New Drum Kit, Need Help to alter the sound

[Jason]

Hey, I recently purchased an Ashton Rock Drum kit, the kit is quite good, but I'm sure the sound can be improved.

First of, the bass drum has a massive "boomy echoing" sound, I know I should stuff it with a blanket to muffle the sound and destroy the echo, but I'm just wondering, can drum mutes do this?

The same for the toms and snare, they sound alright, but they all produce a ringing / after sound which I don't like, I've seen products like moon gels and E rings, but the same question again, if I purchase drum mutes, will they get rid of the overtones?

The drum mutes I was going to buy were the Ashton Branded specific for the set I bought

Cheers

[DrumRookie]

Welcome to DrumChat! Your going to love it here! To tell you the truth, I don't know much about Ashton, first time I've heard of them now actually, but I a couple pointers on the muting stuff.
1. I know what you mean by the boomy sound, putting your laundry in you drums isn't sexy, but it does work, I would look into drum mutes, buy some, and make sure you can return them if you don't like them, they would probably help though. If they are the same brand I would assume they might work better cuz they are made just for that
2. Rem-O's seem to work on my teachers kit, but I would go for moongel, I use those on my kit, you can move them around to find what you want, but they do leave a stain on coated heads.
3.

[robert alderman]

I would definately go with moon gels. You may also want to experimant with some new heads. Usually the skins you get with a kit aren't the best. Mine came with single plys which I didn't like at all. Bought 2ply and was a little more happy. It wasn't until I bought some 2ply coated that I found the sound I really liked. Sometimes it takes a lil time to find that right sound but I would buy some moon gels to start and go from there.

[CycleDude]

Welcome to drum chat. An old pillow or small quilt put in the bass drum will help alot.

But before you run out to buy something, Proper drum tuning will make a world of difference in your sound. It's actually quite easy to do. There are videos on the Evans drumheads website by a guy named Bob Gatzen. He's awesome and teaches drum tuning in a very easy way. Once you've done that you'll be in a better place to decide if you need remo-s or moongels.

[jordison515]

Welcome to DC! You'll love it here.

I usually tune my kick low. I tune my reso a bit tighter than my batter and stick two hoodies in it, and it sounds great. Great slap, it's got click if you use a plastic/wood beater, a bit boomy (my kick is also ported at 5 o clock) and overall it's great sounding. Like what CD said watch some vids on youtube to learn how to tune because all drumheads can sound decent if they are tuned right. Better yet if you know someone who can tune ask them to come help you tune so you can learn.

[Nechre]

Remo muff'l rings on your kick will take the boomyness out of the kick, giving you that punch. If you want the attack with more resonance, muffle your batter head only and tune up the reso. Just want attack? Muffle both heads.

[Pearl MCX Man]

I found that using a small pillow about 2 inches thick and long enough to just touch the batter and reso head will eliminate the booming you are talking about. Same goes with the tuning of the bass drum. What type of music do you play is one thing to consider for the sound, type of wood and heads used.Oh Yeah forgot welcome to the DC you will learn alot here so don't be shy ask alot of questions.

[Jason]

I'm now trying to find a good snare sound, I'm pretty sure my snare is tuned right, but when I hit it there is like a "ringing" sound, not really sure how to describe it :S

Does anyone know what I can do about this?

Similarly, when I use the bass drum, it makes the snare vibrate a little :S

[Dagon2000]

My drum teacher uses muffle rings on the front and rear of the kick and O-rings on the toms/snare. Just last week he did a demonstration for me of the sound with and without the muffle's/O's and pretty much what you are looking to get rid of is exactly what the muffle/O's got rid of on his drum kit. Without the O's the toms and snare all had a high-pitched, albeit subtle, ring to them. When using the O's, the ring disappeared. Likewise with the bass and the mufflers. He does not use pillows or any other cloth lying in the drum shell.

[CrossPoint]

The ringing in your snare is an overtone and can be resolved by using a moongel

[jafo]

Tuning, tuning tuning. I've been down the same road. Then I discovered drum tuning. It takes a few tries, but very achievable. Each lug must be tuned equally to one another. Odd tuning can cause some overtones (the ringing noises). Just do a search on the internet and you'll find plenty of step by step how to's on tuning.

[Titus]

yeah on the snare I'd recommend you just keep toying with the tuning. I tune my snare VERY tight, and on the bottom I have a small piece of duct tap that goes across the snare wires, barely touching the bottom (resonant) head. This keeps the snare rattle from being too excessive, and probably minimizes the 'ringing' too. I use a pork pie BOB and the snare has INCREDIBLE pop. In fact, playing it with a mute on it is still loud enough to play live with my band, LOL.

the mutes won't improve the sound of your toms, IMO. experiment with the moongells, tape, and tuning. use the mutes when you need to practice quietly.

[05WideGuy]

Go to You Tube and search for Bob Gatzen, listen and pay attention, the guy's a genius at tuning.

[gretsch]

Heres my two cents on tuning. Granted this is my opinion, but still, my two cents.

-Use the lest amount of muffling as possible that will still get the sound you want. Theres a kid at my school who stuffs a full sized comforter in the bass drum and completely fills it up. It sounds like he put a comforter on a wall and hit it with a kick pedal.
-When it comes to tom tuning, i feel the same way, use the least amount of dampening you can but still get the sound you approve. Tune with even intervals across the toms. Be sure they're "pretty" intervals and not just akward. (not too big, and not too small)
-Experiment with heads.
-Dont try to make your live kit sound like the drums on your favorite studio recording. Seldomly do hear a drumset that sounds good when the person dampened everything as much as possible to try to get a "studio sound." Its a live drumset for a reason. Don't deaden the drums.
-Check out those Gatzen videos, i only wish i had stumbled upon them before i learned to tune on my own. AND Teddy Campbell videos. Love that guy.
-And more importantly, be comfortable with the sound YOU want. I say don't over stuff your bass drum, but if you like the way it sounds, go for it.

[Paul R.]

The best advise I ever received was:
Get some good heads and learn to tune them. Like gretsch and some others have said, less is more. You will get to know your drums better if you learn their natural sound instead of just trying to dampen the overtones learn how to tune your drums so they are as minimal as possible. The best thing I ever did was throw away my rings and learned to tune. My drums sound pretty darn good and I'm using the stock heads on all the toms and snare.
Hint: if you buy a black pillowcase to put your blanket or pillow or whatever you muffle the bass with it will not be as noticable vissually as say a Spiderman pillowcase