Love when a drummer is actually concerned about the sound of their kit. Played with a few that had no concept of tuning. You are doing the music community a great service! Thank you.
I have been drumming for close to 20 years now and even got a portion of university percussion training down and it just kinda amaze me that i only recently found your channel! Lot of your videos would have been great like say 12y ago too. You are saving a lot of trial and error to the new generations!
1:22 correction: *any* type of microphone will pick up more low frequencies when placed close to the sound source *if the polar pattern is directional* , i.e. anything other than omni. So this doesn't only concern dynamic mics like the top left corner text suggests. Anywho, I like the video, as it gives me more confidence in tuning and tweaking the drums to get the sound I want. The fact that pro's also have to experiment and don't always magically know what works, is actually quite calming. 😄 To see you're doing similar things as I might, makes me feel like I know my stuff, or at least the basics, since I've never had any training nor do I have drummer friends to discuss these things with.
Agreed, Steve, nice presentation . Down to Earth with good comparative analysis. Bottom line: If you are using a Aquarian Superkick II Batter head (Like I do) which has a muffler ring , should you add more muffling ? I have a Cheapo Gammon drum kit which I received as a Xmas present in 2018. I'm 69 years old and have resurrected my keen interest in playing drums again after a 50 year Hiatus. Now I play almost everyday , playing to My Music. Many thanks to the Wife (of 46 years) for her insightful gift and for listening to the Racket I produce in the basement ....... Luckily, it is finished and the ceilings and walls were insulated:):):).
My 2 cents as a sound engineer. Don't put too much stuff in the kick, expecially if you play rock and metal and you want to eq a high click out of it. The sound of the kick got always raped in the mixer, the boominess tends to disappear when the mic is close to the skin, while the muffling will just cut out high frequencies, leaving less space and and an uneven dynamics to work with.
I'm just now starting to get used to the feel of a bassdrum with little muffling. I only have a rolled towel in a 22in maple shell with an Emad2 and a ported reso. This also threw me off balance because it doesn't work well with my "bury the beater" playing habits.
Hi wow two years old video but helpful,new subscriber here,new drummer here lol,I been watching a lot of your videos,they been helping me out anyway my question is,what does putting a hole or port in the kick drum reso do? Thanks for the video
Hello Stephen - thanks for that info re tuning bass drums - I think what I have got out of that is that even low price/level drums can be made to sound reasonable, that there are several ways to mute them and that the final sound (if not going to a recording studio) is as much about personal taste. It helps to (provided you have your drum adjusted reasonably) know you can quickly effect tuning by just adjusting a couple of lugs up or down. Thanks so much - a lot of pressure off now mate. Regards Owen
I've been on enough of a youtube bassdrum binge over the last few days to realise that the cheap bassdrums can sound as good as the most expensive drums to everyone but drummers. By the time you go through a mic and a computer especially
Something I learned while working at a drum shop was everyone there argued that shell composition and construction itself had little to do with the tone of a drum and more to do with head selection and tuning with regard to the composition and construction of that shell. It was a game changer. You can have very expensive bubinga shells but if you put the wrong heads on those shells and don't know how to tune properly, then those buying a shells might s well be poplar. You've wasted your money. Another thing I learned at that shop was the head itself should produce some kind of tone when held by the rim and tapped in the center. Blew my mind the first time I saw/heard this when I first started working there as I thought all heads were produced equally. Nope.
For rock, my pair of 20” Yamaha Stage Custom bass drums are completely unmuffled. Emperor batter head on the primary foot, Ambassador on the secondary. They sound like cannons. For jazz, the one with the Ambassador becomes the single kick drum. And I add a muffler: a piece of felt, dangling from string to the point of beater impact. I can flip it up and off the drum if I want. But the real key is that it does not muffle the head! It only muffles the impact. So the real sound of the drum is preserved, but the impact is more gentle. Works perfectly.
I put a end to all the guess game went out and got a drum dial,all my drums a starting point is 75 on the tention, on all and go from there,my bass drum the batter is 72 the resin side on the bass is 75, now I have mapex Saturn series maple walnut hybrid kit, with the cannon kick 22 x 20.the drum dial is a must have 👍
Hello Stephen again. This one re your "Learning & charting a song" article. I have just printed it out & started to read it. It sounds good & I intend to work through it very fully - this is one of my problem areas despite having viewed about 4 different drummers telling me how to chart/learn a song over the last 4-5 years. As a friend said once, I am a logical learner/player rather than an intuitive one (for instance, I cannot discern the difference between a Verse and a Bridge while listening, but I can Work it out). I have done my own cheat sheets for 20 years but they are pretty basic and don't chart the main concerns of weird notations and riffs and when/where to put in the riffs/fills etc. I am hoping your methodology will help me become good enough at really knowing the songs we play to be actually driving them, instead of just playing along. We will see in 10-12 months time hey! Regards Owen
Thanks a bunch for doing this video. I noticed you cut your own hole in the drum. A friend turned me onto heating a tin can up nice and hot around the rim and just melt a clean hole that won’t rip. You can also just indent the head with the can to have a line to trace with your exact knife. Cheers!
that drill bit works SOOOOO well for finger-tightening needs. Its worth it for that alone. I coincidentally bought one last week, and came up with that idea as well. Its perfect. Cuz i have an older kit, my lugs r kinda dirty, and finger tightening can be misleading. the drill bit add a tad bit more torque… enough to overcome the resistance that the dirty threads are crrating.
