Drumhead Selection tips. please

LMAY500 · #11 (**permalink**) 04-20-2008, 11:57 AM

Here are some general suggestions:

Hydraulic heads--these heads are 2-ply(have two layers) and have a thin coating of oil between the layers. These first became popular in the 70's and are used as batter heads. They are strong and tune quickly and easily. They have less "ring" and a kind of warm mellow sound. Evans Black Hydraulic Drumhead

Pinstripe heads:PinStripe heads are made from two plies of clear film and bonded at the collar to dampen both high overtones and overall resonance. The result is a very focused, low pitched sound with moderate attack and response characteristics that is ideal for creating a deeper, fatter, controlled drum sound in a variety of studio and live drumming situations. Remo Clear Pinstripe Drumheads

Black Dot heads These heads have a polyester dot laminated to the center of the head for strength and dampening. The outer area of the head's playing surface offers midrange tone and sensitivity while the laminated center "dot" adds durability and tonal focus. Remo Clear Controlled Sound Drumhead (Black Dot)

About Tuning Ratio:

When tuning double headed drums, rest the drum on a folded towel to eliminate the sound of the head you aren't tuning.

Two heads the same pitch

This will produce a warm, round tone with lots of sustain. "Bong." The attack can be sharp (depending on the tension of the batter head), and the decay will be long, with no variation in pitch as the sound dies. Overtones are usually not affected.

The bottom head lower than the top head

The decay and sustain are diminished somewhat, the sound is rounder, and the tone deeper - even if the pitch is the same (remember, when you raise or lower the pitch of one head relative to the other, the pitch of the entire drum - when struck while suspended - will either raise or lower. To keep the pitch the same, you will have to change the opposing head in the other direction). The pitch will remain constant through the decay. Overtones are minimized a bit.

The bottom head higher than the top head

The effect is similar to bottom head lower in terms of sustain and overall tone, but the pitch of the drum will drop somewhat through the decay. This produces an interesting sound!

Hope this helps!

Lynne
Absolutely-Free-Music-Lessons

twistedviewlabs · #12 (**permalink**) 06-13-2009, 03:13 PM

Toms: Aquarian Studio-X (clear or coated...doesn't matter) / Aquarian Response2 Clear for the resonant

Snare: Aquarian Studio-X Coated / Aquarian Hi-Performance Snare Side head

now for the kick...i'm slightly indifferent between evans and aquarian as using both brands together can produce some really nice results....
currently tho...i recommend the Super Kick II for the kick batter and Regulator for the resonant.

again...it's all about personal preference. if you're loyal to evans...here's what i'd suggest.

toms: hydraulic blue batter, g2 clear reso
kick: emad2 OR eq4 for the kick batter / eq3 resonant
snare: coated reverse center power dot batter / hazy 300 snare side

Harry · #13 (**permalink**) 06-13-2009, 07:09 PM

Hi Premierdrummer,

First congrets with your beautiful

( No wonder Nico McBrain switched to Premier ) kit!!

I am playing a vintage 1968 Premier birch kit, I have smothered the kit in baby oil so to speak.
I found the ideal heads for my snare and toms.
Because the Premier's (especially birch) are quite bright and open, there can be a bit of a "ring" to them.
I like a touch of "ring" myself but not too much.
I put Aquarian Focus-X on my snare and toms, Classic Clear for the resos.

These heads are the bees knees, single ply coated with a little vented clear muffling ring under neath along the bearing edge.
The sound will remain nice and open, but the "over-ring" is just subdued to a nice level.
When you hit close to the rim, you will still get a ring when you want it.
Also, these heads are quite durable for a single ply and the coating is really hard wearing.
I have a Remo Coated Ambassador on my 16" floor tom, they are the only heads still available for my vintage (off size) tom. I like the head, good open sound but the coating is not as hard wearing as the Aquarian's

Cheers and happy drumming,

Harry

wolfdrummer · #14 (**permalink**) 06-14-2009, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PremierDrummer

whats up all,

I play a premier artist series birch kit and think it sounds great, but am now looking to get evn more out of them. I used to throw some evans clear g2 batter heads on the toms (12'' and 16'') with g1 resos. it sounded good but I had tune them loose to get the "lower" less ring sound that I like/ Then, the EC2's were released and I switched to those on batters, remaining with the g1 resos. They sounded better, but also need to be tuned fairly loose to get the tone i want. As a result, i dont get the rebound I want and the heads dent and pit eaisier. I'm thinkin about tightening them up and throwing some moongels on so they dont ring forever, but I am really open to trying new heads.

Does anyone have any suggestion for good heads to throw on birch kits? Again, I'm going for a lower tuning sound (i play mostly rock, but no specific genre) but want to have the rebound so i'm not "fighting" my kit when i play. my specs are (14 x 5.5 snare, 12 x 9, 13 x 10, 16x 16 (floor) toms. Kick sounds great with an emad2, but help on other heads wound be appreciated (especially toms). Also suggestions on the tuning ratio (top : bottom head) for new heads suggested would be good.

