Replace them bottom heads buddy!

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sonusman

sonusman

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Just produced a session this weekend (didn't engineer it...hehe...it has been a while since I could tell an engineer what to do....:)).

The drummer bought all new top heads for his Yamaha Stage Custom and last Friday, I helped him seat them and tune them as he didn't know squat about either procedure. During this time, I found out (although it was quite obvious upon visual inspection) that the bottom heads were indeed VERY old. Yup, you guessed it, they were the original bottom heads that came with the kit he bought new 3 years ago!!!

Oh no, it get's even better! All three rack tom's had dents in the bottom heads!!!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....:mad: :mad: :mad:

Needless to say, I had to settle for a very distorted sounded tom sound, which was okay enough of the 16" floor tom, but mostly drove me nuts on the three rack toms! There is NO mic placement that get's rid of that distortion in the sound, it it almost always seems to cloud the attack of the drum! In addition, it is mostly impossible to get even tension across the lugs on either head in this case.

So, let's just say that in this case, new top heads didn't really pay off! If you haven't replaced your bottom heads lately, and are having troubles with tuning, suspect that first!

Also, if you are not a moderately heavy hitter, DO NOT buy freaking pin stripes!!!

Ed
 
Thanks man. Just another mourning process to go through after a long weekend of drum fills every 4 measures and beats that don't fit the guitar parts!

It amazes me sometimes how me, not REALLY a drummer by trade (although, I have had the most formal training on drums...) can tune a kit, play a beat, have it sounding really alive and ambiant in any room, then the drummer sits down and the kit just will not come to life at all! I am not a hard hitter in comparison to a lot of guys. I know it is more about HOW the drum is hit more than how hard (quick stick off the head always brings out the most resonant tone!), but it just amazes me that usually, drummers can't HEAR the difference, and if they could, they don't ask "how"?

I have found that if I have to tune their kit, they will never make it sound right either while playing. Without fail this is the case with drummers. The guys that can tune them well also usually play them VERY well.

Ed
 
Hehe...it is sort of fun venting my "drummer frustrations" in a drummers forum. :D My own weird passive agressive payback for the many hours of editing I will have to do on these mediocre takes to make a "demo" that is listenable.

Ed
 
Yeah, I've always thought it was strange that so many drummers (not all :D )have no idea how to tune their own drums but what's worse that they didn't even know they were out.
 
Ugh, my high school has these drums that are about 15 years old, they are Pearl, and utter crap. The bottoms heads had dents (they were once batters), the bass drum was backwards and let's not even get into the snare. They sounded "yuck", the other drummer couldn't tell the difference between severly tilted toms and semi-flat I remember. He didn't believe they dented the heads, ha. This is the same kid who I was just told by a few weeks ago was going to spend 10 grand on a custom set with 8 toms. Oh boy...
 
Yes, definately not good to ignore this stuff.

I replace my snare head about every 2-3 weeks (Thats playing 3-5 hours a week)....

I change the rest of the kit, batter and resonant sides about every 1-2 months or so...

If I could afford it, or better yet, wanted to fork out the dough that often, I would do it more..... When I have a fresh snare head on, there is a nice throaty crack to the drum, that seems to get lost once the coating gets flaked or wrecked.

My drums are always tuned properly and sounding decent..

To me, that shit comes FIRST, even before the fancy playing shit.


Seen many awesome drummers that just fucking rock out on the kit, but they can barely tune the snare.... The snare sounds like a snappy assed garbage can lid...

Baddddd.

Joe
 
What is great is when the drummer comes into the studio with these badly tuned kits, don't play them that well at all, then complain that their kit doesn't sound like Neil Pert's kit! This is after them only having enough time in the studio to maybe spend an hour micing the kit.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.......Zen!

Vox, the frequency you change out heads sounds about right to maintain a kit that is at least ready for a demo recording! Hell, I remember watching the making of Metallica's Black album and how they were changing the top heads every 4 or 5 takes! LOL...tell that to a drummer next time that want that drum sound! :) Also imform them that Bob Rock used about 50 room mics too!

I think the whole thing comes down to taking some pride in your instrument. When I was playing guitar in bands, I had new strings every 2 or 3 days, and every day while in the studio. I had new tubes in my amp every 6 months. Hehe...not my fault I picked an instrument that is a little cheaper to maintain. ;)

Ed
 
Yeah... When I am recording, new heads go on for the session.... but I usually record drums in spurts..

I will do 5 days of drums and get new heads at the beginning of that period, and then not record them for a few months and go back to my regular changing schedule... Then when I record again, new heads for sure..


I can't believe ANY drummer would walk into a studio with out new heads all over the drums.....

I mean, I believe it happens, but too me, it's like putting your car in a car show all dirty without detailing it.

Crazy..



I saw that metallica DVD too.... I don't believe it.... I don't think even the best drum tech could get the exact same matching tuning, so a punch-in with a different head would match up..

I can see between song changes, but not mid-song head changes..

Sounds far fetched to me... but I saw it too... i wonder if they were working it up for the camera crew..

Do you think thats possible Ed? Or was there some glorification being talked there?


Ever notice How the Drums on The Cults "Firewoman" sound Identical to the drums on Metallica's "Black" album..

I wonder if B. Rock, makes his drummers use the same kit that he is comfortable recording and knows he can get a good sound out of...

Would be interesting to find out.


Great thread Ed..

Hey that Rhymes.
 
i beleive they can match tuning. given, of course, they are using the same type of head. i have a friend that is very consistant with tuning. he does it all by ear. but i have not found a drummer that is willing to toss out the dough for new heads every 4 takes... :)
 
VOXVENDOR said:

I saw that metallica DVD too.... I don't believe it.... I don't think even the best drum tech could get the exact same matching tuning, so a punch-in with a different head would match up..

I can see between song changes, but not mid-song head changes..

Sounds far fetched to me... but I saw it too... i wonder if they were working it up for the camera crew..

Do you think thats possible Ed? Or was there some glorification being talked there?


Ever notice How the Drums on The Cults "Firewoman" sound Identical to the drums on Metallica's "Black" album..

I wonder if B. Rock, makes his drummers use the same kit that he is comfortable recording and knows he can get a good sound out of...

Would be interesting to find out.


Great thread Ed..

Hey that Rhymes.
Click to expand...


Now you know why that record took a freaking YEAR to record!:D Hahaha


I still the best sounding Metallica release is the original "Garage Days" CD. Why? because there's just something there (The Rawness) that works for them.....I've never been a big Metallica fan...mainly because I can't stand Lars Ulrich and never could.

They do write some good songs, and you can't take anything away from them as far as musicianship goes- they are decent musicians....but I just never liked him....he's just so arrogant....and on top of that, I rmember interviews with him claiming he was much better than Dave Lombardo from Slayer and I remember laughing and thinking -- yeah right!


Tim
 
I easily believe that it is possible to get the tuning back spot on after a top head change. Properly tuned drums produce a fundamental tone that can be play on a pitch pipe if that is the tone you choose to tune to.

It also looked like he was using possibly clean Ambassador's, which when tuned down that low and resonant, would dent QUITE easily with a hard hitter. I can literally believe that within 4 or 5 takes that the top heads were shot again with the way he hits.

So they laid out $15,000 in drum heads throughout the project. For the drum sound they got on that CD, it was obviously WELL worth it.

Every drummer NEEDS to read and embrace the Drum Tuning Bible. http://www.drumweb.com/profsound.shtml This is a most excellent tutorial and information source about most things drum!

Ed
 
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