Recommend a QUIETER/affordable SNARE head?(or set)

Ensnared!

Ensnared!

Active Member
Hi Folks,
Guitar guy here who JUST got my first drum, a nice unbranded cheap, wood snare, that a drummer buddy found for me a few weeks ago ( we finally hooked up, with some other friends, for lunch...

The snare is in very good shape
-Attractive, 14"X5", good tone ( what do I know?) but man it is LOUD!

I understand this may be the nature of the beast, which I will except.
The snare has brand new heads; REMO Ambassador coated on batter, and clear Ambassador 'weather king' on resonant head
( learning the lingo)

Are these loud heads, or just a very good general purpose head?
Any recommendations for something quieter
?
* NOT talking about the muted 'SilentStroke', etc., type heads
But something good v for light jazz, swing blues, basic Country, R&R
Thanks much!

Here is my snare!
 

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You could look at a RTOM Black Hole or Evans dB One head, I posted a video recently comparing them with a regular head.
Regular drum heads will always be as loud as you experienced, give or take a couple of dB.
Another thought is using lighter sticks, rods, brushes, etc. but that will be a transition from using normal sticks on a practice pad.
Enjoy the ride!
 
Emperor, Fiberskyn ,Coated Pinstripe
 
..and what you're touching : ) you'll like
 
Look for a drum head, the head manufacturers refer to as "dark". (I'm looking at Evans). Usually means a heavy 2 ply head. This will "deaden" a drum and give perceived "quietness", (although only to some extent).
 
Thicker heads will trim out a few higher overtones that many might perceive as "louder" but if the hands can't make an Ambassador quiet, I don't think anyone will really notice a difference from only changing the drum head.

I'd stick with the Ambassador, and add a little external muffling like a Moongel or Zero Ring to trim out those higher overtones, and just keep working on the technique to control the volume with your hands. :)
 
Winston_Wolf said:
Thicker heads will trim out a few higher overtones that many might perceive as "louder" but if the hands can't make an Ambassador quiet, I don't think anyone will really notice a difference from only changing the drum head.

I'd stick with the Ambassador, and add a little external muffling like a Moongel or Zero Ring to trim out those higher overtones, and just keep working on the technique to control the volume with your hands. :)
Click to expand...
Thanks!
Working on playing quietly w/o losing energy, still getting a good sound.
Heck, I'm still 'getting a grip!', on holding the sticks- spazzy!
 
It takes a while to build the finger control to play quiet. Other things would be:

Heads - calf skin
Snares - less strands
Drum shells - old, thin, softer timber, shallow*

NB shallower snare drums can sound louder as they excite the snares wires more
 
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If you don't mind giving up some of the inherent "drum sound," you can toss a hand towel/dish towel over it. It will mute the drum to some extent, but it's gonna sound funny - especially a snare drum. The snare is typically louder than the tom-toms so it can be heard over the rest of the band - it's half of the '1 and 3' or '2 and 4' of your time keeping. Your snare volume is always turned up to 11! :ROFLMAO:

I'm not sure if anybody has mentioned it, but you can try a thinner and/or lighter stick. Many have found the Vic Firth American Jazz 5 (AJ5) to be a lightweight stick that still sounds good. Don't be afraid to try brushes, plastic or wood rutes (multi-rods) or other stick alternatives. Sticks are to drummers as picks and amps are to guitarists.

Most of all, have fun!
 
Smoke said:
If you don't mind giving up some of the inherent "drum sound," you can toss a hand towel/dish towel over it. It will mute the drum to some extent, but it's gonna sound funny - especially a snare drum. The snare is typically louder than the tom-toms so it can be heard over the rest of the band - it's half of the '1 and 3' or '2 and 4' of your time keeping. Your snare volume is always turned up to 11! :ROFLMAO:

I'm not sure if anybody has mentioned it, but you can try a thinner and/or lighter stick. Many have found the Vic Firth American Jazz 5 (AJ5) to be a lightweight stick that still sounds good. Don't be afraid to try brushes, plastic or wood rutes (multi-rods) or other stick alternatives. Sticks are to drummers as picks and amps are to guitarists.

Most of all, have fun!
Click to expand...
I do have 7A sticks ( along w/5A's) and brushes, and am using all, quietly.

- it's just the situation of a snare drum in an apartment-
 
 
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