Tom dampening/muffling

LeeLovesSabian

LeeLovesSabian

Silver Member
Okay, so I created a thread about duct-tape on tom heads.
After reading the posts, and discussing them, I decided to give it a try.
I cut out strips that are about 4"-6" long, and placed them at the bottom part of the batter heads.
Results?......Nothing.
No difference what so ever.

So:
What are things that I can use around the house to make them sound better.
They don't have to be perfect, just anything to get rid of the annoying ring, and plastic sound.

P.S. I am temporarily using stock-heads, so I need help badly.
 
exposed... no reason to get in trouble to put it from the inside... only if you don't like something to stick out from your heads.

somebody correct me if im wrong.
 
Why do you want to muffle your drums? Why do you think that ring is annoying? Let them ring! I only use the tone control rings that were mentioned earlier in this thread when I am recording. The mics have to be placed so close to the batter heads while recording that is becomes necessary to delete some of the ring. Sometimes, When I record, I use Aquarian Performance II heads on my toms. When I'm playing live I use Remo Ambassadors. Remember, What you hear behind your kit, and what the audience hears is different. Drums that are muffled sound like cardboard and they only thump from ten feet away. The feeling of your play will be lost. You can't tell one tom from the other! Don't tune your drums to loose either! Loose drums sound good up close but they lack personality from afar.
 
bobdadruma said:
Why do you want to muffle your drums? Why do you think that ring is annoying? Let them ring! I only use the tone control rings that were mentioned earlier in this thread when I am recording. The mics have to be placed so close to the batter heads while recording that is becomes necessary to delete some of the ring. Sometimes, When I record, I use Aquarian Performance II heads on my toms. When I'm playing live I use Remo Ambassadors. Remember, What you hear behind your kit, and what the audience hears is different. Drums that are muffled sound like cardboard and they only thump from ten feet away. The feeling of your play will be lost. You can't tell one tom from the other! Don't tune your drums to loose either! Loose drums sound good up close but they lack personality from afar.
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It must just be my preference, because I can't stand those overtones.
 
LeeLovesSabian said:
Results?......Nothing.
No difference what so ever.
Click to expand...


OK, if you put a 6" piece of duct tape on the head and there was no difference there is something else SERIOUSLY wrong. Either your ears are broken or those drums are beyond badly tuned.

Its also likely that the reso side head is poorly tuned and is where the "ringing" is coming from

Can we get some more information on the drums, heads, tuning etc?
 
TheArchitect said:
OK, if you put a 6" piece of duct tape on the head and there was no difference there is something else SERIOUSLY wrong. Either your ears are broken or those drums are beyond badly tuned.

Its also likely that the reso side head is poorly tuned and is where the "ringing" is coming from

Can we get some more information on the drums, heads, tuning etc?
Click to expand...


Yeah a 6" piece of duct tape should really kill the sound.

The other question is you say you can't stand the overtone but is that overtone projected out where say the audience would be?? Just because it may not sound like what you want behind the kit doesn't mean that's how it sounds out front and that's the important part to keep in mind ;-)
 
one thing I have found to be quite helpfull is to play with either: good quality ear plugs and or isolation headphones. I play my drums in the garage with vic firth headphones on. without the headphones the drums ring..(as they should) but sound awful behind the kit....the minnute you put the head phones on it sounds like your playing in a studio....deep thumpy bass, resonate toms and snare and crystal clear cymbals...it makes all the difference in the world...also once you get used to the correct sound for drums...ie the ringing you will come to appreciate it....I started playing when I was 5 and for like 10years i used the remo internal mufflers because I couldnt stand the ringing...as i grew and my sound developed I came to apperciate the resonance....I will never go back and when I play on somebodys kit that is muffled and dead it makes me cringe....Just my opinion....the execption to the rule is that once you develope your sound and learn th ins and outs of tuning and what sounds good.....if you want muffle your drums...if thats the sound your looking for then go for it...just dont start that way and use it as a cop out to not learning how to tune
sorry for the drawn out post
 
nicotine25 said:
one thing I have found to be quite helpfull is to play with either: good quality ear plugs and or isolation headphones. I play my drums in the garage with vic firth headphones on. without the headphones the drums ring..(as they should) but sound awful behind the kit....the minnute you put the head phones on it sounds like your playing in a studio....deep thumpy bass, resonate toms and snare and crystal clear cymbals...it makes all the difference in the world...also once you get used to the correct sound for drums...ie the ringing you will come to appreciate it....I started playing when I was 5 and for like 10years i used the remo internal mufflers because I couldnt stand the ringing...as i grew and my sound developed I came to apperciate the resonance....I will never go back and when I play on somebodys kit that is muffled and dead it makes me cringe....Just my opinion....the execption to the rule is that once you develope your sound and learn th ins and outs of tuning and what sounds good.....if you want muffle your drums...if thats the sound your looking for then go for it...just dont start that way and use it as a cop out to not learning how to tune
sorry for the drawn out post
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I have used headphones, and the kit sounded amazing.
But then when I took 'em off, they sounded even worse.
Besides, that would never work for a show or anything.
 
