How do crappy sounding toms sound so cool?

[Uladine]

I had Evans Hydraulic heads on my toms. They sounded pretty good. I wanted newer heads for recording, so I got Remo Ambassador Transparent heads. They sounded like ass. I muffled them a bit with carpet foam and duct tape to control the overtones. Still sounded like ass. Recorded some drum tracks with no effects or EQ. They sounded awesome! Way better than the Evans heads.

Go figure.

[ZEKE SAYER]

what mic are you using to record your toms? that helps alot.


zeke

[Uladine]

Those crappy nady mics where you get a set of 3 drum mics in a case for $100.

[elevate]

Did you record the toms with Evans heads and then record again with Remo heads, or just Remo?

[dr.colossus]

a live drum kit and a recording drumkit are different monkeys all together... i'm working on restoring an old star (tama) specifically for recording, but thats besides the point..... the live subtleties of drums are exagerated in recording, its strange, because your toms nearly need to sound dead before they are recordable.... live, i use fybreskins religously, but they are useless for recording...

[battleminnow]

You know, for what it's worth, I read a great review in a drum mic shootout of those Nady's a while back. I am the first to disregard Nady stuff, but this article made me wonder. I think it was Recording magazine.

Pete

[ap]

dr. colossus, I've heard that a good live kit is not necessarily a good recording kit. Could you, or anyone else, elaborate a bit? WHat to look for in a recording kit, some good models, etc.?

[Uladine]

I don't know how well I can help you out on this matter, but I've always had a Tama Rockstar kit. Nothing special, just a $750 dollar kit. It sounds awesome live when its tuned up good (for my personal taste) but for recording it seems all that it took to make it really nice were different heads. The Evans heads sounded pretty good live but on recordings they sounded a little lifeless. Then I put some cheap ole regular Remo Ambassador Transparent heads on, and when I tried them out they sounded like ass. I taped a bit of carpet foam on them and they sounded a bit better but way too, I dunno, just shitty, like cheap stock heads. On the recording though they sounded awesome. They had a nice attack and a full bodied "boom" without too much ring. If you have a good live set I would just experiment with different heads and tuning techniques before shelling out dough for a different kit.

[ap]

I really don't know much about drums. I am looking for my first kit and it will probably never be played live. It will probably never be seriously played by me. I want a kit in my studio so my drummer friends(who know little about recording) can add parts to my songs which work but sound a little dull with my MIDI drum programming.

[neirbo]

Often a recording kit will be setup for less resonance than a live kit. This is why many drum recordings use a birch kit, which has a sharper attack and less sustain, while live drummers lean more towards maple, which has more sustain. Live, you really need a some sustain for the drum tones to be heard. If you close mic each drum on your kit live, this is not really an issue. But if you play live with minimal or no micing, the extra warmth and sustain from resonant heads on a maple kit goes a long way.

Carter Beaufort from Dave Mathews mics a birch kit for both recording and live use, and you can hear this in his very distinctive, tight sound.

If you want to muffle your heads without killing the sound, you can try Moon Gel. These are little sticky gummy bear type things that you put on your heads. You can precisely tailor the amount of muffle and ring you get by placing them closer or farther from the rim. They give a much better sound than any other muffling I've tried.

[Uladine]

Yea those moon gel pads work wonders. Also if you're going the cheap route folded coffee filters work kinda nice. One trick is that when you are using tape to muffle the drums, make sure the tape isnt stuck to the head, but instead just stretched over it holding the foam or whatever in place. The tape can deaden a head a bit too much sometimes.