I've had good sounds with a solid reso head (no holes) with rubber strips from a innertube that I put between the lugs and rims. It seems that the worse you hear, the better it sounds on the other side of the drum set
That 20" kick drum sounds so deadass punchy I literally Drool for it! And that's just with the sm57 mic, I'll bet it sounds beastie with a Beta52 kick drum mic. Awesome video, thanks for sharing!
Hey thanks ,I've got a little 20 inch with a bahia head on it for the pedal side and a pillow inside touching front and back heads. Sounds good and low
Sweet. You’ve given me relief as mine are fairly well tuned- but I always think it could be much much better, so I’ve struggled with that until now. And you almost got both to sync in with a duality of tone and resonance at one point, which can be hard to get with double basses- especially those two of differing sizes.
ive noticed moving a kick drum around the room can change sound. like if you place kick in the corner facing other corner it really booms n sounds better without tuning.🍻
I am in my late fifties and learning g kit drumming for the first time. Picked up a cheap PEACE drum kit. Replaced the skins. I replaced the kick last with a power stroke skin. It arrived dented in the mail. I repaired it as best as I could so it just fit over the shell. They sent a new one free though so used the good one on front and the other on back. The shell is just some sort of 3 ply, but gee it sounds good now. I was thinking of spraying the inside of the shell with a thin layer of some sort of sticky foam to dampen it. Any products you know of like that? Love your clips. Cheers from Australia.
Yea just stick a pillow in there that touches against both batter and resonant. You can adjust the positioning to control the sound and feel you want. Many people have a hole cut in the resonant head for microphones anyway so you can use that as access to adjust your pillow.
My brother played for MANY years and was phenomenal. I’ve been playing on and off since the 80s and have never forgotten my brother’s “trick” for incredible bass dum sound……remove the beater head, have a few friends help you stretch a THIN OLD bedsheet over the shell and hold it tight while you reinstall the beater head , hoop and hardware. Curious if you’ve ever heard of or tried this……🤔
@@amphlett7 yes you cut all the excess off after the head, hoop and lugs go back on tightened enough to prevent it from slipping. Place the drum on the floor with the beater head facing up and remove it. It takes a few (3-4) helpers to grasp the sheet and REALLY tighten it over the shell by grabbing a handful of sheet and forcibly pushing down towards the floor along the outside of the shell. They MUST not allow any wrinkles to be along the shell nor where the head and hoop will go and maintain tension while you reinstall the head, hoop and lugs and tighten them. THEN you carefully cut all of the excess material off that you can get to with scissors….right along to the outside of the hoop. If done correctly, you can BARELY even see the edge of the materiel between the hoop and shell. Now you’ll have an absolute CANNON under your right foot! 🤘💪🥁
Is that a Gretsch Renown kick? I’m looking to get a set here in the next couple of weeks w that exact natural maple gloss finish but in a 22”. Great video!
Hi Stephen. Just letting you know that I liked the sound of your cheaper one best. The more expensive one has a less pleasant ‘clack’ sound when played from my iPhone via the in-phone speaker. I know this is not the best way to listen to music
Enjoyed the video. This is very useful information being as Im learning how to tune my kit. I do 9 wanna b one of those drummers who's kit doesn't sound good. Love the channel, keep up the good work 👍
@@Victtimus right... but he said "upright JAZZ bassist". If he hadn't said "JAZZ" then you would be right. Someone that does rockabilly, or country, or any other genre where a double bass (aka upright bass) would call it "upright jazz bassist". Don't you think?
Love the sound of the more focused head. There's too much ring in the cheaper drum. Although it sounded pretty good when you detuned the res head. I really wish you wouldn't have changed the Maple shelled drum!😬😆👍🙏🙏🙏
An additional physics effect you do not refer to is the Helmholtz resonator effect. You can change the sound of the low end with this as well if you can re-form the back end of the shell instead of having two heads. Nobody does this up to now, but is the reason that Djembes have a good low end. If you know math and are able to exoit this principle, you could market a cheap bass drum that would transform the industry. -I hope you make a ton of money….Youre welcome!😊 Or maybe I will… 🤔
Steven can I ask you a question? This post is old and don’t know if you’ll check it. But I’ll ask anyhow. I am buying a bebop set 10,13,16 bd. 13” sn. I completely get it’s a very small bd. I also know ppl have gotten excellent sounds miked up. No doubt you can make anything great w a mic. Well this is for a small space. Corner of my kitchen. Don’t laugh. I had a edrum set there and it was fine. I was getting very bored w that. It was entry level. Anyways, I’ve played this one before sonor jungle kit. It’s insanely good quality every thing on it. Way better than any kit like this. It’s a beautiful looking kit too. They did it right on this bebop. I said all that to ask you, I’m not obviously miking this set. The snare toms sound very good and plenty loud. The kick is a different story. When I played the same kit the bd was softer and had to really wack it. And I have a light foot. I like jazz stuff and light rock. I looked the other day online I simply put in search “ loudest bass drum beater. Wow this is really interesting thing. Much reviews on these beaters. I narrowed it down to one. It’s 32$. That’s fine. Other than a loud beater how can I make this drum louder? Prob don’t port the front head. I never do. What else ?
