I was in a recent recording session. I've recently been lately playing the bass drum for live gigs with no muffling, or pillow, just an Evans Emad and a reso head with a hole cut for the mike. I brought more substantial muffling with me but tried the bass drum initially with no extra muffling, just tuned it well. The bass drum sounded huge and had a fantastic attack to it. So I did the entire session without any pillow and the engineer and the band were very pleased. Rogers 22 x 14 from 1972 for the win!
First time I showed up at a gig w/a clear G1 (thin) batter and no muffling it took the sound guys about 30 minutes to figure out what to do. They were so accustomed to mic'ing stuffed bass drums. After that I added a felt strip to the batter - real 1960s approach, where the batter is removed, a felt strip a couple inches wide is stretched top to bottom towards the left side of the shell opening and gradually pulled tight as the batter head is added and tensioned. I run my batter finger tight, which is like Ian Paice and Buddy Rich. It sounds killer. But when dealing with sound guys at gigs who've never heard of great engineers like Glyn Johns, Jimmy Miller, Andy Johns, Eddie Kramer and those few others who could make bass drums sound so wicked on record, then you're at a disadvantage. All of which suggests that another good way to get a great bass drum sound, at least in a live setting, is to get a sound person who knows what they're doing.
You're trying to compare recording vs. live sound. That's like comparing apples to concrete blocks. Two completely different beasts. Live sound you're dealing with trying to keep bass guitar abd every thump on stage out of the kick mic. With an open bass drum, those sounds can vibrate the drum heads. Normally live, I run the drum through a noise gate and cut off everything after the initial strike to eliminate those other sounds. So it really doesn't matter how much your bass drum resonates.
@@timbrown6629 Understood, though on one occasion a guest soundman sat in and had the band's on- and off-stage sound sorted in about 10 minutes. Another could muster up an incredibly full and punchy sound from the bass and drums whilst keeping the vocals on top and pulling the two keys players and guitarist into the mix as needed...and this using any old gear - he had a concept. Ross Vannelli's live mix with Gino Vannelli's band is superb. There are those who can and those who can't in any profession.
I’ve been using the remo muff’l ring on my 22” bass drum batter head for years with NO additional muffling inside the drum! For those that don’t know, it’s just a foam ring kind of like the EMAD that rests against the inside of the batter head. It sounds great and that’s all I need! Oh, and I use a two ply batter head as well.
@@Darrylizer1 I might give the EMAD a try one of these days just to compare it against the remo muff’l ring. But either way, like you, I’m sure I won’t start using a pillow or any other kind of extra muffling inside the bass drum. Too much muffling takes away the tone of the drum in my opinion.
Biggest shock i ever got back in the 90's was seeing Bun E Carlos live. He was playing a 24 or 26 wide open. I suspect one head may have had a reso ring. This was a time when all sorts of horrors were being committed with gaffer tape etc. It was a revelation to me. From then on I have been a minimalist. I now use an Evans pad and thats it.
I used pillows, back in the day. Then, for years, I used a small towel, laid on the bottom of the shell, that touched both heads just enough for some decent muffling. Recently, I bought some Evans EMADs. I love those heads. I'm not muffling the front at all. I'm getting the best kick sound I've ever had.
Rob, you are the best. I have a 16" kick (Questlove's Breakbeats kit) and I've tried few things in there, but found that--like you say---that baby sounds best "buck nekkid." Many thanks for all your videos throughout the years; I've learned so much from you.
I love your minimalistic approach. It would be super rad to audibly demonstrate the differences so people can hear the differences. All drums, and players, and rooms, and mics are different; so I get that the player has to figure it out for themselves. But having examples of the changes in sound would be great in a video like this. It has been quite frustrating the few times I've had studio experiences with people trying to make drums not sound like drums. There's a time and place for moon gels I suppose.
I use egg crate mattress foam, about 1 1/4" thick, cut to the depth and diameter of my 22" shell. Sounds PERFECT! Like it's already been sound engineered.
I got the Easter kids bass drum to take to the mountains and far places easily and I used an old mylar baggie from unknown sources as a extra ply on my kick side lol it works with low standards
I think this is good advice but would have been ten times better to hear the bass drum with each option. At the end of this I still have to try everything to work out which sound I want.
I couldn't agree more !!! , a Bass Drum needs some resonance to work properly and if done right has more power and more dynamics and depth !!! So usually less is more !!!! Right on Rob Brown for pointing out what should be obvious but apparently isn't !! I see three issues way to often , Front head loose , back head loose , two much stuffing...WRONG !!
Mr. Beatdown, you, my friend, are as cool as the other side of the pillow, and your no nonsense tutorials are so well done and appreciated. I first started playing right after watching The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show back in February of 1964 but only played for 3 years or so. During that time I didn’t ever think about tuning my drums since I was self taught and didn’t even consider tuning. Didn’t have a clue that I could make my drums sound different. Then, about 20 years ago I wanted to play again. I still had no idea about tuning. I just banged away down in my basement oblivious to what must have been horrible sounding drums. Fast forward to around 2018 or so, and I discover this channel on my tv called RUclips, and there were real drumming videos with only a push of my clicker button. You can imagine my amazement when I saw that the sounds of my different drums were able to be adjusted and dialed in for a much better sound, and you were the first one I turned to for instruction on how to improve the sounds of my drums. I watched hours of what you had to offer about drumming, and I am and will be forever grateful for you sharing your vast knowledge with me.
I used to have stuff in my bass drum. But since watching your tuning video. I now have MAXIMUM THUMPERFERCATION!!!! I bought a new Gretch Cantina kit. The bass drum sounds fantastic and it’s empty. Love your channel man. My drumming is really coming on. Cheers. ✌🏽&🍍😁
Heya Rob. I'm a self-taught drummer who refuses to take lessons; why would I need to when your videos exist? I wanted to personally thank you for all you do and continue to do for the drumming community on here. Your kindness, understanding, and sense of humour and expertise are what we drummers should all aspire to. PLEASE GROOVE RESPONSIBLY 💚
You can't observe and correct your errors one seven hundredth as well as a teacher. A teacher stands right by you in a lesson and corrects the 5 -500 issues going on from head to toe while you are playing; answers your 5 to 50 questions each lesson; talks about style and who to listen to; demonstrates and models; inspires and usually becomes a close friend. Even without the last, well worth the "scratch".
I agree with your comment on Rob's videos, they are great. But if you actually want to improve, even only a few sessions with a good teacher will help you a lot. Even if you play in a band, other musicians are usually focused on themselves and unless you sound totally terrible, they won't notice or won't say what you can or should improve. A good teacher will tell you what and how to improve. I'm self-taught myself, but not having a teacher is nothing to be proud of.
@antscagtv5774 👍 Agree. I have watched literally hundreds of videos on drumming from purchase to maintenance on one's kit in the last 2 years. 62 with Arthritis setting in...Time is the factor here. I want to REALLY learn and have decided lessons are a perfect route at my age. Some individuals are "TO cool" for lessons, so to speak. I've watched children from the Atlanta drum academy ( Mr. Rile's 🙏) on the Tube as well as Viola Smith beat the drums. Talk about tears in the eyes! I love all styles of drumming and oddly enough Karen Carpenter is my drumming idol! Rock on!👍
I've been using an Aquarian super kick 2 and regulator and nothing else inside my bass drums for over 10 years now. Gives the perfect amount of muffling.
