I need help selecting drum heads

[guyfergy]

I am not a drummer, I'm a Bass player, but have a drum set at the house that is going to be used for recording. They are Tama Swingstar drums, I know that they are a low end Tama set but was told that the heads and tuning are what matters most. These drums sound awful, they ring with massive overtones. I'm looking to get heads that will not ring with these overtones but not eliminate them to the point that hydraulic heads do. I need suggestions for the Bass, snare, and 3 toms, 12" 13" 16". What are the Bass drum heads in the front called that have the hole in them? Are they the best for recording and should the hole be centered or off to the side? Does it really matter what heads are on the bottom of the toms and snare? What, if any difference does tuning the bottom head have on the sound? Any help you can give me I would appreciate.

[Sir. Witchback]

bass drum, Evans Adjustable Dampening EMAD Bass Drumhead ... Snare drum, Evans Genera HD Dry Batter Coated Snare Head ... Toms, Evans EC2 Coated Batter Head ... the bottom drum heads are called "Resonant" heads. you can use these, or none at all.... I use to run no resonators, and my father still dosent use them.. I prefer them myself. I have been running my bass drum open faced for a few weeks now to record... You have to play with your mic settings to find the "Sweet" spot.
here are a few I like to use.
Evans EMAD Resonant Bass Drumhead Evans EC Resonant Drumhead Evans Genera Resonant Clear Drumhead

These are great heads, and last long. Hope this helps you.

[guyfergy]

What would be the difference between the Evans EC coated and the G2 coated as far as sound? I have heard mixed reviews about the EMAD head. most say that they sound great at first but the ring on the edge that holds the dappening ring breaks and then sounds like crap and that they don't last very long. How long have you been using it?

[Sir. Witchback]

Originally Posted by guyfergy

What would be the difference between the Evans EC coated and the G2 coated as far as sound? I have heard mixed reviews about the EMAD head. most say that they sound great at first but the ring on the edge that holds the dappening ring breaks and then sounds like crap and that they don't last very long. How long have you been using it?

I have had my EMAD 22" coated for about 2 weeks, and have put about 18-20 hours of play on it. Its not showing any ware, and I use a evans flam patch on it. I use plastice beaters, and hit the hell out of my drums. I had 2 new Remo Ebony Series Pinstripe Bass Drumheads and busted both in less then a week. REMO took about a month or more and sent me 2 new ones after a shit load of hate mail. But I still havent used them.. That was over a year ago. I love the EMAD's. Dont have alot great to say about the G2's. I bought new heads about a year ago. I bought all EC2's for my toms, exept for my 13". They dident have a EC2 13 in stock at the store I buy my heads. So I bought a G2 coated. Its not a bad head, but I have this nasty over tone ring from it now. My EC2's are about dead for tracking, but still look great, and feel good. I also use ProMark DC10 sticks. Not sure if you can get bigger sticks. I dont see myself every using anything els other then the EC2 heads, and the EMAD's on my bass drums.

[guyfergy]

OK so the EC2's don't have as much overtones than the G2's, but not as dead as the hydraulic heads, is that right? What is the Flam patch made of and how does it stay on the head? Remember I'm not a drummer, just a bass player. Also what is the take on different bass drum beaters? I have a felt one, but have seen where people say they use a plastic one or a wooden one. what's the difference between them?

[garageband]

These drums sound awful, they ring with massive overtones.

Back up a step. Get yer drum key out and work with these heads on these drums and learn to tune the ones you already have in front of you. Worrying about how this head or that head is reviewed will not solve your problem of bad sounding drums.

Consider the analogy of drum heads to bass strings (similar cost, BTW). If your bass plays out of tune, has difficult action and generally sounds bad, should you change your strings as the course of action? Probably not. Will new strings change the dynamics of the bad situation? Likely. Are those changes predictable with the other variables out of whack? Not really. Most importantly, will the correct strings for the situation be different once the problems are addressed individually? No doubt.

Get the technical details, like what the drums actually sound like, how they should be tuned and if anything is wrong mechanically, figured out and then go shopping

[guyfergy]

Garageband, I have tried tuning these drums different and have tried taping them too. These are the original heads and the previous owner used to keep them in a shed that was only heated when he was in it. I think they have gone thru some extreme weather changes, I'm told that's not good. As far as bass strings go, you can get different sounds out of different string, flat wound has a very smooth deep bass sound with no attack, round wound are very bright with strong attack and they make round wound strings in steel and also nickel and they sound different and they all have a different lifespan. Of course your right about tuning and action, they have to be adjusted right. Don't you have favorite drum heads you use?

[garageband]

I have favorite bass strings, also.
Right now on my old Slingerland kit, I am loving my Remo Renaissance heads, with the Diplomat on the batter and the Ambassador on the resonant side (I think). For your situation, I'd slap on some plain vanilla, the Remo coated Ambassadors. These heads were ubiquitous for many years and you'll have their sound in your ears as you try to steer the drums into serviceability.

[garageband]

Lastly, drums should have resonance and ring somewhat. Taped up drums sound terrible and are literally masking other problems.

[dangercityskyline]

Are they the best for recording and should the hole be centered or off to the side?

the soundhole is generally in different places on any given set of drums.
I've seen an excellent-sounding Shine (custom drum co. = huge $$) kick drum that had the soundhole in the very center of the resonant head.
On the other hand, Aaron Gillespie's Truth kick drum (also custom and huge $$) has two soundholes, on the bottom left and right of the resonant head.

It really just depends on the sweet spot of that particular drum, i think.

Lastly, drums should have resonance and ring somewhat.

Yes and no. on one hand, you want the drums to sound natural and not overdone as far as tuning and damping. On the other hand, you don't want ridiculous overtones that ruin the tone of the kit, and this is what i think guyfergy was talking about, seeing as it sounded like kind of a crappy kit to begin with.