How did you position the mics? Is it sitting on the bottom of the bass drum inside? Is it elevated pointing at the beater? The position of the mic can have a big influence on the sound...
Good day Sir, Quick question. Doesn’t tightening the batter head a little more also gives more rebound for a faster response? I also have the Evans Emad batter head, and I noticed a quicker response by tightening it a little more than a plain batter head.
I have had my pearl export for 15 years. Stopped playing for a long time. I bought new heads, the emads both sides. Still cannot find a balance between low end and loudness. It's a 22". Looking for more of the 20" sound you demonstrated.
Bill Nicholas they always do sound better then the newer ones .mahogany always is the best . My drums are made out of mahogany and they have a real good sound to them .
gretsch is most likely over muffled (atleast thats how it sounds to me). mine has nice sustain i use no muffling (sometimes i throw emad2 on for a change) and no hole (jazzy kit)
@@whipiefirewurk4942 I agree. The Gretsch sounded over muffled. I have a 22" Gretsch Catalina Maple kit that has low end for days with very little muffling. I personally can't stand the sound of an overly muffled kick drum. And cutting holes in bass drum heads is a big no no, IMO. The reso head is where the all tone comes from, why destroy it?
I just bought a coated Remo head for my kick, and can't get it to sound right. I see most of these videos using clear. Is that making a big difference?
Huuuge difference. I had the exact same problem when I first tried changing kick heads. Most people are after the sound a clear Remo Power Stroke will give you I think. I find Evans kick heads to not be as beefy but that's just me. I change my entire kit to black Evans skins just to look cool but they didn't sound the way I like at all. Back to coated g2s. Heads definitely make a massive difference.
Hey Stephen, Do you play a Double Bass drum pedal? Unless, you play Metal , do you really need it? Do you have any instructional Videos on setting it up and playing one (I have an eye on a Mapex 500TW DB), with a Hi Hat ?
No you don’t really need one but If you really wanted you could play any style with one for fast kick “ba-bum”’s like in hiphop and such but you can get the same effect by just tapping your foot fast
How do you feel about impact pads? I got a pretty cheap one and Idk, dont really feel like it improved the tone although it definitely changed it somewhat..just kinda left it on and forgot about it.
What heads are you using please, mine just sounds to plastic, even stuffed full o f pillows and all sort of things. The heads are the original Zildjan, no doubt quality, but Im after a deep sound.
Question - I have a 70's Rogers kit (Mahagony) with an EMAD Batter head. The RESO head has a huge port hole cut circular right in the middle (So it is like a half RESO head. My question is, will the Kick drum react as if there i no RESO head or it will react more like a normal Reso head with a normal port hole cut? Or somewhere in between?
I get great sou d from my 24 and 26 with none of my bathroom or bedroom stuffed inside. I also think the ports kill all effectiveness of the reso head. I go fairly tight on a ps3 reso and medium on the batter with internal mics when I need them. So it depends on what sound you like, I hate the muffled dead sound where you have to rely on the mic to get any kind of sound. Just my opinion
In order to get more bottom.and punch,low end you need to get away from jaw.go up on your reso,and some on your batter,.to get more tone and low end,you'd be surprised how much of end and punch going a bit high.peace
Yes there is a difference. The batter head medium loose and the resonant head would be tight that’s a bonham style. It causes the bass drum to ring a note. Loosening the reso will cause the note to go away but don’t loosen the batter head too much because you want the right bounce back. I would use a small amount of muffling of your choice. I have a hand towel against the batter head and a dampened drum head as well.
My maple bass drum also sounds best with the emad2 batter but I don't like it on my beech sonor bass drum, that gets power stroke 3 or a coated ambassador!
Watched some snippets. Don't have the patience. Simple solution: Single ply EMAD batter with an AF patch and an EQ3 reso. Nothing inside the drum. Why would you want to limit the size of your sound chamber? Right? I've used this combination for over 20 years on many drums and I'm greeted with same response once I get my pedal on my kick no matter who I play for, "Whoa"! It's really that simple and straightforward.
Pat,Pat,Pat, might be good for your engineer but I'm missing a RESONANT Sound with sustain recorded from the Front of the reso head. You know I Play Jazz and creative percussion.
Does anyone know of a conversion from the wing bolt/claw on my old Pearl Export to a modern key style bolt. Of, course, did a search but nothing popped up. I bought a suspension mount conversion for the rack tom, but haven't seen a kick drum bolt kit.
U don't seat the head on the bearing edges? Like, standing on the drum or pushing down with ur elbow on the center of the head using your body weight to lead on the head...did I miss that part or are do you not use that technique on the kick?
