What are some good resonant heads?

TaYl0r

I have a pretty good entry level Mapex kit (I started playing drums last September), but I got it used and it came with no resonant heads. I hear they make the drums sound much better, which I hope is true because my toms sound very dry and drawn out. What are some good resonant heads? Also, I have some barely used Remo Weather King C.S. batters on my toms, a Remo Weather King batter and Thor resonant on my snare, and original heads on my bass (ew). Are these good, or should I go ahead and buy new batters along with the resonants? Thanks.

Saurencaerthai · King Kong Joined: 24 Sep 2002 Posts: 2609

WEll, to begin with, the C.S. heads are designed to among other things, prevent all those overtones.
Personally, if you want a resonant sound on your set, stick to one ply heads.
What would I recommend? Well, I'd say one ply Attack heads for the toms and a one ply coated attack for the snare.

For the kick, I would say go with Remo, either a Powerstroke III or a Fiberskyn head.

Alternatives for the toms and snare are the Remo Weather King (either Ambassadore or Diplomat thickness) or Evan's G1 heads.

Hope this helps!

TaYl0r

I heard that having a studio head (like the Pinstripe, Hydraulic, etc.) for the resonant and a plain head (Coated Ambassabor, Clear Diplomat, etc.) was a good combo. Heard this anywhere?

TaYl0r

Well, let me put it this way. Do I have to have a resonant head to get a wetter sound, or can tuning do that?

Saurencaerthai · King Kong Joined: 24 Sep 2002 Posts: 2609

OOH SORRY!!! I thought you were just talking about a more resonant head, not a resonator head.

The combo mentioned works fine. Hydrolics I personally can't stand. Pinstripes on top with a medium or thin head can often work really well.
The thing about not having a resonator head is that all the sound will just go right out the drum. You'll get a hard attack, but little sustain.

TaYl0r

Well, that's kinda what I want. A hard attack with a little sustain. I don't the sound to go on forever (like it does now).

Saurencaerthai · King Kong Joined: 24 Sep 2002 Posts: 2609

If that's what ya want, I think two ply heads or hydrolic heads are the way to go. in tandem with medium thickness resonator heads or none should give you the sound you want. As well, you can muffle the head with duct tape, or pieces of folded paper towel taped to the head.

groovy_seagull · Goldfish Joined: 09 Jan 2003 Posts: 60

one plys on the bottom... always. if you want to deaden the sound, do it from on top. a little resonance is important. the ring makes your drum sound louder by being more perceivable. ambassadors or g1 underneath, want a dead sound try G2-emperor-pinstripe... witha little muffling. whats the point of putting a pinstripe underrneath... at that rate u might as well go 4 concert toms

www.lukapercussion.com

jordan burns

i think the best thing ive done to my drums was buying a pack of aquarian studio rings. they made my toms sound amazing, killed the goofy buzz and made the sound more of a thud, and not sound so hollow, but the drums still sustain great. if i were you, id buy a pack for 9 bucks, and throw em on, they make a HUGE difference

TaYl0r

Why don't you just leave? No one pays attention to your posts, so you're just wasting time.

jordan burns

taylor, that drum ape guy is hilarious, come on, GIVE THE CHAP A BREAK!

groovy_seagull · Goldfish Joined: 09 Jan 2003 Posts: 60

this guy is a wild one! he is pretty digusting... though fun to have around!

www.lukapercussion.com

carrollhach

The quality of your drums (roundness, wood, etc) has a lot to do with how good they sound and how well they tune. Mapex uses a lot of basswood, not the best wood (but not the worst). The bearing edges are nice and the drums are round, in my experience. You might try using a Remo diplomat on the resonant side... it's a thin, one-ply that is pretty much the standard. Pinstripes make is easy to get a good sound without too much tuning, as do the Evans Genera heads.

An important thing to remember is something I learned from a Rick Marotta article where he said that how your drums sound when they're played alone is immaterial because you play with a band. His drums were tuned high and ringy with a rattling snare. He said that the noise was absorbed by the music and actually added to the sound, and that the overtones helped make his drums sound richer.

Mind you, this was before the days of quality mic'ing for live gigs. Sound guys HATE ringy drums because they are so hard to mic properly. If it were up to them, every drum but the snare would have a single pinstripe on it!

[This message has been edited by carrollhach (edited February 07, 2003).]