Aquarian Studio-X for live situation?

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dzarren

Senior Member
I used to quite a few kits, like many of you, but recently i sold all of them but two, my most favorite kit to play at home, and one kit to take out for the shows.

The kit i decided to keep for shows is a crappy ddrum diablo kit. I got clear aquarian studio-x on it, and it sounds really decent, much better than i thought drums of this non-quality could sound.

At any rate, this was at some point my home kit, so my choice of heads was decent enough, and recorded pretty well, the heads are still quite new.

But now that this is my gigging kit, and i almost always play with no micing, or a single mic for the kick drum, are these heads suitable for my type of live situation? Or are they just too controlled for the live setting, where maybe i need to project a bit more, and keep the "unwanted" overtones, just to carry my sound?

I'm no sound guy, i know nothing of the sorts, all i know is i usually play in unmiced situations, at least for the toms.

is this head choice asking to be replaced? The heads are still in decent shape, but if it would be better for me to replace them for the "sake of the band" I might do so.

Do you have any experience with these types of pre-muffled heads and live situations? i feel like it just wont work well if you arent miced up really well.

and if you have any suggestions for heads for my typical gig, please I'd love to know of anything.

thanks
 
dzarren said:
But now that this is my gigging kit, and i almost always play with no micing, or a single mic for the kick drum, are these heads suitable for my type of live situation? Or are they just too controlled for the live setting, where maybe i need to project a bit more, and keep the "unwanted" overtones, just to carry my sound? i feel like it just wont work well if you arent miced up really well.
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Your instinct is correct. They'll be too dead. Don't throw them away, however. You might want them for another purpose, and you can always use them in a pinch, like if you bust a head at a gig.

Recommendations for replacements are tricky. What works for me might not work for you, and I'd hate to be responsible for you wasting $ on heads you don't like. But since you asked...

You're going to get a lot of responses that consist of "2-ply batter over 1-ply resonant." For me, that's Evans G2 over Evans G1. The Remo equivalents are Emperor over Ambassador. I think Aquarian would be Response 2 over Classic Clear.

Whether you prefer coated to clear is up to you. I like coated batter and clear resonant heads. Others prefer both clear. Yet others prefer both coated.

Some gel mufflers and/or a roll of gaffer's tape will help you control any errant overtones. But I don't think you'll need it. Once the whole band starts rocking, the sonic space will fill up to the point nobody will hear them on the dance floor.

Good luck!
 
STXBob said:
I think Aquarian would be Response 2 over Classic Clear.
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agreed on the Response 2 Clears. i am an Aquarian noobie & these heads are really great live / mic'd up. a bit dead after a while (but still sing) but i play a lots of 70s funk, so it works. i have them on 10, 12, 14".
 
I'd try the Studio-X heads live at least once, just to give them a shot. I like the Studio-X because they keep a lot of the attack of a regular 1-ply head, and just roll off a few high overtones.

The coated ones are nice too; I've used them on a couple of my snares and they're a nice alternative to a dotted head because they still open and warm and control some overtones but aren't stiff or clunky like some dotted heads can be.
 
Winston_Wolf said:
I'd try the Studio-X heads live at least once, just to give them a shot. I like the Studio-X because they keep a lot of the attack of a regular 1-ply head, and just roll off a few high overtones.

The coated ones are nice too; I've used them on a couple of my snares and they're a nice alternative to a dotted head because they still open and warm and control some overtones but aren't stiff or clunky like some dotted heads can be.
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+1 Good advice. I've heard several ddrum kits live using clear Studio-X heads unmic'ed and when properly tuned they sounded great from the audience. My daughter used Studio-X heads on her ddrum Ash Pocket kit and they always sounded great. The key is knowing how to really hit the drums to get the tone you're after. Give them a shot in several different rooms and see what you think before making an investment in new heads.

If you don't like the Studio-X for live playing then experiment with head combinations until you get the sound you like. There's no other way around that. Listen to different head combinations and make an educated decision where to start to get the sound you're after.

I use Aquarian heads on 95% of my drums and I recently ended up going with Super 2 clears with the Studio-X ring on all the toms. Bass drums and snares vary on head selection.
 
I'll try it out for one show, I have a show in a couple weeks, and it's unmiced, hopefully I'll be able to get some decent feedback of how it sounded.

I forgot to mention that the heads on the resonant side are Aquarian Texture coated, which of course will dampen the drum even more...

I chose this combination of heads in order to maximize the reduction of overtones, i knew the kit was gonna be chock full of those..
Sounds great at home in the kitchen though!
 
Vintage Old School said:
I use Aquarian heads on 95% of my drums and I recently ended up going with Super 2 clears with the Studio-X ring on all the toms.
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I used these for quite a while with no problem. Obviously they're thicker than the Studio-X's, but I can't imagine so much so that they would be way different. If anything, I'd imagine the Studio-X's are going to have more overtones and attack than they Super 2s, so I don't see why they won't work. Then again, these were on some fairly resonant maple shells.
 
Studio-X's in a live setting are fine. More than fine.
 
I have used the Studio X and Studio X with Power dot live and they work fine . The circular underlay reduces some of the high harmonics and an almost imperceptible amount of resonance . They are fine heads and if you lie a more controlled sound with slightly less resonance then these are the heads for you .

I used these on a Yamaha PHX Kit and these heads worked really well on those drums .
 
ive used studio-X heads on a variety of kits both live and in the studio, and theyre mighty fine heads for both situations, the control ring/X-ring reduces overtones (not as heavily as the focus-x heads) and helps bing the drums under control more. they do the job nicely IMO :)
 
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