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. Also told him to try nva so maybe you will have a new customer sometime. ). I recently mounted a mic inside my bass drum permanently and ran a cable out the air vent for when it is needed. I blocked all the air vents as i prefer the stick response i get from a sealed drum. I also tune moderately high for stick response as really i am a jazz head and love to do lots of rudimentary stuff which relies on good stick bounce.Very informative. I always thought John Bonham's drums were thicker than everyone elses.karatestu wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2019 6:16 am Hey Lindsay. Once miked up you can make any bass drum sound huge. Most bass drums of that era were 14" deep which is not deep by modern standards.
How did 70's premier compare to other makes ? To be honest i have not heard enough of them - some are pretty rare and collectors pieces now which means they aren't played or left out in sunlight (fades the finish). Depth makes a big difference to the live unmiked sound. Most were 14" deep, Ginger Baker played a lot of 12" deep kick drums. Then there is the diameter. 22" is about standard going up to 26" (Bonham) and after that you are in to marching drum territory - try mounting toms on top of a 28" bass drum and actually be able to hit them.
The more shallow a drum is the more the fundamental note dominates the sound. Go deeper and you get more resonance and over tones and a more complex note. Sound guys moan about resonant drums because they start to feedback when miked up. They like nice clean drums which they can manipulate in any way they want.
Lots of things determine how a drum will sound
Shell material - metal, acrylic, wood. Even different woods and metals sound different
Shell depth - deeper equals a fatter note and more boing
Shell thicness and number of ply's - this is a science within itself. Thin = more resonance but not as cutting or loud as a thick drum
Bearing edges where the drum meets the skin - rounded over edges give the 70's fat and warm sound, 45 degree sharp edges the modern cutting sound
Hoops - the woodern and die cast ones sound more controlled than steel triple flanged. The lighter the more resonance
Tuning lugs - lots of big metal things screwed to a drum shell can dampen the sound
Mounting method - floor tom with three legs can kill resonance compared to a drum which is hung from one point. Having a tunable spring effect can give increased sustain
Tuning - tuned low for rock. Drums have a tuning range where they sound best and its different for all drums. Add the fact that most drummers haven't a clue how to tune and get a good sound. It canonly be learned by experimentation with a particular drum, skin type, head type
Dampening - is there a pillow or similar inside the drum
The room plays a big influence on the final sound.
Recording drums is a completely different kettle of fish to live. Also is the kit mic'd up or not. No microphones is what i like best from a hifi nerdy point of view but that is for only the smallest gigs. Bri g in a microphone and you are not really hearing the true character of that drum.
I like to get as much resonance as possible from my drums so no dampening on any of them. No hole in the front bass drum head for microphone as i prefer a sealed enclosure ( i have doc modded my drum kit
Well if you are still awake, well done.
Yes very tragic. Watching interviews of Moon in the couple of years before his death, he was a complete mess. Pissed all the time and it should have been no surprise when he snuffed it. Bonham was different. Not a complete piss head but liked a drink of course. A very rare appearance on TV in 1980 (Tiswas) shows he looked healthy and sober although very quiet.
