How do you tune your bass drum reso head?

Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
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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Hey that’s so cool. And there’s also the physical endurance/stamina required which is a great workout for the body, mind and soul.
There are times playing that I am meditating if that makes sense at all, times when I feel as if in a translike state of being- the mind, limbs, fingers and toes are all in complete harmony, rhythm and syncopation. It’s pretty cool and is such a rush of endorphins it’s a natural high with positive mental and physical results. Sort of like sex without any question(s).
 
SomeBadDrummer said:
Hey that’s so cool. And there’s also the physical endurance/stamina required which is a great workout for the body, mind and soul.
There are times playing that I am meditating if that makes sense at all, times when I feel as if in a translike state of being- the mind, limbs, fingers and toes are all in complete harmony, rhythm and syncopation. It’s pretty cool and is such a rush of endorphins it’s a natural high with positive mental and physical results. Sort of like sex without any question(s).
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More like flatulence than sex, that what fast double bass sounds like most of the time :ROFLMAO:
 
theseer2 said:
More like flatulence than sex, that what fast double bass sounds like most of the time :ROFLMAO:
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I suppose that depends on what you had for dinner - Kung Pow chicken or bean burritos covered in chipotle
 
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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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The results will vary depending on how much pressure is applied while tuning up. Obviously less pressure will require less tension for wrinkles to flatten out, so the tuning will be low.
I'm not sure if he addresses that in his video(s) , although he does specify how much pressure he is applying (about 8lbs).
As I posted in another thread, tuning his way gets my toms (10, 12, 16) tuned to default Tune-bot values, so I figure I'm using the right amount of pressure on the heads.
 
Always an eq4/ps3 style reso (meaning 10mil single ply with floating edge ring) tuned medium high with a 4-6" (depending on if the situation calls for more tone or punch, but always ported regardless) offset port. Batter is usually the same style head, occasionally an emad, tuned about 1/2 turn on each lug lower. No other muffling, tape, laundry, etc. Perfect balance between punch and tone. I can feather it for 'boom' or I can bury it for a gut punch.

I've been doing this same set up so long I can blindly change both heads on a bass drum and get it within 95% of my preferred final tuning in about ten minutes.
 
Incidentally, I learned a trick for micing the bass that seems pretty effective if you are looking to get more metal style attack. I was fighting this for a while and tried sticking a snare mic (PGA57) in through the hole aiming up close to the impact point. Then put the normal bass mic just barely into the hole. Depending on the sound I'm going for, I can mix between those two, with the snare mic having huge amounts of click if so desired. When not appropriate, it can be turned down. I tried aiming the snare mic at the outside of the bass batter, and that works too, but it picked up a lot of snare buzz too.
 
Mastiff said:
Incidentally, I learned a trick for micing the bass that seems pretty effective if you are looking to get more metal style attack. I was fighting this for a while and tried sticking a snare mic (PGA57) in through the hole aiming up close to the impact point. Then put the normal bass mic just barely into the hole. Depending on the sound I'm going for, I can mix between those two, with the snare mic having huge amounts of click if so desired. When not appropriate, it can be turned down. I tried aiming the snare mic at the outside of the bass batter, and that works too, but it picked up a lot of snare buzz too.
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The best recorded bass drum sound that I personally have ever had captured (not heard in general but for my own recordings) used two mics: one regular bass drum mic in the 'normal' reso position and a second mic pointed at the batter near the point of impact with one of those small vocal shields over top of it to prevent snare bleed. The producer blended the two mics to get the perfect balance of attack and tone where as I previously always had to sacrifice one to emphasize the other.
 
roncadillac said:
The best recorded bass drum sound that I personally have ever had captured (not heard in general but for my own recordings) used two mics: one regular bass drum mic in the 'normal' reso position and a second mic pointed at the batter near the point of impact with one of those small vocal shields over top of it to prevent snare bleed. The producer blended the two mics to get the perfect balance of attack and tone where as I previously always had to sacrifice one to emphasize the other.
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in my jazz and rockabilly bands, I use this set up live....a D112 pointed at the unported reso head, and an SM57 pointed at the batter head right by the beater, but outside of the drum

in the jazz situatio, it allows for a more resonant sound, and thhen in the rockabilly situation, it allows for some thump from the beater mixed with the boom of the front head
 
michaelg said:
Any folk tuning their reso lower than the batter ?
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I almost always tune the reso JAW. Batter head always higher/tighter than the resonant in my experience
 
I tune my rest head to where it's most resonant. About medium maybe, just like that guy here does it:


My batter head, OTOH, is JAW, just to the point where all of the tuning rods have enough grip so I cannot move the claws by hand any more.
 
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