What do you use for drum dampeners?

Seems I'm the odd one out here.
I dislike any overtone at all on the snare so its a piece of loose cloth inside, taped up top head, both sides and tight wires...nice and dead.
 
PorkPieGuy said:
I keep a Snareweight M80 on my snare drums, and I carry two with me for my rack tom and floor tom depending on the venue, miking situation, etc. I love how you can adjust these on the fly depending on the specific needs of the moment. I like my toms to be wide open, but if I'm just getting too much sympathetic ring and the sound person of the day doesn't use any sort of compression/gate, then I just throw an M80 on it for ease. I'll occasionally use gaff tape if needed, but very little.
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Yeah, whoever thought out the M80 should design most things... the way it has a few dampening settings.. plus you can just fold it up out of the way, it's just perfect for it's job.
 
Superstarman said:
I’ve found that for subduing the volume without disrupting the tone, some inexpensive foam weatherking weatherstripping works great. It can be removed easily and any residual adhesive wipes away with your fingers. Sort of like Dead Ringers I used in the 80’s. $10 will do a 5 piece set. And unlike Evans sound off there’s no difference in the feel. What do y’all use?
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I absolutely love the "Dead Ringer" reference... I played as a kid in the late 70's into the early 80's, and used Dead Ringers back then. They gave my drums a great tone. I stopped playing around 83 or 84, fast forward about 20+ years when I got the chance to get into it again. I went looking for Dead Ringers to put on the new heads I purchased, alas they aren't around any longer.

The thing with the Dead Ringers was that they were circular, and when applied properly, looked like they belonged on the drum. When you use the weather stripping, how do you apply it? In a square? Octagon, maybe? :)
 
PorkPieGuy said:
I keep a Snareweight M80 on my snare drums, and I carry two with me for my rack tom and floor tom depending on the venue, miking situation, etc. I love how you can adjust these on the fly depending on the specific needs of the moment. I like my toms to be wide open, but if I'm just getting too much sympathetic ring and the sound person of the day doesn't use any sort of compression/gate, then I just throw an M80 on it for ease. I'll occasionally use gaff tape if needed, but very little.
Click to expand...

I also love the M80 for my snare... I need to grab some for my toms, one of these days
 
Evans Hydraulic heads. If tuned right, they don't need external dampening IMO. The oil layer does that just fine.

The snare is a different story.

I tried the ebony coated Hydraulic on that one & it just never sounded right. So I went back to the Remo CS black dot with either a small MoonGel or my Big Fat Snare Drum over the top.
Perfection.
 
To play at a lower volume, I use smaller sticks. Peace and goodwill.
 
Odd man out here. Probably 80 to 90% of the time I use these. I don't play gigs, so I can use what suits me:



750-VFHB_detail2.jpg



www.sweetwater.com

Vic Firth Heritage Brushes (pair)

Pair of Retractable, Light-gauge Wire Brushes with Rubber Handles
www.sweetwater.com www.sweetwater.com
 
Supraman5x14 said:
Ah yes, the days of my youth! Dead Ringers were mounted underneath the head and against the inside of the shell near the bearing edges. Is that how you mount the weather stripping as well? I also used the Remo Muff'ls back in the late 80's and early 90's.
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Actually I have put them on the top of the heads about 1/2” inside the rims. Quite effective and very inexpensive for easy removal when you want full volume.
 
Drumolator said:
To play at a lower volume, I use smaller sticks. Peace and goodwill.
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Primark 7A firegrain are my go to ‘quiet’ sticks, I love the feel and weight
 
mikyok said:
I keep moon gel in the stick bag. As a rule of thumb barring a PS4 bass drum head and a felt strip on the bass drum reso everything else is played wide open.

Dampening only comes out as a last resort, if you've ever done stately homes/village halls/sports halls or castles you know! I'll use lighter and lighter sticks first and then out comes the moon gel/o-rings. Wallet works well on your snare provided your snare is flat.

With anything you add to a head you're adding mass so the sound will be change.
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So what’s up with moongel?? I can’t figure out why putting anything permanent on the heads is a benefit when there are removable options.
 
BruceW said:
I absolutely love the "Dead Ringer" reference... I played as a kid in the late 70's into the early 80's, and used Dead Ringers back then. They gave my drums a great tone. I stopped playing around 83 or 84, fast forward about 20+ years when I got the chance to get into it again. I went looking for Dead Ringers to put on the new heads I purchased, alas they aren't around any longer.

The thing with the Dead Ringers was that they were circular, and when applied properly, looked like they belonged on the drum. When you use the weather stripping, how do you apply it? In a square? Octagon, maybe? :)
Click to expand...
BruceW Okay I misnamed the weatherstripping, it’s FrostKing and comes in a variety of widths and thicknesses. I like the grey 3/4” variety and it’s easy to manipulate into a relatively clean circle. And it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than the dead ringers with essentially the same effect. :)
 
See pic for actual frost king on the head
 

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CommanderRoss said:
Evans Hydraulic heads. If tuned right, they don't need external dampening IMO. The oil layer does that just fine.

The snare is a different story.

I tried the ebony coated Hydraulic on that one & it just never sounded right. So I went back to the Remo CS black dot with either a small MoonGel or my Big Fat Snare Drum over the top.
Perfection.
Click to expand...
I understand that heads make as much difference as the drums, there are just so many variations and variables depending on the drums, heads, sticks... not to mention the venue and audience- to make it such an artistic endeavor/experiment that makes it all so very enriching. Remo are my goto heads but always looking for options.
 
A few cotton balls inside the 16" floor toms is about all I ever use for the toms. I use coated Remo PS3's on my two snares. On my SQ1 kit I use a coated EMAD with the fat trim ring. Everything else is wide open for the most part.
 
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My idea of damping is a Remo CS head. If I really go for heavy damping I'll use a two ply head and that's not very often. Usually everything is wide open.
 
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