4 easy ways to change your Kick Drum Sound

[@skatterpro]

Danmar + Wood for me. Sure, the kickback might annoy the drummer, but it's hardly noticeable in a mix. What will be noticeable is that attack. Don't like it? It's an easier fix to subtract it than add it in post.

[@DrummerJez86]

why spend the money on the danmars when you can make it with a piece of old drum head and a couple quarters ?

[@AaronHallett]

For the perfect snare sound, slam a dodge ball onto the gym floor when the place is empty. 😂

[@fumedrummer]

Piccolo sound... Our Lady Peace.

[@Metalbass10000]

Nah, just sample and replace your snare tone, with the snare tone created by two masters, two great minds, two sets of great ears, as tasteful as they come, and played by the man, the legend, a virtuoso and a beast, engineer Bob Rock and percussionist Lars Ulrich, with THE DEFINITIVE SNARE DRUM TONE: St. Anger.

[@xangrycatmanx5104]

@@Metalbass10000 had me in the first half, not gonna lie

[@hardcoreyorkie]

The Danmar beaters are amazing, the standard felt ones are my go to. Nice and heavy. There's a 4 way beater with a different surface on each side if you need a different sound on a budget.

[@OdinOfficialEmcee]

Personally, the wood beaters on the Falam Slam was my favourite sound

[@jakubbatko6215]

Might be unpopular opinion, but I really dig the kick sound from Obituary's "Cause of Death" album. Very powerful, clear and punchy

[@Astronomater]

missed opportunity to put rubber chickens on the kick drums instead of the beater pads.

[@ippotsk]

thanks, I think this is the sound I've been looking for.

[@BeatsAndMeats]

Clearly we are idiots for not thinking of that.

[@kingjbone1]

as a bass player, i want to do this to every drummer i know.

[@Studio42dotCom-Real]

But would the rubber chickens still work if you used the CockBlocker?

[@18JR78]

Harmony Smurf It’s been done. Here you go. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYPdpKqmbseXg5o

[@digitaldeathsquid3448]

I've got an Evans EQ Double Kick Pad on my bass drum which I hit with felt beaters. I like the sound that gives when I pack the bass drum a bit with some pillows - a nice *thud* with plenty of attack and not much sustain without then sounding too harsh like plastic beaters do. For added context, my bass drum is a Tama Rockstar 22" maple kick and the pedals I use are Mapex Mars doubles. The bass drum I bought second hand from a fellow university alumnus (along with the rest of the 7-piece kit), and the Mars pedals I bought to replace my Armories that I had used for quite some time and eventually sold on. The Mars pedals are a nice affordable set of pedals with a quick, light feel and plenty of spring.

[@stripedfrog1122]

Great comparison! Another one with drumsticks (bigger, smaller, aluminium, wooden tip, nylon tip) would be awesome! And I am actually considering to change from felt to wooden kick pedal beaters.

[@DucManSD]

Thanks, Glen! Now I have direct comparison! I liked the felt on Falam the best, too!

[@ThrashBandicoot666]

There are also Steel beaters made by Trick. Might be cool to do a part 2 with those.

[@shadowflame005]

Hard beaters sound awesome imo. But they wear out your head so much faster

[@ThrashBandicoot666]

@@shadowflame005 I've noticed that the wood ones I use (same as this vid) actually put dents in my head faster than the steel Trick beaters do. I use an Evans Heavyweight and the black Evans EQ patch...the wood beaters straight up left a dent behind the pad...was totally wild.

[@yucatansuckaman5726]

@@ThrashBandicoot666 dude you are cool af Edit: I wasnt being sarcastic

[@philb.1899]

Danmar beaters with a falam slam on a clear PS3 are my go to. Just enough click to cut through, and a nice wide tuning range. DW hourglass pillows on the inside and it takes me about 3 minutes to get a killer kick sound.

[@BeatsAndMeats]

Thats the exact setup that I use and it sound KILLER!!! You have great taste, my friend! I'd suggest getting an Aquarian Regulator reso head, with the smaller offset hole.

