Review: New Online Drum Lesson Course

Here is where you can post your info on hardware for our new project only. Thanks!!

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DRUM.NET ROCKS

Here is a comparison chart for heads.

Sorry it's so big. I put similar heads next to each other and tried to go from thinnest to thickest in the each section.

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I got three kits. Maple, birch, and ash. Shell material don't matter that much.

The legs of you stands come in 2 main forms, double and single braced. Double is more heavy duty, and more costly. Single is more economic, however it is not as stable, and prone to movement, especially bad if you have a lot of multi clamps on the stand.



In Pearl style mounts there are 2 major choices in the tom arm, omni ball or ratchets. The ratchet will hold more securely, but it will not reach every angle. the Omni ball will reach every angle, but it is more prone to movement, and can easily slip if you push hard on the drum. In post mounting, as used by DW, TAMA, and other companies, the only choice is an omni-sphere mount.

The same is true for cymbal tilters, as the new design by TAMA allows infinite angles, while the old design with a ratchet inside only allowed angles in specified increments.



Memory locks can be useful, and pointless. They are great on tom mounts, and the post that goes into the bass drum, because those are prone to slipping (in my experience) however memory locks at every joint can create havoc because in order to fully use them and collapse the stand, you must disassemble the stand, and with more than 1 stand, the tubes are easily mixed up, forcing you to use a separate bag for each stand, which takes up a lot of space.
Tube Diameters


The larger diameter tubes are more stable, but heavier, and cost more. thinner tubes are less stable, but cheaper and lighter weight.

Knurled or not?

Non knurled parts (except for the tubes that go into the base) rely on the use of memory locks to prevent slipping. They don't grip on the part that they are suppose to, and can slip easily. Knurled parts grip better, and are less prone to movement.

^that is also in the drums thread, word for word. I though it was just one thread that was becoming the whole thing, not 3+

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I play drums on a drum set!

Official Thread-Jacker

Real quick hits:

Racks: Separates the hand config and feet config into 2 hemispheres if you will. Setup limitations are gotten around. For example, 2 objects can't occupy the same space. Without the rack, you have to decide "well am I gonna put that cymbal here or the kick here". The rack solves that problem.

Rounded racks are considered more visibly appealing, I can't tell you the difference myself, and they reportedly break down further and/or more easily. One problem, the clamps for the toms are known to slip and rotate around the cross bar.

Squared racks are considered less visually appealing but do not have this problem. Some older squared racks do not break down at all but a lot of the newer ones do. Also the old drawback to no height adjustability on squared racks has been addressed by Pearl's ICON series of racks which are available in straight and curved tubings.

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Tri-flanged rims are made of 2.3 mm steel and tend to have a natural chime of their own which is known to excite the outer inch of a drum head which increases overtones. Many drummers overcompensate for this by muffling and choking their drums to death. The sweet spot feel of a tri-flanged hoop has a great deal of give to it.

Die cast rims are usually made of zinc and have a much more neutral sound of their own. This results in a dampening of the overtones by a more natural means and eliminates a great deal of the need for muffling. The sweet spot feel of a head under a die cast rim offers much more rebound and has a firmer feel to it.

New revision attached. Feedback please. Again, I'm not worried about the aesthetics until I get the data correct.

I'm trying to keep similar heads in the same row. Should the J1's go down in the Natural section? They don't match anything else really.

What next? Off to start writing about tuning I guess.

Attached Images

heads r1.pdf (17.0 KB, 151 views)

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I got three kits. Maple, birch, and ash. Shell material don't matter that much.

yea, but I don't think Evans makes 22" ec2 heads, or that its recommended to use a head called resonant for a batter head.

__________________
I play drums on a drum set!

Official Thread-Jacker

Anyone else have recommendations for the head spread sheet?

I was listing all possible uses for each head. True, most people don't use a head that says resonant for a batter but the genera resonant is the same thickness as an ambassador...... I was thinking it was possible as a use.

I'll check on the size offerings as well. Honestly I don't trust the sites size listings 100% because I used to use a head that Remo's site doesn't list. 14" Powerstroke 3. Maybe they discontinued it.

Someone tell me what to do with this spread sheet please.

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I got three kits. Maple, birch, and ash. Shell material don't matter that much.

