What happened to the resonance?

rob42771

Member
Hi everyone,

I have a Mapex Saturn IV kit that I am very happy playing. My only issue (which I am sure is very fixable) has to do with the 10" tom when mounted. When I get the kit tuned up, the drums sound great. I then mount the 10" and 12" toms. The 12" sounds the same whether mounted or not with the same amount of resonance as much as I can tell. The 10" tom sounds fine when it is not mounted, but then loses its resonance once I mount it.

Is there anything I can look for specifically when I mount the tom to see what could be inhibiting the resonance once I mount it?

Thanks,
-Rob
 
Two things that come to mind. First make sure that the tom is not touching another part of the kit. I know it seems obvious, but I have had my crash cymbal stand touching the bottom rim of my tom before and it will effect the sound. Also make sure that your tom arms, or what ever type of mounting system you have, are not affecting the sound. For example, I have a Yamaha stage custom that uses the ball joint type mount. If I insert too much of the tom arm into the drum some resonance will be lost. The drum tends to sing much more when I only minimally insert the mount. Just a few thoughts, hopefully it will help.
 
Rob, try this:
Get the drum more or less where you want it sound-wise, then mount it, then go through the final part of the tuning process when the drum is already mounted.
Good luck.
 
One more suggestion: given the nature of the Saturn IV's tom mount, it seems like it would not work well with big angles. I would suggest making it a lot closer to flat (if you have it at a large angle right now).
 
As mentioned, where the drum is clamped on the L-arm does make a difference, as does what angle you have the drum mounted at. After you mess with those, then try the final tuning after mounted, if you need to.
 
Rob, try this:
Get the drum more or less where you want it sound-wise, then mount it, then go through the final part of the tuning process when the drum is already mounted.
Good luck.

I need to do this with my Renown toms. Get them close, mount the 10, 12 and fine tune on the rack.
 
... Also make sure that your tom arms, or what ever type of mounting system you have, are not affecting the sound. For example, I have a Yamaha stage custom that uses the ball joint type mount. If I insert too much of the tom arm into the drum some resonance will be lost. The drum tends to sing much more when I only minimally insert the mount.
As mentioned, where the drum is clamped on the L-arm does make a difference, as does what angle you have the drum mounted at. After you mess with those, then try the final tuning after mounted, if you need to.
The Saturns already have an isolation mounting system, so ftdrum's and Michaelocalypse's suggestions here might be your best bet. On one of the Gatzen videos (not sure which one), he says to keep your tom mounted as close to the top of the L-arm as possible for maximum resonance (or as far out on the end in ftdrum's case). I think the theory would be that at the top, the drum would be furthest from the rest of the post/stand so there'd be enough "spring" or flex happening in the L-arm and its lower connection point to help further isolate the drum. Stiff mounting is not your friend here.

But I'm not convinced that will cure what ails you in this situation since the difference you describe sounds pretty dramatic, and those L-arms are pretty stout so mounting your tom to the top might not get you much. Definitely worth a try, though.

Good luck.
 
I was having a nice discussion w/ McLain drummer for Machinehead(when he was in Sacred Reich)and he said it was a combo of mic'd and a D4,kicks were Heavy on the D4,racks and cymbals were mic'd

When I bought my first POS kit I tuned/set it up so it resonated.It sounds great on my demo,just not a power kit.EQ ,a little compression and it sounds good.

My new is a Ddrum Journyman,1 up 2 down set up.
I didn't even get gels,let the sucker ring!!!!!!
Not over ring,just resonate.
 
The Saturns already have an isolation mounting system

Just to clarify for the rest of the thread, the model of Saturn that the OP is referring to (Saturn IVs) have an isolation mount with one of the little arms/rubber tip combos that touches the shell in the middle, and has two points of suspension on the batter side hoop.
 
As mentioned, where the drum is clamped on the L-arm does make a difference, as does what angle you have the drum mounted at. After you mess with those, then try the final tuning after mounted, if you need to.
I just raised mine,so low on the mount is better?
Mines a virgin w/ a rim mount system,does that make any difference?
 
My daughter's ddrum kit had the same issue with her 8 X 12" rack tom. It came with ddrum's version of a RIMS mount with an L-rod. The tom sounded great when I handheld it by the RIMS mount. But it sounded choked no matter where I placed it on the L-rod. A friend recommended inverting the L-rod so that it enters through the top of the tom mount and exits at the bottom of the mount. This sounds counterintuitive (I thought the tom might slide off the L-rod) but I gave it a shot and it was night and day in terms of resonance. I added a memory lock below the tom mount for "insurance" and my daughter played it that way for years. It really opened up the sound of the tom on her kit.

It might be worth a shot to borrow another L-rod, clamp it on a cymbal stand, and do an inverted mount it to see if there is any difference in resonance.
 
My daughter's ddrum kit had the same issue with her 8 X 12" rack tom. It came with ddrum's version of a RIMS mount with an L-rod. The tom sounded great when I handheld it by the RIMS mount. But it sounded choked no matter where I placed it on the L-rod. A friend recommended inverting the L-rod so that it enters through the top of the tom mount and exits at the bottom of the mount. This sounds counterintuitive (I thought the tom might slide off the L-rod) but I gave it a shot and it was night and day in terms of resonance. I added a memory lock below the tom mount for "insurance" and my daughter played it that way for years. It really opened up the sound of the tom on her kit.

It might be worth a shot to borrow another L-rod, clamp it on a cymbal stand, and do an inverted mount it to see if there is any difference in resonance.
That's what I have on mine,inverted huh?Definetly would use a memory lock.
I didn't use the Ddrum mount,I have another nice heavy duty convertible boom stand that has an Omni-lock? tom mount on it.stand is solid,but the tom moves around a bit(not during playing.I remember my old drummers RIMS and they were solid.
 
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