Tuning 18" floor tom - Thunder or Thud

nerdywhiteboy

nerdywhiteboy

Member
I am trying to make this drum fit in to the mix so I use it more. The thing is tuned quite low, and sounds good, but it resonates quite a bit. Generally I like resonant drums, but when I go to this one, I am looking for more of a Thud. The 16" is plenty deep for normal tom fills and such, so the 18 is kinda left for special times.
I would like to get some opinions on this, and if anyone else feels the same way how do/did you combat it?
right now it has a coated batter head on it (came with it), the rest of the set has G2's. I'm not about to stuff a pillow in it, and I really don't want tape/moon gel on it. Maybe just detune a couple lugs?
Is it taboo to use say a EC2 or some kind of damped head on just one drum?
 
I put a coated emperor on my 18 and a ½ inch square of moon gel. If it resonates too much for your tastes dampening is truly the easiest way. Why don't you want to put any tape or moon gel on it?
 
I don't know, I guess it just seems like cheating. Plus I don't like the look much (even though I have tape on my snare!). What do you use for a reso head?
 
If I had an 18" x 16" floor tom, I would tune it to sound thounderous. I love a lot of resonance from my drums, again it's all in the tuning. You mention it already has coated heads on the batter side, is a 2 ply coated? If you don't like it's sound, the quick and easy way would be to use a square of Moongel. If you really want to keep the resonance and sustain to a minimum, EC2 or EC2 coated heads will probably do it with the proper tuning of course. What kind of resonant head is on it?

Dennis
 
Have you tried to listen to it with someone else playing your set? It may not be resonating as much as you think. The larger floor toms don't really project as much as smaller toms. They just sound that way when you play them. I love my 18 and I dont use any tape or moon gel. Everyone is different though.
 
I use a clear ambassador on the reso side of my 18 FT. I think the advice of listening to the drum from out front is good. I am always amazed at how my kit sounds from out front as opposed to on top of it and how it changes from room to room.
 
The reso is the factory Mapex single ply. I guess listening to from a distance is a good point, though I don't play for anyone but myself. I don't think my kids care if it has sustain or not lol! I think the batter head is a Weatherking coated (that would be 2-ply, right?).
I'm gonna play with the tuning tonight, maybe go lower with the reso head and see what happens.
I guess the reason is it is a little hard to get to, so if I make the effort to do some kind of fill over there, a little more staccato would be nice.
 
18"s really struggle to cut through a mix when tuned low. John Bonham is the only one I have ever heard that made an 18" sound good. For a fairly decent replication of his sound, try tuning your batter to an open A note on a bass guitar. Then tune your reso to the same as the batter. Next, crank the reso anywhere from a complete turn and a half to two full turns per lug higher than where you had it. See how that sounds to you. I would stick with Emperors or G2s as batter heads rather than going with EC's or rings, etc. Anywhere from a full rectangle or a half of moongel may be needed to kill overtones, depending on your acoustics. The reason I like moongel over dampened batter heads, is that you can always customize it to your acoustic environment.
 
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nerdywhiteboy said:
The reso is the factory Mapex single ply. I guess listening to from a distance is a good point, though I don't play for anyone but myself. I don't think my kids care if it has sustain or not lol! I think the batter head is a Weatherking coated (that would be 2-ply, right?).
I'm gonna play with the tuning tonight, maybe go lower with the reso head and see what happens.
I guess the reason is it is a little hard to get to, so if I make the effort to do some kind of fill over there, a little more staccato would be nice.
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Actually "Weatherking" is just a name for the coating on the head. If it's 2-ply it should Emperor on it. You may want to try a 2-ply head on the reso as well. I've read (on this forum) that it helps to tame larger drums 16" and up.
 
Strangelove said:
18"s really struggle to cut through a mix when tuned low. John Bonham is the only one I have ever heard that made an 18" sound good. .
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Now that statement is a little west of sanity!

The best way to find out is to hear it from a few feet away like others have said.

Tune the drum to where it sounds good to you with the other drums.
A piece of tape or moon gel to tame down a head a bit is NOT "cheating".

You just do what you need to get the drum to sound the way you want--who gives a crap.