I was working in a music store, back in the '90s, when Aquarian sent us a demo set of the Superkick II and Regulator. We put that on one of our 22" bass drums, and it sounded like a freaking canon. I was an instant convert. 😄
Same here. I used the Evans emad when they first came out but the plastic ring that holds the muffle breaks easily. I switched to Aquarian After about the 3rd emad I went through.
Interesting video. When I started playing at church there was a rattling noise in the kick and it sounded totally dead, no sustain at all. I investigated. The kick was stuffed full with cushions and blankets very similar to your opening shot. I took out all the stuff and found that several screws were lose and one little nut and washer had fallen off, that caused the rattling. So I re-attached the nut, tightened the screws, tuned both heads, didn't put anything into it. There was some unpleasant ringing, so I put one fairly flat cushion in and pushed it against the batter head, that fixed that. It's a quite cheap Ashton brand 18 inch kick, but it actually sounds pretty good, it has just the right sustain and has decent deep end sound. By the way, this kick sounds much nicer when you are in front of it, in the audience, compared to behind where I'm playing it. I found it sounded OK, when when I heard another drummer play it, it sounded sweet. I guess the drummer hears mostly the batter head, the audience mostly the resonant head. Excellent video and I can only hope people stop being stupid.
I've used an Emad and Evans EQ pad with my 1973 Ludwig 22" for a few years now exactly as described here. It was nice to see my choice confirmned by the good Doctor.
Also you can make one of those Evans eq pads for no money. Get and old t shirt, roll up some old socks in a small tube then roll them on either end of the t shirt and tape them down. Instant eq pad! I put each end on each head, BOOM!
Drumhead with some built-in muffling, and add a moongel or two to fine-tune the sound. That's it. Over the years I've learned that less muffling is better than more muffling.
At my blues venue in Japan, I have a 22x18 Pearl Reference Pure. Both heads are PS3s and ported. I use a double ended Pearl pillow slightly touching both the batter and reso. We have an Audix D6 mic going through an analog Midas Venice mixer and then aux sent to an 18" QSC KS118 sub. Maximum thumpification has been achieved! Having tried many other bass drums with the same method, vintage and new, 22s and 24s, and with different head combinations, I guarantee that the actual Reference Pure kick itself made the biggest difference. The sound quality and tone is jaw dropping. We dialed it in trying different heads and the two PS3s won out. It breaths life into the music and the ladies dance every week. That's my testimony. Can I get a witness?!
Hi, death metal drummer here. I have a legit reason to stuff my kick, I run triggers so I don't need to have an open kick. Helps keep false triggering to a minimum too
@@rickwells5624 triggers are like pickups on a guitar, but for drums. Very very common is super fast technical metal bc if you used a natural sound in those fast songs you're either not gonna be heard or your kicks will sound like a wet fart, and you'll be barely heard
@drew_on_drums OK, I get it. Thank you very much for explaining it to me. I don't know how I haven't heard of them. Or maybe I just don't remember it, lol I'm 55, so memory tends to flicker from time to time. Also, at my age, the wet fart thing you mentioned is a definite possibility, so I don't trust them anymore. Thank again, truly appreciate it.
Your response is why I read the comments. You never said he was wrong or misguided. You simply stated a logical reason for stuffing your drum like a front facing dryer and it made sense! (Just kidding about the dryer part)🤪
I’ve used all four of these methods over the years. In the studio I use the Simon rolled up towel method and then muffle reso from the outside slightly as needed. For live, I use a small, thin, black 14” square decorative type pillow for in my 14” deep kick. A little bit more control on both heads helps the sound guys out.
The EMADs are awesome. But. for my 22", I chose the Remo External Sub Muff'l Bass Drum System. Which is basically the same type of muffling as the EMAD. It can be reused if the head busts, unlike an EMAD. I add the Evans EQ pad, as well. Love it! Big boom w/o the overtones. Thanks Rob. You the man!
its been a while. I still follow you and your advice. I see you are closing in on THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND SUBSCRIBERS !!!! Well earned and deserved . CONGRATS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I go with felt strips only, no pillow. 18x24” kick with a Coated pinstripe head on the beater side and a fyberskin on the reso side with a kick port. Tune it medium low on both sides. Sounds amazing. I get loads of compliments “dude, I need to record your kit” y’all should try it. ✌️🤙
I dunno, my man. For me I do it the Bonham way with felt strips on the lower 3rd of both batter and resonance head. That way if I'm not wanting to bury the beater there's still a nice tone to the kick. :) Love your videos!
Great video. My Pearl Session Studio Select 20” came with a pad similar to the EQ pad. Velcro strip on the bottom section of the pad and drum. Reach in through the port hole to move the upper section of the pad higher or lower on the head as needed. The velcro on the shell at the bottom keeps it in place.
I’m an Evans guy and use a couple of their products in my Bass Drums with excellent results. EMAD batter heads, EQ pad and the no longer available Gate.
During our first record / recording I played my Tamma Artstar II with 2 / 24" inch virgin bass drums. Remo pinstripes all the way around with resin heads. The bass drums had 2 holes cut out for microphones during live shows. I didn't use any muffling system at all. My bass drum pedals were 2 DW 5000's Which DW added the extra heavy springs for me. For some reason, I just needed to fight the bass drum pedal a little to make it work for me. My bass drums were tightened as far as possible. Now my bass drums were tuned so high and tight because I needed the air to slap back my base drum beaters faster as to higher my double base, BPM speed. Which actually worked, but to get around the high pitch coming from the bass drums I had internal microphones placed within the whole drum kit, then I had every drum also triggered from the inside, I stripped the triggers outer casing to where it was a small PCB board the size of a half a stick of gum. From the inside, the triggers are half a millimeter away, but touching it in inside battered heads. I ran them thru an Alessi D4 trigger unit and then ran that thru an EQ, Gate, then to my 16 channel board right behind me. I only used the triggers for the lower hertz to get them back in tune of the bass drums and the other drums in sync.. After my tech set up my drums at the studio the next day, the engineers have totally stripped my bass drums and shoved what look like U-Haul truck blankets inside them. Me not thinking much about it I start to warm up before recording so the engineer can dial-in my drums. As I start to play my base drum petals just sink into the bass drum head like it's made out of marshmallow, And had no recoil. My doubles were gone, my triplets were gone. It was a nightmare. But I have to admit that the base drums sound did have a great punch to them. But in the end, what was the point it felt like my bass drum beaters were hitting mashed potatoes and getting stuck. We disassembled the kit and the engineer said let's just take a day or two to figure this out. Warrant had also booked time in the studio for a few days that week. Janie Lane was there remastering his vocals? By chance I ran into Matt Sorum. That's when Adler departed Guns N' Roses, and Matt took over.. I asked him for some advice. My question was, "do you muffle your bass drums? and if so, dos it differ from live shows "vs" the studio. He walked out to his car and came back in with the Evans Pad and said this is all you need and gave me a couple. At this point in time as endorsements are skyrocketing for him. But he did believe in the Evans Pad. The next day he came by the studio with a pair of very old looking Ludwig pedals with very little spring tension. Then we put heavier tape at the top of the beaters.. that's what he taught me about feathering the bass drum lower attention at the foot pedal heavier beater at the top. He explained that equipment are just tools that you manipulate to make them fit your needs. Matt explained that he was now the drummer for Guns N' Roses, but that he also did ALOT of session work. Even for the girl band the Go-Go's, and Belinda Carlisle while drumming for the CULT. We need influencers like Rob Brown to Passed down knowledge. For that please SUBSCRIBE to his channel and Suport this community.
