I've seen that. Simon Phillips has paint cans filled with sand in his kicks to tighten them up. There are all.sorts of ways to get the drums to do what you want, but most of the good ones allow the head to resonate freely, at least for a second.
I used to cut up an old towel into squares and tape them to the head. I would put one piece of tape on one side of the towel such that it creates a flap. When you hit the drum, the head resonates normally for a second as the towel bounces up. Then the towel.settles and dampens the head. The size of the towel determines how much ring you get.