E Lyles, I'm a more or less Beginner..... Returning to DRum playing as a Fun Retirement Hobby after a 50 year hiatus from playing as a teenager. I'm 69 now.... Anyway, I changed to Aquarian Superkick II batter head on my cheapo Gammon kick drum , made for a very nice enhancement - unmuffled. The Batter head has a Built in muffler. Just ordered the Aquarian Reso head with a port hole . I have been using the stock Reso head on the Gammon. Looking forward to seeing or should I say Hearing the difference with the new Reso head. I play only for enjoyment - to My Music in the new basement studio crafted as Mancave (hate that term , but it fits for now). I play drums to My Music : Meloncamp, Petty, Beatles, Stones, the Hollies, Zombies, CCR, Eagles, Traveling Wilburys, even some Clapton, and surprisingly Linda Ronstandt [if you listen to her albums you will be pleasantly surprised how good she and her studio band was ].... If I can keep up to the beat by 80% or more, I'm a Happy camper for now..... Practice does make Perfect. I hate practicing though !!
I think that, in general, drummers are more accepting of overtones and off-note frequencies from their snare than from the bass drum. Often, a guy with an ambassador with one moongel on his 6.5” supraphonic snare will say “it’s still a bit clangy but you don’t hear that when the band are playing”… but then he kills his kick with an entire moving blanket packed inside. Lol. The point is this: Over muffling kills volume and tonality. That’s as true with your kick as with your snare. A little is ok. But your drums sound better with some resonance, overtones and thoughtful tuning. Don’t be afraid to let the kick “sing” a bit, the way you allow your snare to.
mariorossipuzza yea wuhan’s are great sounding for the price. Especially if you gonna just bash the life out of it, best to go cheaper while still getting a nice trashy sound
I have an 18x16 and a 22x18. I love the 18” with 2 full, unported heads; I put some Moongel on the batter. Nice boom! The 22” has a hole in front and gives that dead, Rock sound. It has much more low end. I much prefer the 18”.
Woah what a weird coincidence, both of those kicks are the two I have. Except one of mine has a huge hole in it from kicking the pedal through it, I'm sure you can guess which one is broken.
He didnt do the two drums for exact drum to drum comparison..he did one cheaper drum & one higher grade brand,just to show ..you can make a garbage drum sound alright..tunning session..NOT for an equal comparison on a specific heads or some shit...it was to be helpful for people learning ect...👍✔
I LOVE how you don’t have annoying music in the background of your videos
Lol
SAME
I can't agree more.....oh no, but then comes a commercial with the most annoying of music
Love it when it’s so loud you can’t even hear the guy talking
I really hate music as well!
Love when a drummer is actually concerned about the sound of their kit. Played with a few that had no concept of tuning. You are doing the music community a great service! Thank you.
💯💯💯💯
I have been drumming for close to 20 years now and even got a portion of university percussion training down and it just kinda amaze me that i only recently found your channel! Lot of your videos would have been great like say 12y ago too. You are saving a lot of trial and error to the new generations!
1:22 correction: *any* type of microphone will pick up more low frequencies when placed close to the sound source *if the polar pattern is directional* , i.e. anything other than omni. So this doesn't only concern dynamic mics like the top left corner text suggests.
Anywho, I like the video, as it gives me more confidence in tuning and tweaking the drums to get the sound I want. The fact that pro's also have to experiment and don't always magically know what works, is actually quite calming. 😄 To see you're doing similar things as I might, makes me feel like I know my stuff, or at least the basics, since I've never had any training nor do I have drummer friends to discuss these things with.
Agreed, Steve, nice presentation . Down to Earth with good comparative analysis. Bottom line: If you are using a Aquarian Superkick II Batter head (Like I do) which has a muffler ring , should you add more muffling ? I have a Cheapo Gammon drum kit which I received as a Xmas present in 2018. I'm 69 years old and have resurrected my keen interest in playing drums again after a 50 year Hiatus. Now I play almost everyday , playing to My Music. Many thanks to the Wife (of 46 years) for her insightful gift and for listening to the Racket I produce in the basement ....... Luckily, it is finished and the ceilings and walls were insulated:):):).
Never to old to rock sir....Rock on
You're an inspiration my guy! I am positive that your "racket" is much better than mine!
My 2 cents as a sound engineer.
Don't put too much stuff in the kick, expecially if you play rock and metal and you want to eq a high click out of it.
The sound of the kick got always raped in the mixer, the boominess tends to disappear when the mic is close to the skin, while the muffling will just cut out high frequencies, leaving less space and and an uneven dynamics to work with.
I'm just now starting to get used to the feel of a bassdrum with little muffling. I only have a rolled towel in a 22in maple shell with an Emad2 and a ported reso. This also threw me off balance because it doesn't work well with my "bury the beater" playing habits.
Hi wow two years old video but helpful,new subscriber here,new drummer here lol,I been watching a lot of your videos,they been helping me out anyway my question is,what does putting a hole or port in the kick drum reso do? Thanks for the video
Not using any mics, just after a nice sounding acoustic in a marginally sound proof room. Great tips. Thank you.
