Floor tom sounds choked, do any of those leg attachments work?

Jasta 11

Well-known Member
I sometimes get a very choked sound from my floor tom. I was going to buy Booty Shaker or better yet the Pearl Air suspension feet. Do these things really work? I have a New evans G2 on it and at certain venues it sounds great, at others it sounds completely choked?
 
I would think if the drum sounds proper sometimes and others not then the difference you are hearing might have more to do with the acoustic listenIng space as long as the drum hasn’t changed.

frequencies below 200Hz are often greatly affected when there is a room dimension smaller than 20’.
 
Pearl Air Suspension feets.

I noticed a significant difference.

To test if the feet will solve the issue with your drums...get 3 sneakers and set each tom leg foot inside a corresponding sneaker. (While they are still attached to the floor tom of course) Then play your tom.

This will emulate what the air suspension feet do.
 
I've been using the Pearl Air Suspension Feet since they came out in the 90's. Have had them on all my kits including non- Pearl kits. Inexpensive and highly recommend! Three blocks of foam rubber, or, bubble wrap under the legs will work.
 
Pearl Air Suspension feets.

I noticed a significant difference.

Agreed! I also use the Pearl Floor Tom Air Suspension Feet on all my floor toms. They work!
 
The Pearl feet aren’t really ‘air suspension’ they just have an extended rubber arc which flexes more than the standard solid feet. Gibraltar make suspension feet too - longer rubber at the bottom, with a hole at the end to help it flex.

I have a Gretsch Cat Jazz kit and the 14 floor wasn’t producing a proper deep sound at low tunings. The Gibraltar feet fitted the wider Gretsch legs perfectly, and now the drum sounds huge. I actually wonder if everyone who thinks 14” floor toms sound weak just has the wrong rubber feet choking their sound.

A good way to test if this will help you is to place a cymbal felt under each foot. If that helps, get the softer feet. (Sounds like a drum have a Youtube clip demonstrating this).
 
I sometimes get a very choked sound from my floor tom. I was going to buy Booty Shaker or better yet the Pearl Air suspension feet. Do these things really work? I have a New evans G2 on it and at certain venues it sounds great, at others it sounds completely choked?

I have the Gauger floor tom leg isolators - they work well.

However - nothing changes the sound of a floor tom to me more than the room I'm in or the surface underneath it - but these little suspension feet are cool.
 

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I agree with dboomer. The low frequencies of a floor tom can undergo vast variations in registration from room to room. If you like the sound in one space but not in another, environment would seem to be the culprit. Tuning adjustments might be helpful.
 
+1 for the Pearl feet. The only kit I don't have them on is my Tama SCM as those are excellent.

Also, the different venues and the way their stages are built will greatly alter the sound.
 
wow guys, thank you for all of the replies! The choking is mostly when Im stuck in a corner and the floor tom is about 2 inches from the wall. i never really thought that that was making it choke. I always use a rubber mat when i play a Drum fire from on stage. it makes the uneven hardwood floors easier ti set up on and my bass never moves. Ill try the pearl air feet to see if they make a difference, the legs are actually pearl from 1985 and the rubber is ( and i think always was) kind of hard. it seems worth a shot. Thanks again guys!!
 
The Pearl feet work really well. I specified them on every kit we produced - for a reason.

Tuning & general room acoustics aside, proximity of surfaces, and the reflective nature / shape of those surfaces really impact the resolution of the longer low frequency waves. Walls for sure, & corners definitely, but also any other large structure such as instrument cabs.

Often ignored is how close the resonant head is to the floor. It's one reason why I prefer 14" deep floor toms. I find they consistently deliver the low frequency spectrum compared to 16" deep floor toms. If anyone doubts the floor proximity affect, try holding your floor tom by the hoop with one hand. Strike the head with a stick - let the drum ring out, then move it closer to the floor during the sustain, and hear it choke off as you do so.

Delivery is also more consistent with the floor tom on a drum rug at each gig. If nothing else, measures to improve consistency of the immediate surroundings of the floor tom enable you to tune for those surroundings.

Finally, adding mass such as a stick bag will reduce the resonating ability of the entire instrument, and that affect is amplified on lower mass floor tom designs.

Edit: Although likely not your specific issue, I thought it worth digging this old clip out. Good headphones essential.

 
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I like the Pearl feet too.
check the diameter of the floor tom legs. The Pearl feet fits the smaller diameter ones. 10mm I think.
I have squeezed in 12mm Gretsch legs. But they like to pop out or the rubber cracks.
 
The Pearl feet work really well. I specified them on every kit we produced - for a reason.

Tuning & general room acoustics aside, proximity of surfaces, and the reflective nature / shape of those surfaces really impact the resolution of the longer low frequency waves. Walls for sure, & corners definitely, but also any other large structure such as instrument cabs.

Often ignored is how close the resonant head is to the floor. It's one reason why I prefer 14" deep floor toms. I find they consistently deliver the low frequency spectrum compared to 16" deep floor toms. If anyone doubts the floor proximity affect, try holding your floor tom by the hoop with one hand. Strike the head with a stick - let the drum ring out, then move it closer to the floor during the sustain, and hear it choke off as you do so.

Delivery is also more consistent with the floor tom on a drum rug at each gig. If nothing else, measures to improve consistency of the immediate surroundings of the floor tom enable you to tune for those surroundings.

Finally, adding mass such as a stick bag will reduce the resonating ability of the entire instrument, and that affect is amplified on lower mass floor tom designs.

Edit: Although likely not your specific issue, I thought it worth digging this old clip out. Good headphones essential.

That Guru floor tom came alive without that stick bag. I cant believe it made more of a difference to that drum than the other, i would think the effect would be the same for each. I dont hang my stick bag on my tom anymore, I use a stick pouch type holder on my hi-hat and i place a stick on my bass drum or when my bags are piled with me I place one on top within easy reach. FWIW, i might as well order sticks online and wait for them to be delivered to my gig in the time it takes me to grab one. Im the worst when it comes to getting a new stick mid song.
If Guru specified them on each kit I'm sold, just like the wraps you guys had on EVERY kit......
 
That Guru floor tom came alive without that stick bag. I cant believe it made more of a difference to that drum than the other, i would think the effect would be the same for each. I dont hang my stick bag on my tom anymore, I use a stick pouch type holder on my hi-hat and i place a stick on my bass drum or when my bags are piled with me I place one on top within easy reach. FWIW, i might as well order sticks online and wait for them to be delivered to my gig in the time it takes me to grab one. Im the worst when it comes to getting a new stick mid song.
If Guru specified them on each kit I'm sold, just like the wraps you guys had on EVERY kit......
The Pearl feet just work, without question, but also bear in mind what I advised on proximity of stuff.

As for wraps - yes - and all miraculously without a visible seam ;)
 
Pearl Air Suspension feets.

I noticed a significant difference.

To test if the feet will solve the issue with your drums...get 3 sneakers and set each tom leg foot inside a corresponding sneaker. (While they are still attached to the floor tom of course) Then play your tom.

This will emulate what the air suspension feet do.

Agreed on all counts. I got some for a floor tom I was having "issues" with. It sounded wonderful when I held it by the rim and struck it, and also on my carpeted floor, but as soon as I put it on a hard floor, like the venue stages I was playing on, it sounded much less lively. I tried tuning to the room to no avail. I got a set of the feet and did an A/B test at my next gig...oh my gosh, it was a HUGE difference!
 
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