your current HEADS of choice, and why

[plainsman]

i know threads have been posted on this before, but i just wanted to get some updated responses, also people's tastes tend to change from time to time.

what are your current drum heads of choice and why?

also, how do you like your tuning to be, both batter and reso.




just sharing, i have a old beat-up stagestar for recycle and dump around, which never changed stock heads.

recently i went drum head shopping and blew like 300 bucks on heads (!)

i was curious about the EC2, didn't like the strange tone (i'm used to single ply clears) then i wanted to try coated heads, so i got the G1 coated, got a little frustrated with the lack of punch for material other than bop/swing, then saw derek roddy having coated on his toms. so now i have this question mark. what you guys think? :mrgreen:

 

[Denosha]

Recently changed my reso heads from the stock tama ones (been using them for the past 9 years that i've had my kit) to Remo Clear Ambassadors. Must say that my toms sound much better now. More volume and thump to them. On the batter side i'm still using Remo Ebony Pinstripes. Tuning wise my toms and bass drum are all tuned very low (slightly above the min tension to prevent the head from crinkling).

I play metal so to me at least this setup sounds pretty good for that purpose. I like my drums to sound thumpy with as little rings/overtones as possible. More percussive, less musical.

 

[twiztedjoker]

Mmm, i tune mine similarly to Denosha - I've got Weatherking Pinstrips for my batter heads, and on my reso i've got weatherking diplomats

I like my toms to sound low, hence my batter is justt tight enough to prevent crinkling.
As for my reso side, it's currently tightly fitted in. Should do something about that, heh.

 

[malmbas]

I'd like to say that i've played with head choices more than i have, but.... too expensive.

Generally I've got coated ambassadors or emporers on my tom batters with clear ambassadors on the bottom. lower drums tuned just above finger tight, racks change a bit depending on the music. top and bottom pretty similar, maybe bottom up a little

snare- coated ambassador or renaissance on the top, snare side on the bottom. both tuned up to cracking range.... generally speaking

I love coated heads. I like hearing other people play clear heads but they just seem a bit too bright and you can hear the stick make contact with the head a little too much when i'm playing them. Weird hey....

 

[Denosha]

Haha, we're the opposite then. I don't use any coated heads at all (unless u consider ebony coated but i think they aren't). My snare is using Remo clear pinstripe. Don't know why I don't like coated heads either. :/

I love coated heads. I like hearing other people play clear heads but they just seem a bit too bright and you can hear the stick make contact with the head a little too much when i'm playing them. Weird hey....

 

[plainsman]

I used to dislike coated heads, maybe cos they had all these beaten up, badly tuned coated heads in jamming studios.

the ebony ones used to shock me too (sounds really weird) but now that i understand more about sound, there's really a lot to discover about heads, tuning and shells.

it may be separate from the playing but it sure is useful to know as much and have good communication with the engineer be it live or recording and bounce ideas


what about bass drum heads/reso/batter/tuning preference?


cheers

 

[blurred]

i've got to say i've almost always used coated heads. i feel it stick"grips" better when i hit it on a coated. sori if this makes no sense. i also prefer the slight mellowness of a coated head.i like that deep tower of power david garibaldi tom sound. i know he sometimes uses clear heads.
i find remo tom heads abit too inconsistent with quality, maybe its cause sweelee misteats them i dunno. but i've played evans for quite awhile. G2 coated heads for me , although i might switch up soon cause i played alfie's EC2 heads and they sounded nic and round. i've always used a standard g2? bass drum head. evans G1 on batter and G1 clear on snare side. oh G1 clears on bottoms for toms. i have a evans reverse power dot on one of my snares, reverse cause u can do brushes with it.

 

[Frummer]

Alfie, EC2 weird tone?!? hahaha...i found that the EC2s are more resonant then pinstripes but tends to choke when tuned high.

For reso side of toms and bass drum, I always tune it to its lowest resonant pitch. And Batter to whatever makes it as resonant as possible. Is this a weird way of tuning? haha...

Ironically I've never really played on a new remo head before. Haha.

 

[jeepers]

I agree with blurred on the inconsistency of Remo heads. However I'm harbouring the thought of switching to Remos once it's time to change out the skins.

Currently using:

Toms: EC2 Clear batters over Genera resos.
Kick: EQ2 Clear batter and Pearl stock reso.
Snare: HD Dry batter over Hazy 300 reso.

The coated EC2s are really interesting but they're not easily available locally. Saw a couple when I was in KL for a conference but I didn't get any cos I would prefer to get them for my toms at one shot. They only had 10" in stock if I remember correctly at Bentley. Still need them for my 12" 14" 16".

If I do change entirely to Remos, it'll be:

Toms: Coated Ambassador batters, Clear Ambassadors resos
Kick: Powerstroke 3 batter, Fiberskyn reso
Snare: Emperor batter, Diplomat reso

My snare's tuned up tight both ways. Kick with nothing inside, tuned medium low (?). Boomy boomy. Toms drum_hobbyist tuned them up for me 'cos I had problems with the 10" tom.

 

[plainsman]

jeepers: hmmm coated ec2s.... interesting heh... nothing inside bassdrum.. i find it quite hard, except when its jazz. i can't get that punch for phat r&b grooves or dry thuds for rock

frummer: ya.. think cos never used before. in any case, the room acoustics will colour the sound too. i'll bring it out when i gig and assess the sound again


blurred: yes *erhm* maybe they're stocked in environment that degenerate their conditions before purchase, hence abit crappy already when you buy it. ha

 

[jeepers]

plainsman: Yup coated EC2s. I think Beboptang uses EC2s as well.
For me I prefer coated heads for their warmth. But Ranking doesn't bring in coated EC2s and I'm not sure if Nigel does?

Aquarian heads are worth checking out as well.

Yup nothing inside the kick. I like it boomy but the setback is I can't double pedal on it. I'm thinking of converting my 16" tom into a BD so when I finally get to that, I'll stuff a pillow into the 20" BD to make it more thumpy.

What skins are on your BD?

 

[malmbas]

i've got to say i've almost always used coated heads. i feel it stick"grips" better when i hit it on a coated. sori if this makes no sense.

I know exactly what you mean. me too

Denosha: Man, you only use clear heads on your snare? wow, doesn't that just blow your head off? guess a pinstripe would be a little bet warmer because of the oil inside but still... guess you don't play brushes much hey

I like my bass drums pretty open too. I'll put a blanket inside but only a small one really.
How do you guys tune you bass drum resonator heads? i like to have it loose and ringing sometimes and tight a shorter other times depends... how bout you guys?

 

[Denosha]

malmbas: Brushes? I don't even have a pair. Never tried them either. Not my genre of music.

Bass drum wise I'm using Remo Ebony Pinstripe on the batter side (yes, seems to be my favorite type of head doesn't it? ) tuned as low as possible. On the reso side is some yamaha head (not even sure what type it is). Basically got that cos I need the sound hole to be able to place my bass drum mic inside the drum itself. Tuning wise is it's somewhat higher than the batter side. For muting I've just got a towel inside. The way my bass drum is set up i don't really need much muffling at all.

 

[USADRUMMER]

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