Thanks

i like aquarian heads, they have a nice warm sound, i use them on my mapex that have walnut inner shell and even though they are smaller size drums, the head make them sound warmer and deeper. hope its helpful
Lance

**Tainojim** · #15 (**permalink**) 06-15-2009, 12:45 PM

Mr. Taye and Mr. Sean got it right. Heads with double ply work really well. I use the Remo Pinstripes all around on my Gretsch Maple kit. I also use the resonator rings. I get that deep sound with less resonance on my kit. The Gel Reso works well also on these heads.

Now if you really need some heavy skins, I would recommend the Weather Masters.

For tuning my 9pcs kit I use the Drum Dial to get withing the spectrum of the batter and res head differentials . And then I fine tune them to my taste.

I hope this helps.

Luke · #16 (**permalink**) 01-27-2010, 06:17 PM

I'd say get some moon gels, keep your EC2's and get evans EC resonant heads. They are a little thicker then normal resonant heads and have a ring on them like the EC2's. Buy Evans EC Resonant Drumhead | Individual Drum Heads | Musician's Friend
I have pinstripes but they've never really given me a sound that I really want so I'm planning on switching to EC2's once i need new heads. I have the EC resonants and they helped a lot with the tone. Also moongels are great

Stickman · #17 (**permalink**) 02-12-2010, 01:21 PM

Like Drumbumm I use The Remo Pinstripes with Powerstroke 3's on the Snare and the Bass, plus I use the pinstripes as the the resonant heads to get a fatter bass. I tend toward the high tones a bit cause I'm a fan of the jazz style of tuning where both heads are resonant. It requires an extremely sensitive and patient tuning method; but, if you can tune each and every lug pricisley to the same tone the buzz dissapears and you get just one nice smooth overtone. I cheat a bit and use a DrumDial.

Sprinkles · #18 (**permalink**) 07-02-2010, 02:17 AM

I use REMO KINGS WEATHERPROOF heads, and theyre awesome. They have great tone for your batterheads, and ive had em for 2 years now, and minus some beats and bruises, perfect condition. No rips, tears, or bursts. Really good heads.

TheYuckyDuck · #19 (**permalink**) 08-16-2010, 06:03 PM

Dude,
You have a tuning issue more than a head issue. Check that. You have a problem with both. The problem with the heads is that your using heads that are made for, and market to, people that can't tune drums. Any of those EC-2, Hydraulics, on even pinstripes, are devoid of tone right out of the box. If you are having to resort to moon-gels, e-rings, or dead-ass heads, in order to get your drums under control... You are not tuning your them correctly.

Yes... You could use all that crap, and probably even get your drums to not sound like hubcaps, but you'll never be able to get them sounding good that way, either. I promise you. I can't be done. It's Impossible.

First:
I recommend starting with drum heads that are capable of sounding good, even better with heads that WANT to sound good. Here's how you do it: Go the music store and ask them for a 12" head in every model available. If they frown on this, pear down the list to the following: Evans G2, EC2, Pinstripe, Emperor, Aquarian Studio X, and Aquarian 2-ply (preferably Double Thins - if they don't have those then whatever 2-ply Aquarian they have). Take each out, and hold it lightly by the hoop, careful not to touch the actual head. Just the hoop. Holding vertically, perpendicular to the floor, and up at ear level. Strike the center of the head with your finger (the hand not holding up the head, duh). Don't press into it and kill the sound. Don't hit it so hard you knock it out of your hand. Just a quick decent pop in the middle of the head. Listen to the way the drum want' to sound. Heads have sound profile characteristics of their own. Find the head that you thinks sounds the best and has the nicest tone. Give the others back, and buy a whole set of something useful, and a set of reso heads by the same company. Can't stress this enough. Don't mix and match manufactures.

Garbage in, Garbage out. - I don't care how good your drums are, if you use crappy sounding heads, you're gonna have crappy sounding drums. Period.

I Guarantee you, that I can put new set of Studio-Xs on a 1983 CB-700 drum-kit, and make it sound far superior to any Sonor, Mapex, DW, or Pearl set, with EC-2's or Hydraulics on them. That's just a simple fact.

Drum tuning is an Art all to itself. Like any Art-form, to master it, requires practice, care, dedication, and a desire to achieve perfection.

I can help you further, probably. If you don't mind me asking a few questions?

How old are you?
How big are you? (Height, Weight, Shoe size)
How long have you been playing?
How hard do you play?
What type of cymbals do you use?
What type of sticks do you use? (Make, Model, Size, Tip)

Let's make sure you're suitably outfitted first, then we'll get you fixed-up and knock this problem out for you in a Jiffy. Piece of cake.

If anyone else has a similar issue, Go to the music store test the model in the size of your smallest Tom. Pick out one you like, come back here and answer this set of questions (plus what drums you use), and take care of it, too.

**Tainojim** · #20 (**permalink**) 08-22-2010, 05:59 AM

OK, so this thread is about two years plus and still counting.

Hey Ducky,
I can help you further, probably. If you don't mind me asking a few questions?

How old are you?
How big are you? (Height, Weight, Shoe size)
How long have you been playing?
How hard do you play?
What type of cymbals do you use?
What type of sticks do you use? (Make, Model, Size, Tip)

Let's make sure you're suitably outfitted first, then we'll get you fixed-up and knock this problem out for you in a Jiffy. Piece of cake.

Plus 2 ='s ?

"Oh", and don't forget to change the oil and rotate the tires every 5 years.

Maybe I'll come back next year and see if anybody has it right.