Emperors on Smaller Drums

[Coldhardsteel]

Recently I've joined a Drum and Bugle Corp's front ensemble playing set, and their set-up is a five-piece. I have the shells for it, but I'm thinking of pulling out my extra 10" tom for a displaced 2-up/1-down deal to be able to practice the music properly, but I can't get this nagging thought our of my head about how Coated Emperors sounded on a 10" tom. I swear I read somewhere in here that Pollyanna or somebody had a bad experience with the head's inability to tune up right on the smaller drum, and I wanted to double-check before I spent my MF $30 gift card I got for christmas.

tl;dr: Has anyone had problems with Emperors and smaller drums? Any issues with sound quality or tuning up to a good tension or tone? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Pocket-full-of-gold]

Yes. Really didn't like the sound of the Emp on my 10" tom.....seemed to choke out when tensioned where I like it but I didn't like the stick response when I tuned it low enough to get a sound I could live with. I slapped an Ambassador on there and it certainly improved.......still never use the thing though, so not sure why I bothered, but all in all, I thought the single ply head much more workable on the smaller drum.

[caddywumpus]

I LOVE the sound of the Coated Emperor on my DW 10" tom. On my 12" tom is a different story, but that's a finicky drum...

[bobdadruma]

I'm a single ply guy on everything that is smaller than 13 inches diameter.

[Bo Eder]

I don't have a problem with any heads on any sized drum. So I'm not sure what the issue is. I love emperors on everything and can make 'em sound good. Looking at your situation, you'll be playing outside on a football field competing with all kinds of irrational things they bring on a field these days. Hell, they might just mic you up anyway ;)

I'm surprised you're spending your own money on this - make them buy stuff for that kit. It's theirs, isn't it? The one time I played drum set for the Kingsmen Alumni Corps, I supplied my own drums, but they outfitted it with heads when I needed them. It's only fair.

But anyway, I can run with vintage emperors on my 8 and 10 toms and they sound great.

[B-squared]

Interesting question. I'm not sure I have a better answer than anyone else here, but if you are playing outside in cold weather (I'm not sure what a D&BC front ensemble playing set refers to) I would go with a heavy head like an Emperor.

[Coldhardsteel]

Originally Posted by Bo Eder

I don't have a problem with any heads on any sized drum. So I'm not sure what the issue is. I love emperors on everything and can make 'em sound good. Looking at your situation, you'll be playing outside on a football field competing with all kinds of irrational things they bring on a field these days. Hell, they might just mic you up anyway ;)

I'm surprised you're spending your own money on this - make them buy stuff for that kit. It's theirs, isn't it? The one time I played drum set for the Kingsmen Alumni Corps, I supplied my own drums, but they outfitted it with heads when I needed them. It's only fair.

But anyway, I can run with vintage emperors on my 8 and 10 toms and they sound great.

The point is that I enjoy Emperors and I'm one of those insane must-have-eveything-the-same guys, so I wanted to poll people's experiences with coated emperors on 10" or smaller drums. The corp I'm playing with is coincidentally sponsored by Remo, but I'm not sure what heads they use or how or if they'd mic up the kit. It was more of a personal question, I suppose.

And I've been thinking of getting back into a five piece anyway.

Thanks for the opinions, guys.

[Fuo]

I've always used 2ply heads (G2, EC2) on 10" toms. My 10" is usually my best sounding tom. The prior experience you're talking about sounds familiar, it may have been an 8" that you're thinking of. From what I've seen here, G2/Emps on 10"s is very common.

[Mendozart]

I, like Bo, am also using the Vint Emps, even on my smaller sizes. I have them on 8,10,12,13,15,&16 toms, they sound great! My drums are fiberglass, so YMMV.

[tard]

Im a single ply guy period! I just dont care for the muffled / choked / dead sound of any 2 ply heads. I like the resonance, brighter sound, better stick rebound and dynamics I get from single ply heads.

[bonzolead]

it all depends on the drum IMO shell,plys.etc. I put vintage emps. on my Ludwig EPICS (12" & 14") after I tried reg. emps & ambassadors, those heads were just too bright IMO

but on my old export kit I used ambassadors same sizes as my Ludwigs but those heads sounded the best IMO

Sometimes it's all about trial & error.

Keep Swattin'
Bonzolead

[Rover]

Take this from a guy that did drum corps on all levels for many years. Let the front ensemble instructor or percussion coordinator select what heads he or she wants. There could be a specific tone or timbre they are after.