3 Steps To Make Your Floor Tom Sound Huge | Finding Your Own Drum Sound

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A Fat and low floor tom sound can really bring a smile to your face. Here's all you need to know to make your floor tom sound huge
00:00 Intro
00:36 Drum Heads
02:11 Tuning
05:30 Muffling
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Equipment used in this video:
Check out our video and audio gear and support our channel with this affiliate link: www.amazon.com/shop/artofdrum...
Drum Kit:
DW Design Series
Finish: Tobacco Burst
Bass Drum: 22x18
Toms: 16x14
Snare:
14x4.25 Gretsch Gergo Borlai Signature Snare
Microphones:
Beyerdynamic
www.beyerdynamic.de/mikrofone...
Bassdrums: TG D 71
Snare: M 201/ M 90 Pro X (bottom)
Overheads: M 90 Pro X
Hihat: MC930
Floor Tom: TG I51
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#floortom
#drumsound
#artofdrumming

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Nice video! We would *love* to see you guys at least include at least one demo within these videos with raw audio so that everyone can hear the unaffected sound vs. the mixed sound.

[@xyanide1986]

Don't forget the simplest and cheap dampening tool: the plastic rings you just place on the top head. I put some tape on the bottom reso because it's easier to work with.

[@user-dw4qm2on3b]

Yesteryda got a 13" floor tom for my jungle kit. You posted that just in time!

[@PlebPhurgusson]

It's funny how my rack tom is a 13" and the floor is an 18" 😂

[@Lupine.]

On my bop kit, I did an Aquarian Studio X on top and a Remo Emperor (clear) on the bottom. A 13" never sounded so fat, IMO.

[@timothyweiss619]

Mine is huge sounding, it's a Ludwig Classic 18" tom. I use Remo heads with pinstripe 2 ply clear batter and thin clear reso. Their tuned 5 lbs top & 6/7 lbs bottom using Drum Torque. I muffle using 18" ring on top. This is all you need, it is killer.

[@freegee3503]

Great technique! 👍

[@DDandrums]

I like the floor tom growl/roar.

[@freegee3503]

The floor tom sounds awesome!

[@jesusguardon]

Thanks for your efforts, but it would be most useful if you left the raw audio, no eq, comp, etc. Sounds great, anyway.

[@pressuredrop6173]

Exactly.

[@DrummerRIP]

Fantastic! Diving just a bit deeper for options & application. I love the displayed steps for muffling preparation. Thank you! 10 out of 10!

[@DVSNTHERE]

Finally!!! I found the answers that I've been looking for. Thank you

[@timmydodd1978]

Tuning approach is similar - higher reso head, but I use cotton balls inside the toms

[@stanfordkoch1271]

How does it sound without the mics,

[@SAHBfan]

That is the problem with recording a video - it doesn’t sound too great with no mic 🤡

[@tdrum21]

Very nice. Love that snare

[@Mattyskeadrums]

I recently tried grounding my 14" floor tom, as it was a little too resonant. By simply inverting one of the floor tom legs (thus removing the isolation provided by the rubber foot, grounding it to the floor), you can actually pull some of the sustain out of the drum. Worked really well for me on that occassion.

[@MatthiasKnorrMusic]

Und danach wird die gut gestimmte Floortom ja noch weiter bearbeitet (Kompressoren/EQs etc.) während des Mixing Prozesses. Den Part habt ihr leider weggelassen, schade. Das hätte mich persönlich am meisten interessiert. 🙂 Klingt schön satt und rund.

[@FrancisFleuronas]

I've found that the best way to have a fat floor tom is by finding the sweet spot in the room

[@SAHBfan]

The room makes a huge difference as does room position. The room I practice in with a big band is horrible, very harsh and echo-ey. I find the bass drum and floor tom sound and volume changes dramatically if I set up at different distances from the wall.

[@georgetobias1389]

In the US, we have these thin air filters for the furnace. I've been taking the cardboard off and expanding the material, which can fill almost half the depth of the floor tom. Ive also put that inside the snare drum which sounds great.

[@EduardojRodrigues87]

Amazing guys… Tank you!

[@ANDREWFURLONG]

PLEASE RE CREATE VINNIE PAUL’S DRUM SOUND!

[@musichaosam]

I used a kit from my music academy. The floor tom have a remo weather king pinstripe on the batter and a stock batter head on the reso. It sounds absolute BEEF with the lowest tuning on both head

[@maeu59]

I find pinstripes are best for a nice deep sound.

