Snare Heads

[Jersey85]

I was just curious about how to get certain sounds from certain heads.
For example right now I have a Diplomat on the bottom and an Emperor on top of my Ludwig 14 X 6.5. It's a thick sound but it rings alot. I also have a 42 snare strand and really wanted to accentuate them.
Does putting a thicker head on the bottom bring out the snares or dampen them? And same with the batter head. Does having a thicker head on top create a bigger sound or should I switch?
I want a nice crack.... a higher pitched one.... I tune the drum very very tight for that and it's good. But I also want all the little rolls and grace notes to really come through and not get lost. Also what about the tension of the snares?

 

[zacanger]

An additional, more specific question tacked on: anyone tried out those pseudo calf-skin drum heads? They look cool, but how would they sound?

 

[scrubs]

An additional, more specific question tacked on: anyone tried out those pseudo calf-skin drum heads? They look cool, but how would they sound?

Not sure which you're referring to, but I've tried both the remo fiberskyn3 and the renaissance ambassadors, both of which are supposed to be more like skin. The fiberskyns are very thick. They look way cool and have a nice texture for brushes, but their thickness makes them sound kind of dead. The renaissance ambassadors are really cool, imo. Thinner and more musical sounding.

 

[ez_willis]

They look cool, but how would they sound?

They moo when you hit them.

 

[zacanger]

Not sure which you're referring to, but I've tried both the remo fiberskyn3 and the renaissance ambassadors, both of which are supposed to be more like skin. The fiberskyns are very thick. They look way cool and have a nice texture for brushes, but their thickness makes them sound kind of dead. The renaissance ambassadors are really cool, imo. Thinner and more musical sounding.

I was referring to the Renaissance ones. Thanks!

They moo when you hit them.

Oh, right, I knew that.

 

[Elton Bear]

I want a nice crack.... a higher pitched one.... I tune the drum very very tight for that and it's good. But I also want all the little rolls and grace notes to really come through and not get lost.

I got exactly the sound you're after with a Ludwig 14 x 6.5, an ambassador snare on the underside, and a coated ambassador on top (bastard kept going out of tune on me though, I switched to a Powerstroke and fixed the problem but you lose some of the response with looser head tension).

Here's how I did it....

Tuned the snare high as humanly possible, did the same with the snares. Job done - the drum speaks for itself when you've got quality.
Getting the sound I want now is proving MUCH harder though

 

[zacanger]

I got exactly the sound you're after with a Ludwig 14 x 6.5, an ambassador snare on the underside, and a coated ambassador on top (bastard kept going out of tune on me though, I switched to a Powerstroke and fixed the problem but you lose some of the response with looser head tension).

Here's how I did it....

Tuned the snare high as humanly possible, did the same with the snares. Job done - the drum speaks for itself when you've got quality.
Getting the sound I want now is proving MUCH harder though

I find you get a bit better response to lighter notes if you leave the snares a bit looser.

 

[Jersey85]

Thanks Elton Bear! I'll buy some of those as soon as possible and try it out. What sound are you looking for?
This music store went out of business and they're heads were all 60% off.
So I bought all these heads that I've always wanted to experiment with. I bought a REMO Legacy LA w/ Reemlar. I love the sound.. it's very warm and cuts out alot of the bright ringing....... more tone than anything. Anybody know what Reemlar is?
The Renaissance Head I bought was kind of thin for my Bonham kit i bought a 16" and it was a little toooooooooo resonant.
I bought a REMO C.S. Batter with the black dot and the white top... it was okay... gives a kind of thuddy sound.
I bought some ludwig rockers with and without the dot.,,,,, they're very bright kind of cool but not great.
The Power Stroke 3 is pretty cool. But it covers some of the brightness.,,,, well compared to an emperor, which I really loved.
Aside from that haven't tried the others out.... but we'll see.
ANybody else have suggestions.... or heads you've experimented with?

 

[pinhedgtr]

drum site Check this site out, about half way down the page it talks about different types of heads for different sounds. Hope it helps,

B