ok, I don't mind admitting I am a drum retard, and when it comes to drum heads .....

..... I just get so confused and almost have a panic attack thinking about them

Of course I have been looking at new drum sets thinking I was going to improve my tone and playing enthusiasum, but when I took the crappy Hydraulic heads off my Pearl Export set last night and installed some older Remo single ply heads, TEH DRUMS CAME ALIVE AGAIN 1! !!1! ! ! WOW ! ! !

..... plus I bought one of those dial tuners to get my tuning closer since I really don't know what I am doing when it comes to tuning...

...anyway, now that I have a descent drum sound, I am thinking I don't really need a higher end set ...... at least not yet.

So the question here today is; What are all the differences between drum heads?

Single ply

Coated single ply

Single ply with a dot in the middle

Thin double ply

Hydraulics

Drum rings with any of the above

And who makes the best durable heads? My coated Remo Embassator snare coating always chips off after about two days of playing.

Is there any link to show fundamental differences between different types of drum heads?

I think you answered your own question...

Single ply- open, round sustain, cutting.

Double ply- warm, dry sustain, deader sound, more durable than 1 ply

Clear- wet, open. glassy sounding,

Coated- warm, dry tone, less sustain, and darker.

single ply with dot- single ply, with dot for sound controll and durablity, warmer and darker sounding than reg 1 ply head

Hydrualics-double ply, with oil in the middle, really dark, warm, flat sounding, for that "70's sound"

Double ply-thin- two ply, but one ply thinner than the other, to get durability of double head, but sound and articulation of a single head

Drum rings- dampen and reduce snare ring on all of the above.

Coating Chipping away- that happens sometimes, the coating is sprayed on the to the head during manufacture, so sometimes its not applyed as well, I've had coated heads last less than an hour,and ones last months, so coating can be somewhat fickle at times, but for the most part shoulding give you trouble if the head is seated properly, sometimes when coated heads are too loose, the coating tends to chip easier for some reason.

As far as brands, once again a very personal choice, some people swear by Remo, others swear by Evans, honestly, they both make very fine instruments, and have many competing lines of heads that are similar in many ways.

Me personally, I use Emperors on all my drums (coated on my snare, and clear on my toms) with Ambassadors for resonance (clear only), and clear powerstroke 4 on my bass drum batter head. Its a match made in heaven. Sometimes I use a powerstroke 4 on my snare, but not usually.

That being said, you have to try new heads and experiment till you find the one you like. Change your heads every two months and change the model and brands each time, that way, after about a year, you'd played a wide variety of heads, and can pretty much know and have a better feel of what you like in a drum head.

Both Remo and Evans have charts to describe and compare the different heads.

Other people really like Aquarian and Attack drum heads. I haven't used either brands in over a decade, but I remember having lots of problems with Aquarian heads, so I wouldn't recommend them.

Also, certain types of music tend to call for a certain type of head, like if your a jazz drummer, your gonna want a coated single ply head so the brushes can work. If your a metal or rock drummer, you might want to go for a double ply head. If your into funk, you might want the hydrualics/ pinstripes.

Also, most two ply heads have some sort of oil in between the plys, just not as much oil as the hydrualics have, hydrualic heads are probobly the deadest, flatest sounding heads you can get. I would really recommend them for you as of yet.

:thu:

You know he's not serious, right Sherm?

/w

I meant, I wouldn't recommed the hydrualic heads right now. They really are kind of useless in a lot of ways. People don't really use them anymore, although the blue hydrualics look cool on a drum.

I wish remo made their clear heads in different colors, like a red or something, that would be kinda cool.

what do you mean hes only kidding? I'm confused.

'kidding''...as in, he hasn't quite learned how to use the drum-key yet......but, then..he's prolly only a guitarist:cool:

We've established that The Evil Dr. X = Dr. Tweedbucket (or a very studied impersonator). The over-use of the smilies and the bizarre-ass questions were the dead give-away, and he wasn't even really trying to hide his identity. He knew that many of us would recognize his MO immediately. He doesn't really care about that.

Here's what I think the story on this dude is:

Tweedbucket is an interesting phenomenon. He's a career troll, but not just your normal kind of troll, more of your goofy, semi-benevolent super troll. He likes to start threads with questions that are so poorly worded that they usually devolve into arguments between people who don't know him about what the hell he's actually asking.

Look at his threads lately.

I know you're not a complete n00b, Sherm, but his old account (Dr. Tweedbucket) had over 65 THOUSAND posts, and they all looked just like this one.

Here are my theories:

1. Dr. Tweedbucket is an autistic 12 year old from nebraska who reads ALL the posts on harmony central, remembers everything, and knows exactly what questions to ask to incite pointless argument (notice he's always casually mentioning his Pearl Exports? He didn't used to do that before Aqua came around and started raging anytime anybody bought Pearl).

2. Dr. Tweedbucket is a professor of sociology or psychology (Dr? Maybe for real.) and we're all part of some grand experiment. (edit: on reflection, he's possibly a team of graduate students)

Anyway, if you know that Dr. Tweedbucket is what he is, he's kind of fun. He generally stays out of other people's threads, and just causes mischief in his own threads. In this case, he asked a question that could be interpreted in a way that made it relevant. This is usually not the case. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to find he's not even a musician, let alone a drummer. He's interested in something OTHER than the differences between drum heads when he posts a thread like this.

