So I want to try the cotton balls thing, but...

B

BabaOriley

Junior Member
The thought of tuning up after taking a head off to add cotton balls until it has just the right decay, maybe 4-5 times, on every tom, sounds tedious, and possibly destructive to a brand new head.
I just had this idea, to push cotton balls through the badge/grommet hole, one by one until the decay is just right. Should be unique to each size tom right?
I haven't tried it yet. Have no cotton balls.
 
@bermuda apparently tried it recently- reportedly, they don't fit through the holes.


BabaOriley said:
The thought of tuning up after taking a head off to add cotton balls until it has just the right decay, maybe 4-5 times, on every tom, sounds tedious, and possibly destructive to a brand new head.
I just had this idea, to push cotton balls through the badge/grommet hole, one by one until the decay is just right. Should be unique to each size tom right?
I haven't tried it yet. Have no cotton balls.
Click to expand...
 
BabaOriley said:
The thought of tuning up after taking a head off to add cotton balls until it has just the right decay, maybe 4-5 times, on every tom, sounds tedious, and possibly destructive to a brand new head.
Click to expand...

That would be tedious. Instead, remove the batter and make sure the reso is tuned where you want it*. With your ear close to the open drum, tap the reso (from the bottom) with your finger and add cotton balls until the reso has a desirable damping. Then replace the batter and tune it into place. Chances are you'll get the right damping on the first try, as I did. If it's not right, you'll get it on the second try.

Bermuda

* Subjective of course. I like my reso to make a pure tone that's a bit higher than I want the final pitch.
 
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I tried cotton balls once in my floor tom and decided against it rather quickly the first time I took my drums out. Floor toms change from stage to stage because some stages soak up all the vibrations through the legs and caused the drum to be deader than others stages. My drums are on a concrete floor with a rug on top of the concrete and my floor tom resonates like crazy at home so I put cotton balls in it. Took it out to a gig and the stage was hollow wood and the drum was completely dead. Because of the cotton balls inside the drum I had no way to quickly change the dampening so I stopped doing that cotton ball thing.
 
I've almost gone of dampening as a while for regular kit stuff. More of a special occasion kinda thing.

If I did this however, I'd probably want a large piece, not bunch of balls.

The heads on and off thing is a first world problem and not that big of a deal. If you care you'll get it done.
 
I muffled my drums heavily back when I first started playing in the early to mid 80's. Looking back I was pretty clueless and with no one to guide me.
 
lefty2 said:
I tried cotton balls once in my floor tom and decided against it rather quickly the first time I took my drums out. Floor toms change from stage to stage because some stages soak up all the vibrations through the legs and caused the drum to be deader than others stages. My drums are on a concrete floor with a rug on top of the concrete and my floor tom resonates like crazy at home so I put cotton balls in it. Took it out to a gig and the stage was hollow wood and the drum was completely dead. Because of the cotton balls inside the drum I had no way to quickly change the dampening so I stopped doing that cotton ball thing.
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Great point.
 
In my particular case, the more I experiment with different things, the more I come back to what I originally started with. I was always chasing after "better" when I had already achieved maximum betterness ;)
 
cdrums21 said:
In my particular case, the more I experiment with different things, the more I come back to what I originally started with. I was always chasing after "better" when I had already achieved maximum betterness ;)
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But you never know until you actually try. My motto is “If it ain’t broke, break it”
 
The use of cotton balls, though intriguing, certainly isn't a convenient mode of muffling. That's why I like tone-control rings. Applying or removing them takes a matter of seconds. Some may charge that their impact on resonance is too extreme, but I haven't found that to be the case. Of course, we all have different tolerances for overtone mitigation. There's no such thing as a universal solution.
 
I don't understand why it is so difficult stuffing cotton balls through the vent holes. I've done it a number of times, and it's really easy. Just roll them up a bit and thru the holes they go. They will expand back to their original fluffiness once inside the drum.

I don't use muffling, but I like the sounds that can be obtained with cotton balls if muffling is what you're into. The sound is much more natural to me than other methods.

GeeDeeEmm
 
gdmoore28 said:
I don't understand why it is so difficult stuffing cotton balls through the vent holes. I've done it a number of times, and it's really easy. Just roll them up a bit and thru the holes they go. They will expand back to their original fluffiness once inside the drum.

I don't use muffling, but I like the sounds that can be obtained with cotton balls if muffling is what you're into. The sound is much more natural to me than other methods.

GeeDeeEmm
Click to expand...

It's not inserting the balls that would be irksome to me; it's deleting them should I no longer desire their effect. Removing a head to evict cotton balls would be a nuisance. That's why I prefer external rather than internal muting. The former makes situational application much more convenient.
 
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