Newbie Question: Drum Head Choices?

[filthy]

What do you guys tend to use for setting up your skins on the main drum? On my regular sit-down kit I have always used coated Emperors (or equivalent 2-ply coated head) on the batter and clear/pinstripe Ambassadors on the resonant side, with the resonant tuned higher than the batter.

What works for a cocktail main drum? I know it depends on the shell and there is no hard and fast rule to anything, but I was thinking that my normal heavy batter/light-resonant-tuned-higher method won't work when the drum has 2 batter sides.

What are your experiences with 2-ply heads on both sides? I usually don't like single-ply batter heads, but do they work on the top of the drum as a bass-drum resonant/floor tom batter? What combinations have worked for you?

I am almost ready to assemble my main drum - a 16" Keller shell - once I pick-up my lugs and brackets this week. I am using a side snare, so my main drum will be bass/floor-tom, no snares on the top skin.

Thanks for your input/help.
R

[matthew medeiros]

Any head is always good!!! Actually, to be honest with you, from your post, it sounds like you got the head / sound question pretty much in control. My experiences, (which are by no means, exhaustive) are that 2 ply heads are a little bit more deadening/dampening than single ply heads. If you like to hit hard, then 2 ply heads are probably going to be good for you. I tend to like the remo, coated embassadors myself, as I tend to hit quite lightly, and I find that these style heads are good for a lot of different styles, as I tend to play a lot of divergent stlyes in a night; ie' anything from straight ahead rock to dance style numbers (Waltz, Polka, Tango, Forro') and I find the 2 ply or oil filled, etc, are too much biased towards rock, heavy metal sounds. I hope you get my drift on this

[Mr. Compactness]

I'm new to the cocktail drum world, but I already have learned first hand that drumhead choice is going to be a personal thing and it will take some experimenting.

I just got my Whitney Drums Sidekick Penguin (its own thread soon!) the other day and it came outfitted with an Aquarian Force II on the bottom with a 15" Studio Ring tucked under the muffling ring on the head. The top head was a Force I...good "out of the box" combination, but then again I asked for two bass drum heads. My only problem was I felt it had too much attack and still was too boomy (but not ringy) for my tastes. JT also supplied a Texture Coated for the top which is how he usually outfits these kits. I didn't care for that setup at all. Trying to get a good bass sound balance with a good top head floor tom sound was a balancing act and my balance sucks I learned anyway that I prefer a more thumpy percussive sound from this drum, top and bottom.

So based on recommendations here I ordered an Aquarian Performance II and I also ordered a coated Studio-X and coated Response II just to try out a few combos. Well Musicians Friend screwed up and didn't send me the Performance II. So I wound up putting the Response II (coated 2-ply head) on the bottom and the Coated Studio-X (coated single ply with a ring glued to the head) on top. Based on more suggestions, I got out the foam weatherstripping from last winter and put probably 8-10 pieces of varying sizes in different positions on each head..I honestly was just guessing but because with the Whitney I can play the top head when it's off the drum and ply the bottom head as well I had some idea of what the muffling was doing to the sound. I also threw a few handfulls of cotton balls in the drum for good measure.

So far, I really like it. Nice and punchy, warm and just a tad airy, from both the top and the bottom. The top has more attack and volume but that's to be expected.

Moral of the story is, before MF screwed up my order I thought I knew for sure what heads I was going to use. Honestly the Response II I bought just for the hell of it but didn't think I'd use it. But using that combination with some simple invisible muffling seems to do the trick. When the misplaced Performance II head comes in I don't think I'm going to be eager to change it.

[tikifreak]

The Aquarian Performance II is a great kick head for cocktail drums. I use one on my 16 x 16 kick/floor tom with a Remo Coated Pinstripe on top. Killer tone from both ends, with no extra dampening needed.

Remo is now making a coated Vintage Ambassador (Vintage A) head that is a two-ply. I am liking the sound of that head on my 12 inch Musashi snare. Could be great for toms, too.

-tikifreak
Dallas, TX

[Mr. Compactness]

I have to agree on the Performance II. Mine just came in today. It has more attack and punch than the setup I mentioned above. I actually took some weather stripping off the top head and threw in some cotton balls and I think it's near perfect now.

[halfcocked]

Billy Blast has some new drumheads that are great for cocktail kits. They have a built in damper ring on the bottom side, no other damping required. Used them on a couple of cocktail sets and there really good. Work great on normal drums too . No more tape or damper rings required.Many sizes available. Mesh heads and muffs also for triggers and silent practice.
http://www.billyblastdrums.com[/url]

[skidney]

On my Trixon kit I use Remo coated pinstripes on the batter heads other than the bottom of my main drum I use a Remo controll sound with a Remo Muffel. I use standard clear Remo Reso heads. I use stuff called foamies you can buy in the arts and crafts secton of Walmart for sound crontroll. They are thin foam pads that have an adheasive backing. A 50 pack of 4 inch by 6 inch foamies cost like 6 bucks so its a cheap solution and 1 pack will last you a LONG time.

Excuse my lack of spelling ability.