Having this conversation with many players is like talking to the wall. I was asked, I was ASKED to help a guy with his bass drum because he was just not getting the sound he wanted. I went over to listen to it and it sound like a cardboard box with a blanket inside. He had tape all over everything and no resonate head. I said, first thing we have to do is get two new heads and git rid of all that tape. It went downhill from there. He asked for my help, and would not take it. I realized I was wasting my time, and I asked him why he wanted my opinion, he told me that he liked the way my drums sounded and wanted that sound. I said you want them to sound like my drums, yet you do not want to do any of the things you need to do to get them to sound that way. I decided to make an excuse and leave because he was getting upset, I didn't want to piss the guy off to the point where we weren't friends anymore so I just left. It's like talking about religion or politics, people latch onto an idea and can't let go of it and they are insulted when you tell them to do something differently. Man! I just asked you to take the blanket out, I didn't ask if I could fuck your girlfriend! Some guys.
Thanks for sharing. I started playing drums last year and bought a nice Gretsch Catalina kit with 20” kick and pillow inside. Going to remove in morning and try out. But first watch you demonstrate tuning kick drum.
Best intro in history, Thanks for the tough love Mr Brown. I pulled all the shit out of my 16” kit and slapped an emad on there. Game changer. I can say this is the best kick sound I’ve had….maybe ever. Bonus My wife found all the missing laundry! Win win
My new Pearl kit came with two small pillows that have velcro on the pillow and shell. Perfect for not going too far with it and great tone! Overdoing it not only affects the tone but also the bounce which to me is critical!! The whole just throw a pillow or two in is 0K but not for pro sound and yes stay away from that resonate head! Thanks Rob...
I use cotton balls inside my 22" Yamaha Stage Custom kick. Both heads have built-in rings: front side is tuned up tight(still has some give to it when pushed on), batter side is looser(sometimes just enough to get the wrinkles out, maybe a bit tighter but definitely looser than the front side). I found that cotton balls aren't as dense as a pillow or blanket and don't kill the tone of the bass drum. It booms without ringing! For a while I had a little bit of foam egg crate in it and then eventually took that out altogether in favor of the cotton balls. Great thing is you can easily add or take away depending on what you're looking for in sound.
I have a Ludwig Breakbeats kit and it has a 16" bass drum. You're right, all I use is the Evans EMAD head as any more muffling than that sounds like I may as well be thumping a pizza box.
When I was a drummer back in the 1970's, I had a 22" kick. What I did was take a 3" thick foam mattress I had as part of the sound proofing in the room, and I cut it into a strip that went around the inside of the shell neatly. The width was cut a half inch deeper than the shell so the foam just pressed lightly against both heads. The fit was tight enough around the inside that the foam never shifted and did the job nicely. I had a British flag tucked into the resonant head that looked pretty nifty - ala Humble Pie. Good days had.
There is a beautiful and cheap alternative to the eq pad for the ones that happens to be parents! The baby and toddler car seats come with an extra pillow for extra support when the baby is like days old. Then you won’t be using it anymore. So, this extra pillow is practically identical to the eq pad. And thank you very much 😅
I have a 26" kick. Felt strips batter and resonance heads. Wasn't enough for micing, so I added shredded newspapers. Old School style. About 1/4 or 1/3 full. Thump with Boom...😊
Nice video. I use the Evans EQ4 UV (uv-coated single-ply, 10mm) with internal overtone control ring on my 22-inch bass drum (birch shell, by British Drum Company), and a similar Evans full resonant head (no port, single ply 7.5mm EQ3 with internal overtone control ring). I put NOTHING inside my drum. It's sounds awesome! It has thumpification AND boomification! Some time ago, I was playing with a group of about 6 amplified guitar-players, bass guitar player, 2 keyboard players and about 25 mic'd singers. I had zero mics on my drum set. Someone walked around the area to hear how we all sounded, and he said, "your bass drum is very loud." 🙂
I use a beach towel folded along the bottom of the bass drum which is a just resting against the inside of the beater head about 1.5 inches from the edge. I don't roll it or tape it. It just sits flat along the curve of the drum. That's it. It's a 1987 24' by 14' Tama Swingstar and that thing is a beast -- huge and punchy.
All the hype of virgin bass drum, special tone woods, bearing edges and special construction.... then on with the oil filled heads, some tape, a pillow and a blanket...😂
Small EQ pillow + old school felt strip across reso head = retro modern balance I’m playing a 24” Ludwig Classic maple from 1978 with an Evans Emad. Total cross between vintage and modern I love it
Excellent video. When I see a guy hauling a month's worth of laundry in his kick, I know that the guy doesn't know what he's doing. My favorite is the Aquarian Superkick/Regulator combo. On my 22" kick I need NO additional muffling. Nice tone and just enough sustain to hear the drum. Probably not a good option if you're playing double kicks at 500 bpm, but if you like a "slightly" open sound, it rocks. I've had other drummers and soundguys come up to me at gigs complimenting me and asking me about it. Of course, if it's still too much sustain, the Evans pad or a small towel roll can be added easily. Keep on keeping on with the great advice.
I use an EQ pad in my 16, along with an EMAD batter, and EQ3 reso. For my 22, I use two DW bass drum pillows, one that sits freely on the bottom, then a second velcroed to the top. The heads I use are an EMAD2 on the batter side, and an EMAD Resonant on the front. Gives me plenty of punch, while still maintaining a little tone.
I’m all about the Evans Emad mufflin system. I have a 20 inch kick. But I learned from Rick Beato that it’s also good to have something inside of the kick to prevent standing waves/acoustic reflections/phase cancellation. I found that I have a more focus kick sound without losing bottom end when I just use a small tile of foam in the kick even if it’s not touching the heads. If anything, it actually helps the low end a bit. Sometimes I’ll also use a rolled up hand towel with tape around it and have it touching the front head if I’m micing it with a Shure Beta 52A through the hole.
I use the Evans EQ pad in my 22", with Remo P3's on front and back. I definitely like it more than an overstuffed kick, but I say do whatever works for you.
All legit, man. We through this back in the 70's. But the best bass drum muffler that I like is an attachable one like what is on your snare drum but external. Try it on both the batter and outer heads.
Great tips as always, Rob! As an alternative, I stole the idea decades ago from L.A. session great Denny Fongheiser who used a denim jacket on a 24" kick, so I decided to experiment with a pair of old jeans - Immediately fell in love with it! They are easy to fold, heavy enough to stay in place, and take up so little space inside the drum.
Best way I have found to get that deep punch in the chest bass drum sound is using the Aquarian Regulator front head, and you can use it with any batter head with no muffling
For low volume practicing I used mesh heads for a couple of years and have come to loathe them. So, I am very guilty of the opening shot. For me the worst mesh head ever is the one for the kick drum. The others aren't all that and bag of chips either. So I use microfiber shop towels on normally headed drums and L80 cymbals. This is the BP kit set up. The balance is quite good with the others in the band and we keep it under 90 db for the most part. The 'loud' kits all have 22" kicks and they are all set up the same. Aquarian Super Kick II batter head, factory reso heads with sound holes the Evans pad and good tuning. I use a single rolled up towel if I need any more dampening. Thanks for these videos, Rob. You tuning videos gave a me a direction that I really haven't strayed from since watching them.
