AnalogousGumdropDecoder
Junior Member
Hi. I'm Cody, and I'm new to the forum. I've been playing a lot of instruments for a long time, but I'm still a sort of novice at drums. I'm especially ignorant when it comes to the equipment. My drumset is nothing special, just an old set of Pearl Exports. I'm about to change drum heads for (more or less) the first time and I have some questions. First I want to give you an idea of what I'm trying to do here.
While I don't know much about drum gear, I know enough about music to know what I'm going for with my drum sound. I'm looking for a sort of deep "thud" sort of tribal sound. I'm going to be playing much more on my toms and much less on my cymbals than is normal for most rock and jazz players. Although the sound I'm trying to create isn't very much like any specific player, or even especially "retro", my favorite drum sounds tend to be from older records... Frank Kirkland, Maureen Tucker, Ed Blackwell, Billy Higgins, Jaki Leibezeit, Ralph Molina, Kenny Buttrey, Elvin Jones, "Drumbo" John French, plus many more. So I'm looking for a sort of old, crusty thumpy sound... but I still want the potential for dynamics, so I don't want to get my heads too thick. I really hate BIG CLEAR MODERN drum sounds, especially the ones used for most hard rock and metal these days. I don't like bass drums to "click." At all.
I was thinking of getting Remo Fiberskyn heads because they're supposed to simulate calfskin and be good for brushes. Assuming (perhaps incorrectly) that I'm on the right track here, I've got some ???'s...
General:
1) Should I be using the Fiberskyns as both batter and reso heads, or combining them with another head on one side? What are the advantages and disadvantages and differences?
2) I've heard that the fiber is added after the fact to the regular drum films, so a fiberskyn diplomat is more like the thickness of a regular ambassador. is this true? does this mean I should drop down a size in thickness?
3) I've heard mixed things about the fibebrskyns and brushes... They're perfect. They're bumpy and the brushes snag. They're too smooth and you can't brush at all. What's the real situation here?
4) Is it true that these heads require less (or no) muting, baffling, dampening, or whatever drummers call it?
Snare:
5) Do I need a special snare head for the bottom side of the snare? What would be appropriate in the event of using a fiberskyn batter?
6) Is a regular coated head better for brushes? Is there another reason I should consider a coated head or a renaissance instead of a fiberskyn for the snare batter head?
Kick:
7) I've heard that fiberskyns make good reso heads. Do they also make good batter heads? Are two of them at the same time good? Should one or both of them be the powerstroke type - why or why not? Which one?
Other:
Any additional insight you guys have into these heads would be a tremendous help. Thanks a ton.
Cody Gaisser
While I don't know much about drum gear, I know enough about music to know what I'm going for with my drum sound. I'm looking for a sort of deep "thud" sort of tribal sound. I'm going to be playing much more on my toms and much less on my cymbals than is normal for most rock and jazz players. Although the sound I'm trying to create isn't very much like any specific player, or even especially "retro", my favorite drum sounds tend to be from older records... Frank Kirkland, Maureen Tucker, Ed Blackwell, Billy Higgins, Jaki Leibezeit, Ralph Molina, Kenny Buttrey, Elvin Jones, "Drumbo" John French, plus many more. So I'm looking for a sort of old, crusty thumpy sound... but I still want the potential for dynamics, so I don't want to get my heads too thick. I really hate BIG CLEAR MODERN drum sounds, especially the ones used for most hard rock and metal these days. I don't like bass drums to "click." At all.
I was thinking of getting Remo Fiberskyn heads because they're supposed to simulate calfskin and be good for brushes. Assuming (perhaps incorrectly) that I'm on the right track here, I've got some ???'s...
General:
1) Should I be using the Fiberskyns as both batter and reso heads, or combining them with another head on one side? What are the advantages and disadvantages and differences?
2) I've heard that the fiber is added after the fact to the regular drum films, so a fiberskyn diplomat is more like the thickness of a regular ambassador. is this true? does this mean I should drop down a size in thickness?
3) I've heard mixed things about the fibebrskyns and brushes... They're perfect. They're bumpy and the brushes snag. They're too smooth and you can't brush at all. What's the real situation here?
4) Is it true that these heads require less (or no) muting, baffling, dampening, or whatever drummers call it?
Snare:
5) Do I need a special snare head for the bottom side of the snare? What would be appropriate in the event of using a fiberskyn batter?
6) Is a regular coated head better for brushes? Is there another reason I should consider a coated head or a renaissance instead of a fiberskyn for the snare batter head?
Kick:
7) I've heard that fiberskyns make good reso heads. Do they also make good batter heads? Are two of them at the same time good? Should one or both of them be the powerstroke type - why or why not? Which one?
Other:
Any additional insight you guys have into these heads would be a tremendous help. Thanks a ton.
Cody Gaisser