Hydraulic Bass Drum Heads

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Drone
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Hydraulic Bass Drum Heads

Post by Drone » Mon Apr 03, 2017 7:33 am

Thinking about getting one of those Evans Hydraulic kick heads. Looking for a nice thick boom, that's not too flubby.

How do they record?

https://www.amazon.com/Evans-Black-Hydr ... B0002D0DU2
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Post by Nick Sevilla » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:02 am

They're nice.
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.

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Post by losthighway » Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:13 pm

I hate them. But that's totally taste, not science.

I tend to prefer coated Remo's, old school.

Some day some guy will probably come in with one on their kick and I'll discover as an engineer why people like using them, but as a drummer I'm not into it.

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Post by Gregg Juke » Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:51 pm

Ditto that! ^^^^

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Post by The Scum » Tue Apr 04, 2017 10:30 pm

Agree with Greg and Lost.

More thump than boom. Classic era Gadd kinda thing.

A Superkick, Powerstroke or Emad will get you farther into Boomland.
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Post by I'm Painting Again » Wed Apr 05, 2017 8:36 am

ya you'll either love or hate that head..it's an easy way to get a particular sound..that said it limits your options..

I'd say it would provide an even controlled tone at the expense of expressiveness and the attack is not traditional or typical of most drum sounds though on kick with a beater patch it might make less difference than tom toms

dunno

used it on floortom before and the attack was not something I liked personally

I like a thin head on the beater side with the E/GMAD option or DIY foam, etc. and a thicker head on the resonant side

this gives me a versatility to change to many sounds instead of being limited in that respect.

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Post by drumsound » Wed Apr 05, 2017 12:56 pm

Hydraulic heads are a VERY SPECIFIC sound. They are perfect if you want that cool, dead 70s thing, but not good for much else. I bought a full tom set for a record I produced where we wanted it to sound like a lot of those classic 70s singer songwriter records. Check out http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/saraquah There's a song called Wallflower where the floor tom is a big part of the groove. That should give you a good idea of how Hydraulics sound.

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Post by I'm Painting Again » Wed Apr 05, 2017 2:12 pm

yea there it is on Wallflower.. thumm

nice drumsound !

Do you remember what was the vocal mic /chain and or de-essing going on there ?

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Post by drumsound » Thu Apr 06, 2017 6:45 am

I'm Painting Again wrote:yea there it is on Wallflower.. thumm

nice drumsound !

Do you remember what was the vocal mic /chain and or de-essing going on there ?
Thanks man. I appreciate you talking a listen.

The vocal chain on all of Sara's vocal with the iSK 2B Beauty, which it an amazing tube mic for $350! I used the pres in my Neotek for everything on the record, except some backing vocals cut at Welcome to 1979 in Nashville. The compressor on the vocal was a Mindprint T-Comp in tracking. ON the mix there may be some McDAP 4030, probably the La2a or Moo Tube, but I can't remember. On a few songs I used the IK de-esser. I don't remember if this is one of them. I'd have to open the PT session to check.

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Post by I'm Painting Again » Thu Apr 06, 2017 12:06 pm

I guessed it was a tube mic and something to smooth out the ESes / highs

The vocal there has a very cool sound. It's like it has grit or a texture. It kind of sounds like my c12 clone but with the fuzzy harmonics lower down in frequency as opposed to on the far high end like mine. i can't tell if it's the mic or the processing with your track. Overall the song has a great modern/vintage sound to it.

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Post by Drone » Fri Apr 07, 2017 11:44 am

Something akin to this, maybe?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUXDktBIhwc
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Post by The Scum » Fri Apr 07, 2017 12:40 pm

Probably not.

Hydraulics don't sustain like that.

Blue Hydraulic at 7:30 in the following:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwUXsddhkqA
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Post by Drone » Fri Apr 07, 2017 3:10 pm

I only encountered a blue hydraulic skin once, someone had swiped it off a tom to put on a snare, it was the worst sounding thing on the planet, it would ring for days, gel and tape wouldn't shut it up, I had to use a physical damper and clamp it on.

Image
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Post by drumsound » Sat Apr 08, 2017 9:46 am

I'm Painting Again wrote:I guessed it was a tube mic and something to smooth out the ESes / highs

The vocal there has a very cool sound. It's like it has grit or a texture. It kind of sounds like my c12 clone but with the fuzzy harmonics lower down in frequency as opposed to on the far high end like mine. i can't tell if it's the mic or the processing with your track. Overall the song has a great modern/vintage sound to it.
The mic is warm in the lows and pretty even above that. Not hyped high end, less extended than some mics, but not lacking in highs. I'd like to get a second.

I appreciate you comments on the sound. The record is called Taking Me Back, and we wanted that 70s vibe to be immediately noticed.

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Post by drumsound » Sat Apr 08, 2017 9:50 am

Drone wrote:I only encountered a blue hydraulic skin once, someone had swiped it off a tom to put on a snare, it was the worst sounding thing on the planet, it would ring for days, gel and tape wouldn't shut it up, I had to use a physical damper and clamp it on.

Image
Are you sure that was a Hydraulic? I believe Evans also make Blue Glass heads, thtat weren't the oil filled 2 ply like the Hydraulic. The Hydraulic heads don't really ping and ring. They are more a thud and gone type sound.

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