Burying The Beater?????

  • Thread starter Thread starter alvinthedrummer
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alvinthedrummer

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Hey Guys, I play the bass drum both ways, bury when rockin out and bounce off when playing jazz. I never had a problem until recently....

I sold my old kit and bought a small kit with 18" bass drum. Now, it has alot of punch and is super responsive. I was really happy until I tried recording a funk track with it. I have been capturing little buzz notes when burying my beater in. Normally I wouldn't be able to hear it, but capturing the sound with a mic so close to the head meant hell....buzz notes everywhere!!! I know Steve Smith will go "Bounce off the head" and all....but I really want to get that slamming attack without loosing the tone by stuffing the bass drum up too much.....any ideas?
 
The reason the buzz is happening is the bounce, right? So anything you can do to minimize the bouncy response of the beater on the head is going to help.

You could tune the bass drum really loose, which is probably what you'd want to do on a funk track with a small bass drum anyway. You won't have to cram the drum full if it's pretty loose. I think some combination of really loose head and some pillows should do it.

Either that, or keep playing off the head, and use a harder beater to get more attack.
 
What kind of beater are you using? I've found a hard beater gives more buzz when digging in as opposed to a felt beater.

Also, what is your foot position on the pedal?
 
I'm using the iron cobra powerglide with the stock beater. My foot position is about 3-4 inches away from the chain. I've tried tuning my head as loose as it can go, but bcos its rather small in diameter it doesn't have alot of give. I'm using G2 Clear on the batter head though, will a coated G2 head do the trick?
 
Then I think your problem might be technique. Burying the beater just doesn't work. I had to retrain myself to stop doing it because I like a resonant kick. I'd hear buzz alot on recordings, too.

Your head's also probably got to much rebound. You could try to dampen the head more and loosen the tuning. That was the 70's/early 80's style. A loose head allows the beater to stop dead. Less spring tension, too. Then maybe you could bury it OK.
 
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