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Thread: Question about dampening bass drums

  1. #1

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    Default Question about dampening bass drums

    I'm new to drumming, and I'm no engineer, so forgive me if this is a stupid question. This may actually get into some applied physics, a class I assume I slept through in high school years ago. I have a 22" bass drum that I stick a bedsheet and a large towel inside to get the "thud" sound. I recently ordered an 18" floor tom to go with my kit, and I got to wondering... does the lowness of the sound produced by a drum depend solely on the amount of empty area (volume) within a drum? What I'm thinking is that if I have enough "dampeners" inside my kick drum, it might make the volume for air inside it even less than that of an 18" floor tom. And if that's the case, will the floor tom produce a lower tone than the bass drum when struck? Or do things like towels, etc. inside bass drums not affect the lowness of tone, only the sustain?

  2. #2

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    different head tensioning top vs bottom really makes some toms sing. I fell the same applies to the bass drum. A bass drum stuffed like a pillow case is going to sound like crap I think. Some muffling is ok, I use some but I've listened to some kits live and the bass is just thunderous with nothing in it. Head selection and what sounds the best to you.
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  3. #3

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    articles of clothing in the bass drum only arrest the vibration of the head. They don't affect the depth of tone etc... The biggest dictate of pitch in a drum is actually it's diameter. To a much less degree are air space and depth, although these will affect sustain and over all timbre. Personally, I am more a fan of "punch" rather than thunder, so I use a pillow in my bass and it's an 18.

    all the best...

  4. #4

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    Default Re: Question about dampening bass drums

    Quote Originally Posted by kay-gee View Post
    articles of clothing in the bass drum only arrest the vibration of the head. They don't affect the depth of tone etc... The biggest dictate of pitch in a drum is actually it's diameter. To a much less degree are air space and depth, although these will affect sustain and over all timbre. Personally, I am more a fan of "punch" rather than thunder, so I use a pillow in my bass and it's an 18.

    all the best...
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  5. #5

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    I like a little ummph to my kick drum. Not too dry. I have found the Aquarian Super Kick 1 on the batter and a felt strip in the reso sound great. I have a Super Kick one and a Aquarian ported reso head on my Camco kick drum with no muffling. Don't need it. The heads take care of it. It sounds great.
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  6. #6

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    Default Re: Question about dampening bass drums

    The pitch of a drum is the frequency of the sound waves. Longer wavelength = lower pitch. When you tighten the head, the increased tension causes the head to vibrate at a higher frequency and you get a higher pitch. Same principal as a guitar string. The larger the head diameter, the greater the distance between the fixed end points from which the waves travel (rim to rim) and the lower the frequency of the wave. Drums are actually very complex in terms of acoustics. The depth of the shell can also make a difference. The deeper the shell, the lower the resonant frequency. In addition, thinner shells resonate at a lower frequency. Putting material in the drum only absorbs sound waves, causing reduced resonance but has no effect on frequency.
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  7. #7

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    I have my 22 x 14 kick set up with a powerstroke 3 tuned about 1 full turn past when the wrinkles disappeared, paired with a center-ported flame graphic reso, tuned to similar tension and no internal damping. Several people have commented that it has the punch of a much deeper drum! I don't use pillows, duct tape, moon gels, or any other form of damping on any of my drums. I have black suede Emperors paired with hazy ambassadors on my toms, and a Black X on my snare paired with a hazy reso, and puresound 16 strand wires. Head choices are nearly limitless these days, and a little time tuning will get the sound you want!

  8. #8

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    Keep working on the tuning. I have a 24" BD with no muffling at all.

  9. #9

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    Internal muffling does more than just impede head movement. Different frequencies have different wavelengths. When the bas drum is struck the low frequencies move through the drum in one sweep while the mids and highs move up and down more times across the same distance. Internal muffling creates a landscape that disrupts these wavelengths, acting as a sort of filter on unwanted mids and highs. Less volume, but more oomph (years of working with a 20")

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  10. #10

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    I'm getting to know my new Yamaha kick 24x18 before we go into recording mode this year and I'm goin flat out bare bones. Nothin inside this sucker. I do have a muffler head on the batter side but that is it. Love it. It has the Yamaha big ported head on the reso and thinking of goin no port for live. Been kickin it for a few weeks now. Awesomeness!
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