Hello Stephen - thanks for that info re tuning bass drums - I think what I have got out of that is that even low price/level drums can be made to sound reasonable, that there are several ways to mute them and that the final sound (if not going to a recording studio) is as much about personal taste. It helps to (provided you have your drum adjusted reasonably) know you can quickly effect tuning by just adjusting a couple of lugs up or down. Thanks so much - a lot of pressure off now mate. Regards Owen
I've been on enough of a youtube bassdrum binge over the last few days to realise that the cheap bassdrums can sound as good as the most expensive drums to everyone but drummers. By the time you go through a mic and a computer especially
Something I learned while working at a drum shop was everyone there argued that shell composition and construction itself had little to do with the tone of a drum and more to do with head selection and tuning with regard to the composition and construction of that shell. It was a game changer.
You can have very expensive bubinga shells but if you put the wrong heads on those shells and don't know how to tune properly, then those buying a shells might s well be poplar. You've wasted your money.
Another thing I learned at that shop was the head itself should produce some kind of tone when held by the rim and tapped in the center. Blew my mind the first time I saw/heard this when I first started working there as I thought all heads were produced equally. Nope.
For rock, my pair of 20” Yamaha Stage Custom bass drums are completely unmuffled. Emperor batter head on the primary foot, Ambassador on the secondary. They sound like cannons.
For jazz, the one with the Ambassador becomes the single kick drum. And I add a muffler: a piece of felt, dangling from string to the point of beater impact. I can flip it up and off the drum if I want. But the real key is that it does not muffle the head! It only muffles the impact. So the real sound of the drum is preserved, but the impact is more gentle. Works perfectly.
I put a end to all the guess game went out and got a drum dial,all my drums a starting point is 75 on the tention, on all and go from there,my bass drum the batter is 72 the resin side on the bass is 75, now I have mapex Saturn series maple walnut hybrid kit, with the cannon kick 22 x 20.the drum dial is a must have 👍
Same here Gary, Drum Dial gives an excellent threshold to spring from. Changed my tuning instantly and save lots of time. Well worth the investment.
Hello Stephen again. This one re your "Learning & charting a song" article. I have just printed it out & started to read it. It sounds good & I intend to work through it very fully - this is one of my problem areas despite having viewed about 4 different drummers telling me how to chart/learn a song over the last 4-5 years. As a friend said once, I am a logical learner/player rather than an intuitive one (for instance, I cannot discern the difference between a Verse and a Bridge while listening, but I can Work it out).
I have done my own cheat sheets for 20 years but they are pretty basic and don't chart the main concerns of weird notations and riffs and when/where to put in the riffs/fills etc.
I am hoping your methodology will help me become good enough at really knowing the songs we play to be actually driving them, instead of just playing along.
We will see in 10-12 months time hey!
Regards
Owen
Thanks a bunch for doing this video. I noticed you cut your own hole in the drum. A friend turned me onto heating a tin can up nice and hot around the rim and just melt a clean hole that won’t rip. You can also just indent the head with the can to have a line to trace with your exact knife. Cheers!
that drill bit works SOOOOO well for finger-tightening needs. Its worth it for that alone. I coincidentally bought one last week, and came up with that idea as well. Its perfect. Cuz i have an older kit, my lugs r kinda dirty, and finger tightening can be misleading. the drill bit add a tad bit more torque… enough to overcome the resistance that the dirty threads are crrating.
I've had good sounds with a solid reso head (no holes) with rubber strips from a innertube that I put between the lugs and rims. It seems that the worse you hear, the better it sounds on the other side of the drum set
That 20" kick drum sounds so
deadass punchy I literally Drool for it!
And that's just with the sm57 mic,
I'll bet it sounds beastie with a Beta52
kick drum mic.
Awesome video, thanks for sharing!
Hey thanks ,I've got a little 20 inch with a bahia head on it for the pedal side and a pillow inside touching front and back heads. Sounds good and low
Sweet. You’ve given me relief as mine are fairly well tuned- but I always think it could be much much better, so I’ve struggled with that until now.
And you almost got both to sync in with a duality of tone and resonance at one point, which can be hard to get with double basses- especially those two of differing sizes.
ive noticed moving a kick drum around the room can change sound. like if you place kick in the corner facing other corner it really booms n sounds better without tuning.🍻
I am in my late fifties and learning g kit drumming for the first time. Picked up a cheap PEACE drum kit. Replaced the skins. I replaced the kick last with a power stroke skin. It arrived dented in the mail. I repaired it as best as I could so it just fit over the shell. They sent a new one free though so used the good one on front and the other on back. The shell is just some sort of 3 ply, but gee it sounds good now. I was thinking of spraying the inside of the shell with a thin layer of some sort of sticky foam to dampen it. Any products you know of like that? Love your clips. Cheers from Australia.
He never got back to you. I would just use a old pillow.
Yea just stick a pillow in there that touches against both batter and resonant. You can adjust the positioning to control the sound and feel you want. Many people have a hole cut in the resonant head for microphones anyway so you can use that as access to adjust your pillow.
I hope you ended up sticking a pillow or a large blanket in there, those foams will make the drum stink forever lol
My brother played for MANY years and was phenomenal. I’ve been playing on and off since the 80s and have never forgotten my brother’s “trick” for incredible bass dum sound……remove the beater head, have a few friends help you stretch a THIN OLD bedsheet over the shell and hold it tight while you reinstall the beater head , hoop and hardware.
Curious if you’ve ever heard of or tried this……🤔
Wow I'd really love to hear the result of this trick!
