luck and have fun.
 
sorry didn't see the other response. you can get pre-cut heads from most manufacturers or get a reinforcing ring or a kick-port. if you don't want to do it yourself try the local Drum shop or there's a bunch of vids on you tube.
 
Sorry Clavier, I didn't realize that we were chasing each others tails until a moment ago :)
 
bobdadruma said:
Sorry Clavier, I didn't realize that we were chasing each others tails until a moment ago :)
Click to expand...

Well to both of you - thanks very much. I've got a clearer idea now. I'll look at the Youtube vids and see how hard it is. I can always go back to Drumwright and ask them to do it :)
 
When it comes to a porthole the diameter of the hole matters.
If you install a hole that is above 8 inches in diameter in a 22" drumhead it will be almost like having no front bass drum head on the drum at all.

I use a 4 inch hole on my 22" bass drum
I also install a reinforcement ring around the hole to help prevent the head from tearing.
 
For the front port, I bought one of these: http://aquariandrumheadsphbkblackpo...12/08/aquarian-drumheads-phbk-black-port.html

I took a sheet of paper and traced the inside circle, then trimmed it out about an 1/8th inch. Traced that over to my resonate head, and used an exacto knife to cut the hole. I then applied the port and it looks very good. Keep in mind, most recommend that the port hole should be in the lower corner, about 3-4 inches from the rim.
 
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