I havent tried it, but I read alot on the net that if you use a two ply reso on your floor tom as opposed to a one ply head that it will give you that nice fat floor tom note.
Hey all, I'm new to the forums here, having only recently stumbled onto the drumchat website. I'm really glad I did, too; I've been an active drummer for over 10 years, but I've never really understood how to tune drums to get the absolute most out of them.
I'm using a PDP platinum series kit, 20x22 bass, 9x12 rack tom, and 16x16 floor tom. I'm using coated emperors on the batters and clear ambassadors on the reso heads (for the toms). The small rack tom sounds decent enough, but I'm having a very difficult time tuning the floor tom to get it to resonate fully and give off a clean, distinct pitch. Any suggestions?
Thanks guys!
I havent tried it, but I read alot on the net that if you use a two ply reso on your floor tom as opposed to a one ply head that it will give you that nice fat floor tom note.
Attack with short sustain or sustained pitch?
Sustained pitch, a coated amb or single ply head will give you a fine sustained note. Mute one head, tune the other and make the pitch on each head equal, you'll get a huge booming sustain that gives a clear tone.
Short sustain, 2 ply head or controlled sound head. Pinstripes, EC2s, Controlled Sound, Powerstroke 3, will all give you shorter sustain with more fundamental pitch. A 2 ply head will resonate slightly shorter than a single ply head.
Clear for a more plasticy attack, coated for a warm thuddier sound.
Bottom line though, it comes down to getting the head in even tension and tuned evenly. Work on that, then you can work on matching the pitches and then even tuning to a definite pitch.
The only two constants I have are DW and Zildjian.
What do you guys think of having the coated emperor for the batter, and a EC resonant head on the reso? I'm worried about the tone I'd get by using a reso head any thicker than 10mil.
The Evans EC Reso head was designed exactly for being a reso head. It should help you out. Remember that you have to spend time learning how to tune a drum, and I think that is your biggest problem. Also are you listening to your drums by themselves or are you listening to them while playing with a band ? If you are just by yourself you will hear a lot of overtones, but when you play with a band you need those overtones. Have someone play your drums with a band and you go out front and listen to how they sound. You will be amazed at the difference. John
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