It's All in Your Head, Part 2: A Guide to Choosing Drumheads That Are Right for You
by Vic Salazar
In part one of my article about drumheads, I shared details about the number of plies in drumheads and how they affect their durability and sound. This week, I'll cover three additional elements of drumheads: muffling, coatings, and bottom heads.
<u>Pre-Muffled or Wide-Open Drumheads
</u>Drumheads now exist with built-in muffling to reduce unwanted overtones, which is achieved is by applying a ring of material like Mylar to the drumhead's top or underside. Evans, a leading creator of drumheads, offers a version with tiny-sized holes or vents along the perimeter that dampen overtones by moving air through the membrane. Evans also offers a unique drumhead that employs a thin layer of oil between the 2 plies of their Hydraulic series to achieve a muffled tone.
Keep in mind that these pre-muffled drumheads don t change the pitch of the drum when it's tuned: they only get rid of unwanted extra frequencies. Pre-muffled heads can also help to remove the need for other means of muffling, like gaffer tape.
<u>Clear or Coated Drumheads
</u>Coated heads are spray-painted clear heads. While clear heads have more sustain than coated drumheads, coated drumheads have a sharper attack that accentuates the sound of the stick striking the drumhead surface (this is the top reason why drummers traditionally use a coated drumhead on their snare drum).
If you're playing with brushes, you definitely need to use a coated drumhead for brush response. A coated head also has a more dampened tone than a clear drumhead - which makes sense since a coated head has an extra layer of materiel applied to its surface.
<u>Resonant or Bottom/Front Head
</u>You get your pitch from the top or batter head and your sustain from the bottom drumhead, so you'd usually only have a single-ply head on the bottom side of your tom and snare and on the front of your bass drum.
Snare drum resonant drumheads are specifically built for the bottom side of your snare. They're ultra-thin and not intended to be struck. This thinness helps to increase vibration and sensitivity to your snare wires.
(FYI, never install a single-ply batter head on the bottom of your snare drum - unless you want it to sound like a choked cardboard box!)
Have questions about drumheads? Feel free to reach out. I'm always here to help!
<a href="http://www.vicsdrumshop.com/victor-salazar/">Vic Salazar</a> is the owner of <a href="http://www.vicsdrumshop.com/">Vic's Drum Shop</a>, an
internationally recognized drum and percussion emporium in Chicago, Illinois. The vast knowledge of drum gear that he's
gathered over his forty year career has made Vic a resource for
beginning drummers, drumming hobbyists, pro drummers, and many of the
world's top drum stars.
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New Unique Article!
Title: It's All in Your Head, Part 2: A Guide to Choosing Drumheads That Are Right for You
Author: Vic Salazar
Email: dirasu.749841.0@articlesamurai.com
Keywords: drums,drumming,drumheads,drum heads,remo,vic's drum shop,vic salazar
Word Count: 392
Category: Music
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