Drums on Drums

[Drone]

This isn't a question or a technique, as much as it's an observation.

I had some single headed toms stacked, and was playing a beat on the top one and it sounded pretty good. I lifted it off to record it, and the timbre changed for the worse.

The drum under the top tom, was acting, I think, as a second skin, and I think it was also resonating with it, through to the one below itself as well. So I played with different stacks for a bit, getting different sounds.

So, looking for a new drum sound? Stack them

[Packy]

+1!! I've stacked a 12" tom (2-headed) on top of a snare and gotten a super deep/weird Al Green kinda sound. But the extra ~9 inches of height means you'll either need a super duper low snare stand or to just do the take with the top head at chest level

[drumsound]

Physics at work!

[Drone]

Yeah, I'm betting a 2 headed tom will react differently from a single headed one. Because the 2 headed one is vibrating the top skin, then it's bottom skin, then the barrier of air between it's bottom skin and the snare skin, whereas a single headed tom, the air in the first tom, is going to push directly on the snare.

I'm sure some computer genius somewhere could probably whip up a simulation of some kind, but I think just suck it and see works for now.

[Gregg Juke]

You have just discovered the reason that, for me at least, double-headed drums always sound better than single-headed drums (except for certain special applications).

GJ

[Drone]

Best super-heavy rock drum sounds I've heard so far, were giant single headed rack toms, with single and double headed floor toms. Could have been the drummer, or the tuning, but by gum they sounded good. Everything was single head except the last one or two floor toms (and the snare and kick).