The chart looks great. I might be done tomorrow if I get to work. Also they still make 14" powerskroke 3's. clear ps3 and coated ps3

__________________
TO WRITE LOVE ON HER ARMS

R.I.P. John Beatz

I like the chart layout personally. The only thing I see missing is a Hazy Ambassador under Remo Snare Resonant.

The Hazy Ambassador® heads are medium-weight heads made with a single-ply 3-mil Mylar® film to produce an open, bright, and resonant sound with plenty of attack. Hazy Ambassador® heads accentuate snare drum response and give a classic look to snare drums.

And Remo's site does list the Powerstroke 3 14" in both Clear and Coated.

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Albums I'm listening to non-stop these days:

Opeth - Ghost Reveries
King Crimson - Red
Primus - Fizzle Fry
Nile - Icthyphalic
New Model Army - Thunder and Consolation

Have you tried consulting the Aquarian drumhead comparison chart? I looks like it could be pretty helpful. Then again, I can't see your revised copy of the chart.

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"If being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do and in my art or music, then in that respect you can call me that ... I believe in what I do, and I'll say it."
-John Lennon

I'm sorry, post 12 has the latest copy. Should be an attachment (way easier than hosting and lets the page load faster). I promise there's not a virus in there or something.

Belac, I figured they still made the ps3 snare heads but Remo doesn't list them and I was trying to stick with info directly from the manufacturers web site... I guess I'll add those.

Enomai, I don't know where you see them but I still don't. It doesn't matter, adding them anyway. I looked under every heading I could think of on their stupid ΦΦΦ web site and found no 14"s. Found Clear 16-26 or so and coated 18-26 or so but no snare sizes. I'll also add the Hazy ambassador.

Ludwig, that chart will help me and belac could use the upper part of the page as a link or reference. aquarian comp chart and tips for selection

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I got three kits. Maple, birch, and ash. Shell material don't matter that much.

Well, I think my chart is more correct than the Aquarian chart really but here's the new rough draft. I did some formatting on the first page to give an idea of a possible finished look. I can make it pretty or the mods can mess with it, doesn't matter to me. I was going to put that same look on the other pages but I thought I'd get some feedback before I spent that time. I also added the ps3 snare heads and the hazy ambassador. I took away all of the thin heads (diplomat, resonant, hi freq) from the batter pages as well. No one uses those for batters do they?

Let me know. I won't get done with pedals today but I hope to get a good start if I can get my real work out of the way.

Attached Images

heads r2.pdf (16.7 KB, 122 views)

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I got three kits. Maple, birch, and ash. Shell material don't matter that much.

Quick and dirty pedal rough draft. I'm going to take a bunch of pics to illustrate the terminology. I need to find a diagram that lists what all of the parts are called. I have no idea what to call some of them. Off to the other forums to....um....brainstorm.

As usual, let me know what to change or save as, edit and repost. Like I said, that took 15 minutes and I'm sure when I read it again I'll make a ton of changes. Just wanted to get a start on it.

Attached Files

Bass Drum Pedal Basics.doc (27.5 KB, 148 views)

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I got three kits. Maple, birch, and ash. Shell material don't matter that much.

After you go throught the sizer feature or whatever they call it, you have to click on tom/snare to get the additional sizes, it looks greyed out but it's not. And the hazy ambassador's are on the same page as the clear ambassadors. It's dumb as hell but it's there.

BTW, I have practice tonight but when I get back I'm going to finish the suspension post, should that go in hardware or drums?

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Albums I'm listening to non-stop these days:

Opeth - Ghost Reveries
King Crimson - Red
Primus - Fizzle Fry
Nile - Icthyphalic
New Model Army - Thunder and Consolation

This thing:

http://www.remo.com/portal/products/...cts/index.html

And yes it sucks.

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Albums I'm listening to non-stop these days:

Opeth - Ghost Reveries
King Crimson - Red
Primus - Fizzle Fry
Nile - Icthyphalic
New Model Army - Thunder and Consolation

Ok here it is. It's not done yet, but it is super close. Any suggestions.

