new drum-kit for a non-drummer

[tc4b]

My son has been obsessed with drums since he was about 1.5 years old. Unfortunately for him, it's about the only instrument not in my house (maybe that's the reason for the obsession, but anyway...) So for his 3rd birthday I got him a kit that fits his size perfectly and seems to be of sturdy construction.

Two problems I, a keyboard/guitar/bass player, need your help with:

1) ringing! All three drums (snare, kick, and tom) ring a ton. Do I just open them and stuff in towels or pillows? Just want your opinions before I open it up.

2) stank! The finish, or preservative or whatever, it came with smells strongly like grandpa's breath. Is this normal? What do you clean drums with?

Thanks for your help!

 

[daav]

1) Tuning the drums will help, http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/index.html
I think that link should work otherwise google, "drum tuning bible"
I also bought a gauge that measures the drums tension, I find it really helps to get the drum close to tuned all the way around the head(s) then i can tweak it by ear. Tuned properly, they will probabaly lose a lot fo the annoying ring.

Once the drums are tuned, you can address rigning with various prodcuts such as moonjell, or evans makes a velcro strap that attaches to a dot stuck to the drum head to absorb some of the ring, or remo makes a rign that can attach to the heads.

2) hell i dunno, mild detergent on a damp cloth should do it wihtout damaging the drums, but you might just have found a stinky set.

Good luck
Daav

 

[scrubs]

My son has been obsessed with drums since he was about 1.5 years old. Unfortunately for him, it's about the only instrument not in my house (maybe that's the reason for the obsession, but anyway...) So for his 3rd birthday I got him a kit that fits his size perfectly and seems to be of sturdy construction.

Two problems I, a keyboard/guitar/bass player, need your help with:

1) ringing! All three drums (snare, kick, and tom) ring a ton. Do I just open them and stuff in towels or pillows? Just want your opinions before I open it up.

2) stank! The finish, or preservative or whatever, it came with smells strongly like grandpa's breath. Is this normal? What do you clean drums with?

Thanks for your help!

ringing! - usually a tuning problem. If you're using the heads that came with the kit, replace them and tune them well (or get someone to tune them well). A single pillow or blanket in the bass drum, resting against the batter head, will control ringing there. Moongels are nice for controlling ring on snare/toms once you've done all you can from a tuning standpoint.

stank! - dunno. My shells smell like wood and the finish is a wrap which doesn't seem to smell. Were they owned by grandpa before you got them?

 

[ermghoti]

Moongels can be replaced by those little sticky hands that come from vending machines. They supposedly work just as well, for $0.25 each, and would be extremely appropriate for a 3 year-old's kit.