AS a touring drum tech i 100% agree with the down pillow, I grabbed a french duck down pillow from a hotel at one show in Europe and paid for it the night I got back and took it on the road, it was light but did the best level of deadening, one thing pillow, and looked invisible
if you do the towel trick, Id suggest use a twine or yarn to tie up the towel then you dont have the skin hitting the hard surface of th gaffertape around towel if it moves, just some butchers twine even does, just means the whole towel is a soft surface,
I've never used a pillow. I have discovered the Remo muff foam ring early in my journey and never needed to stuff the bass drum. I highly recommend it, it's cheap, reusable, and looks much better than a pillow. I've bought one ring 15 years ago and still using the same one today. Never purchased another one since.
My friend who recorded on one of Paul Simon's more recent albums said Phil Ramone (RIP) used cotton balls... It works amazingly! I bought 4 large bags and filled the kick to taste. Cool thing is they move just a little and settle back into their positions... Lets just a little resonance through. Best kick muffle I've tried!
Hahaha--5 seconds in and it immediately reminded me of a live sound gig 25 years ago. Guy had his kick packed with 4 blankets. I had to ask, "What are you doing, going camping after the gig? Get that shit out of there!"
Great video! One thing I was hoping you would address that’s relative to the conversation is how muffling, or the lack of it, affects the FEEL of the batter head. I do find there is a feel difference depending on how the drum is treated inside.
I can maybe comment on that. A kick is a musical instrument. Some have more or less sustain, or other sound characteristics. When you buy your drums, obviously buy something that suits your style of music and taste. You can change the pitch by tuning the batter head. You have some control over sustain by changing tension on the resonant head, although most drummers just crank up tension the resonant head and do the tuning on the batter head. If there is ringing, most drummers put in maybe onepillow, or a professional muffler as seen in the video, or use a head with muffling. When you increase the amount of old socks in your kick, of course you will gradually kill sustain, in the end you kill all of it. But why would you want to get rid of the sustain completely? If you ask me, let someone else play the kick and stand in front of the set, see how it sounds from there. In my experience, it sounds quite different for the drummer and the audience. And IMHO a kick that has no sustain at all just doesn't sound right. In the end, this is a question of taste. But if you don't like sustain, don't buy a kick with a lot of it.
Great video! I like a nice clean look so on the batter head I use an Evans EMAD (with the thicker pad) along with 2 Gibraltar felt strips under the head. As for the reso head, I use a pink Remo colortone head (to go with my band’s name and theme) so I just use 4 clear Drumdots on the inside of the head at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 position (and I keep the plastic on the drumdots so they don’t accumulate dust).
24x16 Ludwig Classic maple, clear pinstripe, falam slam, no reso, no muffler. Damn near killed the sound man at the sound check. His response: 'That'll do it. Ok then"
Thank you dude. I've been playing for 30 years now and just got my first REAL kit. Yamaha Oak Custom 1st gen yellow badges. Now I know how to tune and muffle properly thanks to your channel. Thank you for your service sir.
Yeah Rob, mans on point. Another thing that people forget is that, it sounds different with the whole kit, and with the whole mix. I just put an coated emperor on my 22". as it is worn in now; alone it is still a bit ringy, but man does those harmonics up the presence of the bassdrum. And it does generate those bass hz frequencies, it's a 22" that is a fn big drum, maple is it + it is next to a wall. The ring head has no hole, for get what it was prolly like a ps3 :D. Technique matters alot aswell, you can play a stomp, and a rebound strike; the stomp makes a thump; then you can mute it with the left pedal aswell.
I agree with all of these methods. My personal go-to that works best for me has been Aquarian SK2 for the batter, and a plain Remo Smooth White Ambassador (no hole) with the EQ pad on the reso. Combine all of that with the Kelly-Shu and an Audix D6. Super versatile. Use this on my 22” & 20”…
Great video. I use 2 evans eq pads. One resting on each head like you said in my 24x18 kick Ludwig classic maple. Been doing that for 15 years and i love the thud and the way the pedal feels on the batter head.
Great video. I have a DW Pure Oak 24x16 and i use an Evans EMAD reso and an Evans EQ4 clear batter with 2 Evans EQ pads that touch the inside very slightly. I put my Behringer 19A mic on the EQ pad and it gives the most insane sound for my bass-drum.
I use a neat trick... I have a ported front head and yes ago decided I wanted to make it easy to make changes to the muffling on the fly. I took an old pair of the wife's stockings, cut the two legs off. Got a couple of old cushions and cut into two strips. Stuffed now thinner cushions into each leg creating 2 sausage cushions with ends tied up. Easily fits through the port hole and I can put one or two in and manoeuvre as required. ( like your towel idea). I use Emad2 batter head too. Top video, will visit your store soon.
Rob Brown your videos are the best. Simple, straight to the point, ego-less and positive. I appreciate you, man!
what he said
yeah, they sure are,
Yep yep yep, straight up
Rob is always my first go to when I need to learn stuff like this.
I was in a recent recording session. I've recently been lately playing the bass drum for live gigs with no muffling, or pillow, just an Evans Emad and a reso head with a hole cut for the mike. I brought more substantial muffling with me but tried the bass drum initially with no extra muffling, just tuned it well. The bass drum sounded huge and had a fantastic attack to it. So I did the entire session without any pillow and the engineer and the band were very pleased. Rogers 22 x 14 from 1972 for the win!
Nah, your tuning abilities and playing for the win!
@@hillie47 Yeah, but the old drums sounded great.
Nice I have a 70’s big R kit, I play the same head and it sounds huge!
Did that on someone else's drums it was awesome
First time I showed up at a gig w/a clear G1 (thin) batter and no muffling it took the sound guys about 30 minutes to figure out what to do. They were so accustomed to mic'ing stuffed bass drums. After that I added a felt strip to the batter - real 1960s approach, where the batter is removed, a felt strip a couple inches wide is stretched top to bottom towards the left side of the shell opening and gradually pulled tight as the batter head is added and tensioned. I run my batter finger tight, which is like Ian Paice and Buddy Rich. It sounds killer. But when dealing with sound guys at gigs who've never heard of great engineers like Glyn Johns, Jimmy Miller, Andy Johns, Eddie Kramer and those few others who could make bass drums sound so wicked on record, then you're at a disadvantage. All of which suggests that another good way to get a great bass drum sound, at least in a live setting, is to get a sound person who knows what they're doing.
You're trying to compare recording vs. live sound. That's like comparing apples to concrete blocks. Two completely different beasts.
Live sound you're dealing with trying to keep bass guitar abd every thump on stage out of the kick mic. With an open bass drum, those sounds can vibrate the drum heads. Normally live, I run the drum through a noise gate and cut off everything after the initial strike to eliminate those other sounds. So it really doesn't matter how much your bass drum resonates.
@@timbrown6629 Understood, though on one occasion a guest soundman sat in and had the band's on- and off-stage sound sorted in about 10 minutes. Another could muster up an incredibly full and punchy sound from the bass and drums whilst keeping the vocals on top and pulling the two keys players and guitarist into the mix as needed...and this using any old gear - he had a concept. Ross Vannelli's live mix with Gino Vannelli's band is superb. There are those who can and those who can't in any profession.
