Bass drum muffling - advice please

muso7

Member
Hi all
I am sure the topic of bass drum muffling has come up a thousand times already but I would love your thoughts regarding my bass drum dilemma:-
I have a 6-piece Premier Genista with 22" bass - I play in a big band and also a cover band (rock/pop) so the 22" is absolutely perfect and I have no muffling other than PS3 and Evans resonant heads.
However, I am now playing in a couple small 4-5 piece jazz combos and my bass drum is too much - need to reduce resonance and volume.
(OK - I hear you say "well play a bit lighter then" - well I am not a heavy player but would love the comfort of not having to back off on the bass drum for an entire gig)
So basically, I want to know if there's an effective way of reducing the "volume" of the 22" without my having to keep swapping heads etc...
e.g. would the Emad batter with removable muffle ring be enough in your opinions?

Any advice thoughts extremely appreciated.

Cheers
Pete
P.S. If you are wondering about the fact that I own a Gretsch Cat Club jazz kit (below) - I have to sell it as I am totally out of room at home
 
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I have an EMAD on my 22" Renown. It doesn't affect volume so much as it changes the timbre and duration of the note. When I want to control volume, I change to heel-down and play at the intensity that's appropriate.
 
+2 on beater and heel down.
but also consider getting a used 18 or 20 bass drum. Doesn't take up much room.
 
A 2 ply batter head would help, especially an Evans EMAD. I recently picked up the Evans Heavyweight batter head which is 2 10 plies or in other words, very thick. I also have the thick foam ring equipped and an Evans nylon eq patch. You may also want to try stuffing your bass drum with a small bed sheet or an Evans eq pad. A felt beater would help too however that may diminish the punch. You may also want to try covering the front end of your bass drum with a thick blanket so that it hangs over your resonant head, I've been using that method for recording and it's one of the most effective ways to get a good dampened sound.
 
My bass drum has the Emad Onyx (single ply, 10mil), an unported reso, and the only muffling I use is the Emad ring.

I like some boom to the bass drum; I feel it fills out the bottom end of the sonic palette, if that makes any sense. I'm playing mostly classic rock stuff.

The other thing to bear in mind is that how your drums sound out front will not be the same as what you hear from the driving seat.
 
I remember a product called a "dogbone" years ago. It was basically a dogbone-shaped pillow, that fit in between your pedal posts and the head. It was applying muffling to the outside of the drum on the batter head. Maybe something like that will give you enough muffling without having to resort to changing heads depending on what you want to do. Seems like a logical choice.

You could probably make one yourself with one of those sitting-up neck pillows filled up with beans instead of foam so it has some weight?
 
Rolled up towel placed between pedal and head.
 
One thing I would recommend against in this instance is the Evans EQ Pad.

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They're quite unlike a pillow in that they jump off the head with the blow, and spring back on to it to mute it shortly thereafter. I've used these in my cheap poplar practice kit, because allows the BD to produce it's full tone and volume, and then mutes the head to shorten the notes duration and kill unruly lingering overtones. They're highly adjustable (two sizes and dampening tension is set by adjusting depth on velcro strips).

I imagine that this would be highly desirable in a number of situations, just not yours.
 
I got this idea from Michael Myley drummer for Rival Sons. I tried it and I love it. Instead of a 4 in felt strip use a strip of a towel on both heads.
 
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