SINGLE PLY drumheads:
These are the type of heads usually installed from the factory on most good quality drumsets and are made with one ply. Ex. (Evans G1, Remo Ambassador, Aquarian Classic Clear)
Tone quality: Crisp stick contact sound, brighter sound with more overtones.
Volume: Thinner heads are louder, because it is not "muted" in any way and lets the head show it's full potential and open up.
Overtone's: Thiner heads contain higher overtones, which give them a crisp, more cutting sound.
Sustain/Decay: Single ply heads have the most sustain of any drumhead type because of how thin the head it it is allowed to resonate more.
Tuning Characteristics: Thinner heads are more difficult to tune to very low pitches, but with proper tuning they can hold a lower pitch pretty well, and still have the added benefits of loudness, crisp stick attack and fast response can be achieved.
Durability: The biggest down side to single ply heads is that they are the least durable of heads, being easily dented or broken if played excessively hard or with heavy drumsticks. .


DOUBLE PLY drumheads:
These are the heads that many drummers upgrade their batter heads to get a more "low end" sound with less overtones and a shorter sustain. . Double ply heads are more durable than single ply heads and they have become the standard batter head for most styles of music where a powerful, punchy, lower pitched sound is desired. (Ex. Evans G2, Remo Emperor, Aquarian Resonce 2)
Tone quality: Double ply heads have slower stick response than single ply heads and will have less sensitivity which will result in a more "mellow" sound.
Volume: Thicker double ply heads have a bit less volume than single ply heads because they have less stick contact sound.
Overtone's: Thicker double-ply heads tend to sound lower than single ply heads, not because they are tuned lower, but because they have less high overtones and the left-over low overtones are what is heard most.
Sustain/Decay: Thicker double ply heads have slightly less sustain than single ply heads, because the higher pitched overtones are absorbed by the two plies of the head.
Tuning Characteristics: Thicker double-ply heads are easier to tune to low pitches because they are slightly stiffer than single ply heads and will result in a lower, less responsive sound.
Durability: Double ply heads are the drum head for heavy hiters. Double ply heads are the normal heads for any kind of Rock or Metal because of their added durability.


DOUBLE PLY MUTED drumheads:
These heads are just like double ply heads, but have a muffle ring on them which makes it sound even more "muted". Ex. (Evans EC2, RemoPinstripe, Aquarian Performance 2)
Tone quality: Less high overtones and less sustain than "open" double ply heads
Volume: Self muted heads have less volume than "open" heads, since the high overtones are absorbed by the internal muffiling ring.
Overtone's: Self muting heads reduce many of the higher overtones, making it seem to have a lower sound since the higher overtone's are muted, leaving only the lower overtones.
Sustain/Decay: Since the high overtones are muted, the internal muffiling ring acts as a "damper", the sustain and decay of this head is very short.
Tuning Characteristics: Self muting heads are fairly easy to get sounding low, fat and punchy, without any high overtones.
Durability: About the same as un-muted heads.

Coated
Coated heads will have a warmer and more mellow tone with a slightly dryer more focused attack. These types of heads will have a more "muted" sound compared to clear heads and stick feel and sustain are reduced slightly.

Clear
Clear heads are bright with overtones having a brighter attack and will be slightly louder than coated heads. Stick feel and resonence are also increased from coated heads.

EBONY
Ebony heads are no different than your average single or double ply head they are just colored black and are usually used as reso's.

BATTER HEAD
The batter head controls the feel of the hit, pitch, sound of the stick slap, and overtones. When the drum is hit, the ear mostly hears the attack of the drum. Overtones emitted by the batter head are washed out at a distance, but help in the overall projection.

RESO HEAD
The resonant head is often underestimated for its contribution to the tone and is responsible for controlling the pitch. The resonant head produces “resonance” and aids in sustain, it has a major effect in the overtones and generally you do not use anything other than single ply on the bottom, but there are exceptions.

HAZY HEADS
Hazy heads are generally both "bright" and have a stronger "midrange presence" to the sound.

GLASS HEADS
No they are not made of real glass. Glass heads are both brighter and drier than Hazy or other pigmented heads and are almost always reso heads.

SNARE DRUM BATTER
Snare drum batter heads are usually always coated, but again there are exceptions. You can use any type of head, but most prefer heads specalty heads made for snare drums. (Ex. Remo Emperor X or Evans ST Dry). These types of heads are generally thicker than your average two ply head which will decrease high overtones and annoying ring while still keeping a good tone.