@@JiihaaS medium muting, DEEP note…..MASSIVE attack!!!!
I really want to try this out!
Do you cut the sheet at all? Just thinking it might get in the way of the claws
@@amphlett7 yes you cut all the excess off after the head, hoop and lugs go back on tightened enough to prevent it from slipping. Place the drum on the floor with the beater head facing up and remove it. It takes a few (3-4) helpers to grasp the sheet and REALLY tighten it over the shell by grabbing a handful of sheet and forcibly pushing down towards the floor along the outside of the shell. They MUST not allow any wrinkles to be along the shell nor where the head and hoop will go and maintain tension while you reinstall the head, hoop and lugs and tighten them. THEN you carefully cut all of the excess material off that you can get to with scissors….right along to the outside of the hoop. If done correctly, you can BARELY even see the edge of the materiel between the hoop and shell.
Now you’ll have an absolute CANNON under your right foot! 🤘💪🥁
Sounds a similar idea to using felt strips, but a very thin, very wide strip!
Remo Powerstroke 3 on batter side, Port hole on resonant side. Done. I like the powerstroke clear. No pillows needed.
Is that a Gretsch Renown kick? I’m looking to get a set here in the next couple of weeks w that exact natural maple gloss finish but in a 22”. Great video!
I am very new to drums just as. Am with guitars I fix all guitar need and speaking of which I like to know when it’s time to change drum heads
Dude I loved every single cover, I love your energy and how u are able to talk while playing lol keep it up :))
Hi Stephen.
Just letting you know that I liked the sound of your cheaper one best. The more expensive one has a less pleasant ‘clack’ sound when played from my iPhone via the in-phone speaker. I know this is not the best way to listen to music
Enjoyed the video. This is very useful information being as Im learning how to tune my kit. I do 9 wanna b one of those drummers who's kit doesn't sound good. Love the channel, keep up the good work 👍
Nice instructions. I did notice though, that by 19:04 you actually _tigthen_ the lugs on the batter head :) Anyhoo your advice is still good.
One other thing to note is placement of hole. I found the best spot is at 4:30 position, sometimes give or take 30 mins.
Yes!
I have a 22” and I get more of a focused sound like there was in the 20”
As an upright jazz bassist, I prefer the bass drum to have no ring at all. To me, the Gretch kick sounded great at the end of your video.
That’s so strange because jazz is one of those genres where resonant drums are the norm…
@@guilledezoq "upright" doesn't technically mean jazz, he could be about that rockabilly
@@Victtimus right... but he said "upright JAZZ bassist". If he hadn't said "JAZZ" then you would be right. Someone that does rockabilly, or country, or any other genre where a double bass (aka upright bass) would call it "upright jazz bassist". Don't you think?
Love the sound of the more focused head. There's too much ring in the cheaper drum. Although it sounded pretty good when you detuned the res head. I really wish you wouldn't have changed the Maple shelled drum!😬😆👍🙏🙏🙏
at 6:14 the pitch in the smaller badd drum was lower than in the bigger. Lower and wonderful!
Great Job! Best Kick Drum tuning video I have seen
If you reach a point with a lower end bass drum to need a pillow, would a foam deadening ring be a "cleaner" solution?
Steve, do either of the reso or batter heads used have Muffling Rings on the heads?
one of the bests videos about kick drum and tune
An additional physics effect you do not refer to is the Helmholtz resonator effect. You can change the sound of the low end with this as well if you can re-form the back end of the shell instead of having two heads. Nobody does this up to now, but is the reason that Djembes have a good low end. If you know math and are able to exoit this principle, you could market a cheap bass drum that would transform the industry. -I hope you make a ton of money….Youre welcome!😊
Or maybe I will… 🤔
It's thru, nice work man 🙏
Steven can I ask you a question? This post is old and don’t know if you’ll check it. But I’ll ask anyhow. I am buying a bebop set 10,13,16 bd. 13” sn. I completely get it’s a very small bd. I also know ppl have gotten excellent sounds miked up. No doubt you can make anything great w a mic. Well this is for a small space. Corner of my kitchen. Don’t laugh. I had a edrum set there and it was fine. I was getting very bored w that. It was entry level. Anyways, I’ve played this one before sonor jungle kit. It’s insanely good quality every thing on it. Way better than any kit like this. It’s a beautiful looking kit too. They did it right on this bebop. I said all that to ask you, I’m not obviously miking this set. The snare toms sound very good and plenty loud. The kick is a different story. When I played the same kit the bd was softer and had to really wack it. And I have a light foot. I like jazz stuff and light rock. I looked the other day online I simply put in search “ loudest bass drum beater. Wow this is really interesting thing. Much reviews on these beaters. I narrowed it down to one. It’s 32$. That’s fine. Other than a loud beater how can I make this drum louder? Prob don’t port the front head. I never do. What else ?
removing reso head completely often can sound really well too :)
I would love to have heard the difference with the large 22in kick with two different res heads. Ie: same type as on smaller drum.
How did you position the mics? Is it sitting on the bottom of the bass drum inside? Is it elevated pointing at the beater? The position of the mic can have a big influence on the sound...
