How do you tune your bass drum reso head?

Kick batter = low but not flappy. Remo PS3 clear batter on both kits.
Kick reso = higher but not quite medium. 5" port at about 4 o'clock. Nothing inside. Prolite has PS3 faux vintage. N&C Walnut has Evans '56 Calftone.
 
theseer2 said:
Thats sounds just like Rob Browns method on YouTube, I hate that sound! its way too limp


I tighten the rezo super high. Sounds and feels so much better, no stupid holes either.
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could be, it's just a method.. depends what you think is disappearing wrinkles are... doesn't sound limp to me. could depend on the heads used as well.. or the drum or.. or .. or..
 
Tried the wrinkle technique. I found it hard to see the wrinkles on a coated head. The EMAD ring holder didn't help either. In the end I fell back to tightening just to where there started to be some resistance. The difference between floppy loose and bouncy tight appears to be about a quarter turn, maybe half at most.
 
Reso JAW, batter a little higher. Works really well with EMAD for a nice thump!
Then, if you want a different sound with more boing, tune reso a third or fifth above batter.
I prefer the thump most of the time, but I find this to be a versatile setup with options.
 
To extend this thread a bit, tell me your opinions on what reso head to use and how much it matters. I have a new Sonor kit coming, I wonder if I should order a new reso head or just use the logo one it comes with. I'll probably cut a hole no matter what for my mic.

If it matters, I'm going to try Remo heads all around for this new kit. I've mostly tested out various Evans heads up to now. Incidentally, I haven't found a Remo with a pre-cut hole.

EDIT: Never mind that last bit. They didn't come up on Remo's site, but Sweetwater shows a punch of P3 with holes...
 
I'm really picky on the reso head. I don't like a "thick" sounding reso head like a Calftone, Fibreskyn, or any 2 ply heads. No internal control rings either. I can hear it. I go for crisp, with maximum definition. REMO Starfire is the reso for me. 10 mils single ply, and the chrome finish gives me the clarity and definition I crave. Mine is tuned at least twice, possibly 3x the tension of the batter. I believe a tight tuned boingy reso head takes frequencies from the subsonic level and brings them out to a point where we can hear them and not just feel them.

I'm not throwing shade for the users of the heads I listed that I don't go for. I'm just stating my hard won preferences
 
I replaced my 10+ years old evans reso head with port with an Evans EMAD reso and, combined with a NOS EQ2 it has the best punch I’ve ever heard.
proper tension of the reso will deliver superior results. Not flabby, not tight, just right.

EMAD Resonant Bass Drumhead | EVANS Drumheads | D'Addario

With an offset 4” microphone port in a single ply of 10mil film plus a foam dampening ring around its edge, the EVANS EMAD Resonant series gives you greater control of your overtones, so you can enhance your pitch, focus, and attack.
www.daddario.com
 
larryace said:
I'm really picky on the reso head. I don't like a "thick" sounding reso head like a Calftone, Fibreskyn, or any 2 ply heads. No internal control rings either. I can hear it. I go for crisp, with maximum definition. REMO Starfire is the reso for me. 10 mils single ply, and the chrome finish gives me the clarity and definition I crave. Mine is tuned at least twice, possibly 3x the tension of the batter. I believe a tight tuned boingy reso head takes frequencies from the subsonic level and brings them out to a point where we can hear them and not just feel them.

I'm not throwing shade for the users of the heads I listed that I don't go for. I'm just stating my hard won preferences
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Fibrskyn come as Diplomat Too!
 
Diplomat weight heads make me want to hurl, sorry Pete.

A fibreskyn will never sound crisp and punchy to me.

To me, Fibreskyns, calftone...are SO boring sounding. Too soft of an attack for the sound I prefer.

I'd go real calf first.
 
Mastiff said:
To extend this thread a bit, tell me your opinions on what reso head to use and how much it matters.
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I like a single-ply Remo with 4" port and no other muffling. I've had good results with Smooth White Ambassador, Coated Ambassador and Fiberskyn. I think the port and tight tuning makes it so there's no need for reso muffling. That's how I do it.
 
larryace said:
Diplomat weight heads make me want to hurl, sorry Pete.

A fibreskyn will never sound crisp and punchy to me.

To me, Fibreskyns, calftone...are SO boring sounding. Too soft of an attack for the sound I prefer.

I'd go real calf first.
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Hey Ace no need to appologise I thought you were talking about ply / thickness etc. it's the material you don't prefer.. choose what you will.. Me I like my Bass sound to spread or fill the room not just punch it.. I like Fibrskyn's as a Reso but hey !!! .. Go ahead .. Blow your Groceries..
 
