Kick drum head: On or off.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chris.
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Chris.

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I've heard people that like it both ways, and I'm not asking which is best. I'm just curious. I don't have time or a place where I can experiment with both of them to find out characteristics or differences between the two so I thought I'd ask people that would probably know.

So: What is the difference in recording a kick drum with the (non beater) head off instead of on?
 
As a most basic answer.

Head on: more BOOM (potentially) Harder to place the mic. Especially if there is no hole in the head.

Head off: all attack, no boom. Much easier to place a mic cause you're wide open.
 
may sound like a daft question but is having a hole like a sort of middle ground between having a head and not having a head?
 
olfunk said:
may sound like a daft question but is having a hole like a sort of middle ground between having a head and not having a head?
Click to expand...


Pretty much.
Except most drummers play with a hole in their resonant head for so long, that if they get on a kick with a full front head - they don't know how to deal with all of the rebound from the mallet striking the head, because there is a MAJOR difference in how it feels.


Tim
 
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I tried it with the head off....Pshh I didn't like it. If anything I'd go with a soundhole, it sounds pretty nice IMO.
 
Yeah, I haven't had time to try both so I don't know, but I just remember one time my band was getting our cd mastered and the mastering guy took a listen and was like, "kick drum head was on, wasn't it?" and of course it was, so I was just wondering how one would know the difference and what they were.
 
A lot of it depends on the shell material and dimensions as well. I wouldnt dream of playing Yamaha recording customs w/o a head on the right since they already are dry and attacky...... but I've heard some guys with DW's (bright maple shell) sound great without a resonant head.
As for size, the deeper the drum is the more resonance it will have, so a very deep bass drum w/o a resonant will sound much livelier than a not so deep drum without a resonant.
I had an 18"x20" maple shell bass, and used one of those Evans mesh screen heads that is like having no head at all on the front. Its purpose was for appearance's sake (who wants to play live with no head on their bass drum?) and to maintain some of the rebound of the batter head. It sounded awesome. The lack of a resonant complemented the punchiness of a small diameter kick (20 inches), while the 18" depth and maple shell gave it enough resonance on its own, and needed barely any dampening. And it was LOUD. Like a cannon going off in my living room.
 
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