Broke my snare head...

Delwrick

Senior Member
A part of my batter side snare head snapped. It's a 2 ply Remo Black X head and the bottom ply of it has a crack. That's pretty much it.

Is there anything I can do with this? Maybe some tape will fix it....
 
As long as the head sounds good, keep playing it. Don't bother with trying to fix it, just buy a new head if it's damaged beyond repair.
 
I'm using it right now still. I still dig the sound. The one problem that I have with it is the volume. Anyways I can make the snare louder? I'm thinking about changing the snare side head to a hazy 300. Would that increase the volume of it? I know it would give it a brighter sound compared to the stock head I have on it now and that's what I'm going for, I just want to make it louder.
 
I'm using it right now still. I still dig the sound. The one problem that I have with it is the volume. Anyways I can make the snare louder? I'm thinking about changing the snare side head to a hazy 300. Would that increase the volume of it? I know it would give it a brighter sound compared to the stock head I have on it now and that's what I'm going for, I just want to make it louder.

That won't help at all. Get rid of any muffling and tune it up a bit higher. That's the only way I can think of that would help with volume, but don't expect to see huge changes.
 
Hmmm. Breaks two-ply head and wants the snare to be louder.

A lesson or two might help you. It sounds like you're bashing where in fact you get more sound by pulling the sound out of the drum rather than wacking it harder.

Also: a dirty little secret is that single-ply heads are louder than 2-ply. Another: muffling makes drums softer. That's why they call it muffling. You want louder, go to a coated Ambassador or coated G1. An added benefit will be that the snare drum will sound much livelier from the audience. Just learn to hit with a little more finesse.
 
Get rid of that head and try and Remo C.S Sound head. They come coated and clear. If you are playing for your own enjoyment in your house you can use gels or an O ring but if your playing with a band, crank up and don't use gels or rings. Nobody will hear the over ring and you will have a snare that your band mates will hear in their sleep. Trust me. It never fails.
 
Try more rim shots for increased volume and crack. Some pics of your tom heads and snare heads may shed some light on your technique.

I am curious on how is one able to break a two-ply head? Unless the head is ancient and just reached the end of its life? Overly large drumsticks? Or, is the down stroke continuing through the head and and not allowing the stick to rebound?
 
I would love to post pictures! Now I need a camera... HA.

I'm not really sure how I break it either, but for some reason I really doubt it would be heavy sticks. I use 7a Vaters.
 
Hmmm. Breaks two-ply head and wants the snare to be louder.

why is it always "criticize technique first, ask questions later"?

we have no way of knowing for 100% sure if he has "good" technique or not without video proof. and even if that is the case, who are we to judge? to each their own.

(sorry if I sound angry or something, I don't mean it like that, it's just that this is one of my pet peeves with drummers. I mean, I can't even walk in to my local music store to buy a new pair of sticks without having the drum department guy ask if I hit my drums too hard and break sticks because of that. uh hello? they're only pieces of wood! they break sometimes! it happens!)
 
Get rid of that head and try and Remo C.S Sound head. They come coated and clear. If you are playing for your own enjoyment in your house you can use gels or an O ring but if your playing with a band, crank up and don't use gels or rings. Nobody will hear the over ring and you will have a snare that your band mates will hear in their sleep. Trust me. It never fails.

I've been thinking to try one of these, I'm pretty happy with the Amabssador I have on my snare now, but I have Portnoy's signature (absolutely love it) and it came with the Ambassador stock.... but apparently in recent years he has put the Reverse Dot CS on his snare, and now I'm curious as to how that will sound.

Should I get the regular or reverse dot? (Unless I'm thinking of a different head and there's only a reverse dot :p)
 
why is it always "criticize technique first, ask questions later"?

I don't usually do that, but . . .

we have no way of knowing for 100% sure if he has "good" technique or not without video proof.

Strictly speaking, you are correct. But if I drop a hammer from arm's length, do I have to see it fall to know it didn't just fly away? Fella broke a 2-ply snare head. Okay, it could be a defective head. But really!

and even if that is the case, who are we to judge? to each their own.

You make judgments every day. So does everybody. If teachers didn't make judgments, no one would ever learn anything. See, the judgment (if you must call it that--isn't evaluation a bit better word?) comes first, then the help. I was grateful to the teachers who got me to stop trying to push the stick through the drum as hard as I could and to learn to pull the sound out and use the rebound. You go through a lot fewer heads that way, and you get a much better--and often louder--sound, to boot.

(sorry if I sound angry or something

Hey, I like opinions with some zest!

I mean, I can't even walk in to my local music store to buy a new pair of sticks without having the drum department guy ask if I hit my drums too hard and break sticks because of that. uh hello? they're only pieces of wood! they break sometimes! it happens!)

I'm with ya there, bud.
 
I didn't just break the two ply head! I only broke the bottom film of the two ply head. If that makes a difference at all.

I have also tonight, just 5 minutes ago broke my kick drum head. All thanks to my kick pedal.

My kick pedal also snapped... This is what I get for buying cheap equipment. The pedal doesn't even have a name on it...

I swear I saw it in slow motion. I pressed down, the spring snapped and this caused me to follow through a little to much with board which made the beater extend to far, by the time the beater extended to far the little chunk of metal at the very top of it to keep the felt compact comes into contact with my lovely 1 ply no name head and cut it about an inch where my beater would normally strike. NO GOOD.
 
I wouldn't call the Remo CS a loud head, it's not loud at all. If you're looking for loud, try something thinner, but you want durable?

Checkmate.
 
I'm baffled as to how the inner ply of a two ply head snapped???????????????

As for volume heads will do minimal to increase volume, that's the job of the design of the drum and what it's made out of, size, depth, metals, woods. Get a new head, it's not worth messing with. $14 you'll have a fresh head that will sound better that you won't have to worry about. The most commonly used batter head on a snare is a Coated Ambassador or G1.
 
Truth is, all things being equal, a single-ply head will be louder than a 2-ply.

But it does take a bit of technique to pull a loud sound out of a drum without beating it to death and actually choking the drum.

I hear folks have had good luck with Emperor X heads on their snares. If all you do is loud backbeats you don't have to worry about the lost sensitivity.

Meanwhile, the OP ought to put a patch on his next bass drum head.
 
I got a chunk of duct tape on my kick head and it sounds better actually. I fixed my kick pedal with the power of a new spring. I th ink things are looking better.

One VERY weird thing about my snare head breaking that I did not notice before though... There are absolutely no dents on it.. Weird much.
 
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