Good day Sir,
Quick question. Doesn’t tightening the batter head a little more also gives more rebound for a faster response? I also have the Evans Emad batter head, and I noticed a quicker response by tightening it a little more than a plain batter head.
I have had my pearl export for 15 years. Stopped playing for a long time. I bought new heads, the emads both sides. Still cannot find a balance between low end and loudness. It's a 22". Looking for more of the 20" sound you demonstrated.
Let me re-phrase, I can't get the punch without losing loudness. Just commenting on the boomyness inherent of even your 22".
I've played small bass drums. Gretsch 18 and 20. Live and in the studio, I've found smaller is better.(and lower)
Very interesting vid thanks dude 👍
Nice overview.
From my end the Gretch sounds very paperish The cheeped on sounds better.
Bill Nicholas they always do sound better then the newer ones .mahogany always is the best . My drums are made out of mahogany and they have a real good sound to them .
Totally agree. I really dislike the Gretsch one, theres no character there. Love the cheaper one!
gretsch is most likely over muffled (atleast thats how it sounds to me). mine has nice sustain i use no muffling (sometimes i throw emad2 on for a change) and no hole (jazzy kit)
The cheap one is a 22” that definitely helps it sound better
@@whipiefirewurk4942 I agree. The Gretsch sounded over muffled. I have a 22" Gretsch Catalina Maple kit that has low end for days with very little muffling. I personally can't stand the sound of an overly muffled kick drum. And cutting holes in bass drum heads is a big no no, IMO. The reso head is where the all tone comes from, why destroy it?
Yeah many factors size materials made from wooden hoops metal hoops wait tuning dial
I really love how you teach
I just bought a coated Remo head for my kick, and can't get it to sound right. I see most of these videos using clear. Is that making a big difference?
Huuuge difference. I had the exact same problem when I first tried changing kick heads. Most people are after the sound a clear Remo Power Stroke will give you I think. I find Evans kick heads to not be as beefy but that's just me. I change my entire kit to black Evans skins just to look cool but they didn't sound the way I like at all. Back to coated g2s. Heads definitely make a massive difference.
Thank you awesome job very good video..!!👍
Give me the cheap BD day every day ! Tone lives !
Hi you started tuning up with reso head only finger tight so does that mean that batter head ends up one quarter turn higher than reso?
THANK YOU MY GOSH
Hey Stephen, Do you play a Double Bass drum pedal? Unless, you play Metal , do you really need it? Do you have any instructional Videos on setting it up and playing one (I have an eye on a Mapex 500TW DB), with a Hi Hat ?
No you don’t really need one
but
If you really wanted you could play any style with one for fast kick “ba-bum”’s like in hiphop and such but you can get the same effect by just tapping your foot fast
How do you feel about impact pads? I got a pretty cheap one and Idk, dont really feel like it improved the tone although it definitely changed it somewhat..just kinda left it on and forgot about it.
What series of Gretsch is that?
What heads are you using please, mine just sounds to plastic, even stuffed full o f pillows and all sort of things.
The heads are the original Zildjan, no doubt quality, but Im after a deep sound.
Question - I have a 70's Rogers kit (Mahagony) with an EMAD Batter head. The RESO head has a huge port hole cut circular right in the middle (So it is like a half RESO head. My question is, will the Kick drum react as if there i no RESO head or it will react more like a normal Reso head with a normal port hole cut? Or somewhere in between?
What about smaller kicks? I play a Taye Go kit and wished I could drive more low end from the small shells...
I get great sou d from my 24 and 26 with none of my bathroom or bedroom stuffed inside. I also think the ports kill all effectiveness of the reso head. I go fairly tight on a ps3 reso and medium on the batter with internal mics when I need them. So it depends on what sound you like, I hate the muffled dead sound where you have to rely on the mic to get any kind of sound. Just my opinion
Nice drum drum
In order to get more bottom.and punch,low end you need to get away from jaw.go up on your reso,and some on your batter,.to get more tone and low end,you'd be surprised how much of end and punch going a bit high.peace
Thank You, I loved this one
Any noticeable difference when tuning the batter tight and the resonate head loose (and vice versa)? I currently have mine equal to each other.
Yes there is a difference. The batter head medium loose and the resonant head would be tight that’s a bonham style.
It causes the bass drum to ring a note.
Loosening the reso will cause the note to go away but don’t loosen the batter head too much because you want the right bounce back. I would use a small amount of muffling of your choice.
I have a hand towel against the batter head and a dampened drum head as well.
@@TessaAnderson Well not everyone is going to need that bounce, some people just like burying the beater
Should either head have ripples in the head. It seems that I only get a good sound when it does
My maple bass drum also sounds best with the emad2 batter but I don't like it on my beech sonor bass drum, that gets power stroke 3 or a coated ambassador!
Oh forgot to add, plastic washers work better than metal too, a cheap upgrade!
You have to get 2 drum keys, faster and more even tuning, top tip!
They both sound great It depends on the song...
unless it is an illusion. it looks like 2 diff diameter drums. that could make a huge difference also
Stephen said early on that the Gretch is a 20" and the other one is a 22".
The only “muffle” I use is the white ring that came in the head no muffle inside the bass drums plenty of Low end .