[@philb.1899]

Aquarian makes great heads, but I’m personally a logo head guy. On my kit I leave at home, I have a 6” hole at 9:00 with a chrome Holz protector (stock Tama starclassic logo head) and on my gig kit I went with a 5” hole at 9:00. This heads an ebony PS3 that we made a printout of our band logo on. This kick sounds like a cannon. And I’ve even got Remo muffles on it for live triggering.

[@BeatsAndMeats]

@@philb.1899 I used that ebony PS3 reso FOREVER! Then an older dude at Guitar Center demanded I try the Aquarian Regulator. SO I think you should at least try it. Also if you like the Tama Starclassic Logo, you can put sucha sticker on it. I do it all the time when a guy is sponsored by one company, but we end up using another head for a video.

[@philb.1899]

@@BeatsAndMeats at this point, what im using is working great. Kick Reso heads are usually the last thing i worry about when it comes to changing out my heads. But ill look into it the next time need the presents itself. I do love Aquarian Super Kick 2s if im going to use a full pre muffled head. My only issue with that head, is that it seems to lack volume. (isnt a problem when i trigger) but i dont always use my triggers. Thats why i went out of my way to make sure my kick drum still sounds good even with a little extra muffling.

[@WAYOFTHEROADBAND]

Warning those beaters will eat through patches, get the glue on them and then they stick to the head. Dan Mar with plastic beater is my favorite combo. Cheers from Canada

[@ScottFuckinRitchie]

Danny Dawson I agree with danmar double kick impact badge with plastic sounds the best IMO!

[@simmsdn]

I use the Aquarian kick pad with Tama Speed Cobra rubber beaters. I used to use the Danmar rosewood beaters, but I've converted for good now.

[@CincyMetalDrummer]

Have you tried using metal beaters? The beaters that Trick Drums makes for their pedals are aluminum, so they're lightweight and pack a punch combined with the Danmar click pad.

[@KlockoFett]

Years ago I worked at a music retailer. Rhymes with "scam cash"...anyways a sales rep told me that those danmar pads were inspired by what Motorhead's drum tech used to do before there was a product on the market. Supposedly he would tape silver dollars where beater met head to get the click/attack and also to help keep the beaters from constantly going through said drum head.

[@joshuamessenger]

Circa 2006 we used wooden beaters impacting quarters that were glued to the kickpad. Clicky kick drums were all the rage.

[@Yellowcard7572]

Definitely I like the sound of wood beaters with the slam flam even the felt beaters sounded great as well

[@FrightboxRecording]

The beater choice is everything for me.

[@rockdahaus]

I recorded my last tracks with wood beaters on falam slam. Hopefully the guy who mix the record, can get a good sound of it! Nice video! Greetings from germany

[@mckevrock]

Slug Batter Badges have a great SMACK sound, worth trying them out!

[@findspice]

wood with the falam, all the way for me

[@xiwiwix]

Great video! I agree the felt and falam sounded the best here, but the batter head and the front head's thickness will also affect the sound of the beater and pad combination. I believe it has to do with how much pressure/power needs to be generated to move the heads. I'm not talking about the different sounds of different heads, but the thickness of heads affects the actual sound/performance of the "beater+pad" combo. Meaning the same "beater+pad" will change with different thicknesses. I hope that makes sense. And I think I just repeated myself 3 times. lol

[@GuernB2]

I liked the wood beater on the falam slam. The dynamics felt stronger, and I feel like it would hold up well to some eq

[@DJCOUNSELLINGUK]

Glenn please do an episode on just how amazing the drums and drum sound are on Corrosion of Conformity's Blind album, I just heard the news of Reed's passing and your the guy for the job dude ❤️

[@SeverinoSE]

I just saw the Click Kick ad and I believe they mic the bass drum from the back, too. For the most attack and click. This bass drum seems to be mic'd from the front/inside.

[@einjarjar]

Btw, there's one more attribute to test. The weight of the beater. It doesn't really affect the amount of treble/attack (that's more of a material choice), but amount of low end is noticeable when switching between heavy and light beaters.

[@DJNebaJS]

I like wood on danmar. Why? Not sure. Maybe because it was his best performance, which could be affecting my sound preference as well. Hard to tell though..

