Bass Drum Tuning

[SystemOfADreamThtr]

Hey, everytime i try to tune my bass drum, it ends up with this huge sound that over powers my whole set, and it rings pretty bad.  i hav a pillow inside of it and that helped some.  i also have a "falam pad" that goes on the where the beater hits it. i want more or a short tight sound, like alot of drummers have, like lamb of god(chris adler), or dream theater(portnoy).
anyone know how i wouldgo about tuning to get this sound? any help would be great

Chris

[Tony]

Run it through a mic, pump it into a board, gate the bejesus out of it, add a compressor and mix it with a well known, highly trained professional.  Or use a trigger and sample.

Seriously, trying to replicate the sound of "insert favorite drummer kick sound here" is nearly impossible due to all of the processing that takes place on recordings.  The best advice I could give you is to go for a good balanced sound in tune with the rest of your kit.  

[SystemOfADreamThtr]

Haha, i didnt mean i wanted iot to sound exactly like theres, but i was just giving examples of kick drums sounds that i like in the end i just want a shorter sound thats all :) but thanks anyways man

[Mister Acrolite]

Try a premuffled bass drum head. My favorite is the Aquarian Impact I, but lots of people here prefer the Aquarian SuperKick II.

[Chip Donaho]

Try a premuffled bass drum head. My favorite is the Aquarian Impact I, but lots of people here prefer the Aquarian SuperKick II.

Along with a Regulator on the front head....Great combo.   ;)

[newbeat]

It's still ringing and overpowering the set with a pillow inside? Try stuffing it more if it's too loud and not tight sounding...

[Brett Sheaffer]

Hey, System.

The other question is, why are your toms so much quieter than your bass drum?  Are you over-muffling already "dry" tom heads, maybe (Hydraulics, Emperors, Pinstripes, Studio-X, etc.)?

If you have too much muffling on your toms, you'll kill the volume and projection.

More information on your drum shells and head choices could help us give you more informed advice, if you don't get the balance your looking for with the advice that's already been given.

[SystemOfADreamThtr]

i got hydraulics on now, and the middle and floor tim sound fine, but the hi tom is dead sounding and its horrible. i have the evan rings on all of my drums, and felt on the bottom heads of all of them but the hi tom. everything sounds great but the hi tom and bass drum.

[Tony]

I would venture a guess that the toms are way too dead for to properly balance your kick sound.  You put  rings on top of Hydraulics and then put felt strips on the bottom heads as well?  No wonder you don't like the kick sound you're getting.

I would ignore all the advice given on this thread except for:

It's still ringing and overpowering the set with a pillow inside? Try stuffing it more if it's too loud and not tight sounding...

That should balance it right out.  Try a wool blanket, and make sure it is pressed up against both front and back head to kill, I mean reduce the sustain from them.  I have no advice for your too dead 10", since I fail to grasp how anything could be deader than what you've described.

[Brett Sheaffer]

i got hydraulics on now, and the middle and floor tim sound fine, but the hi tom is dead sounding and its horrible. i have the evan rings on all of my drums, and felt on the bottom heads of all of them but the hi tom. everything sounds great but the hi tom and bass drum.

I kinda thought that might have something to do with it.  In my humble opinion, you're over-muffling.

With all your muffling, Tony's advice of muffling your bass drum more makes the most sense (or even buying a pre-muffled bass drum head and muffling that if need be).

On the other hand (and this is entirely up to you), consider removing the muffle rings and felt, and tune your toms "wide open".  You'll notice more volume and tonality from them.

I, like you, used to use hydraulics, but I began to dislike them for what I was playing.  If someone else played my kit while I stood out in the audience, they were way too dead (although they sounded good to me while playing).  I also found that they had a limited tuning range, especially on high toms (which sounds to me like what's happening with your high tom).

Just consider it.  I think you'll like it better in the long run if you "un-muffle" and let the drums' natural resonances come out more (even with the Hydraulics).  (FWIW, YMMV, etc.)

[BlackEvovii]

What is the tension on both sides of your kick?  The best sound that ive had from my kick in years is with aquarian premuffled heads on both the batter and resonant.  Batter head is tuned just past the point of crinkles.  The resonant head is tuned medium.  I have a shirt in my bass drum and there is no overtones or noises.  Room is made out of cinder with wood siding over it.

[felix]

I don't have anything to add other than the longer I play the more differences I hear in drums and of course kick drums.

I have one kick drum where I can tune the thing "wide open" and it still sounds pretty dry.  It's amazing.  then I have another (and it's birch believe it or not) that has just so much more tone and sustain than a deeper and same diameter maple kick with the exact same heads!  ::) :-\ :'( :D :o

So on that note my advice is:

If your kick drum isn't doing it for you, listen for and find another!  I have two kick drums that lend themselves to a more modern "clicky" sound and the other 3 do other things better.

Mr. A has long been the advocate of mixing and matching drum sounds and I used to think *what the hell does he know that I don't* boy was I wrong.

So all this ebaying of drums and cymbals now?  I gotta say it's not the way IMO to buy drums and cymbals for the most part if you don't know already what you need.

[SystemOfADreamThtr]

yea ive been told many times that im over muffling, and then when the people hear my drums, they r shocked.  the floor and middle tom still sound nice and fat, jsut like it "should" even tho it has so much muffling.  the hi sounds like @$%# with an even shittier ring.(the riing just sounds way out of tune, but somehow the drum still sounds dead)  im gonna try coated emporer heads and see if it helps. thanks guys.