A Bad Habbit

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punkin

punkin

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My son is an aspiring drummer. He's a good time keeper and tends to play more to the rock/metal side of the craft. He's 13. I wish he's gravitate to the jazzier tastier side but for now, he's learning.

So, here's my question. How often should I be replacing his snare head? After a week or so, the thing has some serious waves and divits going on. It hardly seems playable. I replace this thing every couple weeks or so. Is that normal?

Just wondering if he's pounding it out a bit hard or if this is normal fare for an up and coming drummer.
 
No, that is too often to be changing heads for someone who is not performing for a living. He's whacking the snot out of it! That's gonna add up, too. I'd tell him you'll only buy one new head every 3 months (or however long you think). That might get him to ease up.
 
Hey thanks! That's what I was thinkin'

Appreciate it!
 
Sounds like he may need some lessons. It is not necessary to pound on the snare to get a good sound. Have him try to play, while not lifting the stick more than 3-4" off the head between hits.
 
Probably gripping too tight as well. This will damage heads, and his wrists.
 
now, i know i'm not a drummer

but i definately think you need to hit the drums hard to get tone. ( maybe not having to change the head every few weeks hard...) but still


he's also 13. chances are, he plays every day, for an extended period of time. i know i played guitar for hours and hours and hours on end when i was that age. either way good luck to him!
 
My guess is that you care about the heads a lot more than he does. That said, get a Remo PowerStroke III with the reinforced center or an Emperor X. It will hold up well.... or at least better. Tone ain't great, but they are strong. Then tell that kid to quit hitting so hard... and nylon tips are nasty too. Then, get that boy out to see some Basie concerts or something... nothing changes a mind like exposure. The more slammin big band the better and then you can ease him into the more subtle.
 
Oh yah. He uses it religously. I almost wonder if that's part of the issue. He has a set of serious isolation headphones/hearing protection.

Good point though.
 
scrubs said:
Sounds like he may need some lessons. It is not necessary to pound on the snare to get a good sound. Have him try to play, while not lifting the stick more than 3-4" off the head between hits.
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Well, he has been taking lessons for a couple years now. I suspect that he's a bit more reserved during the lessons than when he let's it loose when he's at home. He's really into some retro and vintage rock. Plays to stuff like AC/DC, LedZep...harder driving aged metal kinda stuff and man, when he plays, he PLAYS! He comes out of the drum room looking like he's been hitting the heavy bag.

I've tried to expose him to tastier stuff like Ellington, Dizzy, Miles but he's not having any of that just yet.

Well, thanks everyone for the feedback. Before I had a talk with him about his playing technique I wanted to be sure I knew what I was talking about. I'll have the same conversation with his teacher and let him know.

Thanks much all!
 
Sure the kid has lousy technique...sure he's playing too hard...he's 13. Before sending him off to bootcamp, how 'bout you tighten the batter head a bit.

The batter head is tuned too low to begin with, or it's loosening as the drum is played. Either will result in serious pitting and distortion of the plastic head...even with proper technique.

If...you're going to tell me the batter head is cranked tight and still being pitted...then you call Maury Povich.
 
Hey Maury! :D

I'm pretty sure it's on tight. The thing has a nice bark to it. The top head is tuned a bit higher than the bottom head. I've tried to tighten it even more to take the waves and divits out but that's not gonna happen. When the head(s) are new, the thing has a real nice tight snap back. The last set I got him I'm not sure what brand it was but I went into the store and explained the situation to the store owner ( a mom-pop place, the owner is a drummer himself). He sole me some "heavy duty" heads. They have a baffle ring on the inside with tiny holes to "vent" off the ringing. I'm not sure if it's some kind of gimmick but they sound great.

Oh BTW, don't get me wrong, I'm not gonna bust his chops about it. I'll get the teacher to do that for me :D

I for one am excited to see him play as much as he does. I just want to be sure he's going at it properly is all.
 
What kind of angle is the snare on? If it is tilted like a tom he may be denting the head with the tips.
 
He's probably digging into the drums a lot too or trying to play "through" the drum instead of "off" the drum. A buddy of mine who plays out quite a bit goes through heads and sticks and cymbals like nothing (he's an endorser though, so it's not a big deal to him) but he also is developing extremely bad tendonitis. He says when he plays he aims to hit the floor with every hit :confused:

If he played with a more glancing blow, even at a high volume, it would help prolong the drumhead life quite a bit. Most drummers know this for cymbals, but using it on the drums too can really give you a nicer tone.

I played in an alternative metal band, gigging out a fair bit, for quite some time and only replaced my heads every 3 or 4 months (and no, I didn't hang on to my drumheads for dear life until there wasn't a shred of skin left, I replaced them as soon as I noticed a definate change in tone) I never had a problem with volume or anything.
 
Oh, ya know, it is tilted slighty toward him. What do ya think? Maybe set it more flat?

Oh and btw, the head is an Evans Genera Dry if that's meaningful.
 
punkin said:
Oh, ya know, it is tilted slighty toward him. What do ya think? Maybe set it more flat?

Oh and btw, the head is an Evans Genera Dry if that's meaningful.
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If it's just a slight tilt, it won't make any difference at all, a flat snare drum is uncomfortable for some, it's really a matter of preference.
 
punkin said:
So, here's my question. How often should I be replacing his snare head? After a week or so, the thing has some serious waves and divits going on. It hardly seems playable. I replace this thing every couple weeks or so. Is that normal?
Click to expand...

What kind of snare is this? Is it possible that the hardware is crap and the tuning is just slipping?
 
I'm fairly certain it's not a hardware issue. The snare came with the set. It's a SONOR Force 2005. In fact just after reading a couple of these posts, I got a wild hair and checked to make sure the head was still on nice and tight. I checked the tuning while I was at it. It's not bad considering the condition of the head that's on there right now.

At this point I'm pretty convinced we've got a technique issue at hand. Thanks everyone.
 
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