I saw Louie Bellson at a clinic once and he had two felt strips on the batter head with one strip on the reso head.
I’ve tried every bass drum muffling product out there. A simple pillow is my favorite for sound and feel!
I’ve been using the remo muff’l ring on my 22” bass drum batter head for years with NO additional muffling inside the drum! For those that don’t know, it’s just a foam ring kind of like the EMAD that rests against the inside of the batter head. It sounds great and that’s all I need! Oh, and I use a two ply batter head as well.
I have that Remo on the bass drum on my practice kit and an Emad on my live kit. Both are great, I also find I don't need anything else.
@@Darrylizer1 I might give the EMAD a try one of these days just to compare it against the remo muff’l ring. But either way, like you, I’m sure I won’t start using a pillow or any other kind of extra muffling inside the bass drum. Too much muffling takes away the tone of the drum in my opinion.
Exactly what I use!!!
Biggest shock i ever got back in the 90's was seeing Bun E Carlos live. He was playing a 24 or 26 wide open. I suspect one head may have had a reso ring. This was a time when all sorts of horrors were being committed with gaffer tape etc. It was a revelation to me. From then on I have been a minimalist. I now use an Evans pad and thats it.
Bun E Carlos is super underrated. Dude has perfect tempo and his grooves feel so damn good. I use felt strips only in my kick, sounds awesome. ✌️🤙
I used pillows, back in the day. Then, for years, I used a small towel, laid on the bottom of the shell, that touched both heads just enough for some decent muffling. Recently, I bought some Evans EMADs. I love those heads. I'm not muffling the front at all. I'm getting the best kick sound I've ever had.
Rob, you are the best. I have a 16" kick (Questlove's Breakbeats kit) and I've tried few things in there, but found that--like you say---that baby sounds best "buck nekkid." Many thanks for all your videos throughout the years; I've learned so much from you.
I love your minimalistic approach. It would be super rad to audibly demonstrate the differences so people can hear the differences. All drums, and players, and rooms, and mics are different; so I get that the player has to figure it out for themselves. But having examples of the changes in sound would be great in a video like this. It has been quite frustrating the few times I've had studio experiences with people trying to make drums not sound like drums. There's a time and place for moon gels I suppose.
I use egg crate mattress foam, about 1 1/4" thick, cut to the depth and diameter of my 22" shell. Sounds PERFECT! Like it's already been sound engineered.
I came here to see if anyone else does that! I’ve used that technique for over 20 years and still think it sounds fantastic.
Same
I got the Easter kids bass drum to take to the mountains and far places easily and I used an old mylar baggie from unknown sources as a extra ply on my kick side lol it works with low standards
“Thumpification” and “Thump chamber” is the best thing I’ve ever heard about a kick drum.
I think this is good advice but would have been ten times better to hear the bass drum with each option. At the end of this I still have to try everything to work out which sound I want.
I couldn't agree more !!! , a Bass Drum needs some resonance to work properly and if done right has more power and more dynamics and depth !!! So usually less is more !!!! Right on Rob Brown for pointing out what should be obvious but apparently isn't !! I see three issues way to often , Front head loose , back head loose , two much stuffing...WRONG !!
Mr. Beatdown, you, my friend, are as cool as the other side of the pillow, and your no nonsense tutorials are so well done and appreciated.
I first started playing right after watching The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show back in February of 1964 but only played for 3 years or so. During that time I didn’t ever think about tuning my drums since I was self taught and didn’t even consider tuning. Didn’t have a clue that I could make my drums sound different.
Then, about 20 years ago I wanted to play again. I still had no idea about tuning. I just banged away down in my basement oblivious to what must have been horrible sounding drums.
Fast forward to around 2018 or so, and I discover this channel on my tv called RUclips, and there were real drumming videos with only a push of my clicker button. You can imagine my amazement when I saw that the sounds of my different drums were able to be adjusted and dialed in for a much better sound, and you were the first one I turned to for instruction on how to improve the sounds of my drums. I watched hours of what you had to offer about drumming, and I am and will be forever grateful for you sharing your vast knowledge with me.
I used to have stuff in my bass drum. But since watching your tuning video. I now have MAXIMUM THUMPERFERCATION!!!!
I bought a new Gretch Cantina kit. The bass drum sounds fantastic and it’s empty.
Love your channel man. My drumming is really coming on. Cheers. ✌🏽&🍍😁
Heya Rob. I'm a self-taught drummer who refuses to take lessons; why would I need to when your videos exist?
I wanted to personally thank you for all you do and continue to do for the drumming community on here. Your kindness, understanding, and sense of humour and expertise are what we drummers should all aspire to. PLEASE GROOVE RESPONSIBLY 💚
Thanks man 👊🏽😎
You can't observe and correct your errors one seven hundredth as well as a teacher. A teacher stands right by you in a lesson and corrects the 5 -500 issues going on from head to toe while you are playing; answers your 5 to 50 questions each lesson; talks about style and who to listen to; demonstrates and models; inspires and usually becomes a close friend. Even without the last, well worth the "scratch".
I agree with your comment on Rob's videos, they are great. But if you actually want to improve, even only a few sessions with a good teacher will help you a lot. Even if you play in a band, other musicians are usually focused on themselves and unless you sound totally terrible, they won't notice or won't say what you can or should improve.
A good teacher will tell you what and how to improve.
I'm self-taught myself, but not having a teacher is nothing to be proud of.
@@antscagtv5774 yes, exactly.
@antscagtv5774 👍 Agree.
I have watched literally hundreds of videos on drumming from purchase to maintenance on one's kit in the last 2 years. 62 with Arthritis setting in...Time is the factor here. I want to REALLY learn and have decided lessons are a perfect route at my age.
Some individuals are "TO cool" for lessons, so to speak.
I've watched children from the Atlanta drum academy ( Mr. Rile's 🙏) on the Tube as well as Viola Smith beat the drums. Talk about tears in the eyes!
I love all styles of drumming and oddly enough Karen Carpenter is my drumming idol! Rock on!👍
Yessssssssss, the Evans EQ Pad is the secret weapon
I've been using an Aquarian super kick 2 and regulator and nothing else inside my bass drums for over 10 years now. Gives the perfect amount of muffling.
I was working in a music store, back in the '90s, when Aquarian sent us a demo set of the Superkick II and Regulator. We put that on one of our 22" bass drums, and it sounded like a freaking canon. I was an instant convert. 😄
Same here. I used the Evans emad when they first came out but the plastic ring that holds the muffle breaks easily. I switched to Aquarian After about the 3rd emad I went through.
Interesting video. When I started playing at church there was a rattling noise in the kick and it sounded totally dead, no sustain at all. I investigated. The kick was stuffed full with cushions and blankets very similar to your opening shot. I took out all the stuff and found that several screws were lose and one little nut and washer had fallen off, that caused the rattling. So I re-attached the nut, tightened the screws, tuned both heads, didn't put anything into it. There was some unpleasant ringing, so I put one fairly flat cushion in and pushed it against the batter head, that fixed that. It's a quite cheap Ashton brand 18 inch kick, but it actually sounds pretty good, it has just the right sustain and has decent deep end sound. By the way, this kick sounds much nicer when you are in front of it, in the audience, compared to behind where I'm playing it. I found it sounded OK, when when I heard another drummer play it, it sounded sweet. I guess the drummer hears mostly the batter head, the audience mostly the resonant head.
