On drums...

In various exchanges, Cliff, Kelly, and Greg all tried to convince me that the difficulties I always had with the sound of my floor toms were not only tuning related but "most likely the tuning of the reso head"(all three of them have told me this exact same thing at various points). I started to figure it out with a hanging 16" floor and then the lesson sank in even more when I started playing with my 16" x 16" Designer.
But, this morning, while I was goofing around with my 18", I had a little trouble getting it to sound the way I wanted it to. I played with the batter head a bit, and then it dawned on me to check the reso. I flipped it over, tapped a bit, turned a few tension rods...Voila.
I'm still experimenting with tuning and head choice for my Designers, but thanks to all the immense knowledge you guys drop on me, its a pleasure instead of a chore.

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Ron- A.K.A "The Frenetic Rah Rah Guy"

Also good the check tire pressure on the passenger side of the car, too.

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Cliff

River City Trio

What if we did all have the same opinions?

I was just about to make my coffee for the morning too, Cliff!!



You just kick 'em right?! If they ain't mushy, then yur good, huh?!!

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Ron- A.K.A "The Frenetic Rah Rah Guy"

A revelation I had with floor toms was understanding the relationship of the resonant head to the floor surface. Generally speaking, none of the other drums in a kit face the same acoustic environment! But there's a desire to get similar tuning results from floor toms as we get from our rack toms. Which is probably what initiated the whole Steve Gadd/Recording Custom suspended floor tom thing to begin with. Personally, I prefer legged floor toms over suspended toms.

On a problematic floor tom, one thing that's worked pretty well for me is the use of a heavier head, or even a dotted head on the resonant side of the drum.
Getting back to the floor itself, I have experimented with various surfaces under the drum, such as foam mats, and even a square of Melamine shelving board under the drum. I would just take the drum out to different rooms and floors and retune it to find it's prime environment.
Or, you could buy Kelly's 15 and 16 inch Signature Bubingahhhs and be done with it! My 15" Lite floor tom is the best sounding floor tom I've ever owned!
All the Best,
Brian

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Drums and No Money will get Me through Hard Times better than Money and No Drums!
-A Recovering Drum Addict

It sounds as if you are getting a perceived positive by adding a negative. The floor is reflecting the air movement and deflecting the resonance of the bottom head, which in turn is deflecting your top head. Using a heavier bottom head will slow everything down, create less resonance but perhaps because of that diminished resonance is in turn diminished less. In any case, the solution seems to be playing to the weakness of the system.

Now, perhaps you are getting the sound you want, and I wouldn't argue that. But if resonance is what is desired, then the solution is while retaining identical head weights and tuning, repositioning the toms. Angling the floor tom would break up the effect of "kickback." Raising the tom helps, too. I was surprised when I lifted the toms about two inches, how much more resonance was created.

I was skeptical, but now am delighted with my suspended and under-square "floors." The way those toms filled the theater the other night took me completely by surprise, and I no longer look at standing floor toms with envy. I still prefer the way they look, perhaps, but functionality is changing my views on aesthetics.

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Gregory

Its funny you should say that, Greg. I have my floors both angled a bit because its more comfortable and it helps accommodate the three racks up top. And I have noticed a difference. I thought it was just a coincidence.



Now I want to try this and see how it sounds.

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Ron- A.K.A "The Frenetic Rah Rah Guy"

The sound differential you notice could be the result of many things involving the specific resonance in your particular room, but unless the reasoning is faulty, the drum objectively should have more resonance and more projection if the heads are the same weight, tuned to the same frequency, and there's nothing damping either head's ability to resonate.

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Gregory

That seems like a good explanation, Brian. I've never known how the movement got started, but it made me nuts while looking for a Designer kit; all of em had suspended toms around.

When I was in high school, before I had drums I drew them. Repeatedly. Not much variation, either; head on views of four piece kits. I don't think I was so much trying to draw drums as I was trying to conjure them, as if concentrating on the shapes might bring the mystery closer... and I guess it worked.

In every one of those drawings was a floor tom with legs. It's hard to shift from such a strong paradigm. There's something geeky about suspended floors, about guys who think so much about getting the last increment of sound out of their equipment that theyre willing to amputate their legs. Not really quite drummers, but technicians. Now I am one.

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Gregory

I used to love the hanging floor, but now I just want to move the drum independently of a stand, its much more convenient.
How many times have you played outdoor gigs and had half your kit fall over in a strong wind because you had a stand with a floor, ride and crash on it.(raises hand many times)
For recording I believe the suspended floor is better, you get a nice tone that translates on tape. But playing live through a PA the only person who cares about the floor tom resonance is you.

Sorry, I forgot this thread was about the reso head. Yes you have to tune that one as well!