Difference between drum heads...

Spikeh

Spikeh

New member
I'm going to be starting to record an album as of next week - my drummer and I have been struggling with the raw sound of the Toms on his kit. He uses 12, 13 and 14" toms on his Premier Resonator kit.

He uses Remo FibreSkyn heads - currently a bit mish mashed... in my opinion, they sound dull and TOO resonant... without much attack. Whenever I losen them to get more attack, they sound floppy...

The heads are in "ok" condition... I'm convinced that if he used some other heads, the kit would sound infinitely better.

What are the differences between all the different heads... my band is basically a hard rock band - lots of american influences, Alter Bridge, Limp Bizkit, Black Label Society, RATM, Chillis...

I'm going to buy some heads for the kit for recording. That way he has no excuse NOT to give them a try. I bet he'll like them too...

What heads would you suggest, and what qualities do they have?
 
I think most drummers would suggest a 2-ply head on the batter side and a 1 ply on the resonant side. Two very common batter heads used by many drummers are Remo Pinstripes or Evans G2.
 
Well, I'm looking for something with that epic, thunderous feel to it... a good thud and snap.

How do you guys rate these Pinstripe ones?
 
Well, "thud" and "snap" are two very different terms, but I think you're talking about the attack of the toms. I agree with Mike H; for heavy music I'd tend to suggest a 2-ply head like a Remo Emperor or Evans G2 (clear, not coated) on top and a single-ply clear (Remo Amb or Evans G1) on the bottom. I personally don't like Pinstripes--they take away too much of the natural feel and sound of the drums for me (far less attack; they'd me much more THUD and far less SNAP)--but you could try them as well. They might work great.
 
Coated skins will tend to offer a dryer feel, while clear skins sound wet and warm. My personal preference is clear Evans EC2's. I recently tried out some coated G2's and wasn't a big fan of the dryer sound. The EC2s on my kit resonate really well, nice thud and sound carry, even with the ring dampener.
 
Do all of these rules apply to bass skins too? I'm fairly good at getting the right bass sound I want, but seeing as though I'm replacing all the tom skins, I may as well do the bass too... that's only been changed once in two years.

What skin would you recommend for a powerful, sharp, metal type kick sound?
 
Pinstripes have been used by every rock drummer on the planet at one point or another. If you want a big tom sound, you'll never go wrong with pinstripes.
 
Spikeh said:
I've heard that pinstripes are quite muffled and dull?
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You heard wrong. Clear pinstripes sound big and fat and can give you a nice low punch. Your shells play a big role in that too. If you want a rock or metal type sound from your toms, pinstripes will do it.
 
Pinstripes are great for the dead 70's Steve Gadd tom sounds, which is basically the hit and no resonance. Think "slightly eq'd cardboard box".

I've used Evans G2s on a number of kits and love them for recording. I have a friend who uses them on an older Yamaha Stage Custom kit he uses for 3 different metal bands, and swears by them for tone and durability as well.

But like many others have said too, shells mean a lot here as well. If a shell has bad edges for instance, no head is going to sound *good* on it.
 
Spikeh said:
Bad edges?
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The bearing edge, where the head rests on the shell. Sometimes the edges can get slight wood burrs, or they might get dinged up in the process of transport, etc. Or the edges just may not be very good, especially on a lower end kit. If the edges of the shells can't make good solid contact with the drumhead, you lose a lot of tone as the heads cannot resonate well.
 
id suggest remo emperor for batter and remo ambassador for resonant head on toms

they sound great especially for heavier rock music.

its the combination used by one of my favourite drummers. josh freese!
 
ok my 2 cents is that for about 10 or so years now you really have to check each head when you are buying remo, as they have a lot of duds now... If the head itself has a tone when you tap it with your index finger then good, if not, stay away.

Ebony heads are the dullest, I wouldn't call the fibreskyn heads bad, but they have a particular midrange accentuation that does work well for jazz and 'older' like 50's rock, but not the newer stuff.

I just bought a used Yamaha Stage Custom and it came with G2's on the top (and factory heads on the bottoms, oh well).

Even though whoever owned it before me had piss-poor aim & little technique - the heads were really beat up - but much to my surprise they do actually have some life left to them. In my experience with remo heads, if these were emperors, they wouldn't have made it this far... Time for me to check out more G2's!

BTW, G2's are comparable to the emperors, as they are both 2 layers of 7mil plastic, the pinstripe adds in a 'resonance reducing' thing.

A good bet if you want to try single ply (less wet, more attack) is the controlled sound line, and then for snare maybe an Emperor X, these are used by lots of rock and metal drummers....
 
I also dislike Pinstripes.
There is a saying, something like:
"Pinstripes make bad drums sound OK. They also make good drums sound OK".
Meaning, they have a paticular sound. They sound the same on almost any drum. The sound is also "dated", not very contemporary sounding.

By far my favorite is Remo Clear Emperor.
Clear Emporers were used on this song, if you want an idea of what I make the sound like.
 
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