DRUMMER CAFE

Went in the studio this weekend and laid down 6 tracks in just under 14 hours.  They were all original tunes so the 14 hours was quite good if not phenominal.  I must say this was the quickest it has ever gone for me getting set up, sound checked and tuned.  Using Aquarians all around and the only muffling I had to use was a tonal ring on my 16" floor, and one strip of drum gum on my 12".  I really spent alot of time prior to going in tuning and re-tuning to get the sounds I wanted and hoped it would come out good in the booth, man was I surprised.  I think the set up and sound checks took at most 1 1/2 hours.  This was also the first time I have recorded with my newest kit, putting out the extra bucks for the shell pack really has paid off.  Anyway, just wanted to stress the importance of pre tuning before going into the studio, although sometimes it can be a waste of time once you get there, paid off for me on this occassion though....

A drum tech recently told me that the only difference between Aquarians and Remo's is that the Aquarians are essentially "pre-dampened".  He figured that if a drummer tunes as well as possible with Remo's and then dampens them, it's possible to do a better job of tuning than with Aquarians.

Does that make sense?  (I've never tried Aquarians, so I don't know.)

I'm with Felix on this so I am running up the on that drum tech. 

How about Evans?  I bought a snare that had an Evans G2 head on it, and it seems to have less of a "beach ball" sound than a REMO head and seems to feel nicer.  So maybe that's not my imagination?

The drum tech in question is very highly regarded, so I wonder why he's telling me REMO is as good as anything.  Maybe loyalty based on decades of using the same product.

To be fair, though, I've played two-ply heads and I'd certainly describe them as "pre-dampened", so I know what he's talking about.  Even REMO coated heads can be thought of as somewhat "pre-dampened".

It seems alot of people whom play Remos hate Aquarian heads and vice versa.

Then you have people whom play Evans heads that are just plain deaf.  LOL JK!

I've played them all quite a bit and I prefer Aquarians the way I tune.

Tuning helps with that; but I had that problem on my F1K kit I bought last year around Xmas time:  Even with an aquarian on top- the floor tom had a basketball sound to it.  I swapped out the bottom Remo Ambassador black (new one I might add) with a used Aquarian Hi Freq I had laying around and the problem was solved.

Whatever works.  The only remo's I use are an ambassador once in awhile for snare drum but those really aren't all that if you ask me.

Lots of people swear by Remo... usually I end up swearing at them.

There's a mix up going on in this thread based on the misconception that a certain brand has a certain sound.
It's not the brand but the head type that determines the sound.
To put it plainly, a predampened Remo head will sound more dry than an undampened Aquarian.
It's fine to choose a brand you prefer, but then you have to choose a head type that suits your needs within that brand.
A single-ply head from any maker will appear to ring more than a double-ply or double-ply head with some pre-dampening from any other maker.
The Evans G2 is a thicker head than a Remo Ambassador, therefore it will suppress a small amount of overtone. A Remo Pinstripe is drier than an Evans J1 though.
You are probably going to have to research heads a little more and disregard the BS from the drum tech.
For unwanted ringing, I choose a normal head and apply my own dampening in the form of a little tape. It's a better solution IMO than the heads that come from the factory with damping attached.
(With one exception - I generally always prefer a damped bass drum, so I most often buy one of the predamped heads).

That's probably what the drum tech was trying to tell me.

Sometimes you must raise the flag or a man will be looking for this store!.   

I agree.
So far in limited trials they've seemed quite different to me too.
The end result is the same though. If you are watching a drummer in concert or listening to an album, the biggest element of the sound is the player themselves.
I'd wager few could say which brand of heads are being used.

I totally agree that the sound mainly comes from the musician - did you see Stuff "Live in Montreux"? Gadd is playing what looks like a stock Ludwig kit, with "Silver dots" on all toms AND the snare drum (!) The sizes are not his standard choices either. Anyway, I seriously doubt that I would notice this if I'd only heard the audio recording. Here's a sample:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/AiBQeTqEDZY" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/AiBQeTqEDZY</a>

I dunno.
That kit makes him sound more like Bonham!

Yes, I'm definitely going to purchase that DVD. Personally, I love Stuff! Marvellous rhythm-section (and the solos are ok too )

Steve Gadd has so much feel he could play trash cans and make them sound great.  Has anyone put drum construction into this discussion? I have seen one drum head sound great on one kit and bad on the next. I know my DW Edge sounds best with a Evans Genera Dry. I think a lot of it is tuning, and type of wood used in construction. I remember when I was a kid, my 1 st. kit was the Slingerland Phamton clear, which I still have by the way, heads were a problem because of the acrylic. A lot of overtones and trying to damping. The end result was kill the drum by overdamping.