warmest drum company/set

[sonusman]

Whew!!! This is a big ol' barrel of monkey's that got opened up here!!!

This subject could be debated until blue in the face. I almost want to scold punx_drummer for even starting it, but I doubt he knew what kind of sparks would fly!!! LOL

The question is FAR too subjective to have a "right" answer. The style of music, how the drummer hits, the room it will be mic'ed in, the mic's used, how much processing will be done, and the EXACT type of sound is sought will have everything to do with how the drums ultimately sound!!!

There IS indeed a difference in how shell/head/hardware combo's sound! What is considered "warm" is VERY subjective too. Someone define what warm means in orchastral vs metal recordings? Indeed, a far different standard would be applied, and rightfully so!!!

Personally, I don't give a hoot what the common "nashville" session is using when I am doing a funk recording! Inversely, if I am recording country, doesn't matter what Steve Gad uses eh?

So, there are differences.

As to the question at hand. I will ignore the "warm" part of the question.

Without fail, Yamaha kits sound great in recordings! Whether is has been rock, folk, metal, jazz, funk, blues, the best drum sounds I have layed down on tape (harddrives included...) have been any Yamaha kits I have recorded. I have had good luck with other brands of drums for sure, but no other brand has provided the consistency in quality that Yamaha has over vastly different genre's! The Mapel Custom Absolute has been the best sounding and easiest kit I have ever recorded. The Mapel Customs tie with the Stage Customs. Depending upon the style, either will work well, with the Mapel Custom's working betting for lighter hitters and the Stage Custom's for heavier hitters. ALL Yamaha drums have so far provided a very punchy, well defined sound on tape for me, as well as having great nuance when tuned for more responsiveness in delicate pieces.

I have mic'ed up some great sounding kits from every other manufacture, but I seem to get more "dud's" with these other manufactures. Most Yamaha's seem to tune quite easily, and seem to just provide the type of sound I want in a recording.

I will say that they are not always to most "fun" kit to play live. DW's seem to have a much more "alive" sound from the players perspective, but don't seem to mic up as well. Live or in the studio, I have more problems with DW's than most other kit's I have mic'ed up. If DW's float your boat (they don't mine...but that is JUST my opinion that nobody else is forced to share...) than you might want to check out Allegra drums. I have had much more luck with Allegra than DW's, and drummers seem to agree that the drums are very comparable in every other way. Allegra's are less expensive though, and that makes them favorable to many drummers.

punx_drummer, if you are looking for kit's that just seem to be MADE TO RECORD, I would look no farther than Yamaha. Check around, they are possibly the most widely used professional kit in the world, and for good reason in my opinion.

Interestingly, this guy: http://www.drumweb.com/profsound.shtml#ref50 seems to prefer Yamaha for many of the same reason's I do. I wouldn't call this guys credentials amature at all. I doubt that HE would even say that Yamaha's are the "best", but a lot of engineers that I talk to, and MANY good drummers all agree that you cannot go wrong with a Yamaha kit.

Peace.

Ed

 

[pipelineaudio]

Drums are my specialty, recording wise..and Im not a drummer!

I would add some things to avoid

DONT buy a drum just because its the BIGGEST one you can find...if you buy big drums you HAVE to hit them hard, VERY hard. Ive had the (dis)pleasure of micing up many VERY expensive custom kits in my time, and I always cringe when its one of those giant sized ones with out a giant sized player...Big drums can sound GREAT, when theres some HUGE guy playing them

ABSOLUTELY dont: by drums with equal dimensions. If the kick is 22" deep, with a 22" diameter, and the salseman insists its good, leave the store and dont ever come back! These sizes of drums are just trouble and best to avoid them, unless you want to use them for testing the transient responses of microphones, or some weird non music related thing like that OR and this is a BIG or, you want to use them to trigger with

I gotta echo sonusman's DW concerns. I remember when the first few DW things were coming out to the main scene, and they were excellent...wonderful magical drums, easy to deal with and HHUGE sounding....then, I dont know WHAT happened! I havent seen a DW made in at least 5 years that was even worth putting a mic near...its weird, maybe they went big and let QC slip or something

Yamahas have always been easy for me, as well as everyday tama rockstars

Gretch is one of those cases where you buy one and it is UNREAL, then you buy another and it is a total POS. Same with SONOR.

Pearl usually has easy to deal with drums, but they get duds too

 

[morte sicura]

the shell's bearing edge...

Also, the bearing edge (the edge where the head and the shell make contact) will play a role in the sound of the drum. A rounded edge will be "warm" and "soft" sounding - think vintage sounds. More modern drums usually feature any of several angle cuts, sometimes a combination of angles, and usually with a sharp edge very near near the inner wall of the shell. That is, most of the angled wood is on the outside of the shell. These sounds vary according to the cut, but generally the sharp edge will give a more "surgical" sound with a longer decay.

The head makes much less contact with the wood when the edge is sharp - it has much more contaxt with the shell when the edge is rounder (or if it is less precise, which is not really my recommendation). This affects the attack and resonance of the drum - more contact softens and rounds off the sound.

Think Dave Weckl or Carter Beauford for the sharp edges vs. Art Blakey or Billy Martin for the older, rounded edge sound, and keep in mind you can still have a softer edge on a new drum if you order from a company that does custom work.

Oh, and "traditional" shell depths - 8x12, 9x13, etc., and 14" deep bass drums will also lend to a "warm" sound, but of course you often see these sizes in older kits with less sharp bearing edges.

Andrew

 

[Son of Mixerman]

I cannot believe there was no delving into the tone that player has. Lots of variables in how hard, strike angle, head tensions..etc and in addition to the room around the kit can be very decieving. I started on Pearl's in the 70's and goofed around on a nice Yamaha back in 93-94 when I was playing guitar in a HM band. I must say it was better than alot of what I was used to.

SoMm