Bassdrum drumheads and tuning

[matricks]

As far as leaving the beater on the head i can notice a huge difference in sound whether it is me playing or someone else. It does work either way (Vinnie buries it) but i think it always sounds better, more open, when you get it off of there. I think it is cool to utilize BOTH techniques, i, myself, do both but mainly stick with keeping it off. When you get it off the head it also doesn't keep all that tension in your leg and therefore adheres physiologically to the way the body wants to work. I also believe it just gives you a more killer sound... in my opinion, humble opinion of course!

[Mark of Cenla]

I have a Mapex Saturn Pro 22x18 bass drum. I like the way it sounds with an Evans clear EQ3: plenty of boom and rumble. Peace.

[jonthibault]

Steve Smith uses only thin strips of material on each head for muffling. Other than that, they're wide open. I was thinking about trying this. Has anyone else done it? I bet it sounds bitchin' in a rock setting.

[Clintuplet]

I've thought about using the felt idea but wondered what affect it would have on tuning since it's pinched between the head and bearing edge. Any thoughts?

[chris perra]

if you bury the beater heavily i find you need muffling on both heads, also, i find that both heads need to be loose to get a fat rich sound.

similarily to how loose you tune top tom heads for a fat sound. they tend to need to be way looser than you think.

also, if you bury you need a hole in the front head. for a 22 i like to have a hole around 10 to 12 inches. 6 is too small for me.

to me if you bury, you are going for air movement, if you bounce you are going for resonance of the shell and skins.

chris perra

[Mark of Cenla]

I have used felt strips before. Most of them are thin enough not to be a problem with the bearing edge-head contact. Peace.