What kind of drum skins are you using?

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Coco
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What kind of drum skins are you using?

Post by Coco » Tue Feb 15, 2005 1:18 pm

I have been playing for about 20 years now and have never really messed around with differnt skins or skin combos. I use a Remo powersroke on kick, fibreskin on the front. For toms I use Evans G2 and Remo Ambassador on the bottoms. For snare it is a Remo Emperor coated with an Evans hazy on the bottom. Maybe there is some kind of magic combo I am missing out on. I am really happy with my drum sound right now but am curious as to what the other drummers on the forum here are using.
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Re: What kind of drum skins are you using?

Post by dynomike » Tue Feb 15, 2005 2:28 pm

Those sound really standard, in a good way.

I really liked the G2's i used on toms, but I found they wore out a lot faster than the Aquarian Classic Coated's that I use now. Those are 1 ply, but they still have decent focus. Try those if you like...

I've also switched to aquarian kick heads. Having tried the force 1, superkick 1, superkick 2, and vintage whatever head they have, I'd say the superkick 1 is closest to the powerstroke three except perhaps a little heavier and deeper.

More durable too. And did I mention deeper? I really like that head. The force 1 was too slappy, and the superkick 2 was too muffled.

Also, try a fiberskyn on snare batter. I switched to that and love it. Big range, lots of deep tone, not as much high frequency overtones, sounds a lot more consistent with brushes.

None of this will make enormous changes, but its worth a try! Since I already like what you have, hopefully you'd like this too. Maybe like .. French vanilla to plain vanilla.

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Re: What kind of drum skins are you using?

Post by pscottm » Tue Feb 15, 2005 2:49 pm

i'm using the same thing as you and loving it. coated emperors on snare and toms, power stroke on kick. ambassadors on the bottoms.

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Re: What kind of drum skins are you using?

Post by Coco » Tue Feb 15, 2005 2:52 pm

It is like buying guitar strings. Such a simple thing can make a big difference in tone. I find the powerstroke 3 on kick gives me a nice thump as compared to the Evans EQ3's I used to use. I have never broke a kick skin till I used the Evans, so I thought I might have had a bad one, but they kept on breaking, and just stopped using them. I think the powerstrokes sound way better anyway. The thread was started more out of curiosity just to see what some of the other drummers are using, and if they tend to use different skins for studio work opposed to live. The only thing I use differently to record is I use a coated ambasador on the snare skin instead of the 2-ply emperor. I kept wearing out the single ply coated Evans heads 10 times faster than the Remo's on snare, but for some reason the Evans G2's on toms just do it for me. Don't know if the fibreskin would work for me on the snare, although I have been very curious about that one. I think my snare might be deep and dark enough. I use 14 x 8" 18 ply maple snares. Love em.
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Re: What kind of drum skins are you using?

Post by audioez » Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:15 pm

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:

For me it's all about tone and charecture. A lil' birdie in a tree told me once that the thinner the head, the more resonance can be achieved. Now I know most ppl like that tight, tapped up close mic tom sound, hence all these heavy double layer G2 evans and REMO EMPEROR series all DOUBLE PLY...Also it was described that REMO has a patent on the thickness of there heads. EVANS heads are thicker than REMO heads because of this. So to answer your question ambassador batter(white) or the coated ambassador batter(white) is my first choice for all drums. Now any good engineer will know what to do with too much resonance. Any ace jockey can make toms sound like the "Threes Company" theme song intro. But only a true engineer with good ears can make the drums and all musical part sound like one

THIS WAS DESCRIBED TO ME ABOUT THREE YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS A INTERN AT A VERY FAMOUS DRUM TRACKING ROOM IN NYC.

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Re: What kind of drum skins are you using?

Post by cgarges » Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:38 pm

ezraudio wrote:FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:

For me it's all about tone and charecture. A lil' birdie in a tree told me once that the thinner the head, the more resonance can be achieved...But only a true engineer with good ears can make the drums and all musical part sound like one
Thinner drum heads also mean enhanced attack characteristics. Depening on the style of music, tuning, and technique involved, this can be a good thing or a bad thing. A Remo clear Diplomat, for example, will you give you TONS of "tone" and sustain if played lightly, but will be trashed after a couple of strokes from a hard hitter. As far as the Remo patents go, I've never heard this, but it seems a silly thing to determine choice of heads. Evans single-ply heads are still thinner than Remo's two-ply heads, and Aquarian's snare-side heads are still thinnner than Remo's coated Diplomats, which are thicker than their clear Diplomats. What are the tonal differences in Remo's clear Ambassador snare-side and their hazy Ambassador snare-side? Also, which is thinner, an Evans G1 or a Remo Fiberskyn Ambassador? Does it really matter if someone's really uncomfortable tuning heads that A) they're not used to or B) don't like the sound or feel of?

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Re: What kind of drum skins are you using?