Now, this is all purely my opinion. Maybe I'm wrong about the Tweedbucket, and he's just a misunderstood doofus. I'd say, examine the evidence, and make your own determination.

/w

and actually kind a pissed off, I wasted minutes of my life with this guy, bastard. I mean, I guess I should have seen it, put 2 and 2 together, but damn.

Thats a dick thing to do, thats the last time I'm ever nice to anybody.

I havent seen where you say anything nice yet...where was that?

Be fair. Sherm is referring to his lengthy explanation of the differences between the variety of heads that Tweed mentioned. It was nice of him to do that, regardless of whether there's a pissing match in another thread.

/w

+1...

Originally posted by sherman22 I think you answered your own question... Single ply- open, round sustain, cutting. Double ply- warm, dry sustain, deader sound, more durable than 1 ply Clear- wet, open. glassy sounding, Coated- warm, dry tone, less sustain, and darker. single ply with dot- single ply, with dot for sound controll and durablity, warmer and darker sounding than reg 1 ply head Hydrualics-double ply, with oil in the middle, really dark, warm, flat sounding, for that "70's sound" Double ply-thin- two ply, but one ply thinner than the other, to get durability of double head, but sound and articulation of a single head Drum rings- dampen and reduce snare ring on all of the above. Coating Chipping away- that happens sometimes, the coating is sprayed on the to the head during manufacture, so sometimes its not applyed as well, I've had coated heads last less than an hour,and ones last months, so coating can be somewhat fickle at times, but for the most part shoulding give you trouble if the head is seated properly, sometimes when coated heads are too loose, the coating tends to chip easier for some reason. As far as brands, once again a very personal choice, some people swear by Remo, others swear by Evans, honestly, they both make very fine instruments, and have many competing lines of heads that are similar in many ways. Me personally, I use Emperors on all my drums (coated on my snare, and clear on my toms) with Ambassadors for resonance (clear only), and clear powerstroke 4 on my bass drum batter head. Its a match made in heaven. Sometimes I use a powerstroke 4 on my snare, but not usually. That being said, you have to try new heads and experiment till you find the one you like. Change your heads every two months and change the model and brands each time, that way, after about a year, you'd played a wide variety of heads, and can pretty much know and have a better feel of what you like in a drum head. Both Remo and Evans have charts to describe and compare the different heads. Other people really like Aquarian and Attack drum heads. I haven't used either brands in over a decade, but I remember having lots of problems with Aquarian heads, so I wouldn't recommend them. Also, certain types of music tend to call for a certain type of head, like if your a jazz drummer, your gonna want a coated single ply head so the brushes can work. If your a metal or rock drummer, you might want to go for a double ply head. If your into funk, you might want the hydrualics/ pinstripes. Also, most two ply heads have some sort of oil in between the plys, just not as much oil as the hydrualics have, hydrualic heads are probobly the deadest, flatest sounding heads you can get. I would really recommend them for you as of yet. :thu:

Thanks man ! That was a boatload of good information

I did a search on Google and didn't get that much.

Originally posted by sherman22 and actually kind a pissed off, I wasted minutes of my life with this guy, bastard. I mean, I guess I should have seen it, put 2 and 2 together, but damn. Thats a dick thing to do, thats the last time I'm ever nice to anybody.

Don't listen to those other jerks .... it is winter time and I am back into playing my drums alot. I am mainly a guitarist but was so sick of the sterile sound of drum machines when I was recording something, so I learned how to play drums.

My first kit was a Tama fiberglass or whatever it was swingstar. Then I was getting quite a bit better and wanted to upgrade, so I bought a Pearl Export set. I played drums in a Classic rock band for 2 years and improved dramatically, so I am ready for something better.

I never really did a whole lot of research on heads, tuning and all that .... I would just tune the heads to a bass guitar and go from there. ..... so I do appreciate the info. Some of these other guys here are just kids and acting like they know what I am about ....... they are clueless

Thanks again.

Don't make me come over there an have to Kick you in teh head

.... oh great, he is banned now .....

Originally posted by WillyRay

We've established that The Evil Dr. X = Dr. Tweedbucket (or a very studied impersonator). The over-use of the smilies and the bizarre-ass questions were the dead give-away, and he wasn't even really trying to hide his identity. He knew that many of us would recognize his MO immediately. He doesn't really care about that.

 

Here's what I think the story on this dude is:

 

Tweedbucket is an interesting phenomenon. He's a career troll, but not just your normal kind of troll, more of your goofy, semi-benevolent super troll. He likes to start threads with questions that are so poorly worded that they usually devolve into arguments between people who don't know him about what the hell he's actually asking.

 

Look at his threads lately.

 

 

 

Don't you have something better to do ?

 

 

 

......do you want to see a pic of my crappy Pearl Exports since you think you have all this figured out ?

i would love to see a pic of your pearl exports, thank you.

+1

I really don't know what to make of the latest incarnation of Tweedbucket. The old Tweed' was pure silliness - you could almost believe he really was an alien. This one seems to speak like a real human most of the time. Thus my reply on the cymbals thread. When this Tweed' seems serious, I'll reply. If not, then I'll stay away unless it seems like fun.