Ring

Ok, maybe a dumb question, but I'll ask anyway...

My floor tom rings like crazy (my 12 and 14 toms are fine)!!!

I used to have clear Pinstripes (top) and black Ebony (bottom) and I switched to coated Ambassadors (top) with Clear ambassadors (bottom).

What is causing the ringing? Too much tension (I tune medium tight)? The head's still not tuned with itself? Top and bottom head not at the same pitch?

Is the ringing normal and should I stop being so obssessed with it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Going from pinstripe and ebony heads to ambassadors is quite a change. Perhaps you just aren't used to hearing the drums sing. Or...maybe you have a tuning problem. Don't worry, someone will post that Prof Sound link soon...

Sounds like the bottom head is too tight. Try retuning the floor tom. Turn it over on the floor so you can tune the bottom head first, this will also mute the batter head so it won't interfere with the tuning of the bottom head. Go in a sort of star pattern like I often say its the same way you put on a tire, you try to keep the tension evenly distributed across the head. Tap lightly about an inch in from each lug, be careful if you use your drum key so that you don't hit the shells bearing edge because it's easily damaged. Listen carefully to the note and not the overtones (higher harmonics of the sound), try to tune it as low as you can and still have the head resonate. Once the tuning sounds good to you turn the drum over and match the tuning of the batter head to the tuning of the bottom head. This always works for me.Unfortunately there is no short cut, it just takes lots of practice. I have found the Dave Weckl series "Evolution' to be a very valuable resource on tuning, technique and other drummer related issues. Good luck and be patient!

Thanks a lot for your advice, Dave.

--- Ben

Dave's got some good advice ... check your tuning first. Also, you've gone from a dampened double-ply head (pinstripe) to a single-ply head - therefore your heads are vibrating more. You may not be used to your drums being so active.

Here's a lesson I learned:

There was a time when I was using dampened heads and muffling techniques trying to re-create the sounds of my favorite recordings. Then I had the opportunity to actually record my drums and couldn't understand why they sounded like cardboard boxes.

Understand that the recordings you listen to and love are a product of a recording studio - EQ, effects, compression, gates - are all applied after the tracks are captured on tape (not to metion the other instuments that are tracked along with you). If you're limiting your drums' potential before they even make it to tape they don't have a chance. Same goes for live situations - most of the overtones and "bad" noises you hear are lost in the context of the other instruments ... remove them beforehand and you lose that much more. It's like putting duct tape all over the soundboard of an acoustic guitar.

The moral is to not be afraid to let your drums be drums. Let them sing. Let them vibrate as much as possible.

If you still can't stand the sound of the drums, try Emperors. They're a double-ply head but without all the dampening of a Pinstripe. Coated Emperors will give you even more dampening

good luck.