Percussion Tips
By: Megan E. Thomas
Looking at New Heads for Your Kit?
New heads for your kit can drastically change the sound you are getting from your drums. Let us examine a few different types of heads out on the market and what they can do for your sound.
Remo, Evans, Attack, and Aquarian are the main head manufacturers in existence. They, for the most part, have heads that are equivalent to one another. Let's take the single ply head (Ambassador, Classic Clear, G1, etc.) A single ply head is going to give you a longer sustain and allow more of the sound of the drum to come through. Now if you need something a little more durable for your toms, take a look at a double ply head. A double ply head used on the top with single ply on the bottom will still give you a decent amount of sustain. The drum is a little more controlled and may not be the best choice head for low volume gigs. There are, of course, heads available with a reinforcement dot in the center. These heads come in single and double ply variations. They give you almost the same type of sound as their partner with no reinforcement dot but a tiny bit more control and slight bit less sustain. They just give you longevity. After those heads you would be looking at a double ply with a ring built into the head. You could look at the ever popular Pinstripe head for example. These heads have the muffle ring in between the two plies and gives you way less sustain. The heads are durable but don't give you much of a "voice" from your toms. If you want little sustain and hit hard you might like these heads. They produce a thick, short, dry sound. The most durable of the drum set heads for toms would be the hydraulic heads that Evans makes. The hydraulic heads are two plies with oil in between the plies. One may think that the pinstripe has oil in between but it is just air that is in between the two plies because of the space the muffle ring takes up. The only head on the market with oil in between the plies is the Evans hydraulic. This head produces very, very little sustain. The sound is thick, wet, and short. The heads will last longer but are not a very versatile head. One should first decide what type of sound is wanted from the drums as well as taking into consideration the style/ styles that are being played on the set.
There are other heads out on the market that fall in between some of the heads discussed but this gives a brief overview on heads in general. The best way to decide what you need for your own sound and drum set is by starting with a general idea of what you are going for and then experimenting. The best lessons are learned through experience. Choose your head and then make sure that you use the same type of single ply head on the bottom and use the same tuning relationship (batter head lower than resonant head). This way you are really testing each type of head. Good luck and have fun!
Meg Thomas Bio
Meg Thomas, percussionist from Chicago, is an active performer and teacher who received her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Millikin University. Meg performs and teaches several different percussion instruments such as congas, drum set, bongos, timbales, djembe, tabla, cajon, darbuka, berimbau, cuica, bodhrán, and other percussion instruments.
Meg is involved in several original music projects as well as being an avid performer in the festival and jobbing band circuits. Meg has played in numerous bands over the years, playing in venues that range from House of Blues to Alpine Valley to The Park West to The NBC/Disney Holiday Parade to thousands of clubs, festivals, and bars. Meg has performed on local and national TV, and has also been on local and internet radio. She has experience in a plethora of genres: rock, soca, pop, calypso, blues, punk, fusion, latin-jazz, metal, salsa, world, folk, classical, reggae, disco, R&B, percussion groups, dance ensembles, etc.
In addition to being an active performer, she plays sessions at recording studios, puts on world percussion seminars, facilitates drum circles, teaches private lessons, and writes the Drum and Percussion Tips of the Month column for the webzine, ChicagoMusicGuide.com. Meg is part of the Vic Firth drumstick and mallet company's Education Team as a Vic Firth Private Drum Teacher and has endorsements with Sabian Cymbals, Vic Firth Sticks and Mallets, and Evans Drumheads.
Visit Meg's website:www.MegThomasPercussion.com
Visit Meg's myspace page:
www.myspace.com/mtpercussion