Fixing Plastic Sound of Bass Drum

pxavier

Senior Member
How do you tune a bass drum that has an almost thunder/clapping/slapping sound to it? In other words, how do you make it warmer without the sheet-metal effect of the reso hear? I have an overtone-controlled batter head, a factory reso head, and a pillow. And against which head do I place the pillow against?
 
What type of beater are you using? Is the head tuned loose or tight? As far as the pillow, I use them against both heads sometimes.
 
Usually you would have the pillow slightly touching the batter. My new kick drum was being a pain to get tuned even with a Emad which I've always had great results with on different kits. I had a logo made for the reso and didn't what a mic hole since I'm using an internal mic system. I went out and bought some synthetic felt for cheap and cut a 2"x26" strip placing it on the inside of the reso. Fantastic results without putting anything inside the drum for muffling.
 
It could just be that your batter head is too loose. What make of drum, diameter and head are you using?

Dennis
 
It's a 22 inch bass drum, felt beater, both heads tuned loose. I used Bob Gatzen's method, but it honestly does not work. I had a perfect sound at one point, but my curiosity got the best of me.
 
It's a 22 inch bass drum, felt beater, both heads tuned loose. I used Bob Gatzen's method, but it honestly does not work. I had a perfect sound at one point, but my curiosity got the best of me.

Tune 'em a shade tighter to loose that "thunder/clapping/slapping sound"

"Gatzen's method" not only works, but works well and has been in use for far far longer than Gatzen's youtube vid has been around. That many people can't be wrong.

Your curiosity getting the better of you, is a great thing IMHO. I feel too many guys don't experiment enough with their drums. If you've had it sounding perfect at one point, then at least you know a good sound is certainly achievable. Keep playing around until you find it again. Never be afraid to experiment mate. That's how you truely get to know what your drums are capable of.
 
Don't start a new thread to ask the same question, it's just bad form.

For a Bonham/Ringo kick sound you're ideally going to need a bigger bass drum. Keep an eye on ebay and your local CL for deals.

With what you're working with right now I'd go with a coated batter head and a single ply UNPORTED reso head, you're gonna lose some of that boom that you want. Tune both heads low, start at the just-above a wrinkle (JAW) tuning and give it a tap with a mallet or a bandana wrapped on a drum stick. Tune it up a little for more attack but like Pocket mentioned you'll lose boom with tighter tuning.

Also take that pillow out of there. Pillows are for sleeping not for drums. If you want to cut come of the overtones go for a coated head with the overtone ring like the Powerstroke. I have a coated Powerstroke 3 on my 24" kicker and that baby has enough boom for Rap concert.
 
Don't start a new thread to ask the same question, it's just bad form.

For a Bonham/Ringo kick sound you're ideally going to need a bigger bass drum. Keep an eye on ebay and your local CL for deals.

With what you're working with right now I'd go with a coated batter head and a single ply UNPORTED reso head, you're gonna lose some of that boom that you want. Tune both heads low, start at the just-above a wrinkle (JAW) tuning and give it a tap with a mallet or a bandana wrapped on a drum stick. Tune it up a little for more attack but like Pocket mentioned you'll lose boom with tighter tuning.

Also take that pillow out of there. Pillows are for sleeping not for drums. If you want to cut come of the overtones go for a coated head with the overtone ring like the Powerstroke. I have a coated Powerstroke 3 on my 24" kicker and that baby has enough boom for Rap concert.

Thanks man. I will purchase that head on my next paycheck. Sorry about the multiple threads, I'm sort of new to forums.
 
Tune 'em a shade tighter to loose that "thunder/clapping/slapping sound"

"Gatzen's method" not only works, but works well and has been in use for far far longer than Gatzen's youtube vid has been around. That many people can't be wrong.

Your curiosity getting the better of you, is a great thing IMHO. I feel too many guys don't experiment enough with their drums. If you've had it sounding perfect at one point, then at least you know a good sound is certainly achievable. Keep playing around until you find it again. Never be afraid to experiment mate. That's how you truely get to know what your drums are capable of.

Thanks for the positive note! It helps to have a little push when there's nothing pushing at all. I'll keep this in mind.
 
Ok, I'll utter the blasphemy - take the reso out of the equation. Remove it, get something
that sounds good with the batter, then put the reso back on and continue/finish.

If you're using a pillow or towel, it would go - slightly - against the inside of the batter.
 
Ok, I'll utter the blasphemy - take the reso out of the equation. Remove it, get something
that sounds good with the batter, then put the reso back on and continue/finish.

If you're using a pillow or towel, it would go - slightly - against the inside of the batter.

This is how I used to tune it, good idea.
So what i'm getting from this is that the pillow or dampener foes against the batter. I'll try that out. I'll let you guys know what works best. Keep the tips comin!
 
try not to put anything huge in it. Btw... it might sound clappy/slappy/plsaticlike to you, but up front you might only hear the boom and a little clap. try make your brother/father / someone play on it while you experiment with hearing it.

Where is it placed? In front of a wall? Try to make the resonant drum head face away from a wall.

That's about all i can give you at this point. As far as tuning, it doesn't really matter the much. I've heard drums that weren't tuned sound better than anything i could think of.
the tighter the less boom, the less clap. Find a midway-solution...
 
Tune the kick higher/tighter.. Loose heads will give you more click. I remember back in the day watching my dad's jazz"swing" band practice, also got to see his friends jazz bands as well.. They all used coated batter heads and tuned their kick high/tight. No click more boomy. I my self prefer click..lol
 
There is a remarkable difference between a well tuned drum and a poorly tuned one.

There is, but as far as getting a even sound on a bass drum is probably the hardest thing you can do. And you can't do it by yourself..
I really want someone play it soft, while messing with tuning the reso head..
The batter head is all right, but I think it is the hardest drum to tune..
I myself are having trouble with it, once in a while.
 
Tune the kick higher/tighter.. Loose heads will give you more click. I remember back in the day watching my dad's jazz"swing" band practice, also got to see his friends jazz bands as well.. They all used coated batter heads and tuned their kick high/tight. No click more boomy. I my self prefer click..lol

This sounds super favorable. I'm trying everything out today, so I'll keep you guys posted.

There is, but as far as getting a even sound on a bass drum is probably the hardest thing you can do. And you can't do it by yourself..
I really want someone play it soft, while messing with tuning the reso head..
The batter head is all right, but I think it is the hardest drum to tune..
I myself are having trouble with it, once in a while.

Just keep messin with it man, curiosity is always a good thing. Never stop trying. Who knows what sound you can come up with after all that experimenting.
 
From my humble experience, I've always found that a tight reso makes for a fuller, more round bass drum sound.

I tune my batter a bit higher than what's usual. Usually, to the point where pushing your hand in the middle of the head, you don't see any wrinkles.

And the reso side, higher than that, experimenting until it sounds good.

I never had good results with loose reso heads.

Cheers.
 
From my humble experience, I've always found that a tight reso makes for a fuller, more round bass drum sound.

I tune my batter a bit higher than what's usual. Usually, to the point where pushing your hand in the middle of the head, you don't see any wrinkles.

And the reso side, higher than that, experimenting until it sounds good.

I never had good results with loose reso heads.

Cheers.

Yup, worked for me, thanks!
 
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