Cutting a hole in the bass drum...How big, methods etc...

Re: What effect does a resonance hole have on the bass drum sound?

You get more projection of sound, and the beater has less rebound, but there is a loss of tonal warmth. The reason the hole is offset from the center is that much of the low-end sound that you hear from a bass drum is generated from the sound vibrations resonating back and forth between the center of the beater head and the center of the resonant head, therefore no center = no resonance. Also, sometimes a hole is needed for internal placement of a microphone. Any hole up to 4 1/2 inches will have an effect on warmth and projection, 5 inches is often needed for micing, and anything over 7 inches defeats the purpose of even having a resonant head.
 
Cutting Hole in Bass Drum..Best way to do this?

How do i accomplish this...using a box cutter? Haha or is there a better way of doing it? And how big should i make it? Maybe 5 or 6 inches?
 
Re: Cutting Hole in Bass Drum..Best way to do this?

This is how I did it, worked like a charm. Just find yourself a can with an opening that's is or is close to the size you want. Put the opening on top of a stove burner and wait for it to get really hot. Pick it up, WITH OVEN MITS OR PRONGS, not with your hands. Take the can and press it against you're bass skin, my bass skin was resting or 2 things so there was nothing in the middle. Viola, you have a nice clean cut hole. Easily done. You could also just go buy one of those holes that you can trace with a box cutter.
Good luck.
Zack.
 
Re: Cutting Hole in Bass Drum..Best way to do this?

Zackman said:
This is how I did it, worked like a charm. Just find yourself a can with an opening that's is or is close to the size you want. Put the opening on top of a stove burner and wait for it to get really hot. Pick it up, WITH OVEN MITS OR PRONGS, not with your hands. Take the can and press it against you're bass skin, my bass skin was resting or 2 things so there was nothing in the middle. Viola, you have a nice clean cut hole. Easily done. You could also just go buy one of those holes that you can trace with a box cutter.
Good luck.
Zack.
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Ooh sounds dangerous...but i guess i could try that. Sounds like it works. Thanks
 
Re: Cutting Hole in Bass Drum..Best way to do this?

i put loads of gaffa tape on the inside surface first to strengthen it (see diagram). then i trace around a suitagble tin. but i really like zackmans idea. sounds like my kind of guy.
j
ps: keep the hole as small as possible. any more than 7'' and you may as well not have a skin.

 
Re: Cutting Hole in Bass Drum..Best way to do this?

Zackman said:
find yourself a can...Put the opening on top of a stove burner... and press it against you're bass skin,
Click to expand...

Brilliant!

Do it outside, though. That's toxic fumes you'll be creating as you melt the plastic.
 
Re: Cutting Hole in Bass Drum..Best way to do this?

deltadrummer1 said:
How do i accomplish this...using a box cutter? Haha or is there a better way of doing it? And how big should i make it? Maybe 5 or 6 inches?
Click to expand...

I used a compass to trace the size of the hole I wanted or a object of similar size, then I took and exacto knife (scapel) and traced around the object making a perfect circle. Or get a pair of very sharp scissors and make a hole through the hole you want to cut and cut across the line you traced with a exacto knife or pen.
 
Re: Cutting Hole in Bass Drum..Best way to do this?

They sell kits for doing this....I also heard about using a hot can to melt the hole...It actually works very well.
 
Re: Cutting Hole in Bass Drum..Best way to do this?

I recommend the kit. Aquarian gives you a kit when you buy a resonant BD head. Itconsists of a hard plastic adhesive circle. You stick the plastic on and trace with a utility knife or box cutter.
 
Re: Cutting Hole in Bass Drum..Best way to do this?

Remo sells different sizes (5" 7" and 9" I think) of what they call Dynamos, they come with ebony Powerstroke 3's and can purchased separately. I would highly recommend these for putting a hole in your resonant head.
 
Holes in Bass Drum head.

Hey guys, I'm two years old in drumming so I don't know alot but what does that^^ do exactly? Does it make it louder and does it affect the tone?
 
Re: Holes in Bass Drum head.

a hole generally increases the beater definition and attack in the tone. a 4 inch hole is the biggest you should go with a 22inch bass drum, anymore and its pretty senseless to even have a head. smaller the hole, the fatter the tone will sound and will cover the initial attack more.
 
Re: Holes in Bass Drum head.

I've heard Gadd play before with the large hole in the middle and man did it sound sweet. So much air but lots of warmth that really made the mix full.
 
Re: Holes in Bass Drum head.

what about the placement of the hole. I read somewhere once that is better to have a off-set hole than to have it centered. can't remember why they said that though. can anybody tell me what is the difference in having it centered or off-set?
 
Re: Holes in Bass Drum head.

Yamaha places a big 8 - 10 inch hole dead center of their drums.

Personally I think the location of the hole is purely aesthetics.
 
Re: Holes in Bass Drum head.

mlehnertz said:
Yamaha places a big 8 - 10 inch hole dead center of their drums.

Personally I think the location of the hole is purely aesthetics.
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Directly in the middle is a bad location for a hole. I think the best location is when they are put dead right or dead left not in the middle. It makes sound engineers jobs at clubs and studios easy to place a mic inside the kick drum.
 
Re: Holes in Bass Drum head.

But then we're talking about a completely different application of "the hole".

Superlow said:
Directly in the middle is a bad location for a hole. I think the best location is when they are put dead right or dead left not in the middle. It makes sound engineers jobs at clubs and studios easy to place a mic inside the kick drum.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Holes in Bass Drum head.

Placing a hole in the head stops the vibration of the front head a bit. Putting a hole dead center, even if it's a small hole, defeats the purpose of even having a front head. It would be the same as if you just took the head off because now it's not vibrating any longer.
 
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