Excellent video and I can only hope people stop being stupid.
I've used an Emad and Evans EQ pad with my 1973 Ludwig 22" for a few years now exactly as described here. It was nice to see my choice confirmned by the good Doctor.
Also you can make one of those Evans eq pads for no money. Get and old t shirt, roll up some old socks in a small tube then roll them on either end of the t shirt and tape them down. Instant eq pad! I put each end on each head, BOOM!
Drumhead with some built-in muffling, and add a moongel or two to fine-tune the sound. That's it. Over the years I've learned that less muffling is better than more muffling.
At my blues venue in Japan, I have a 22x18 Pearl Reference Pure. Both heads are PS3s and ported. I use a double ended Pearl pillow slightly touching both the batter and reso. We have an Audix D6 mic going through an analog Midas Venice mixer and then aux sent to an 18" QSC KS118 sub.
Maximum thumpification has been achieved!
Having tried many other bass drums with the same method, vintage and new, 22s and 24s, and with different head combinations, I guarantee that the actual Reference Pure kick itself made the biggest difference. The sound quality and tone is jaw dropping. We dialed it in trying different heads and the two PS3s won out.
It breaths life into the music and the ladies dance every week. That's my testimony. Can I get a witness?!
Hi, death metal drummer here. I have a legit reason to stuff my kick, I run triggers so I don't need to have an open kick. Helps keep false triggering to a minimum too
What is "triggers"? I haven't ever heard of that or false triggering.
@@rickwells5624 triggers are like pickups on a guitar, but for drums. Very very common is super fast technical metal bc if you used a natural sound in those fast songs you're either not gonna be heard or your kicks will sound like a wet fart, and you'll be barely heard
@drew_on_drums
OK, I get it.
Thank you very much for explaining it to me.
I don't know how I haven't heard of them. Or maybe I just don't remember it, lol
I'm 55, so memory tends to flicker from time to time.
Also, at my age, the wet fart thing you mentioned is a definite possibility, so I don't trust them anymore.
Thank again, truly appreciate it.
@@rickwells5624 not a problem man, guys like you taught guys like me so it's only fair that I return the favor ya know?
Your response is why I read the comments. You never said he was wrong or misguided. You simply stated a logical reason for stuffing your drum like a front facing dryer and it made sense! (Just kidding about the dryer part)🤪
I love your no BS honest way of speaking! Thanks for this!!!! Super helpful:) Thanks and God Bless! :)
If done all those tricks, I ended up buying the kicker muffler that I’m using now, and made one out of 4 inch memory foam that even works great.
I’ve used all four of these methods over the years. In the studio I use the Simon rolled up towel method and then muffle reso from the outside slightly as needed. For live, I use a small, thin, black 14” square decorative type pillow for in my 14” deep kick. A little bit more control on both heads helps the sound guys out.
I used your wrinkle technique and my kick sounds awesome.
The EMADs are awesome. But. for my 22", I chose the Remo External Sub Muff'l Bass Drum System. Which is basically the same type of muffling as the EMAD. It can be reused if the head busts, unlike an EMAD. I add the Evans EQ pad, as well. Love it! Big boom w/o the overtones. Thanks Rob. You the man!
its been a while. I still follow you and your advice. I see you are closing in on THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND SUBSCRIBERS !!!! Well earned and deserved . CONGRATS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks man. I’m excited about the growth 📈😎
Your drums are the finest tuned on RUclips. They sound amazing. Mr. Brown
I go with felt strips only, no pillow. 18x24” kick with a Coated pinstripe head on the beater side and a fyberskin on the reso side with a kick port. Tune it medium low on both sides. Sounds amazing. I get loads of compliments “dude, I need to record your kit” y’all should try it. ✌️🤙
You got me at "Look at this" 😅 .. Another killer lesson.. Thanks man!
I dunno, my man. For me I do it the Bonham way with felt strips on the lower 3rd of both batter and resonance head. That way if I'm not wanting to bury the beater there's still a nice tone to the kick. :) Love your videos!
Great video. My Pearl Session Studio Select 20” came with a pad similar to the EQ pad. Velcro strip on the bottom section of the pad and drum. Reach in through the port hole to move the upper section of the pad higher or lower on the head as needed. The velcro on the shell at the bottom keeps it in place.
My Tama 22" superstar kick has an ugly 'boing' sound if it's empty ... I'll give this a try. Thanks Rob!
I’m an Evans guy and use a couple of their products in my Bass Drums with excellent results. EMAD batter heads, EQ pad and the no longer available Gate.
I was a sound engineer for years and I agree with EVERYTHING this man has said ❤
I put Evans heads everywhere EXCEPT on my 20" kick drum. I use an Aquarian Super Kick 2 and I LOVE it
Your channel is GOSPEL for drummers!! 🥁💯
Preach on I say..
@@daveyboy8907
💯
Thanks, man 😎
Can I get a witness!!!
During our first record / recording I played my Tamma Artstar II with 2 / 24" inch virgin bass drums. Remo pinstripes all the way around with resin heads. The bass drums had 2 holes cut out for microphones during live shows.
I didn't use any muffling system at all.
My bass drum pedals were 2 DW 5000's
Which DW added the extra heavy springs for me. For some reason, I just needed to fight the bass drum pedal a little to make it work for me. My bass drums were tightened as far as possible. Now my bass drums were tuned so high and tight because I needed the air to slap back my base drum beaters faster as to higher my double base, BPM speed. Which actually worked, but to get around the high pitch coming from the bass drums I had internal microphones placed within the whole drum kit, then I had every drum also triggered from the inside, I stripped the triggers outer casing to where it was a small PCB board the size of a half a stick of gum. From the inside, the triggers are half a millimeter away, but touching it in inside battered heads. I ran them thru an Alessi D4 trigger unit and then ran that thru an EQ, Gate, then to my 16 channel board right behind me. I only used the triggers for the lower hertz to get them back in tune of the bass drums and the other drums in sync..
After my tech set up my drums at the studio the next day, the engineers have totally stripped my bass drums and shoved what look like U-Haul truck blankets inside them. Me not thinking much about it I start to warm up before recording so the engineer can dial-in my drums. As I start to play my base drum petals just sink into the bass drum head like it's made out of marshmallow, And had no recoil. My doubles were gone, my triplets were gone. It was a nightmare. But I have to admit that the base drums sound did have a great punch to them. But in the end, what was the point it felt like my bass drum beaters were hitting mashed potatoes and getting stuck.
We disassembled the kit and the engineer said let's just take a day or two to figure this out. Warrant had also booked time in the studio for a few days that week. Janie Lane was there remastering his vocals? By chance I ran into Matt Sorum. That's when Adler departed Guns N' Roses, and Matt took over.. I asked him for some advice. My question was, "do you muffle your bass drums? and if so, dos it differ from live shows "vs" the studio. He walked out to his car and came back in with the Evans Pad and said this is all you need and gave me a couple. At this point in time as endorsements are skyrocketing for him. But he did believe in the Evans Pad. The next day he came by the studio with a pair of very old looking Ludwig pedals with very little spring tension. Then we put heavier tape at the top of the beaters.. that's what he taught me about feathering the bass drum lower attention at the foot pedal heavier beater at the top. He explained that equipment are just tools that you manipulate to make them fit your needs. Matt explained that he was now the drummer for Guns N' Roses, but that he also did ALOT of session work. Even for the girl band the Go-Go's, and Belinda Carlisle while drumming for the CULT.