[@mctwishvonnoodles9793]

Wood with the Falam Slam was pretty solid and classic. Could tuning of the heads play a factor in attack?

[@Billy982810]

Glen..You did' try it without anything, and thats the best. those patches are for longevity ONLY.

[@michaelhopfl9208]

1. i love the shirt of the drummer!!! 2. thanks for this video... the wood beater sounds interesting...

[@hooliganstreet]

My favorite sound came from the felt beaters with the Falam Slam

[@SamLibman]

This was a very helpful video! Thanks, and peace, brother.

[@fumedrummer]

Curious to know what the electronics are that were on the stand under the ride cymbal. Metronome? There are a lot of other factors to consider when deciding on a bass drum sound: whether two bass drums are better than one (with a double pedal) in a mix, the size of the drum (diameter and depth), the tuning, the muffling, the type of head, etc. I know you know this and I'm not complaining. I was surprised to see that the "felt" beaters in this video are plastic with a felt face attached and not the true old-school felt beaters. Personally, I like to use the felt side of the plastic beater on a metal pad. I don't pound the pedal into the ground so I don't get the ghost notes your drummer didn't like. The fact that I started using a pad made my bass player able to hear the bass drum better and we tightened up quite a bit. Great job on this.

[@rahchinate]

Loved this video. I’d love to see some snare techniques!!

[@pitaorj]

I was expecting to hear them after the post processing. it would be nice to actually hear how far you can get with each kit

[@benjaminjames5512]

Hey Glen, I was wondering if you have ever tried recording Toms by micing them from underneath? I’ve been doing this for live sound work recently and it has really helped me get some clarity and cut out cymbal bleed. I know that studio recording is not the same as mixing live but I just wondered if you have tried it for the studio and what your thoughts on this are?

[@bennettknerzer7425]

Put them inside the drum!

[@jdc6927]

I with Glenn; flam slam and felt. Could you imagine what plastic beater and metal pad ,😲 the wood beater was bad enough.

[@Snivic-music]

those were some good sounding drum samples Glenn ;)

[@kongandbasses8732]

Years ago some drummers used to attach a coin in the size of a Silver Dollar (in Germany they used 5 Deutsche Mark) with some duct tape on the point where the beater hits the kickdrum skin. This gave the kickdrum the attack and click they wanted.

[@justiceforcier3853]

Next video! 4 ways to change your snare sound!

WHOA awesome episode Glenn!!! i think danmar and woodbeaters are now my way to go

[@Hellseeker1]

This was super helpful man

[@peterveres2942]

Is there a felt sock that could slip over the wood? That way the player gets the weight and feel they like while the engineer gets the sound.

[@jamesgoetz6100]

Anal clarification. About the red danmar. You're not hearing a wood beater. You're hearing a coat of red paint. Apply the same paint to a metal beater, plastic beater, etc... that have the same mass, surface area, balance etc... and they'll sound the same. If you want to hear the acoustics of wood smacking any given surface, make sure there isnt paint or lacquer between the two surfaces. Nerdiness aside, i have found flat shaped plastic surfaces against the remo falam provide the most attacking slap. I have a set of red painted danmars, and the red paint being softer on the hardness scale compared to a plastic surface results in a softer darker tone.

[@BeatsAndMeats]

AKSHUALLY.... I usually sand off the red paint from the Danmar beaters because the paint sticks to the Falaam Slam and them sticks back to the beater and messes up your flow.

[@jamesgoetz6100]

@@BeatsAndMeats great tip! Danmar needs to come out with a red polymer beater. I think the red color on the black shaft is a rad look. If they had a four-sided mold of different shaped surfaces (like the pearl quad), and press fitted them onto the shaft perfectly square (my current danmars are not mounted perpendicular to the shaft), i believe they'd rate super well on the market. Probably cheaper to produce too - fast, automated, etc.

[@jeffreydavid2997]

Hi Glen. What do you think of the Tascam US-16x8 USB 2.0 audio interface? I was thinking of picking one up. Thanks. And f u Glen.

[@AMSOfficial79]

You can change the beaters in your drum sampling software, too...

