i guess i just feel like my drums arent living up to their potential
Luke, you have to find the right tuning for your drums. When I started drumming, I read an article on drumming that said that a drum has 2-3 sweet spots where it will really resonate well. You have to find those sweet spots, then you have to make sure the heads are in tune with themselves.
I don't know what you have tried, so maybe you can give us a run down of what you have done, and what you are trying to find.
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It could be tuning, head selection or even just the room you are listening to them in.
Try moving around the house with a small tom that you like the sound of and see if it changes characteristics. You might be surprised what you find.
Try a head combination like ambassador/ambassador, g1/g1, texture coated/classic clear, etc.. Coated over clear, really open and bright sound - you should see a ton of lively response out of your drums. Sounds very good.
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Don't forget, when you watch those HQ videos on Youtube, and listen to recordings, everything is EQ'd. So live you might hear some overtones that you wouldn't on a recording. You could try different heads and muffling. I just switched over to EC2's and am totally digging the sound of my drums. Never heard such a powerful 12x14 floor tom.
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When I purchased my Ludwig Super Classics back in the early 70's, they came with coated Ambassadors on both sides. (Clear heads had not really taken off as of yet.) I stayed with that combination for almost 15 years.
These days, I still use the coated heads as my batter, but use a clear as my reso. Even though I love my Accent CS Ludwigs, the clear reso helps give it a bit of the crisp sound that I look for. I still get that full Ludwig sound, though.
My best advice is to experiment a bit, and make sure you step back from the players side to hear what sound you are actually getting. (I have never been able to get my wife to do paradiddles, but she sure knows how to hit the skins when I need a listen.) Good luck.
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If possible, have a friend play your kit while you listen from a distance. It's amazing how different they'll sound from the throne and from ten feet out front. I was amazed by how good my kit sounded from out front when I was about to tear down after a set and the drummer from the next band came up and said, "So, umm, can I use your kit since it's allready set up and I didn't bring one." The answer normally would have been no, but I knew guy and knew that he wasn't going to thrash my kit.
Mmm... Saturns.
there was a thread the other day about how one's drums might not sound good while playing them. I sometimes think my toms so like caca but if I lean forward just a little bit when I'm hitting them they sound good. But of course the tuning is the most important.
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I've never really been great with tuning and the more I think about I think that's my problem...thanks
It takes some time to get the hang of tuning. I have owned drums for over 10 years now. I can tune my snares, my kicks, but goodness, I cannot for the life of me tune a tom tom.
"The chances of being attacked and killed by a terrorist are less than the chances of being attacked and killed by your own heart"
Carrying the message to Garcia. Today and everyday.
Temple Beth Snare Buzz-Head Rabbi
Reso heads make a huge difference in the sound, keep that in mind(batters are only half of the sound you get from drumheads). And don't bother trying to tune up a kit with beat to heck heads. They sound like crap, they feel like crap, and they don't hold their tuning very well. Don't be afraid to stick some new heads on!
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