Deep sounding skins

rightfoot

Junior Member
I'm just starting out with my drums. I bought a DW 7000 starter set, added some good cymbals, lots of other goodies which are encouraging me to learn.

What I can't stand is the plastic sort of sound my skins seem to make. I replaced the originals with a better set but they sound awful.

Wondering if there is such a thing as a deeper, fuller sounding skin out there?
I'm guessing that just plain going to anything but plastic will give me what I'm after but wanted to ask the pros.

Thanks for any input you can provide.

Mike
 
Well first there is no such thing as a DW 7000 drum kit. Second thing is what heads do you have on your kit now? If you have a head like an EC2 then that would muffle the sound. So it really depends on what head you have on your kit now. If you do have an EC2 or Pinstripe. Then i would try an Evans G2 or Remo Emperor.
 
Ya, I've not looked at the front in a while :). I've changed so many things, I think the label is gone. The bass drum does have a Pacific logo on it?

The skins are remo, weatherking pinstripe, plastic I guess you'd call em.
Those sound very plastic.

Another thing, is there a trick to preventing the snare drum wires from making sound while hitting other items? Mine seems to be so sensitive that anything hit that is close makes the wires sound up.
 
Ok pinstripes will muffle the drums sound making it not have as much tone. If you put G2's or an emperor on it will cause more snare buzz. You could try getting some Evans G2's and buying something called moon gel. Once you put the head on you can put a piece of the moon gel on the head (you can cut the moon gel to whatever size you want). That wll take away some of the snare buzz for you. Hopefully this will give you a more open sound why still controlling the snare buzz.
 
Ok pinstripes will muffle the drums sound making it not have as much tone. If you put G2's or an emperor on it will cause more snare buzz. You could try getting some Evans G2's and buying something called moon gel. Once you put the head on you can put a piece of the moon gel on the head (you can cut the moon gel to whatever size you want). That wll take away some of the snare buzz for you. Hopefully this will give you a more open sound why still controlling the snare buzz.

Thanks, I'll go take a look at those.
Also, the moon gel, is that something which acts something like the following?

http://cgi.ebay.com/GIBRALTAR-EXTER...394?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item415b7de86a
 
Yes they both will muffle the drum. I would go with moon gel instead of one of those though because with moon gel you can make it the size you want and its easy to take off and on.
 
Go with the G2's on the toms it will give you a more open sound emperors are equivalent to G2's just another brand. You can't put a G2 on your bass drum.

Read the descriptions on each head and then choice which one describes what sound you want for your bass. http://store.daddario.com/category/148175?language_id=1&currency_id=1

I use the emad or emad 2.

What sound do you want for your snare? Look through these choices. http://store.daddario.com/category/148251?language_id=1&currency_id=1

I would recommend one of the genera HD or just the regular genera. If you want to control some of the overtones go with the dry version of one of the genera's.
 
Just for the record, if you know how to tune them, pinstripes will give you the deepest and fullest sound. It's what they are made to do. The extra muffling on the head is used to cut out high frequency overtones resulting in a head with deep killer lows. Just my 2 cents :)
Jackson
 
It'll be a few days before I can get to the local store so was just quickly looking for ebay.

I cam across this as an example.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Evans-G2-Drum-H...201?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eb67d9199

I was doing well with lessons then kinda gave it up for a few years and now hate the way my kit sounds.

As for sounds, I like deep bass sounds.
I also need to find a way to tune my drums, to make sure that I'm getting a good scale between them so they don't sound too alike.
 
That will do. The snare and bass heads are not G2's though. The snare is a G1 and the bass is a EQ4. I would also take jt.mcrae's advise and make sure you are tuning them right before you go buy all new heads. Keep in mind the G2's will give you more of a open sound. It will also have more resonance.
 
Just for the record, if you know how to tune them, pinstripes will give you the deepest and fullest sound. It's what they are made to do. The extra muffling on the head is used to cut out high frequency overtones resulting in a head with deep killer lows. Just my 2 cents :)
Jackson

Jackson that's what I was thinking too!

To the OP: Snare buzz or sympathetic vibration occurs when you have another drum tuned in close proximity to your snare or when harmonics from another drum excite the snares. This can be eliminated through tuning mostly, although you'll always get a tiny amount of buzz. Failing that cut down the number of strands on your snares by using wire cutters but make sure to cut away one from either side when you do it otherwise youget uneven tension, repeat that as many times as you desire. The effect that has however is that you get less snare response and more drum tone, which I quite like myself (well a healthy balance at least).

I'd suggest having a look at the wealth of info on tuning here and also check out a guy on youtube called "Bob Gatzen" he has a very thorough and comprehensive library of videos which cover nearly everything you could imagine when it comes to tuning.

Hope you find a solution mate,

Kev

Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMqHqADnREY I use this as reference when tuning because it's always got me a nice deep tone, using Remo coated Emperors on top and clear Ambassadors on the bottom.
 
I had some ebony pinstripes and would not recommend them unless you want a really really deep sound. I hated them but they might be good for what you want. MAybe just normal pinstripes would be better than ebony ones. I would definitely recommend trying them out before you buy them.
 
Just for the record, if you know how to tune them, pinstripes will give you the deepest and fullest sound. It's what they are made to do. The extra muffling on the head is used to cut out high frequency overtones resulting in a head with deep killer lows. Just my 2 cents :)
Jackson

So you mean the ones I have now?
 
I had some ebony pinstripes and would not recommend them unless you want a really really deep sound. I hated them but they might be good for what you want. MAybe just normal pinstripes would be better than ebony ones. I would definitely recommend trying them out before you buy them.

Ebony heads are even more darker and more muffled than normal heads. I have only played clear pinstripes and I love them :)

So you mean the ones I have now?

Yes the ones that you have now, if they are clear pinstripes they should be fine if you know how to tune them. They jst aren't as easy to tune as other heads. I can't comment on coated or ebony pinstripes as I have never played these :)
 
Sounds like I need to learn to tune these things before I buy another set.
Guess I need to move to another forum. What I'll need to better understand is why they seem to 'wrinkle' after being tight for a while for example. I'm not sure how to fix that other than repositioning them on the tom so that the wrinkle area gets more rim space.

Not sure how to explain that one I guess :).
 
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