Its a kick port question .... but its not.

[Sir Doh]

I don't play kit, but a kick is the closest thing to my samba surdo. They are double headed drums which are tuned with rods which pull against both heads, not the shell. The only reason I mention this is to highlight that the tension on the heads is identical at all times.

Anyway, there we were, parading away, and one of our drummer's resonant head started to split. Now, as the heads are linked, I would expect the batter head to relax and the pitch to drop. It didn't. It went up.

Can anyone explain why? Perhaps when kit drummers chose their ports there are pitch/port size guidelines?

[weezy]

Makes sense to me. If the tension on the head is controlled by the same mechanism and tension on one head drops, it should rise on the other.

[xsabers]

Makes sense to me. If the tension on the head is controlled by the same mechanism and tension on one head drops, it should rise on the other.

I think you may need to rethink your thinking, do ya think?

[weezy]

Maybe. Maybe not.

I guess it's also a possibility that the perceived pitch whent up because the reso became ineffective.

Gimme a break, X. It's Monday.

[Sir Doh]

Weezy, Imagine 2 rubber bands tied to each end of a pencil. One band snaps. What happens to the tension on the other one?

[quikstang2]

The lack of resonance from the other head probably made it sound more thin and caused it to lose its low end tone. You could percieve that as getting higher in pitch, even if it did get lower in reality.