Heads Up?

A

Amateur Eric

New member
In getting ready to track the drum set, I'm curious as to whether or not anyone uses different heads (mainly on the toms) for recording from what they use for live playing.
I'll be recording in my untreated living room with an sm57 at snare, D112 at kick and rode nt5's for overheads.
My drum kit is a dw collectors maple set (18"X16" kick, and mounted toms of 10"X7, 12"X9" & 14"X11") with a 6-1/2" X 14" pearl floating brass shell. I currently have evan coated G2's with single ply resonants but am concerned that they may have too much sustain and cause clarity problems while tracking. Has anyone tried Hydraulics for recording or any other suggestions to find a head that is a bit tighter in the sustain arena without muffling them?

Thanks
Eric
 
Eric,
I record with a Mapex kit same size, same heads. I have absolutely no problem with sound smearing.
If you were going to play a lot of extended fast soloing on your toms... that would be different. But for your standard slow to mid tempo type stuff I would not give it a second thought.

I love the evans coated with the clear res heads. They produce a nice warm tone (note) without sounding glassy.
 
You could try those "Aquarian" heads, which have that whole "pre-eq'd" deal. Actually, that claim is nonsense, but they do sound very mellow without much sustain.
 
Thanks

Well,
After having read your posts, I resolved to make these coated G2's work. I revisited DW's website and a few others with info available for the drummer and focused primarily on tuning.
So I spent a considerable amount of the little free time I had to play with the tuning, specifically on the toms.
Finally, I found a relationship in tuning between the top and res heads that has now given me the sound I love while taming down the sustain a little without making them dead and lifeless sounding.

WOO-HOOO

Thanks for the bit of encouragement and ideas I needed at the right time

Eric
 
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