Damping

spirit

Senior Member
Over the years drumming I have come to use less and less damping on my drums..I have noticed with better tuning methods I can now find the point that requires no damping at all on all my drums- leaving a nice depth of sound and a little ring after the hit- NICE!
The bass drum is the only thing I damp because I prefer for that a nice low deadish thump that you can feel.

I guess the coice of heads make a big differance- I use Evans G2s as resos all round and Aquarian performance 2s on the top.



What do you all do for damping, do you use rings, moongel, tissue under tape etc?
 
I don't use any damping at all on the toms and snare, in fact i use single ply heads all round too to get the most volume and overtones from my drums possible. They're there to sing. You might have a DW but if it's not allowed to sing, might as well be a PP £100 starter kit as far as i'm concerned.
 
I use no dampening at all on my drums. I sometimes tape my ride though.
 
I have moongel but I don't always use it, mainly at home and not always on stage.

That's a different combo spirit I have g2's for my batters not reso's as they're 2ply.
 
I keep my drums as natural as they can be, I work on tuning, no dampening.
 
I have moongel but I don't always use it, mainly at home and not always on stage.

That's a different combo spirit I have g2's for my batters not reso's as they're 2ply.

Yeah that's right TS you should use single ply heads like G1s or Diplomats for resos. You want to keep the resos as plain as possible really.

deathmetalconga said:
I don't dampen anything and especially my bass drum. Just use thicker heads or adjust tuning. I see people stuff pillows, mattresses, refrigerators in their bass drums to kill as much of the sound as possible - crazy!

I think the problem with not having any damping on the bass drum is that it can sound sloppy for fast passages, it also feels sloppy too. I do like the boomieness, but only for certain types of music though. Maybe i could use a smaller kick for a tighter sound.
 
The only dampening I would ever really use would just be a small piece of tape on my ride to get a dryer, shorter sound... but very rarely.
 
I have moongel but I don't always use it, mainly at home and not always on stage.

That's a different combo spirit I have g2's for my batters not reso's as they're 2ply.

Yeah it is- I have tried aloads of resos but once I bought the Aquarians for the top- I decided to put my G2s on the bottom froom the top and I was very surprised at how good it sounded.....I tried them at a few gigs also and the band guys like the sound also-= so I stuck with it.....when they are due changing I am sot sure what I will try out next!
 
I hate the sound of damped toms and snare, even miced. I love the sound of ringy snares and toms. Most of it gets swallowed up onstage anyway and in the audience, they sound like they are supposed to, with liveliness and personality, not flat and stupid sounding. I do damp my kick though, I don't prefer a boomy bass drum.
 
Over the years drumming I have come to use less and less damping on my drums..I have noticed with better tuning methods I can now find the point that requires no damping at all on all my drums- leaving a nice depth of sound and a little ring after the hit- NICE!
The bass drum is the only thing I damp because I prefer for that a nice low deadish thump that you can feel.

I guess the coice of heads make a big differance- I use Evans G2s as resos all round and Aquarian performance 2s on the top.



What do you all do for damping, do you use rings, moongel, tissue under tape etc?
Like you I abhor damping my drums. Let freedom RING!!

"If you can't TUNE it out, don't PLAY it out!!"
 
Yeah that's right TS you should use single ply heads like G1s or Diplomats for resos. You want to keep the resos as plain as possible really.



I think the problem with not having any damping on the bass drum is that it can sound sloppy for fast passages, it also feels sloppy too. I do like the boomieness, but only for certain types of music though. Maybe i could use a smaller kick for a tighter sound.

You can control sound and avoid dampening using a thicker head. Most people tune their bass drums too tight and with heads that are too thin, then they stuff the drum full of bedding to choke its sound.

My drum is made of extremely dense solid wood, supposedly the worst kind for ringiness, but I control it well with thick heads. Pillows don't produce good sound so I don't want the sound of a pillow coming out of the drum.
 
You can control sound and avoid dampening using a thicker head. Most people tune their bass drums too tight and with heads that are too thin, then they stuff the drum full of bedding to choke its sound.

My drum is made of extremely dense solid wood, supposedly the worst kind for ringiness, but I control it well with thick heads. Pillows don't produce good sound so I don't want the sound of a pillow coming out of the drum.

Actually i do tune my drum extremely low but as you suggest i'll try thicker heads next time, see what that does.
 
Hi all.

As far as damping goes, I use a light pillow in the bass drum because I really don't like the boomy sound; I like a fast, deep thud, and that's it. I don't think the sound of the bass drum is affected tone-wise because I keep the pillow small.

For the most part, I will put Moongel dampers on my snare, because I almost hate the ringing. If I play a song by, say, Metallica or Van Halen, I'll leave the Moongel off because it will sound more like the snare those drummers use. But for the most part, Moongel is on the snare. I leave the toms as is.

I do use the Remo PowerStroke III on the batter side of the bass - sounds good to me! I wrote an article on my blog about snare drum ringing, give it a look!

The Ringing In My Ears

I'll be revamping my tuning knowledge when I replace the heads on my toms, so we'll see how that goes!
 
You can control sound and avoid dampening using a thicker head. Most people tune their bass drums too tight and with heads that are too thin, then they stuff the drum full of bedding to choke its sound.

My drum is made of extremely dense solid wood, supposedly the worst kind for ringiness, but I control it well with thick heads. Pillows don't produce good sound so I don't want the sound of a pillow coming out of the drum.

I think this really depends on what type of music you're playing. I use a BD pillow and usually prefer a small hole in the resonant head. I want a fat, beefy punch rather than an extended "booooom" coming from my kick.

I hate the way the kick feels w/o a little padding and a small hole in the reso head, too. I don't bury the beater at all, I just think the head response is too spastic w/o those things. I tune both sides very loose and the pillow helps it feel less "floppy".

I feel like ghost notes get lost a little with too much "boom", as well.

The kick is the only drum I dampen...the rest are as wide open as Kansas. If you tune well (I'm a much better tuner than I am a drummer) you shouldn't need anything.

I especially hate the sound of a heavily dampened snare. Some guys will go out of their way to make sure the snare only makes ONE sound, when it's capable of so much more. Snares that have no ring sound dull and uninteresting to me.
 
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