Need More Volume From My Bass Drum

Mr.L

Mr.L

Senior Member
A Yamaga Stage Custom Advantage Bass Drum: 20x17 with stock heads, tuned just above wrinkles.
When I'm playing and doing LRF triplets, I've noticed eventually I can't hear my Bass Drum over my Toms. Any suggestions, other than hitting harder?
 
Tighten up both heads - if not both at least the resonant and reduce dampening. It's the way I got more volume out of my bass drum.

Other than that, make sure of the little things like your beaters aren't striking the batter skin anti-clockwise of 12 o'clock, (I.e. towards 11 o'clock), as you'll be losing power in your hit. Maybe even angle up your bass drum so your beaters are striking more towards 1 o'clock?
 
Could be a technique issue? Why not play softer with your hands too? Then over time as your foot can keep up, you raise the volume on the whole thing.

I'm willing to bet when you play straight ahead rock beats, everything sounds pretty even, right? If that's the case, then your foot technique is not keeping up with your hands and you have to slow down some and get a handle on it, eh?
 
Thanks everyone!

My bass drum has absolutely no muffling, and the beater strikes closer tho the 1 o'clock mark. Oddly enough, when I play the basic rock beat, the bass drum always seems louder than everything else.

Thanks for the advice on settling down my hands though. Could work I s'pose.
 
Last edited:
I would definitely tighten your heads a bit. JAW is okay for a tom but can make a kick weak sauce. If you tension them a bit it will help the drum project. Also, you might think about going to a slightly heavier beater or using the hard side if you have a double-sided beater.
 
Tighten both sides and remove muffling. Just above wrinkled is way too low IMO, lots of people like it, but it's not what a bass is supposed to sound like. The bass is the biggest drum on your kit, so it should resonate more than any other drums. I don't use any muffling and tune med/high on both sides, and I get a huge open sound, what a bass should sound like.
 
Tuning my Bass Drum has always been a concept I've been scared of. Any tips or advice, or references? I'll check out the Drum Tuning Bible for a start.
 
Last edited:
I solve this problem by getting an enormous bass drum, ok so not the most practical thing. I find even on my smaller kicks when I run PS3's they seem to be the loudest head. I'd replace those stock heads if I were you.
 
Agree with the tuning advocates. JAW can produce a very 'slappy' sounding drum. Personally I've never cared for JAW tuning on any drum. Tune 'em up a little bit for more projection.

Mr.L said:
Tuning my Bass Drum has always been a concept I've been scared of. Any tips or advice, or references?
Click to expand...

Scared? Nah mate, never be afraid to play around with your tuning. Experimenting is the best way to get to know your drums.

Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga8Q12mKYxI
 
What is your pedal playing style? Do you bury the beater? Or do you make a quick hit and let the beater rebound out of the way? It may sound fuller with the rebound and be percieved as louder.
 
I just let it bounce back from the stroke/hit.
Aha, Bob Gatzen! I love his videos, (VERY interesting and informative!) but I dislike his bass drum sound.

Yeah, I'm gonna try to get out to a Long&Mcquade to get some new heads. How does a Coated Emp over Coated Amb sound? It's what I do for my toms and it really opens them up and makes them sound huge.
I wish I had like, a 26" or 24" Bass Drum. They look and sound like tanks. Also I'm thinking about a wood beater, and I'm gonna stick with the marshmallow shape.

Thoughts?
 
Last edited:
Mr.L said:
Aha, Bob Gatzen! I love his videos, (VERY interesting and informative!) but I dislike his bass drum sound.
Click to expand...

The vids are designed to show you the tuning process. The rest is up to you. If you don't like the sound at least you now know how to tune in order to come up with something you do like.
 
Pocket-full-of-gold said:
The vids are designed to show you the tuning process. The rest is up to you. If you don't like the sound at least you now know how to tune in order to come up with something you do like.
Click to expand...

Oh no, I wasn't saying that I dislike the video, or find it useless or anything. As a matter o' fact, it's how I learned to tune my bass drum. I just personally don't like the sound of his bass drum in the recordings or when he finishes tuning it.
 
I used a danmar redwood beater for a while, it was louder than the dw plastic side, but it tears through falam patches very quickly. I'd stick to a dw plastic beater to get lots of volume and not damage the head.

Also I love huge kicks! 28, 26, and 24's! The larger the kick the more air you push, if your going from a 20 I'd check out a 24 first. Beyond that size head selection and cases become a big pain.
 
Mr.L said:
My bass drum has absolutely no muffling
Click to expand...

Try putting something really light and small in there against the batter head. You'll get a bit more attack if you dampen the batter slightly and might help it cut with perceived volume. Especially when playing at faster speeds no dampening IMO makes the drum sound a bit woolly and undefined. This is from a death metal perspective though so add your own prejudices to that.
 
Goreliscious said:
Try putting something really light and small in there against the batter head. You'll get a bit more attack if you dampen the batter slightly and might help it cut with perceived volume. Especially when playing at faster speeds no dampening IMO makes the drum sound a bit woolly and undefined. This is from a death metal perspective though so add your own prejudices to that.
Click to expand...

Many times you can get away with a small towel or old shirt against the reso head as well. That way, you keep your tone but add in a punchy feel. Worked wonders with my new bass drum.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top