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on a Pearl Master Custom Maple 20x16:

reso head: Remo Ebony Reso side with a 4" port hole > i get all tension rods finger tight, then go one full turn of the drum key
batter head: Remo PS3 Clear; starts the same as the reso ehad, bubt gets a few more turns to gain some punch

no pillows, blankets, cotton balls, newspaper, small woodland creatures etc inside...
 
I use the Kick it Like Bonham tuning vid as a reference. So the reso is about medium I'd say. Sounds good, but not necessarily like Bonham's since I'm only using a 22".
 
C.M. Jones said:
My bass reso is a bit higher than my batter. I like a relatively thuddy bass sound, so both heads are on the lower end of the scale. The reso is about a quarter turn tighter. My reso is always ported, with a small Pearl pillow inside.
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I have recently been working more with a double bass pedal and find that a high batter head tension is much more conducive to speed.
 
SomeBadDrummer said:
I have recently been working more with a double bass pedal and find that a high batter head tension is much more conducive to speed.
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I'm sure you're right about that. Speed isn't a central ingredient in my bass patterns. And, believe it or not, even in all my years of drumming, I've never taken a stab at double bass. I'm too hi-hat centric to trouble with it, and it wouldn't be very useful in the styles I play.
 
C.M. Jones said:
I'm sure you're right about that. Speed isn't a central ingredient in my bass patterns. And, believe it or not, even in all my years of drumming, I've never taken a stab at double bass. I'm too hi-hat centric to trouble with it, and it wouldn't be very useful in the styles I play.
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That’s surprising to some extent that you’ve never explored DB. Except that I’ve played since I was a kid, I’m now in my 50’s and just bought my first double pedal about a month ago. I visited my mom and stepdad on Sunday and took the IC for my stepdad to try. He’s 80 years old and he’s been playing since he was a teenager. But he had never played double bass ever until Sunday. I put it on his 1963 Slingerland kit. It was somewhat of a challenge except he was able to keep a steady beat with both feet for a good while, just lost it once he tried to incorporate his hands into anything. Sounds like me. Actually I have developed quads around the kit fairly quickly (a natural progression from triplets for me). After a month I’m nowhere near 100% proficient at any speed but getting better each session.
Something else that I am enjoying about it is that I can practice with my left foot playing bass drum like my right foot always has. It is challenging mentally but I have found it to be rewarding as well. I’m looking at it as much to build stamina and skill as well as expand my mind to experience other things at the kit. After playing for half a century one way, it is requiring some mental gymnastics to undo what became rote ability several decades ago.
I may add my 80’s Tama/Camco hi hat for the right foot to really mess with my head haha.
 
theseer2 said:
Thats sounds just like Rob Browns method on YouTube, I hate that sound! its way too limp


I tighten the rezo super high. Sounds and feels so much better, no stupid holes either.
Click to expand...
Somebody posted this on Reddit unfortunately it’s a concert bass so no reso head
 

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i got for medium on the batter side, and half to a full turn per lug higher than the batter for my resonant.


i prefer no port, but i have them purely for ease of mic'ing positions, but i dont have anything inside my drum, i use aquarians superkick and regulator heads so i dont need any extra dampening :)
 
SomeBadDrummer said:
That’s surprising to some extent that you’ve never explored DB. Except that I’ve played since I was a kid, I’m now in my 50’s and just bought my first double pedal about a month ago. I visited my mom and stepdad on Sunday and took the IC for my stepdad to try. He’s 80 years old and he’s been playing since he was a teenager. But he had never played double bass ever until Sunday. I put it on his 1963 Slingerland kit. It was somewhat of a challenge except he was able to keep a steady beat with both feet for a good while, just lost it once he tried to incorporate his hands into anything. Sounds like me. Actually I have developed quads around the kit fairly quickly (a natural progression from triplets for me). After a month I’m nowhere near 100% proficient at any speed but getting better each session.
Something else that I am enjoying about it is that I can practice with my left foot playing bass drum like my right foot always has. It is challenging mentally but I have found it to be rewarding as well. I’m looking at it as much to build stamina and skill as well as expand my mind to experience other things at the kit. After playing for half a century one way, it is requiring some mental gymnastics to undo what became rote ability several decades ago.
I may add my 80’s Tama/Camco hi hat for the right foot to really mess with my head haha.
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same here...I grew up in the hardcore punk/metal/thrash scene in the mid 80's....and never thought of trying double bass utill about 10 years ago...

in those days, most of my beats were D-beats of fast double stroke type beats on the single pedal. I originally bought the double pedal to do more of the groove type stuff a la Tim Alexander in Primus...not the machine gun endurance type stuff, but I have been recently working on that now just to say that I can do it

I am a long way off from blast beats, but that is a goal
 
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