We need influencers like Rob Brown to Passed down knowledge. For that please SUBSCRIBE to his channel and Suport this community.
Having this conversation with many players is like talking to the wall. I was asked, I was ASKED to help a guy with his bass drum because he was just not getting the sound he wanted. I went over to listen to it and it sound like a cardboard box with a blanket inside. He had tape all over everything and no resonate head. I said, first thing we have to do is get two new heads and git rid of all that tape. It went downhill from there. He asked for my help, and would not take it. I realized I was wasting my time, and I asked him why he wanted my opinion, he told me that he liked the way my drums sounded and wanted that sound. I said you want them to sound like my drums, yet you do not want to do any of the things you need to do to get them to sound that way. I decided to make an excuse and leave because he was getting upset, I didn't want to piss the guy off to the point where we weren't friends anymore so I just left. It's like talking about religion or politics, people latch onto an idea and can't let go of it and they are insulted when you tell them to do something differently. Man! I just asked you to take the blanket out, I didn't ask if I could fuck your girlfriend! Some guys.
Basic single or double ply coated head and a felt strip. Done.
Thank you so much Rob, now I have a KICK DRUM, this kind of tips are gold!🙏🙏🙏
After the first few seconds I knew this video would be a winner.
Thanks for sharing. I started playing drums last year and bought a nice Gretsch Catalina kit with 20” kick and pillow inside. Going to remove in morning and try out. But first watch you demonstrate tuning kick drum.
Best intro in history, Thanks for the tough love Mr Brown. I pulled all the shit out of my 16” kit and slapped an emad on there. Game changer. I can say this is the best kick sound I’ve had….maybe ever. Bonus My wife found all the missing laundry! Win win
My new Pearl kit came with two small pillows that have velcro on the pillow and shell. Perfect for not going too far with it and great tone! Overdoing it not only affects the tone but also the bounce which to me is critical!! The whole just throw a pillow or two in is 0K but not for pro sound and yes stay away from that resonate head! Thanks Rob...
I use cotton balls inside my 22" Yamaha Stage Custom kick. Both heads have built-in rings: front side is tuned up tight(still has some give to it when pushed on), batter side is looser(sometimes just enough to get the wrinkles out, maybe a bit tighter but definitely looser than the front side). I found that cotton balls aren't as dense as a pillow or blanket and don't kill the tone of the bass drum. It booms without ringing! For a while I had a little bit of foam egg crate in it and then eventually took that out altogether in favor of the cotton balls. Great thing is you can easily add or take away depending on what you're looking for in sound.
I have a Ludwig Breakbeats kit and it has a 16" bass drum. You're right, all I use is the Evans EMAD head as any more muffling than that sounds like I may as well be thumping a pizza box.
I use an Aquarian Superkick 2 on mine with no muffling and no hole on reso. I get lots of compliments on the sound of this entire kit.
When I was a drummer back in the 1970's, I had a 22" kick. What I did was take a 3" thick foam mattress I had as part of the sound proofing in the room, and I cut it into a strip that went around the inside of the shell neatly. The width was cut a half inch deeper than the shell so the foam just pressed lightly against both heads. The fit was tight enough around the inside that the foam never shifted and did the job nicely. I had a British flag tucked into the resonant head that looked pretty nifty - ala Humble Pie. Good days had.
There is a beautiful and cheap alternative to the eq pad for the ones that happens to be parents! The baby and toddler car seats come with an extra pillow for extra support when the baby is like days old. Then you won’t be using it anymore. So, this extra pillow is practically identical to the eq pad. And thank you very much 😅
I have a 26" kick. Felt strips batter and resonance heads.
Wasn't enough for micing, so I added shredded newspapers. Old School style. About 1/4 or 1/3 full.
Thump with Boom...😊
Nice video. I use the Evans EQ4 UV (uv-coated single-ply, 10mm) with internal overtone control ring on my 22-inch bass drum (birch shell, by British Drum Company), and a similar Evans full resonant head (no port, single ply 7.5mm EQ3 with internal overtone control ring). I put NOTHING inside my drum. It's sounds awesome! It has thumpification AND boomification!
Some time ago, I was playing with a group of about 6 amplified guitar-players, bass guitar player, 2 keyboard players and about 25 mic'd singers. I had zero mics on my drum set. Someone walked around the area to hear how we all sounded, and he said, "your bass drum is very loud." 🙂
I use a beach towel folded along the bottom of the bass drum which is a just resting against the inside of the beater head about 1.5 inches from the edge. I don't roll it or tape it. It just sits flat along the curve of the drum. That's it. It's a 1987 24' by 14' Tama Swingstar and that thing is a beast -- huge and punchy.
All the hype of virgin bass drum, special tone woods, bearing edges and special construction.... then on with the oil filled heads, some tape, a pillow and a blanket...😂
Small EQ pillow + old school felt strip across reso head = retro modern balance
I’m playing a 24” Ludwig Classic maple from 1978 with an Evans Emad. Total cross between vintage and modern I love it
I love your videos Rob! Always straight to the point and no candy coating! Also super entertaining!!!😂
Professor Brown giving a lecture on Thumpification... excellent!
Preach it brother! Preach it!!!
I did this same stuff to my bass drum about a month ago, Emad head and Evans EQ pad, sounds flipping amazing
Great video Rob
The Evans pad is great, i did it front and back, sounds like a cannon like the last way velcro and barely touching head the best way 😎
Excellent video. When I see a guy hauling a month's worth of laundry in his kick, I know that the guy doesn't know what he's doing. My favorite is the Aquarian Superkick/Regulator combo. On my 22" kick I need NO additional muffling. Nice tone and just enough sustain to hear the drum. Probably not a good option if you're playing double kicks at 500 bpm, but if you like a "slightly" open sound, it rocks. I've had other drummers and soundguys come up to me at gigs complimenting me and asking me about it. Of course, if it's still too much sustain, the Evans pad or a small towel roll can be added easily.
Keep on keeping on with the great advice.
I use an EQ pad in my 16, along with an EMAD batter, and EQ3 reso. For my 22, I use two DW bass drum pillows, one that sits freely on the bottom, then a second velcroed to the top. The heads I use are an EMAD2 on the batter side, and an EMAD Resonant on the front. Gives me plenty of punch, while still maintaining a little tone.
Would have been nice to hear a before and after of these different options
I’m all about the Evans Emad mufflin system. I have a 20 inch kick. But I learned from Rick Beato that it’s also good to have something inside of the kick to prevent standing waves/acoustic reflections/phase cancellation. I found that I have a more focus kick sound without losing bottom end when I just use a small tile of foam in the kick even if it’s not touching the heads. If anything, it actually helps the low end a bit.
Sometimes I’ll also use a rolled up hand towel with tape around it and have it touching the front head if I’m micing it with a Shure Beta 52A through the hole.
Switched to Emads when they first came out, and never looked back. My 1983 22x16 Gretsch USA Custom thanks me every time I find the 1.
