Bass drum muffling

That's essentially what I've been doing lately, except I bought a larger sheet of egg-crate foam so I could cut it to custom sizes to touch the heads. The egg-crate really works well to absorb the errant frequencies without killing the drum.


I experimented with a pillow, blanket and different sized pieces of foam, and settled on the above approach. I thought it worked substantially better than the others. Nice and light, too. About 9x18x3. Tight, still alive.
 
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Ive always used an Evans EQ pad. It's like $15 on Sweetwater and hold position with velcro. The perfect amount of Dampening along with the Evans EMad Batter. Sounds like a cannon on my 16 x 22 starclassic kick.
 
I use a Gibraltar felt strip on each side (stationery felt sheets might be more cost effective). I've a 5" port on my front head (both coated Ambs), and the combo gives me a warm, balanced thump.
 
18" Bass drum (No Port) - Folded pillowcase between BD pedal and Batter head.
Though with the Tama HP50 peda, that hits closer to the centre, I'm finding I don't always need BD muffling

22" Bass Drum (With Port) - Evans EQ Pad and folded pillowcase against Reso head if required

Mick
 
I know this a thread back from the dead. (I'm a poet and I know it!)

I've gone back to the 70s and have put a 20" port on my reso head and stuck a pillow in the bass drum, used a bit of carpet tape to keep it in place. It's the most anti me thing ever but the rest of the band love the tight thump you get from micing the back of the batter head.

I still have my 20 open with just powerstroke heads.
 
My head/muffling combo preference: Batter = Remo power stroke coated with a rolled up tea towel which is gorilla taped to bottom of head and shell so that everything stays in place during load in out and playing. Reso = Remo felt tone hazy or felt tone fibre skin, I want to hear the actual shell and some length to the note when I play off the head.
 
I know this a thread back from the dead. (I'm a poet and I know it!)

I've gone back to the 70s and have put a 20" port on my reso head and stuck a pillow in the bass drum, used a bit of carpet tape to keep it in place. It's the most anti me thing ever but the rest of the band love the tight thump you get from micing the back of the batter head.

I still have my 20 open with just powerstroke heads.
Just curious, were you able to cut a clean circle and if so then how? Whenever I tried to do a very large port and/or cut out most of a reso it always ends up looking like garbage.
 
Just curious, were you able to cut a clean circle and if so then how? Whenever I tried to do a very large port and/or cut out most of a reso it always ends up looking like garbage.
Pretty easy just drew round a 20" cymbal with a Sharpie and cut into the middle of the head and out as close to the circle as I dared with a knife then got a pair of scissors and followed the circle I drew.

The reso is basically there to stop the lugs and fittings from rattling but it looks odd to me. So use to a full reso head.
 
I tried something new when I rearranged a month or so ago. Drum is a 22" Premier Genista. The batter and reso both have a control ring (stock Premier heads). Sometimes the control ring vibrates against the head, so I duct taped the control ring to the head itself on both heads. The drum sounds much bigger. There is a hand towel in there to eliminate any leftover boing the drum may produce. I must say I'm extremely happy with the results. Think dance club music.

Normally I would use a pillow and click pads for attack for running double kick. That's not what I'm going for here. The other two kick drums (16/24) are set up that way.
 
I put some small Ikea pillows in them. Cost maybe no more than €5,-, but they work. Still use the stock Pearl coated PS3 head and that together with the pillow (one in each bass drum) is enough to have a boomy sound that doesn't ring too long.
 
I use an Evans EQ Pad with a Pinstripe batter (coated or clear) and a stock Premier logo front head with a 6” port.

Over the years, I’ve used almost everything: felt strips, cotton balls, blankets, pillows, and even a large gauze trauma pad. However, the big benefit of the EQ Pad is that it always stays in place, even when the drum is turned on its side for packing and travel.
 
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