Alternative to Moon gels?

Without trying to sound like a d-bag, the best alternative to moon gels are appropriate head selection.
Yes but sometimes you still want a little more dampening. I have a 12" ludwig that seems to sing forever in certain rooms no matter how the tuning unless it's discompletely lose.
 
FYI, in my experience at least. The big snareweight, the M80 maybe. Is A LOT of muffling. Cool behind the kit bit dead 4 feet away.
 
Yes but sometimes you still want a little more dampening. I have a 12" ludwig that seems to sing forever in certain rooms no matter how the tuning unless it's discompletely lose.
Totally, the floor tom on my pearl midtown just rings on and on and on haha. On that kit I had great success with hydraulics.
 
Without trying to sound like a d-bag, the best alternative to moon gels are appropriate head selection.
My observations of countless rock, country, jazz and classical drummer/percussionist over the years would strongly suggest otherwise. Head selection is, of course, important. As is, obviously, tuning. But then there were all those set-ups (by by working pros) in studios, in theater pits, and on concert stages that made use of moon gels, gaffer's tape, moleskin patches, felt strips, tea towels, sanitary napkins, small pillows, large pillows, packing blankets, sand bags and stage weights. All used to produce sounds that simply can't be achieved by head choice and tuning alone.

So while I can understand wanting to believe what you are saying - my observations are that while it is occasional true that simply picking the right head can do the job, usually that just isn't the case.
 
I'm actually moving in the opposite direction. I used gaff tape for a long long long long long time because why spend money on moon gels that just lose their adhesion and melt in your Tom Tom case.

But every once in a while a sound man would give me one or I find one somewhere and start using it, and I slowly started to like them a little more. I have to use a lot more gaff tape to get the same effect, so it must be the weight of the gel that adds to the muffling that I like
The solutions I learned for getting more dampening while actually covering less head with gaff (adding more mass) are 1 - the inside out loop. These loops can big or small and are easily re-positioned (and easily disposable).

Gaff 1.jpeg

The second (older) technique is to create little flaps or fins in the tape before placing it. Again these can be big or small - and there can be one or many of them. I've seen it all sorts of ways. Both approaches create more mass and I believe, more movement that significantly increases the dampening effect beyond what is achieve from laying the gaff flat. Long ago, I was always using little folded up pieces of tissue or paper towels and holding them in place with the gaff. These loop or fin techniques have pretty much entirely eliminated my need to do that.

Gaff 2.jpeg
Also I often find myself backing this pieces of tape right up to the edge of the drum - often spilling onto the rim. Also looking for just as much dampening as I need - but absolutely no more... This is, of course, the kind of adjustability that no pre muffled heads can ever offer.

Gaff 3.jpeg

And of course, these things can be made as small as desired - and unlike moon gels, never come flying off.

Gaff 4.jpeg

Personally, I am never, ever caught without a roll of gaffers tape nearby. (And for those unaware - I'm talking about real gaffers tape - not duct tape. which is too thin and light weight and horribly messy)
 
With MoonGel, the mass is what makes it work. The sharp corners can vibrate though, causing a hideous buzzing sound. I’ve not tried any of the knock-offs (Meinl, Evans, Drum Dot).

I got a set of these ⬇️ as a Christmas gift and they’re good, and not quite the same dampening as MoonGel.


I‘ve also tried these ⬇️ , the principle being the mass of the sticky pad is the dampening agent.

 
The solutions I learned for getting more dampening while actually covering less head with gaff (adding more mass) are 1 - the inside out loop. These loops can big or small and are easily re-positioned (and easily disposable).

View attachment 129196

The second (older) technique is to create little flaps or fins in the tape before placing it. Again these can be big or small - and there can be one or many of them. I've seen it all sorts of ways. Both approaches create more mass and I believe, more movement that significantly increases the dampening effect beyond what is achieve from laying the gaff flat. Long ago, I was always using little folded up pieces of tissue or paper towels and holding them in place with the gaff. These loop or fin techniques have pretty much entirely eliminated my need to do that.

View attachment 129197
Also I often find myself backing this pieces of tape right up to the edge of the drum - often spilling onto the rim. Also looking for just as much dampening as I need - but absolutely no more... This is, of course, the kind of adjustability that no pre muffled heads can ever offer.

View attachment 129198

And of course, these things can be made as small as desired - and unlike moon gels, never come flying off.

View attachment 129199

Personally, I am never, ever caught without a roll of gaffers tape nearby. (And for those unaware - I'm talking about real gaffers tape - not duct tape. which is too thin and light weight and horribly messy)
I hear you, I learned all this stuff through Modern Drummer in the 80s with you, and Porcaro, and JR, and Paul Jamieson, and all the studio drummers and techs and engineers that would contribute. I do all this stuff already, and have been doing it for almost 40 years.

And it's probably because I'm deaf, but I usually have to put the loops and the fins on three or four sections of a drum head to get the same affect that I get from one moon gel. The only other way around that is of course the old bar napkin trick where the untaped half sits on the rim with taping the other half on the drum head.

I'm from an era where wasting gaff tape was a cardinal sin. And then I started working on Broadway where they would take 30 feet of it to tape down cables and just throw it away at the end of the night. I would cry tears at the wastefulness of that
 
There are a million gel products made for drums and not that work.

I just have a couple of packs of Moongels, but it's basically because I generally just use nothing and have them just in case.

For other effects I have rings, the BFS stuff and a few other things.

If I was studio player I'd probably still just go in wide open and just do whatever worked for the engineer.

I just let them ring, mostly.

I have one of these, too. https://remo.com/products/product/active-dampening-system/


Some other choices.



 
I’ve been using pieces of a cut up microfiber cloth rag binder-clipped to the rim of the drum with great success over the last few years. The pieces of cloth can be manipulated to cover as much or as little of the drum head as desired (including removing them altogether). I do also carry clear Moon Gels, a package of Drum Dots and I always have a couple of rolls of gaff in hardware bags, so I’m always carrying protection, so to speak. Here’s a pic with the cloth/binder clips on my toms.

74A8DB95-1715-42F8-A036-2582CA0253A7.jpeg
 
I use Snareweight M80s on everything. I like how they fold to get just the right amount depending on the room you're in. I use drum mics 100% of the time, and I have a solid understanding of signal chain. I'd much rather use a Snareweight than have some yahoo sound guy start jacking around with gates and compression. I like being able to move them around to different drums depending on what's happening.

272181244_5317174088310909_2903389060346665788_n.jpg
 
You have a link for this??
The one I have is different, doesn't look this nice but has a little loop to flick it off if via drumstick (2nd link). Now and then I see other crafty leather options people have made. Seems there are different weights/sizes/surface areas...maybe they are sound a bit different. I see the videos where people use their phone to muffle, just an accident waiting to happen, lol.



 
The one I have is different, doesn't look this nice but has a little loop to flick it off if via drumstick (2nd link). Now and then I see other crafty leather options people have made. Seems there are different weights/sizes/surface areas...maybe they are sound a bit different. I see the videos where people use their phone to muffle, just an accident waiting to happen, lol.



i tape a a .50 sweat band to it and get the same effect. i just flip it off when i dont want dampening. The wallet is $38!
 
have you tried any heads from them? they are really low priced.
Been using them exclusively for over 10 years. A definite step up from the cheapest Chinese imports. Full disclosure, I do own the company. I use these heads on my personal kits and on every set I build. I started StuffForDrummers as an outlet for excess from my custom drum building and restoration business. It kinda grew from there.
 
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