Drum Chat

DW question: Thicker the head/number of plies usually equals less sustain and a lower fundamental pitch. If your floor tom sustains too long, I would try something like a coated emperor, G2, or a G14. The Evans Reso 7 is a pretty thin head, like a Diplomat, and would have a higher pitch. It might be worth experimenting with, tuning the bottom head higher will usually equal less sustain compared to tuning both heads to the same pitch

Ludwig question: I personally like single ply heads on drums with re-rings. More drum is in contact with the head, which means less sustain. Remo makes a vintage ambassador which is made like the vintage heads which are a bit thicker, but not Emperor thick, so they might give you the sound you want. A coated emperor with a felt strip works great for a bass drum batter. I use Evans Calftones for resonant heads and they work great. They sound good as a batter head but don’t last...the coating has a tendency to crack.

I don’t have much experience with Taiwan drums.

I recently switched from Remo Pinstripes to Evans G2 on toms.  After playing drums for 22 years, I'm really feeling that tuning seems to matter more than overall head choices.  The better I've become at tuning, the better the drums have sounded and the less tape and moongel I've needed and used more traditional heads with less of all this "control" tech like the EC2 stuff, or really anything with muffling rings on toms.

I have a stack of used heads that is at least 5ft tall..  I've tried them all.

Currently the G2 on toms, and either Remo CS dots on snare or Aquarian Hi Velocity on snare depending on the snare drum.  Brass and metal snares like the CS dot and the wood ones seem to like the Hi Velocity the best.

I recently switched from Evans EMAD2 to Aquarian Superkick 3 on bass drum and use less padding inside the drum as a result and get more OOMPH without the beachball sound this way.


I stopped using all those tricks like cotton balls years ago.  I stopped taping drum heads and such too.  


Going back to the tuning, I found that it was much more reasonable to tune the drum in a certain way, and use small pieces of moongel as needed to dampen the decay.  Note that I mean decay, not ringing.  I found that tuning certain notes with this heads created a sweet-spot between attack and decay with minimal over-ring.


For tuning the drums themselves, I always tune the bottom head tighter and leave the top head a little looser.  I use a Tunebot device and tune my drums to notes at intervals.   

One trick is to get the batter head to perfect tuning, then either drop half a moongel on the logo for rack toms, or a whole moongel on the logo for floor toms.    On the logo puts the moongel at the right distance to snuff the reflections without totally killing the tone of the head.


if you want less ring, move the moongel under the mic, if you want more, move the moongel to the opposite side of the head away from the mic, but still the same distance from the rim.


Another trick is to get the head in tune, then loosen a single lug at least one turn.  You'll maintain most of the tuned note, but the slack will dampen the reflections.  


Overall, I can't overstate how crucial tuning is.  It's a mastercraft that I've barely mastered after 2 decades, even with the help of tuning aids like the Tunebot.



For large diameter kicks with short lengths, I'd go with something a little heavier than single ply so it doesn't sound flabby.  The depth of the kick dictates how bad the beachball sound is, so a 14" wouldn't be that big of a deal for thinner heads, but you'll get a ripple across the head that will make it sound like paper rustling if it's too thin.  Tuning tighter would reduce the ripple, but increase the overtones.  It's this intersection of tension and overtones that dictates whether you should go with a thicker head or not.  I'd try the original EMAD1 since you can replace the muffling ring to adjust the amount of overtones, and it's only 2 thin plys of mylar.



As for drums from Taiwan, a lot of companies have been making their shells in Taiwan and China for years now.  I wouldn't worry too much about where they're made, and consider the wood type and the drum sizes as more of a measure of the tone.  

The head and bearing edge are roughly 60% the tone of the drum, the wood maybe 20%, and then the mounting type the rest of it.   

I'd personally go for a cheaper drum with rim mounts, than an expensive drum with shell mounts if the type of wood were the same.

Looks like Remo just dropped some prices. Good timing. 😁

Remo pricing dropped, but I find their heads are not as durable anymore for some reason. They seem to go out of tune a lot easier. I have a CS dot that I had for years in a box, and I recently put it on a snare, and just bought a brand new one and put it on another snare to find that the newer one needs to be tuned EVERY take, while the old one doesn't.

Maybe it's just simple variation in materials, but it seems that I've never had that problem before until this last year.

Just came across this fantastic demo on youtube.



I think I'm going to opt for regular coated Ambassadors for the vintage Ludwig rack tom.

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For the DW kit, I think I'm going to go for coated emperors.

Here's a video of clear vs. coated that I found, and I think the guy broke into my studio and stole my kit. haha. Same color and everything.



Here's a good video of the coated G2 vs. coated Emperor.



I think the Emperor sounds a little more toneful and has a bit more attack. The G2 sounds rich and full, but I think it'll hide in the mix a bit.

I used REMO coated emperor with my DW kits for years and love it.

Another one that i use and love on my DW kits are REMO Vintage A

To each his own, !!!!

Not for everybody.but that's how i like my drums to sound.

Albini's tip - I like to put a ring of keys in the hihat.

Tape sounds like shit. I also hate the sound of wimpy over-dampened drums in general, so cliched these days.

It's a pastiche because you listen to old recordings, every track has a distinctive drum sound, often with a lot of sustain.

I'm also not a fan of perfectly tuned and overly close miked drums, as I like happy accidents and particularly too much subkick messes with the groove of any moderate to fast tempo songs. I'd rather just record a different day if the drums are not really working for a given song.

But it's a taste thing. I kind of like the sound of drums after a drummer tunes them to his liking with some back and forth listening to speakers not headphones, and then really lays into them, so they are a little off. That way they don't call attention to themselves so much in the mix and sound a little loose.

Always jealous of all the Premier and Hayman drums I see for sale in Europe. I think Premier’s might be my favorite drums. I have a set of Elite’s from the 70’s that are super punchy, but they are black so I’m looking to sell them to fund restoring an older set I have I want to bring back from the dead and probably wrap in Aquamarine sparkle