DTBlalock said:
14" snare
14" rack tom
20" floor tom
24" bass drum
yes, its that traditional monsterous 70's drum set.
Well the important thing to remember is to get heads that are the appropriate thickness in relation to the size of the drum.The smaller the drum,the thinner the head.For example if you put
a REMO Diplomat on your 20" floor tom, 3M wouldn't be able to supply you with enough tape to get rid of that god-awful ^*Rattle*^.Conversely,if you had a 6" drum(hypothetically) and you put an Evans oil filled on it,well,you might as well be hitting a suitcase.So,thickness to size is important.
Tuning well is even *more* important-not only for the heads that you intend to use but also for the heads you might have to wind up using on occasion,whether it's your kit or someone elses.Case in point-The music store was all out of Emperor Batters(for my toms) the day before I had to ship out for a 2 Month gig in Sandpoint,Alaska.All they had was Ambassadors,no big difference it would seem,but I had been pounding on Emps since day one so,in terms of what I was used to playing,BIG DIFFERENCE!!!My tuning skills however saved my situation from being a total loss and I was able to deal with it-as a matter of fact,I even *adapted* to it,but if my tuning hadn't been on,I don't know what I could have done.So,get into your tuning and it will serve you well.
"Muffling"(I hate that term,I prefer "Tone Control") should ALWAYS come after proper tuning and,even then "less is more" if you know what I mean.
Let's take the snare first-You've got a brand new head on the batter and it's sounding a little "live".So,you whip out some black electricians tape,cut off a one inch piece and place it at the 12 'O Clock position(from where you sit).Place the tape on the drum head so the edge kind of creeps near the edge of your metal rim,but doesn't touch it.Now give your snare a good tap in the center.Still "ringy"?Take another piece of tape and place it at 6'O Clock,same way as before.Do another tap and if it still sounds "ringy",another piece of tape on the 3'O Clock position.Keep the following in mind if you still get ringing: You want to stop EXCESSIVE ringing but you don't want to stop ALL of the ringing-you need some of that feedback because when you get together with your buds to jam or gig that small amount of ringing is going to get lost in all of the sound and fury of the rest of the band-in other words,you'll hardly notice it,if at all.If you muffle your snare to the point of no return,you will just be bashing the heck out of it and breaking snare heads at a rapid clip.You want some of that liveliness to remain,so you can tell you are playing a musical instrument instead of a piece of deadwood.So be careful with the electricians tape-if you add by increments up to the point that it rings just a tad,you won't have to pull tape OFF the heads.
I'm going to assume you have double headed toms because you haven't said whether they were "melodic"(single headed) or not.Remember this for your toms-Both your tops and bottoms should be tuned at the same tightness-ie don't tune your top head tighter/looser than your bottom head and vice versa-no good will come of it.Your toms need to be in tune with themselves-ie in such a manner that the drums are allowed to achieve the most amount of "resonance"(notice I didn't say "ringing") as possible.Toms come in different sizes for a reason-take advantage of that fact and tune each one properly according to IT'S size.A 13" tom is not a 6" drum and vice versa.
Whatever heads that you use,it's usually a good idea to use the same for the bottom as you use for the batter(ie Ambassadors top and bottom)Matched heads will produce a more consistent tone because they "like" each other!
If you used an Ambassador on top and a Diplomat(thinner head) on the bottom,you would just need to use more tape-THIS is why head selection is SO important-It knocks out about 80% of your "problems" to begin with.
Remember TUNE first,then start applying your tape.
For your bass drum,get the thickest head that Evans makes-Again this will save on tape and tone control.Next,pick up one of those nice thick leather impact beater pads and put it on your bass drum.If you don't have a wood beater,get one,because a felt beater will do you no good in this case.A wood beater provides a nice "THWACK" and is heavier than a felt beater and will last practically forever.
As with the toms,tune your bass head first(make sure you tune BEFORE you put the impact pad on!)When you get the tone that you like,apply the pad in the proper place.Give it a couple of whacks and see what it sounds like.If you're lucky,you probably got your tone "zeroed in" with just the head and the pad-if not then do this.Get a small couch pillow that's filled with either down feathers or foam.Place it inside your bass drum so it's just touching the head and also resting at the bottom-Don't "mush" the pillow against the head-just make sure it's in contact.Tape the pillow to the head with a couple of strips-don't overdo-you just want it to stay put not chain it down against a hurricane.Give your bass a couple of whacks and see how it sounds-it should be coming along just nicely!If not,engage your own intellect and do what YOU think needs to be done.All of the advice I've given you up to now is just basic-it's up to YOU to tailor it to suit YOUR own needs.It's going to take time and practice to get what YOU want for you.
As for the heads:
Snare: Coated Ambassador or Black Dot
Rack Tom:Coated or Clear Emperor ,Pinstripe or thicker(Check out what else REMO has to offer before you investigate the EVANS stuff)
Floor Tom-Whatever you can dig up for it(THICK!) and good luck!
Bass Drum-The thickest that EVANS has to offer-that's all
I'm sorry I'm not up on my drum stuff but it's been about 14 years since I've even thought about this-I hope I helped out in some small way!
Good Luck!