Post by Zeppelin4Life » Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:38 pm

G2 sounded good. pinstripes sounded too fake. I like emperors on snare and toms, and Powerstroke III on bass. they really last forever, too

Ambassadors might have more resonance, but hitting them too hard leads to a short head life. Also, double ply heads (like Emperors, G2s) have a sharper attack (there is more WACK to the sound) which is usually great for tracking drums. They are not as loud, and kill most of the 'unwanted' overtones. They also can be tuned lower.

on a tom an ambassador might be like pommm..but an emperor is like BOOOM.

I do not like single ply heads for much, except some light jazz.
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Re: What kind of drum skins are you using?

Post by phantom power » Tue Feb 15, 2005 4:15 pm

I just put a drumset on layaway a month ago. I told the shop that I wanted a powerstroke 3 on the batter side of the kick. When I went to put some more money down the other day, I noticed it was a powerstroke 4. I'd never heard one before but on my drum('68 Ludwig) it sounded great. However, I haven't heard the 3 on this kick yet. Should I raise a ruckus or leave well enough alone? What do you guys think of the powerstroke 4? -AE

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Re: What kind of drum skins are you using?

Post by X-ian » Tue Feb 15, 2005 4:43 pm

For me it depends on the materials of the shells and type of tuning I like coated for maple or High pitched Jazz tunings. clear for birch or mahogany and low rock tuning. I always want the most amount of ring (thinest heads) but need to balance that with my budget and how long they will last. I try always to let the toms ring wide open without dampening. Unless I am intentionally trying to copy a 70's disco sound. For that I keep a set of old remo black dots all taped up with paper towels. I only use them like an efect. But the best new head I have heard in years is the evans EMAD bass drum head. I used to like powerstroke bass heads but my kick sounds huge with the EMAD. On snare I have been partial lately to the coated powerstroke III it's much dryer than other heads but sounds good on my snare (supraphonic) with no dampening and they last a while. I have always thought that dmpening toms is due to lack of tuning skills or bad mic placement.
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Re: What kind of drum skins are you using?

Post by KFT » Tue Feb 15, 2005 5:26 pm

Evans G2's on the toms, Genera Dry on the snare, EMAD on the kick. I just started using the EMAD recently and I'm digging it. The G2's are nice, I find them easy to tune, waaaay better sounding than the old pinstripes.

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Re: What kind of drum skins are you using?

Post by xpulsar » Tue Feb 15, 2005 5:38 pm

I used to use coated emperor and ambassadors on toms and snare , but I'm a convert of the renissance heads. I like the single ply, for top and bottom of toms and Snare. I also changed my approch to hitting a lot softer. So I don't have that wearing out of heads too quick. I prefer coated ambassador batterside of kick and renissance single ply on front of kick. I feel I get much more tough and feel out of my drums now. I usually go for that open lower tuning like on Fiona Apples When the PAWN...... and Wilco drum sound , But I also like to get that Jesus Lizzard and Shellac drum sound too. That is based on tuning of course, But I can achieve almost any tuning style with the heads. I love'em.

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Re: What kind of drum skins are you using?

Post by T-rex » Tue Feb 15, 2005 5:44 pm

I feel kind of like a part orf the herd now, but I have to say emperors and powerstroke III, definitely the best sound I have found yet. I love the initial tone of the G2's but they don't last very long at all. I have never liked any Aquarian heads I have ever tried.

I have 60's round badge gretsch snare and toms. I use coated emperors on top of snare tuned tight, and snare side ambassador on bottom. I use coated emperors, tuned loose on top of the toms with ebony ambassadors tuned slightly higher on bottom.

My bass is a newer 24" Ludwig with a coated Powerstroke III on the batter side and a coated emporer with a 6" hole on front. It sounds amazing with this combo. The heads that came on it made it sound very clicky and I was wondering if I was ever going to get any serious bottom out of it, even with the powerstroke. But when I bought the emperor for the front side, it really balanced the drum out: great attack but a really good bottom end too. I am loving the sound for rock.

For traditional jazz and bebop stuff, I usually use coated ambassadors on tops and bottoms of toms and either ambassadors or emperors on bass drum depending on the band.
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Re: What kind of drum skins are you using?

Post by jc » Tue Feb 15, 2005 5:47 pm

this is my obligatory nod for the remo RENAISSANCE series heads.

put them on anything and everything. snare, toms, kick, batter side, res side, banjo, whatever.

coolness goes waaay up off the charts.
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Re: What kind of drum skins are you using?

Post by cgarges » Tue Feb 15, 2005 6:14 pm

jc, I'm with ya!

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Re: What kind of drum skins are you using?

Post by Dave Nutz » Tue Feb 15, 2005 6:26 pm

Remo's got some new-ish heads that have been out for about 1-1/2 years, called "Suede"

they are textured but not coated, and they sound fabulous. Suede Ambassadors on rack toms and Suede Emperors on floor toms are a real nice combination with either clear or suede ambassadors as resonant heads.

other than that, i like coated emperors on floor toms and clear ambassadors on rack toms. I almost always use a CS reverse dot coated on snare(because it works on every snare and doesnt kill the tone), with a hazy ambassador resonant....PS3 on kick drum front and back(ebony on reso side, it doesnt have those parallel dampening rings)
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