[@rhodridavies9426]

Gotta say, the felt on the Falam Slam sounded very classic, like I've heard that sound on many classic metal records. The wood does give a more solid attack I guess, but the felt to me just sounded better. And honestly, I'd leave that metal pad at home every time, it's not needed...

[@CameronFleury]

Wood beaters on the falam slam all the way!

[@ScottFuckinRitchie]

Cameron Fleury how about plastic?

[@CameronFleury]

@@ScottFuckinRitchie they're also pretty good. If you don't have very good control, the plastic beaters on a danmar pad can be tough to keep your playing clean.

[@ScottFuckinRitchie]

Cameron Fleury nice! I had my drummer switch from felt to plastic. He says it’s easier. It defiantly sounds better. It’s louder in the room and now we don’t need to mic the kick through the pa! Btw, you are a kick ass drummer. Saw all the videos of Glens with you on them. Killer shit!

[@CameronFleury]

@@ScottFuckinRitchie glad it's working out for you guys! Thanks man! Grateful Glenn has helped me out so much.

[@Bad_Phil]

Thanks for mentioning how mic's hear things differently than we do. That is an often misunderstood fact.

[@tschaggon]

Hey Glenn, I have a question about the bassdrum topic: How do you get less sustain on the kick? I like the attack of the bassdrum that I have, but it sounds soooo long. What do you do to prevent that? Love to hear from you an cheers from Switzerland!

[@brianjohnson9802]

Toss a pillow in there against the batter head.

[@blackmetalvirus]

Never thought I'd see a line 6 commercial in one of your videos.

[@artralston4045]

I definitely prefer the attack of hard beaters, but I'm a heavy, heel-up player, so I've settled for Tama's silicone/rubber faced Speed Cobra beaters. The attack is almost at the wood level, but the head doesn't pay the price for having good attack. Money well spent, IMO.

[@cDisturbed.]

I ordered a 4” patch by mistake… will it matter?

[@djentlover]

There's really not enough material about making natural kicks sound good in metal

[@abdul4515]

Seriously. That clicky computer shit needs to go away.

[@VladicD]

@@abdul4515 well good luck with that. Laws of physics are against you after 200bpm.

[@abdul4515]

@@VladicD Not really, the only reason why bass drums can't be heard at that speed is because modern metal drummers hit like pussies. If you look at old footage of rock and metal drummers, You would notice that they are SLAMMING their drum kits. Loud Hits cut through the mix way better than the shitty tip-tap hits that you get with modern metal drumming. Also, the guitar players didn't used to hog all the bass for themselves. They knew that it was important to use less gain and bass to ensure that you can hear everything in the mix.

[@derreckossas4951]

@@abdul4515 ok boomer

[@berenjarrett4210]

@@abdul4515 if you actually play drums, you would know what's the problem there bud

[@karlklinker9781]

Hey Glen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Totally a new comer to recording, and would love to see an episode where you actually show us what it's like when your recording. You know like with somebody playing guitar or drums and you in the control room recording. I have trouble with knowing exactly how that goes down. I've never seen it done by someone who knows what they're doing and would love a tutorial! A demo of how to get a good scratch track would be great also, or even just going through the basics of how to plug everything in and setting everything up when you're about to record would be awesome!!!!! Also I wanna know how to get a rule #2 shirt!!!! Thanks!!!! and Fuck you buddy!

[@rune288]

Glenn I want a rule no:2 shirt will they be available again ever?

[@realjohndead]

Nice tights wonder if they do a men’s version

[@0riole11]

And you also need to take into account the head type, Mylar (single ply, double ply, coated...), Synthetic Hide or Natural Hide, they can make an even bigger difference. It would have been nice to know what the head was, not just the pads, beaters and mics

[@hellsp4wn243]

Glenn quick tip here for bass drum sound, grab a large coin and put the pad on top of it (hitting the beater on the coin) it will be a little bit more punchy and focused

[@rockdahaus]

Like the metal plate in the Danmar kick pad?

