Kick Drum Head - Off or On ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Whyte Ice
  • Start date Start date

Do you leave your front kick drum head while playing/recording?

  • On

    Votes: 22 47.8%

  • Off

    Votes: 24 52.2%
  • Total voters
    46
  • Poll closed .
W

Whyte Ice

The Next Vanilla Ice
Do you guys like to keep your front kick drum head on or off when playing / recording your kick? And why?
 
For both recording and just playing, i keep skins on...

I have a Remo weather king skin, which is covered in stickers and other stuff with a small 10cm hole in the center which i use for playing and gigging...(basically for looks really)

For recording, i have an Aquarian with a large 20cm hole off to one side cut...

Tim
 
i just have the one front skin with the manufacturer logo on the front with a sound hole on the corner(?)...only reason i keep it on is for the extra resonance it gives....and it looks cool too
 
I take my front head off to record, and on with a 6 1/2" hole 2" from the edge for live.

Hitman.
 
The only real advantage to having it on is to help isolate the drum mic if you have it in the drum.
 
On with a hole.....there actually is an advantage to having it on Tex. It's the resonant head. Instead of pure punch, you can acheive punch and tone with the head on and a hole.

Mike
 
Depends!!!!!!

Depends, considering I'm not a drummer I'm more interested in the sound and level versus what looks cool.I had a drummer in my iso booth who had a kick with no hole in it and it was extremely boomy plus considering my room is small it adds to the low end, I used a rnc which helped to give me a workable signal going to tape but it was still overly boomy.So, I removed the front head stuck a huge cushion in there and by placing the mic more in the shell helped to reduce leakage into my d112.Man, after that I had a kick with a nice thump,very focused and tight.All I can say is experiment,experiment,experiment!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
It will make a difference on sound for sure. I just meant from a practical standpoint.
 
It realy all depends on what sound you are looking for, decide for yourself by trying both ways out. With the head you will get more tone (and i think this way is more prefered by people), I find that without the head i just get a THWACK!!!, instead of a round boom with just enough attack. Try using Aquarian heads, Superkick on the batter and i think its a Resonance for the front, its the one with a felt padding around the head and the hole. It works real good, i hardly every have to use anykind of muffling inside the drum. Good Luck!!
 
Maddrummer's right. It boils down to the sound you're tring to get.
In a large room I'll go headless. Small recording room, I'll mic the hole.
 
Right now, it is just a convenience to have the head off the kick drum. But if I would like to try a one with a cut-out so that I could compare the difference. I prefer the "looks" of my set with the head on.

BTW. Do you prefer the head on or off the toms when micing? I leave them on, but I have seen it done both ways.
 
Same thing Sonic. If you're in a smallish room, the toms will soung "boomy". In a larger, open area they'll sound bigger, but tighter.
 
I like leaving the head on because you can add resonance by moving the mic certain ways. I've read that if you go without a front head for too long the weight of you toms (if mounted on the kick) will actually warp the shell a bit. Ever since I heard that, wether it was true or not, I've always been careful about removing the front head for longer than a recording session.
 
nobody has mentioned the drum size here....the 20" is nice and punchy without the head, but you do get the extra bit of tone with the head on.... as for my 26" i always have the head on, otherwise the sound completely dissapears, the bigger the drum the more of a role the head plays...imho, that is......but you gotta experiment with every possibility..
 
I leave the head on - it's such an integral part of my kick sound....it's a 22" kick and the front head adds so much resonance...really gives the kick sound some meat to it....without it's very 'one dimensional' sounding (if that makes sense) - attack without resonance

It seems that the perception sometimes is that the front head is to make the kit look cool and somewhere to put a sticker...but that front head is important to the sound of the bass drum and shouldn't be overlooked when tuning, etc.
 
I leave my head on. I find that it's easier to see and think :) :cool: :rolleyes: :eek: ;) :D
 
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