Watched some snippets. Don't have the patience. Simple solution: Single ply EMAD batter with an AF patch and an EQ3 reso. Nothing inside the drum. Why would you want to limit the size of your sound chamber? Right? I've used this combination for over 20 years on many drums and I'm greeted with same response once I get my pedal on my kick no matter who I play for, "Whoa"! It's really that simple and straightforward.
Pat,Pat,Pat, might be good for your engineer but I'm missing a RESONANT Sound with sustain recorded from the Front of the reso head. You know I Play Jazz and creative percussion.
Does anyone know of a conversion from the wing bolt/claw on my old Pearl Export to a modern key style bolt. Of, course, did a search but nothing popped up. I bought a suspension mount conversion for the rack tom, but haven't seen a kick drum bolt kit.
U don't seat the head on the bearing edges? Like, standing on the drum or pushing down with ur elbow on the center of the head using your body weight to lead on the head...did I miss that part or are do you not use that technique on the kick?
SM57 has a significant frequency drop off at a little under 200 Hz. Not really the best mics to illustrate the low end sound.
Get a trigger mic and analesis proceessor you can get a deep overtone thenn you dont have to tune it
Program your drums and fire the drummer :D
I use only Aquarian Superkick 2 heads and nothing else
E Lyles, I'm a more or less Beginner..... Returning to DRum playing as a Fun Retirement Hobby after a 50 year hiatus from playing as a teenager. I'm 69 now.... Anyway, I changed to Aquarian Superkick II batter head on my cheapo Gammon kick drum , made for a very nice enhancement - unmuffled. The Batter head has a Built in muffler. Just ordered the Aquarian Reso head with a port hole . I have been using the stock Reso head on the Gammon. Looking forward to seeing or should I say Hearing the difference with the new Reso head. I play only for enjoyment - to My Music in the new basement studio crafted as Mancave (hate that term , but it fits for now). I play drums to My Music : Meloncamp, Petty, Beatles, Stones, the Hollies, Zombies, CCR, Eagles, Traveling Wilburys, even some Clapton, and surprisingly Linda Ronstandt [if you listen to her albums you will be pleasantly surprised how good she and her studio band was ].... If I can keep up to the beat by 80% or more, I'm a Happy camper for now..... Practice does make Perfect. I hate practicing though !!
Power Stroke Dead Ringers by Remo!
I love this lesson
I think that, in general, drummers are more accepting of overtones and off-note frequencies from their snare than from the bass drum. Often, a guy with an ambassador with one moongel on his 6.5” supraphonic snare will say “it’s still a bit clangy but you don’t hear that when the band are playing”… but then he kills his kick with an entire moving blanket packed inside. Lol.
The point is this: Over muffling kills volume and tonality. That’s as true with your kick as with your snare.
A little is ok.
But your drums sound better with some resonance, overtones and thoughtful tuning.
Don’t be afraid to let the kick “sing” a bit, the way you allow your snare to.
Good point!
Is that "Wuhan" cymbal in the background a little Corona joke? :D Nice video, though! Going to try that to get my base to sound more dead.
they sound really cool for the price, chinas in particular. no joke
mariorossipuzza yea wuhan’s are great sounding for the price. Especially if you gonna just bash the life out of it, best to go cheaper while still getting a nice trashy sound
Wuhans are awesome
I think to each their own 😂 You kinda go in circles with a lot of your videos.
Nice
What about 18 inch bass drums
I have an 18x16 and a 22x18.
I love the 18” with 2 full, unported heads; I put some Moongel on the batter. Nice boom!
The 22” has a hole in front and gives that dead, Rock sound. It has much more low end.
I much prefer the 18”.
6:43 You can hear more "Bass" in the smaller one because the undertones are closer to the optimal end of your hearing range.
Woah what a weird coincidence, both of those kicks are the two I have. Except one of mine has a huge hole in it from kicking the pedal through it, I'm sure you can guess which one is broken.
Wooden beater?
@@stephenross8463 the one that broke had a wooden hammer
@@jacobiwilson3887
Yep, that would do it......there's a helluva heat builds up on the head with a wooden beater.
Very nice 👍🔔🌷
So yeah, I'm 15 minutes in and I'm sold on the
cheap kick.
Tone
Tone
Tone
You can muffle your bass drum with 2 scotch brite jammed between the lower part of your pedal and the head.
Assuming the cheaper set is a Ludwig accent ?
pearl i think
Do it with the same heads otherwise i don’t believe it😤😤😤🥁🥁🇨🇦🇨🇦
Remy Garon yeah I thought the same
He didnt do the two drums for exact drum to drum comparison..he did one cheaper drum & one higher grade brand,just to show ..you can make a garbage drum sound alright..tunning session..NOT for an equal comparison on a specific heads or some shit...it was to be helpful for people learning ect...👍✔
There also different sizes.
What if you don't have any mics?..
EMAD. Done.
The Gretsch didn't have the tone or sustain because of the port hole 9:00....the other drum didn't have a port hole on reso head
Thank you!
cheap kick "i want you to want me"
Gretsch is a smaller bass drum. Sounds dead in the water. The cheap one sounds bigger. Has more bloom.