SNARE SIDE HEAD
Snare side heads are specifically designed to be thinner and should be the only style of head used on the snare drums reso. Thin heads enhance sensitivity and are brighter. The most common weight is a 300 weight.

To Port or Not to Port
Bass drum reso heads can either be ported or left alone. These are the basic concepts:

* Basically If you are going to port any hole larger than 7” is like having no head at all on the drum.
* A 4" or 6” hole, or even 2 holes 4" or 6", offset, allows some rebound control of the kick beater, contains more of the drums resonance so that the resonant head is more pronounced in the tuning of the drum.
* No hole, very resonant, creates more bounce from the kick beater. It can become difficult to get the slap of the beater and resonance of the drum both when miced with one microphone. The resonant head is very predominant in the overall sound.

WHY DRUMMERS GET PORT HOLE'S
*It looks cool.
*They do not like the feel of the beater on the batter head surface, it bounces to much.
*They need to mic the drum .
*They want more projection without using a mic.

Tip. To get more resonance get the drum up off the floor as much as possible.

Also if someone wants to change anything go ahead.

__________________
TO WRITE LOVE ON HER ARMS

R.I.P. John Beatz

Awesome write up belac. Well organized and easy to read. There were a few spelling errors so I thought I'd repost it with a few minor changes. I'm not sure about the need for ebony (that's a brand name designation) hazy, glass etc. Those are all brand specific heads. Personally I would leave them out but I left them in for this. I guess my thinking was that if you are going to cover all of the odd ball heads you might as well cover all of them (suede, J1’s, etc). I put batter and reso at the top of that section so that ebony, hazy, and glass are in the same section. Hazy and glass only apply to snare side resonant heads……….Again, brand specific designations. I say take out ebony, hazy and glass altogether. JMO though.

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SINGLE PLY drum heads:
These are the type of heads usually installed from the factory on most good quality drum sets and are made with one ply. Ex. (Evans G1, Remo Ambassador, Aquarian Classic Clear)
Tone quality: Crisp stick contact sound, brighter sound with more overtones.
Volume: Thinner heads are louder, because it is not "muted" in any way and lets the head show its full potential and open up.
Overtones: Thinner heads contain higher overtones, which give them a crisp, more cutting sound.
Sustain/Decay: Single ply heads have the most sustain of any drumhead type. The thinness of the head allows it to move more freely which increases resonance.
Tuning Characteristics: Thinner heads are more difficult to tune to very low pitches, but with proper tuning they can hold a lower pitch pretty well, and still have the added benefits of loudness, crisp stick attack and fast response can be achieved.
Durability: The biggest down side to single ply heads is that they are the least durable of heads, being easily dented or broken if played excessively hard or with heavy drumsticks. .


DOUBLE PLY drum heads:
These are the heads that many drummers upgrade their batter heads to get a more "low end" sound with less overtones and a shorter sustain. Double ply heads are more durable than single ply heads and they have become the standard batter head for most styles of music where a powerful, punchy, lower pitched sound is desired. (Ex. Evans G2, Remo Emperor, Aquarian Response 2)
Tone quality: Double ply heads have slower stick response than single ply heads and will have less sensitivity which will result in a more "mellow" sound and a more focused tone.
Volume: Thicker double ply heads have a bit less volume than single ply heads because they have less stick contact sound.
Overtones: Thicker double-ply heads tend to sound lower pitched than single ply heads, not because they are tuned lower, but because they have less high overtones and the left-over low overtones are heard most.
Sustain/Decay: Thicker double ply heads have slightly less sustain than single ply heads, because the higher pitched overtones are absorbed by the two plies of the head.
Tuning Characteristics: Thicker double-ply heads are easier to tune to low pitches because they are slightly stiffer than single ply heads and will result in a lower pitched, less responsive sound.
Durability: Double ply heads are the drum head for heavy hitters. Double ply heads are the normal heads for any kind of Rock or Metal because of their added durability.


