On drums...

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Cliff

River City Trio

What if we did all have the same opinions?

I remember only a few days after I got my SQ2's delivered I set them up and took a million photographs of them. I uploaded these photos and of course my video on YouTube of me setting them up and was bombarded with negative comments with regards to my choice in not only the tom depths but the kick drum being drilled for my tom mount. Many of them worded "Why on earth would you get such a high end kit and have it drilled?!?" Since these comments I have often wondered what my kick would sound like undrilled. Then realising if I removed my track mount from my designer kick drum it would essentially be undrilled I thought what the hell I'll give it a try.
I was at a tuning clinic years ago with a guy called Jeff Davenport and he brought along a delite kit and an HLD 588 snare drum and he was explaining what the weight of the toms and sympathetic resonance (If that is the correct term??) did to the sound of the kick overall. I was amazed at the difference but preferred the sound with the drums on the kick as opposed to off hence my choice of tom mount on my SQ2 kick drum. Just wanted to try it for myself and see what I thought.

Will of course post my findings with you all.

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Ron

The virgin kick (which is to say, no tom mount added) phenomenon began as a result of toms losing tone after being hung on any kind of mounting system, ergo the development of RIMS in the 1980s. The bass drum was a different issue, thin shells being deformed by the weight of mount and tom, even to the point of developing a permanent warp. Not many modern kits are likely to warp, but that was a significant problem in 50's and 60's kits.

Designer basses are 'virgin' with or without tracks, since nothing is added to, or subtracted from, the shell. The weight of the aluminum plate is minimal, and what weight there is is spread out by distributing it over four fairly distant points, rather than having it converge on a singular attachment point.

In theory and by modern wisdom, the best system would be no hardware touching any shell and no drums mounted to any other drum. While that may be an ideal, it is probably about as useful as the ideal shape of an automobile, vis a vis wind resistance, that would leave no room for passengers. There are other issues to consider, and there is an inverse graph of diminishing returns as the line approaches the ideal. Besides, some people like the effect of heavily encumbered drums. I have a friend who has a Lite kit with all original holders, his favorite kit. He owns a new SQ and considers it his expendable kit while he favors the Lites. So much has to do with the way you play and what your ear is expecting to hear, what cymbals you are using and how you tune.

Looking forward to hearing your take!

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Gregory

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Cliff

River City Trio

What if we did all have the same opinions?

Hey everybody

So last week I tried my designers with the track mount off and toms mounted on arms and stands. To my ears there has been a small but noticeable difference in sound. For starters my toms sound more 'open' and remind me of my Mapex kit I traded in for the designers. They were thin maple shells. As for the kick drum it's a little harder to say as I changed the resonant head on it at the same time. My girlfriend organised for my Xmas a new head with my band logo on it and she did a great job of it too! Will post a picture actually. Anyway this resonant head is quite a bit lighter than I normally have (Stock Sonor) so I think it has had more to do with the sound change than the tom removal. Basically I will have to put the Sonor head back on to get a proper listen to the change. As it stands now I prefer the older sound with my toms mounted on the track and the Sonor head. The kick just sounds weaker with less focus and depth.

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Ron

If you want to know how different tires affect handling, don't change shock absorbers at the same time. Put your old head back on, and then you'll know something. Also, make sure that your toms are in the same position vis à vis the bass drum, because moving them incrementally will change the sound, too.

One thing to remember: You may hear subtle shifts in tone made by moving a cymbal three inches up or down. Sound is like color; there are objective facts about it that can be measured, and those mean something, but they mean almost nothing compared to how that color works in relation to other things. Now that I think of it, The Theory of Relativity thing ought to have been called Theory of Relationship. That would have stopped, or at least slowed down, the debilitating notion that truth is relative. Our experience of truth is subjective and relational, and that can be said without taking away any of the absolute value of truth.

Where was I?

Oh yeah - Subtle shifts you hear at the throne may mean nothing out in front of the drums.

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Gregory