Larry
"Uncle Larry"
Last night I had a gig in a new room, best gig in a while...(love that feeling, right?) Anyway, my toms sounded just so %&#@$! good in that room...I wish all rooms sounded like that, which got me to thinking...especially when people evaluate drums..the same drum, played in one room where it sounds bad, then played in a different room where it sounds exceptional...made me realize how perceptions majorly affect our decisions. What changed? Assuming the drum held the same exact tuning, it has to be the room, right? How many times have you tapped on a drum kit where it sounded bad, for whatever reason, and decided that "that kit sucks"? Or saw someone playing a bad sounding kit and decided that "those kits suck"...
That's not fair, for a number of reasons...tuning, head choice, how well the drum is taken care of...and the different surfaces within the room itself. Some rooms sound stellar, while others are a cacophony of echos and reflections and harshness. When you play a set of drums in a store where there are other kits around, the other kits are influencing your perceptions by virtue of their heads sympathetically vibrating. Acoustics are very variable and local anomalies and conditions and surfaces must be taken into consideration when evaluating anything. Everything is not what it sounds like, necessarily.
The room that my drums sounded great in had a wood floor, that was over a lower level. I think that might be a good arrangement for drum tone, as opposed to a drumset in a room on a slab for instance.
I've read many times here that someone's 12" tree mounted tom sounded bad when mounted. If this is you, instead of sitting on your throne, stand up and hit that 12" tom. I had the same "problem" with my 12" tom. Then I stood up while hitting it. THERE'S my low end. My perception at the throne was that the drum was dead. I stand up and it doesn't sound dead anymore. Perceptions will trick you.
Just random thoughts I wanted to throw out there.
That's not fair, for a number of reasons...tuning, head choice, how well the drum is taken care of...and the different surfaces within the room itself. Some rooms sound stellar, while others are a cacophony of echos and reflections and harshness. When you play a set of drums in a store where there are other kits around, the other kits are influencing your perceptions by virtue of their heads sympathetically vibrating. Acoustics are very variable and local anomalies and conditions and surfaces must be taken into consideration when evaluating anything. Everything is not what it sounds like, necessarily.
The room that my drums sounded great in had a wood floor, that was over a lower level. I think that might be a good arrangement for drum tone, as opposed to a drumset in a room on a slab for instance.
I've read many times here that someone's 12" tree mounted tom sounded bad when mounted. If this is you, instead of sitting on your throne, stand up and hit that 12" tom. I had the same "problem" with my 12" tom. Then I stood up while hitting it. THERE'S my low end. My perception at the throne was that the drum was dead. I stand up and it doesn't sound dead anymore. Perceptions will trick you.
Just random thoughts I wanted to throw out there.