Buy proper heads. Resos, too. Learn to tune.
 
it's not about how it sounds behind the kit it's about how it sounds out front! If you still have stock heads and reso's it's time to upgrade and give your kit a tune up ;-)
 
konaboy said:
it's not about how it sounds behind the kit it's about how it sounds out front! If you still have stock heads and reso's it's time to upgrade and give your kit a tune up ;-)
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True but I think he may need to learn the tuning basics first. My son just bought an add on 10 inch tom for his set. It came with stock heads, of course but it actually sounded good right out of the box. Someone tuned it before shipping or it was just luck. Stock heads are ok for a short time until you are able to get new heads but in general they usually sound bad and get beat up in no time at all.

Lee, I thought you were getting Pinstripes ??? Try reading up on tuning and start over from scratch.

http://www.youtube.com/user/bobgatzen?blend=3&ob=4 (try watching these if you never saw them. I would recomend these videos before the so called drum tuning bible. In my opinion, the tuning bible is confusing and I think some of the stuff in it is bull but... take a look anyway

http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/index.html
 
Okay firstly i think you should keep the headphones on, they're just good practice to protect your ears as well as making the things sound amazing.

I think you should make new heads your next purchase, were talking like $20-30 per drum, it's not a lot, if you really want a good sound. You can get sets too which work out cheaper. If you want some muffling i always think you should have them on the heads themselves, like either coated or 2 ply or muffling rings for a bit more of an effect if that's what you want.
 
When I read "plastic sound" it immediately makes me think of clear heads tuned really low. Adding damping will only make them sound more plastic with a dead thwack.

Around here there are some used instrument stores where you can get beat up drum heads for a buck or two. If you're on a budget, get a couple and cut some damping rings from them. Doesn't have to be that accurate although it will look kind of ugly. If you can find some templates like dishes that you can run a razor blade around (you could even take off one of your hoops to use as an outside template) it can be a little neater.

A full ring will damp the life out of a drum, but still sound better than taping tampons to it. Then try cutting the ring into sections and letting a bit more sustain and tone out. As you get used to it, you'll like less and less damping.

Although, sometimes too much of a good thing is too much. I'm using Evans G2 coated on my "fast sized" Pacific CX toms. Last night I sat in on someone's Starclassic kit with clear heads on deep toms that were tuned pretty low. Sounded like kettle drums to me and from out front when played softly they blurred together.
 
LeeLovesSabian said:
Im thinking about it.
But I've also heard bad about them.
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Buy one pinstripe and one clear ambassador. Pin for the batter ambassador for the reso for one tom, try it and see how it works. You can keep the ambassador on as a new reso and if you don't like it you are out one head.
 
LeeLovesSabian said:
Okay, so I created a thread about duct-tape on tom heads.
After reading the posts, and discussing them, I decided to give it a try.
I cut out strips that are about 4"-6" long, and placed them at the bottom part of the batter heads.
Results?......Nothing.
No difference what so ever.

So:
What are things that I can use around the house to make them sound better.
They don't have to be perfect, just anything to get rid of the annoying ring, and plastic sound.

P.S. I am temporarily using stock-heads, so I need help badly.
Click to expand...

Ring can be annoying. With duct tape, just putting it on the head is usually not enough. For tape to be effective against ring, it should come in contact with the drums rim and the head (mimicking the the action in the pic below). http://images.google.com/imgres?img...rls=en-us&sa=X&um=1&ei=FBgTSuDLGIaMtgOny9jjDQ Some WD-40 will take care of any residue left by tape.


Assuming you have double headed drums, the bottom heads are not immune to ring. Check'em out.
 

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Well over the years I have used internal mufflers, O- Rings, duct tape, moon gel etc, because I came from the era in which we were taught that drums had to be muffled. I always hated the way muffled drums sounded in a live situation, you feel like you are getting drowned out. So about five years ago I changed my philosophy of tuning, and the way I tune my drums now I have no muffeling what so ever and the drums sound full and resonant without that tinny ring. I tune the bottom heads way up in tension and the top heads at about a medium tension, and the result is a big boomy full sound. Of course I'm playing oversized drums so that may be why it works so well with my kit. I don't know what size drums you are using but I would give it a try. It's really nice not having anything on the drum heads or inside the heads that takes away from the natural sound of the drum.
 
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