DOUBLE PLY MUTED drum heads:
These heads are just like double ply heads, but have a muffle ring or sealed edges which makes it sound even more muted than “open” double ply heads. Ex. (Evans EC2, Remo Pinstripe, Aquarian Performance 2)
Tone quality: Less high overtones and less sustain than "open" double ply heads. The tone is also more focused than “open” double ply heads.
Volume: Self muted heads have slightly less volume than "open" heads, since the high overtones are absorbed by the internal muffling ring or sealed edges.
Overtones: Self muting heads reduce many of the higher overtones, making it seem to have a lower pitched sound since the higher overtones are muted, leaving only the lower overtones.
Sustain/Decay: The internal muffling ring acts as a "damper", the sustain and decay of this head is very short.
Tuning Characteristics: Self muting heads are fairly easy to get a low, fat and punchy, sound without any high overtones.
Durability: About the same as un-muted two ply heads.

BATTER HEAD
The batter head controls the feel of the hit, pitch, sound of the stick slap, and overtones. When the drum is hit, the ear mostly hears the attack of the drum. Overtones emitted by the batter head are washed out at a distance, but help in the overall projection.

RESONANT HEAD
The resonant head is often underestimated for its contribution to the tone and is responsible for controlling the pitch. The resonant head helps produce the resonance and aids in sustain. It has a major effect in the overtones. Many drummers do not use anything other than single ply on the bottom, but there are exceptions.

Coated
Coated heads will have a warmer and more mellow tone with a slightly dryer more focused attack. These types of heads will have a more "muted" and papery sound compared to clear heads and stick feel and sustain are reduced slightly.

Clear
Clear heads are bright with overtones having a brighter attack and will be slightly louder than coated heads. Stick feel and resonance are also increased from coated heads. THEY ARE? REALLY? ARGUABLE.

EBONY
Ebony heads are no different than your average single or double ply head they are just colored black and are usually used as resonant heads.

HAZY HEADS
Hazy heads are generally both "bright" and have a stronger "midrange presence" to the sound.

GLASS HEADS
No they are not made of real glass. Glass heads are both brighter and drier than Hazy or other pigmented heads and are almost always resonant heads.

SNARE DRUM BATTER
Snare drum batter heads are usually always coated, but again there are exceptions. You can use any type of head, but most prefer heads specialty heads made for snare drums. (Ex. Remo Emperor X or Evans ST Dry). These types of heads are generally thicker than your average two ply head which will decrease high overtones and annoying ring while still keeping a good tone.

SNARE SIDE HEAD
Snare side heads are specifically designed to be thinner and should be the only style of head used on the snare drums resonant. Thin heads enhance sensitivity and are brighter. The most common weight is 3 mil.

To Port or Not to Port
Bass drum resonant heads can either be ported or left alone. These are the basic concepts:

* Basically If you are going to port any hole larger than 7” is like having no head at all on the drum.
* A 4" or 6” hole, or even 2 holes 4" or 6", offset, allows some rebound control of the kick beater, contains more of the drums resonance so that the resonant head is more pronounced in the tuning of the drum.
* No hole, very resonant, creates more bounce from the kick beater. It can become difficult to get the slap of the beater and resonance of the drum both when mic’ed with one microphone. The resonant head is very predominant in the overall sound.

WHY DRUMMERS GET PORT HOLES
*It looks cool.
*They do not like the feel of the beater on the batter head surface, it bounces too much.
*They need to mic the drum from the front with less sound form the resonant head.
*They want more projection when not using a mic.

Tip. To get more resonance get the drum up off the floor as much as possible.

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I got three kits. Maple, birch, and ash. Shell material don't matter that much.

Thanks, I'm a horrible speller and it does make more sense to take out ebony, glass, and hazy so I'll take those out before I post the finished product. I still need to do bass drum heads, and do you think I should do the natural heads like you put in your chart?

__________________
TO WRITE LOVE ON HER ARMS

R.I.P. John Beatz

I'm not sure if Fiberskyns should be included. They are used even less than ebonys so I'd have to say no. I'm not sure you even need to do bass drum heads. You covered the differences between 1 ply, 2 ply, pinstripe-esque, clear and coated and that covers 90% of the questions. I'm not sure what you would even say about bass drum heads that isn't already covered. Def no natural heads though.

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I got three kits. Maple, birch, and ash. Shell material don't matter that much.

Sweet less work. How are you coming along with the bass drum pedals? Are you going to describe the difference between strap drive, off-set cam, centered cam and so on?

__________________
TO WRITE LOVE ON HER ARMS

R.I.P. John Beatz