Drum Mods

B

Bguzaldo

New member
Hey do any of you out there know of any tricks to improve the sound of a kit (aside from getting a better drummer;))? I don't have enough money to buy a better kit, but I've heard of people coating their drums with special oils or sanding their shells in a certain way that improves the sound.

If you guys have cool tips or know of any web sites/books that would point me in a good direction I'd really appreciate it.
 
What kit do you have? You can make a cheap kit sound awesome by replacing the heads, tuning properly, and recording in a nice room :D
 
You can do things like get the bearing edges re-cut and using different hoops, but you're really mostly stuck with what you got. Most mods that will be effective will cost some cash. I would suspect, without ever actually trying it, that sanding or coating your shells with snake oil makes such a minimal difference that you wouldn't even notice and anyone that says they do is just fooling themselves. Just use good heads and tune them properly. Even cheapo drums can be very serviceable. They might suck for live use, but they can record very well with close mics and smart tracking techniques.

And of course, you gotta have a good drummer.
 
I've managed some of the best drums sounds I've gotten were from Pearl Export kits and the like. It's really about the head choice, the tuning and the drummer.

This is assuming that there is nothing physically wrong with the drums and they are just 'cheap'.

You need to get the heads that are appropriate for the style you play and play with the appropriate touch. Then you need to mic the drums the way drums are normally miced for the style you play.

If you are doing metal, Remo pinstripes for the toms and power stroke for the kick work really well.

Don't forget about the bottom heads. If they are more than a few years old, or are the original ones that came with the kit, they should be replaced. YOu can't tune the drums is the bottom heads are stretched out and old.
 
Farview said:
I've managed some of the best drums sounds I've gotten were from Pearl Export kits and the like. It's really about the head choice, the tuning and the drummer.

This is assuming that there is nothing physically wrong with the drums and they are just 'cheap'.

You need to get the heads that are appropriate for the style you play and play with the appropriate touch. Then you need to mic the drums the way drums are normally miced for the style you play.

If you are doing metal, Remo pinstripes for the toms and power stroke for the kick work really well.

Don't forget about the bottom heads. If they are more than a few years old, or are the original ones that came with the kit, they should be replaced. YOu can't tune the drums is the bottom heads are stretched out and old.
Click to expand...

Yes! All of this x 10000000000000000!
 
That was great Xero! Great sound and playing!! Yamaha is an excellent brand! Its my fav(also love SONOR). I own an OAK Custom myself.

cheers
 
It's a bit of work, but finding lug inserts that have a finer thread than what you have now allows you to use a finer thread lug while looking original, and get more 'precise' tuning. Some of the old Japanese drums have a wide rounded over bearing edge, so cutting a nice 45-degree means less contact with the head, and this combined with fine thread lugs means you should be able to get great sounds out of a cheap kit.
Oh, check that the edges are square to begin with. There's a lot of info and ides on how to square up the edge yourself, or have someone else do it. But that's a huge start.
 
If you end up thinking about buying new drums for recording purposes (you can often find great deals on shells on CL), might I recommend buying a smaller kit? I'm my experience, smaller kits can sound HUGE in recordings but are easier to manage, as far as getting mics in close and capturing the kit nicely with OHs and/or room mics. I get a real nice punchy and full kick sound with my 18" kick drum whereas I find that my 22" sounds deep but floppy... then again, I have no idea what kind of music you're playing, so take my advice with a grain of salt.
 
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