So, what? You're at a big gig and a drum is ringing too much what are you going to do? "Oh, I won't put anything on the heads because someone might think I can't tune?" No, you put a piece of tape on it or whatever and do the job.

The next head you put on it will react differently anyway, and you might not need any dampening on that drum.

I use single ply coated heads, with either clear single ply or smooth white reso heads.
The smooth white heads have less of the highs in the resonance on my drums (which are Ludwig Classic Maple). They give a fat tone, and I can adjust the length of the 'note' by going tighter or looser on the bottom head tension.
Maybe try one of those on a tom and see if you like it. It had the same basic sound as the clear, (maybe a little fatter) but it seems like a more even sound in tone of the drum.

I carry cut up pieces of Moon Gel with me in my case if I need it at a gig, but at home I just let the drums ring as they may.

Have fun with your 18!
 
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I have a Gibraltar tom kit, sitting on my porch, from UPS, to make a small bass drum. I wish I had that 18 lol. I'm using my 16 inch Catalina Maple for the bass.
 
GRUNTERSDAD said:
I have a Gibraltar tom kit, sitting on my porch, from UPS, to make a small bass drum. I wish I had that 18 lol. I'm using my 16 inch Catalina Maple for the bass.
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DUDE! Is that the Dunnet kit? Haha I am ordering one tomorrow! Can I ask how much and were? The cheapest I found was 69.99 w/free shipping. Sorry to go off topic here.
 
You want it to blend with your 16, if your 16 has a G2 on batter, put a G2 on it. I would put a clear 2 ply on the bottom head and crank it up!
 
Strangelove said:
Let's not get personal, ace. This stuff is not that important, just personal opinions - nothing to get worked up about.
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Hahahaha! Nice retort! hahahaha! I needed a good laugh today, thanks!

Holy Cow!! How can you say tape on a drum head is not important??!!! :p!!!
It's gotta be the most debated thing in drumland!!

You're in a nice "location" I might add.....

Have a good day everyone!
 
KarlCrafton said:
Hahahaha! Nice retort! hahahaha! I needed a good laugh today, thanks!

Holy Cow!! How can you say tape on a drum head is not important??!!! :p!!!
It's gotta be the most debated thing in drumland!!

You're in a nice "location" I might add.....
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I didn't even address tape on a drumhead - only moongel. I personally like it better than muffled heads because it provides more versatility, I don't care what anybody says about it.
 
I'm currently using EC2s on all my toms, and man do they sound fantastic. They really focus the sound of the drums without losing any tone from them. I'd suggest slapping one of them on your 18" and tune it low.
 
I really would like to try the EC2's, but right now money dictated that I give in and try the tape :)

Little square on top, little one on bottom, and that's all it took. Now it still has a nice deep tone, and a short sustain. Thanks for the advice!
 
Strangelove said:
I didn't even address tape on a drumhead - only moongel. I personally like it better than muffled heads because it provides more versatility, I don't care what anybody says about it.
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Hmmm....maybe you didn't get that I was joking on the whole issue....
I said (basically) in my first post "do whatever gets a drum to sound the way you want, and who gives a crap what anyone else thinks", but whatever, I guess the humor was lost in the other posting.

:p or, ppppfffttt is usually taken as something said "tounge in cheek".

I like the Moon Gel too. I'll use a small slice (maybe a 1/4" of a slice off the square) and place it wherever it kills the higher register over ring, but keeps the resonance of the shell.
That small amount works great when mic's are used.
For un-mic'd gigs I just let the snare go free.

I tried a small piece of Moongel on my 18 the other day and it seemed to sound the same (very resonant) just a bit more contained.

I liked it, so I might use some at my next show depending on how the room sounds. It's kind of a dead stage, so I usually don't have to use any muffling and they can run everything open and get a real nice resonant natural sound without gates or compression.
 
RollingStone000 said:
Actually "Weatherking" is just a name for the coating on the head. If it's 2-ply it should Emperor on it. You may want to try a 2-ply head on the reso as well. I've read (on this forum) that it helps to tame larger drums 16" and up.
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Actually "Weatherking" refers to the Dupont mylar that should withstand varying climate changes better than calfskin heads ever would.
 
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