I agree & use the Evans EQ Pad as well. They are just awesome. Thanks for the info, greatly appreciated. 👍
What is this mysterious new brand, AHAMAY? 🧐
Yamaha spelled backwards lol
I use the Evans EQ pad in my 22", with Remo P3's on front and back. I definitely like it more than an overstuffed kick, but I say do whatever works for you.
All legit, man. We through this back in the 70's. But the best bass drum muffler that I like is an attachable one like what is on your snare drum but external. Try it on both the batter and outer heads.
On my next kit, it will have a 24x14 and 20x16 bass drum. This was very informative on how i should muffle them! Thank you!
Great tips as always, Rob! As an alternative, I stole the idea decades ago from L.A. session great Denny Fongheiser who used a denim jacket on a 24" kick, so I decided to experiment with a pair of old jeans - Immediately fell in love with it! They are easy to fold, heavy enough to stay in place, and take up so little space inside the drum.
Best way I have found to get that deep punch in the chest bass drum sound is using the Aquarian Regulator front head, and you can use it with any batter head with no muffling
For low volume practicing I used mesh heads for a couple of years and have come to loathe them. So, I am very guilty of the opening shot. For me the worst mesh head ever is the one for the kick drum. The others aren't all that and bag of chips either. So I use microfiber shop towels on normally headed drums and L80 cymbals. This is the BP kit set up. The balance is quite good with the others in the band and we keep it under 90 db for the most part.
The 'loud' kits all have 22" kicks and they are all set up the same. Aquarian Super Kick II batter head, factory reso heads with sound holes the Evans pad and good tuning. I use a single rolled up towel if I need any more dampening.
Thanks for these videos, Rob. You tuning videos gave a me a direction that I really haven't strayed from since watching them.
AS a touring drum tech i 100% agree with the down pillow, I grabbed a french duck down pillow from a hotel at one show in Europe and paid for it the night I got back and took it on the road, it was light but did the best level of deadening, one thing pillow, and looked invisible
if you do the towel trick, Id suggest use a twine or yarn to tie up the towel then you dont have the skin hitting the hard surface of th gaffertape around towel if it moves, just some butchers twine even does, just means the whole towel is a soft surface,
I've never used a pillow. I have discovered the Remo muff foam ring early in my journey and never needed to stuff the bass drum. I highly recommend it, it's cheap, reusable, and looks much better than a pillow. I've bought one ring 15 years ago and still using the same one today. Never purchased another one since.
Good stuff man!!!
Rob, I watch your videos daily. I get the most information from you. Thank you !
Sunday's load of laundry Great advice on getting the job done, with options to approach the tone.
My friend who recorded on one of Paul Simon's more recent albums said Phil Ramone (RIP) used cotton balls... It works amazingly! I bought 4 large bags and filled the kick to taste. Cool thing is they move just a little and settle back into their positions... Lets just a little resonance through. Best kick muffle I've tried!
I have a pearl double kick and I use the pearl version of the Evans EQ pad
I love it
It does everything yo need just move to where you need it
Hahaha--5 seconds in and it immediately reminded me of a live sound gig 25 years ago. Guy had his kick packed with 4 blankets. I had to ask, "What are you doing, going camping after the gig? Get that shit out of there!"
Great video! One thing I was hoping you would address that’s relative to the conversation is how muffling, or the lack of it, affects the FEEL of the batter head. I do find there is a feel difference depending on how the drum is treated inside.
I can maybe comment on that.
A kick is a musical instrument. Some have more or less sustain, or other sound characteristics. When you buy your drums, obviously buy something that suits your style of music and taste.
You can change the pitch by tuning the batter head. You have some control over sustain by changing tension on the resonant head, although most drummers just crank up tension the resonant head and do the tuning on the batter head.
If there is ringing, most drummers put in maybe onepillow, or a professional muffler as seen in the video, or use a head with muffling.
When you increase the amount of old socks in your kick, of course you will gradually kill sustain, in the end you kill all of it. But why would you want to get rid of the sustain completely?
If you ask me, let someone else play the kick and stand in front of the set, see how it sounds from there. In my experience, it sounds quite different for the drummer and the audience.
And IMHO a kick that has no sustain at all just doesn't sound right.
In the end, this is a question of taste. But if you don't like sustain, don't buy a kick with a lot of it.
Great video! I like a nice clean look so on the batter head I use an Evans EMAD (with the thicker pad) along with 2 Gibraltar felt strips under the head.
As for the reso head, I use a pink Remo colortone head (to go with my band’s name and theme) so I just use 4 clear Drumdots on the inside of the head at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 position (and I keep the plastic on the drumdots so they don’t accumulate dust).
24x16 Ludwig Classic maple, clear pinstripe, falam slam, no reso, no muffler. Damn near killed the sound man at the sound check. His response: 'That'll do it. Ok then"
Thank you dude. I've been playing for 30 years now and just got my first REAL kit. Yamaha Oak Custom 1st gen yellow badges. Now I know how to tune and muffle properly thanks to your channel. Thank you for your service sir.
And I hate flying too lol
Nice drum set..Congrats
Most informative video I've seen on kicked drums thank you
Very informative. Cheers, Rob! ✌️🥁
Yeah Rob, mans on point. Another thing that people forget is that, it sounds different with the whole kit, and with the whole mix. I just put an coated emperor on my 22". as it is worn in now; alone it is still a bit ringy, but man does those harmonics up the presence of the bassdrum. And it does generate those bass hz frequencies, it's a 22" that is a fn big drum, maple is it + it is next to a wall. The ring head has no hole, for get what it was prolly like a ps3 :D.
Technique matters alot aswell, you can play a stomp, and a rebound strike; the stomp makes a thump; then you can mute it with the left pedal aswell.
I agree with all of these methods. My personal go-to that works best for me has been Aquarian SK2 for the batter, and a plain Remo Smooth White Ambassador (no hole) with the EQ pad on the reso. Combine all of that with the Kelly-Shu and an Audix D6. Super versatile. Use this on my 22” & 20”…
The SK2 is the best kick drum head out there.
Rob always knows what's up
Thank you so much!!!!!! I’ve been struggling with this!!!! Love your humour and personality so much. Ok now to fine your tuning the kick drum lol
Great video. I use 2 evans eq pads. One resting on each head like you said in my 24x18 kick Ludwig classic maple. Been doing that for 15 years and i love the thud and the way the pedal feels on the batter head.
That intro was funny. Dude got the Copeland studio kick setup.
22inch kick with Evans emad 2 with the larger foam ring and an Aquarian reso head with foam ring and porthole. Best sound I’ve been able to achieve
Great video. I have a DW Pure Oak 24x16 and i use an Evans EMAD reso and an Evans EQ4 clear batter with 2 Evans EQ pads that touch the inside very slightly. I put my Behringer 19A mic on the EQ pad and it gives the most insane sound for my bass-drum.
I use a neat trick... I have a ported front head and yes ago decided I wanted to make it easy to make changes to the muffling on the fly. I took an old pair of the wife's stockings, cut the two legs off. Got a couple of old cushions and cut into two strips. Stuffed now thinner cushions into each leg creating 2 sausage cushions with ends tied up. Easily fits through the port hole and I can put one or two in and manoeuvre as required. ( like your towel idea). I use Emad2 batter head too. Top video, will visit your store soon.