Newbie Questions

[guitarra]

Hey Guys. I am pretty new to drumming and I had a few questions. Please bear with me.

 

I just traded in some Bass gear and picked up a drum set on Sunday. I started today, and I didn't do too bad. I actually thought I did pretty good. I'm pretty excited.

 

I just wanted to know the following (for now, I know I'll probably have more questions later):

 

1. What is the difference in Drum Sticks?

 

2. What the difference between drum heads? (that is, your standard head, and a "Resonant Batter")

 

3. What exactly are drum mufflers for?

 

Like I said, I'm probably going to have alot more questions, but these are the ones that have come to me today.

 

Thanks in Advance Guys!!!

[not the average]

Sorry, no time to answer. But for your first question, check out this link: http://www.xs4all.nl/~marcz/Stix.html

 

Found that from the faq section of this site.

 

Have a good time drumming!

[guitarra]

Thanks!

[jaged05]

Drums sticks are totally a person feel kind of thing. Their are a lot of variables in drumsticks. Don't let them intimidate you. Go to your local shop and hold as many as you can. For now, all that matters is what's comfortable in your hands. Generally, thicker sticks will give you more volume and weight, while thinner sticks are lighter and easier to control. Longer sticks obviously gives you more reach, but shorter sticks feel quicker. Now there are more elements such as tip shape, and size and length of the taper (the part of the stick where it narrows down, just before the tip), but I'll leave you with this for now.

 

Drum heads have a lot to do with personal prefference too. There are 1 ply and 2 ply heads. 1 ply heads will give you the "fullest" sound, but will wear out much quicker, especially if you are a heavy hitter. Some examples are Remo Ambassador and Evans G1. 2 Ply heads provide much greater durability, and they "mute" the drums, depending on the head, can be a little or a lot (ex Remo Emporer or Evans G2 for lite muffling to Remo Pinstripes or Evans Hydraulics for heavy muffling) The Pinstripes and Hydraulics are 2 ply heads some form of a muffling device in them. The pinstripes' 2 plys are glued together at the edge, and you will see a spiderwebbing near the edges, on the outide of the stripe. The Hydraulics actually have oil in between the two plies. These heads are for use when people want to get rid of some of the overtones produced by drums. It will also make the sustain shorter. Now that may seem great, but be cautious, the hydro's and pinstripes can sound very dead after a short time, with almost no high frequncies and a very very short note. Once again, im sure you can go to your local shop, and hit a few drums with these heads on them and see what I mean. I think I kind of answered the drum muffler question already, but they do have external and internal mufflers for the sole purpose of reducing the overtones drums can produce. External examples are moongel pads (little blue rubber looking rectangles you just place ontop of your drumhead~ very cool) or plastic rings that go ontop of your heads (work very well, but you can control the amount of muffling by changing the position of the moongels, but cannot with the rings) Their are internal mufflers but unless you have an older kit, say 15 years or more, that doesn't apply. I hope this helps, and sorry it's so long. Oh yeah, resonant heads (the bottom heads) are 1 ply and typically clear, to allow the clearest and most open tone. Snare resonant heads are paper thin, to allow the sensitivity needed for the wires on the bottom to work. Tom resonant heads are like clear Remo Ambassadors, clear G1's or Evans Genera Resonants.

 

Jay

[guitarra]

Thanks Jay!!!