[@hellsp4wn243]

@@rockdahaus I feel that it sounds a bit different, I never used the metal plate, bu the drummer in the video said it sounded kinda flimsy when you bury the beater, didn't had that problem with the coin, I'm guessing the elongated shape might not be the best one for this kinda work, since when you're hitting one side the other is trying to go the other way, which doesn't happen with a coin, also, a coin would be easier to test and grab instead of purchasing a new gadget

[@BeatsAndMeats]

@@hellsp4wn243 I always imagined that a U.S. quarter would start cutting into the drumhead. Have you ever had a problem with that?

[@hellsp4wn243]

@@BeatsAndMeats I used only with double ply heads on the bass drum, but durability is an issue, although the heads lasted as long as 2-3 years, it usually lasts 4-5 until it rips, without the coin, I have to stress that I'm not a big guy, 1,71m 80kg, and although I do hit hard I don't usually break stuff other than an ocasional cymbal every 5-6 years, or even heads. So your experience will vary.

[@danardalin]

I listened on my studio rig bit didn't actually hear much difference between the beaters or pads. Of course, it could be my rig too.

[@goatmanindustries7182]

I use slug beaters on a Kevlar patch

[@BcBaxley]

Falam Slam sounded great

[@JakeSweeper]

Couldn't really hear a big difference between pads, but the felt beaters sounded lighter(?) that the woods.

[@sigurjonoligunnarsson]

HEY GLENN!!!! i noticed you had gello put in a circle on the snare. How does that affect the snaresound?

[@ScottFuckinRitchie]

Sigurjón Óli Gunnarsson Moongel www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Moongel--rtom-moongel-drum-damper-pads-blue

[@benjifigueroa9737]

I use just that; felt on kevlar. I avoid, however, filling the bass drum by using a Power Sonic Remo beater which has built in felt for muffling. I don't know if you've tried it but, I'll never get tired of recomending those to metal drummers. If you want even more attack, get a felt pad (to avoid friction) on the drum head and use rubber beaters (which are meant for practicing). Cheers from Puerto Rico

[@mckevrock]

Hey Glenn! Any opinions on 22" kick vs. 24" kick?

[@mcgarnacle21]

Where are those raw tracks bro!?

[@DrummerJez86]

have to do a full shoot out. untouched head, head with home made rectangle of old drum head taped on, falam slam, the ancient remedy of moleskin, quarter trick, danmar metal click, danmar plastic click, kevlar patch. each with felt, rubber, plastic, and wood beaters. many options i'd like to hear your opinion on the how much difference there really is. just like the whole thing that drum companies keep making their shells thinner and adding bulky suspension systems to make the drums ring longer while they sell you evans hydrolics and moon gell to cut that shit out.. my older mapex m series sometimes I think sounds better than my newer tama silverstar. the thicker shells with the minimalist suspension system makes the drum ring less and get a more cannon sound more easily. (not to mention it is easier to clip mics onto the rim without a starcast or rims mount in the fucking way) check out the "sounds like a drum" youtube channel. they do lots of interesting drums shit. they just did one that to get rid of the basketball ping on floor toms you bisect the drum with a piece of cloth stretched between 2 opposing lugs and it kills that pingy annoying basketbally frequency by keeping the inside of the drum from reflecting too much. you should collabarate with them sometime. they try all kinds of crazy drum sound hacks. recently they did the john bohnam lining your bass drum with aluminum foil myth.

[@Evilwhiteclownpunk]

How about just changing how hard you stomp on the pedal???

[@carter_hark6817]

Hey Glenn, gotta question: I posted my very first song last week through Distrokid (thanks for the recommendation) but my parents found out and want it taken down. My song does have some very dark and explicit subject matter in it which they dont agree with. Ive had many people listen to to song in advance of me uploading it and all of them loved it. Any advice? Much love from Minnesota 🤘

[@sKarredtoon]

Carter_ Hark nothing good comes from listening to your parents!🤘🏻

[@carter_hark6817]

@@sKarredtoon Lmao thanks dude 👊

[@lsb2623]

I like wood beaters.

[@jeffbridges6110]

Wood and falam slam sounds the best. Felt on the danmar sounds good. I never liked the danmar metal much as any hard beater bounces on it and sounds fucked up when recording.

