Will a very small port in a bass drum reso help w batter head flutter?

incrementalg

Gold Member
I like to alternate between playing off the bass drum head and burying the beater. I love the sound of a non ported reso head, but I get flutter on the batter head when burying the beater. My understanding is that it’s due to the air inside the drum coming back against the reso head.

If I were to cut a very small port...say maybe 2-3 inches, would that allow enough air to escape to eliminate the flutter?

I love the sound of my aquarian regulator reso (I removed half of the felt) and would like to keep using the same head. My set came with a DW reso with nickel sized holes around the perimeter. It felt pretty good, but the head sounded papery.

Thoughts on a single, small port to let air out without losing resonance?
 
While a port will probably get rid of the flutter (beater bounce) ..... porting your existing reso. might alter it's sound that you like so much. So you might have to search for a new reso.
 
Not sure if 2-3" will be enough to alleviate the flutter, but porting in general will take care of that. I prefer a 4" off-center port at about the 4:00 position. It feels great and sounds great too, as the smallish hole off to the side allows most of the head to resonate from the beater strike. Kind of the best of both worlds, if you ask me.

You could always start with 2-3", then expand it to 4" if need be.
 
I bury the beater too, and with lil kicks ported sound louder. I cut a 3 inch hole in reso head of my lil Sonor Safari kick-sounded great (no flutter and louder) but it was a rough cut and all the force going through hole it tore -eventually across the whole head.
 
I bury the beater too, and with lil kicks ported sound louder. I cut a 3 inch hole in reso head of my lil Sonor Safari kick-sounded great (no flutter and louder) but it was a rough cut and all the force going through hole it tore -eventually across the whole head.
I think I'll try making a small hole with a hot tin can. We have a few different size cans in the pantry...I'll make the kids eat whatever is in the smallest one and give it a try. The aquarian head is pretty thick...almost rubbery, so the can may just make a mess. We'll see...
 
I tried the melt method-which does make a nice cauterized edge-a cut is jagged and can tear. I couldn't get it to burn it out all evenly-I tried it on an old head. I bought one of those cutters (push down center pin then it swivels in a circle to cut) but tried it on a new reso I left on drum just tightened it up. Cut great till about the last 1/3 suddenly my pressing down tore the whole brand new head. I've kept it to remind me what an idiot I am-just grabbed it today.
Meanwhile to compensate for no port I loosen my pedal spring and loosen my batter head-so less flutter-which can be too dead so I fiddle slight tightening till I get some rebound but it still loose enough to absorb the strike without the dribble.
 
Last edited:
I tried the melt method-which does make a nice cauterized edge-a cut is jagged and can tear. I couldn't get it to burn it out all evenly-I tried it on an old head. I bought one of those cutters (push down center pin then it swivels in a circle to cut) but tried it on a new reso I left on drum just tightened it up. Cut great till about the last 1/3 suddenly my pressing down tore the whole brand new head. I've kept it to remind me what an idiot I am-just grabbed it today.
Meanwhile to compensate for no port I loosen my pedal spring and loosen my batter head-so less flutter-which can be too dead so I fiddle slight tightening till I get some rebound but it still loose enough to absorb the strike without the dribble.
Sounds a like a lot of overthinking.

The cut-out doesn't need to be perfect it just needs to be smaller than the port device you're using: either an adhesive port patch or a more elaborate plastic device. I never did it before the first time I tried, but I had no problems at all with an x-acto and scissors. Sounds like you didn't buy the port that goes around the cut-out.

I bury my beater, too, and would get rebound. I use a bop size kick drum. I installed the smallest port possible because a big-ole hole in reso head will allow most of air to escape and not bounce off batter. Even a small one will allow a lot to escape. It is very noticeable.

The combo of very small port plus just the right tension on both heads and just the right pedal set-up and it all works. Takes a lot of fiddling.

Plus now the sound engineers can mic my kick at gigs.

I even bought a 2nd pedal exact same type and set it up exactly as original pedal that I take to gigs so the feel of pedal is the same if I have to use a backline kit. Most backlines have ported heads for mic'ing. At least using pedal I'm familiar with I'm more confident playing on stage.

Of all this, the 2 minutes I spent cutting the hole were the easiest thing I did :)

Enjoy the trip.
 
Last edited:
I tried the melt method-which does make a nice cauterized edge-a cut is jagged and can tear. I couldn't get it to burn it out all evenly-I tried it on an old head. I bought one of those cutters (push down center pin then it swivels in a circle to cut) but tried it on a new reso I left on drum just tightened it up. Cut great till about the last 1/3 suddenly my pressing down tore the whole brand new head. I've kept it to remind me what an idiot I am-just grabbed it today.
Meanwhile to compensate for no port I loosen my pedal spring and loosen my batter head-so less flutter-which can be too dead so I fiddle slight tightening till I get some rebound but it still loose enough to absorb the strike without the dribble.
I have a couple of used reso heads, so I'm gonna try some practice cauterizing. I'm starting to think it may not be worth the possible destruction of a reso head that I love. I've been messing with the pedal adjustments as well, but my foot likes tension on the higher side. If my test tries don't work, I'll leave it be and experiment with a vented reso head in the future.
 
Get the RSM (Regulator, small hole)
 
Drill a 2" hole in your shell. You'll never have to port a reso head that way.

Just kidding. Don't do that!!!! :ROFLMAO:

I think the DW reso heads with the small holes do a good job of stopping flutter. But since you thought yours sounded like paper, maybe take a pre-muffled head like the Regulator and try drilling holes in the same pattern as the DW head and keep the felt intact.
 
Drill a 2" hole in your shell. You'll never have to port a reso head that way.

I have a TomPort that I tried on a 16" floor tom once to see if it made a difference.
It sorta-did, but I wonder if a smaller port like that would work on a kick?
 
I think it would. I remember those old Impact shells from the 80s had a bass drum with a big rectangular vent in the shell. Lots of air comes out of those vents.

1617926519615.png

I copied this image from a google search, but a buddy of mine had one of these years ago and when you buried the beater on this drum, it didn't bounce at all.
 
Update: I bought a ported Aquarian regulator and it helped with the flutter for sure, but sapped all the low end out of the drum. Compared with the non ported regulator, the drum sounds flat and punchy, but way less meaty. It sounds like every flappy iPhone bass drum demo on YouTube. (Where the guys have super kick IIs and queen sized quilts stuffed in the drum and rave about how deeeeeep it sounds)
Gonna play it for a while and try different tensions on the reso to see what I can get out of it. Worst case is that I confirmed I don’t like ported heads.
 
Back
Top