[@mikeevans1952]

Must admit I dislike high pitched heavy metal kick drum sounds. I like a bass drum to have a nice fat thump. It would be interesting to hear comparisons of flam patches and beaters on differently tuned kick drums.

[@FuzzyBunnyEars]

Wow I actually thought the wood beaters with the DanMars were the best. Thought it gave a good punch

[@RolandDeschain1]

Why does he kick on each snare hit?

[@brianjohnson9802]

He's not that good... that's why. I hate the sound of both hitting at the same time unless It's a double kick part. It just doesn't sound right.

[@BeatsAndMeats]

That's LITERALLY the entire point of the whole test... to see if you can distinguish the attack of the snare from the attack of the kick drum while still getting a sound you actually like.

[@brianjohnson9802]

@@BeatsAndMeats No it's not dude...... No it's not. That has nothing to do with it. The last video with this drummer had nothing to do with this shit and he played the same. Go re-think your argument.

[@BeatsAndMeats]

We recorded 4 videos on the same day. This was actually the first video we made. None of them were performance videos. They were more like a sound check. And if you're trying to maximize the clarity of acoustic drums, at some point you have to separate the attack of the snare from the attack of the kick. The easiest way to do that is to play a 4 on the floor, so that's what I did. There's a cool video on getting huge sounding toms coming up. I think you'll like it. Its also not a performance video, it's about getting a particular sound.

[@stevennemeth6256]

Got Wood?

[@crottedepingouin]

i used a falam slam once, it tore up really quickly and i kept patching it up with duct tape. i loved the sound but the quality was just shit.

[@BeatsAndMeats]

There's two different materials they use. One is shiny and smooth to the touch, the other is not shiny and a little bit bumpy. The bumpy one is FAR better, sounds better and lasts forever. The black ones are worthless.

[@makke_macro]

tama's wood head

[@davidfuller581]

last time I was this early, The Fans Deserved Better

[@themetalgamer9864]

I much prefer the attacky sound of the wood beaters.

[@sagiriizumi8079]

What about those LAME click pads speed metal guys love

[@PooNinja]

So I should stop tapeing a quarter to the drum heads?🤦🏽‍♂️

[@kongandbasses8732]

I remember this. Drummers used to do this 30 years ago.

[@PooNinja]

Kong and Basses Yeah we have machines that do that now 😂

[@Pro1938ftc3ch]

@@PooNinja wait if you use tape does it still sound great

[@roadtonever]

Felt + flam slam owned all the others.

[@nafikos6450]

Forgot the best beater for maximum attack, plastic

[@omnisciencemx]

What about dampening in the kick You need to do something on it for us

[@keegankelly2415]

Felt with the danmar sounded the best to me

[@gianttreeproductions3947]

Goddamn I’m never this early

[@gearmoe9066]

In my day the trick was to tape a credit card for attack. It worked. I prefer American Express but more Drummers took Visa.

[@andypomeroy7447]

Weight loss, holy shit, Dude! Now, my Canadian friend . . . get some round framed glasses and you'll look like Ben Franklin.

[@hadleymanmusic]

Damn 25 hour upl9ads

[@OlliLappalainen]

Here's the proof. I don't even see the reason for triggers. So much attack in those both sounds that 280bpm would sound just fine. Fuck sampling.

[@metal_helm]

Glenn, Reed Mullin died. RIP

[@TheSunMoon]

Laughs in electronic drum set.. *cries*

[@hadleymanmusic]

Oh shit what kinda rattrap did I get myself into on that " Discord"??

[@turkeytrailhoneybeefarmgeo6292]

Some of them sound really splattey more splat than boom no good.

[@justadrummer1954]

Duct tape silver dollars where the falam slams go

[@HeviRane]

i got wood on wood

[@zadtrax]

Don’t bury the beater. You don’t bury your sticks into the snare the times when you play do you? Surprised how many drummers bury their kick drum beat her. Let the kick drum breathe and bring your foot back.

[@jtracome87]

damn, could it be?? Am I the first?

[@gilbertspader7974]

👍

[@justiceforcier3853]

bompedro 65 nope

[@riza120db]

GLLEEEENNNNNNN calm down dude???