[@musichaosam]

@@maeu59 true bro

[@littlecrow6484]

You're great at what you do. Thanks for the advice. My floor tom always sounds flabby and I like it punchy.

[@user-qf7hn3yh3f]

Thanks for such a great video

[@karstenbursak8083]

I don't have no floor toms 😂

[@samdavparsley8266]

Just wanted to say I am 16 days into drumming. I tried waay back in high school but that lasted a month maybe. Any way I’ve been absorbing all sorts of info on so many aspects of drumming. I greatly appreciate your knowledge you share. I butchered 2 of my tom reso heads yesterday. It’s ok they are what Tama kit came with. You can see my disastrous attempt to port them if you go to my KZbin. The point is I like your tips to muffle much better! Lol Thanks for all your sharing of ideas.

[@danyheld9952]

Top Video 👍🏼

[@jcdrums2798]

very good job

[@bentaylordrums]

That kit sounds so nice, the snare in particular sounds incredible. What effects are you using in post production?

[@karlbrown9625]

Thanks for this video - a really great overview of various approaches to dialling in the sound(s) that you want. How many of the makeup pads were put into the tom to achieve that 'gated' sound, out of interest?

[@joc8]

For my 16" floor tom I tune the reso head higher, and use Evans ec resonant heads. For the batter I use Evans 2-ply coated heads, and a leather strip that clips on the rim (I forget the brand), which is magnetised so you can change the amount of contact with the head. I saw the cotton ball trick on Sounds Like A Drum, which I'd like to try, but because I have my FT tilted slightly towards me I wasn't sure how well it would work.

[@triskelion2056]

I go for converting the floor tom into a concert tom and use a coated Remo emperor head with an Aquarian studio ring. Works great for rack toms as well, much less hassle to chromatically tune them.

[@freegee3503]

Interesting idea! 👍

[@triskelion2056]

@@freegee3503 I'm especially fond of it because you can take the studio rings off and instantly get a more "open" sound with more tone and longer sustain for playing with brushes for jazz or mallets for a timpani vibe. For the snare I also use coated emperor heads for the batter side with an Aquarian studio ring which is pretty good but I also like to use the quesadilla by Big Fat Snare Drum which is great for getting a lower, "clean" sound that gets rid of all of the pinging and almost all of the buzzing without muffling it too much. The original Big Fat Snare Drum cover is also good for a big 1980s feel. The Big Fat Snare Drum covers are also great for putting on toms to make them sound like Ringo's toms on Sgt. Pepper- Super low without being too warbly.

[@DrummerGAS]

3:18 that was perfect!

[@jameskirkbydrums]

that tom and snare sound lovely! i got a fat floor tom sound by having an 18" floor tom, tuned jsut above wrinkle, and with an aquarian force 10 batter head (2 plys of 10mil film) over an aquarian classic clear resonant head :) sounds MEATY and fat!

[@the_minimalistic_adventure]

18” floors can be amazing, but also can be a pain in the ass to tune!

[@jameskirkbydrums]

@@the_minimalistic_adventure this is true! For me the biggest pains are 14" floor toms, no idea why, they jusy never sit right as a floor tom for me :)

[@stevenfederico2594]

First buy DW❤

[@eLiAs-ij1je]

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@DontWorryImAPilot]

Quick question followed by a muffling tip of my own that gets me a lot of success in my recording studio. Question: do you notice one brand of head being better tuned low than the others? I always feel like I get a better tune with Evans when I'm going as low as I can. Am I imagining that or is anyone else noticing that sort of thing? My muffling tip worth experimenting with (especially with snare drums but also with toms): the location and amount) of gel muffling. In my experience, I dislike the loss of high end vs amount of muffling from a whole moon gel. I often cut them into four or eight pieces. I find I get less high end loss but just as much muffling using two or three smaller pieces rather than one big piece. I'll use the 1/4th size gels on a floor toms while the 1/8th is often effective on a snare drum and rack toms. Putting one piece of moon gel will provide some muffling. If you add a piece 180º around the drum (so directly across the drum) you'll get more of the same character of muffling. If instead you add that 2nd piece of moon gel 90º from the first piece you'll get muffling of a different character. Super useful on snare drums for taking different overtones out and useful on floor toms for knocking down too long of a sustain. Two gels 90º apart with the option for a third piece is my go-to move for drums that are too long. Cotton ball inside the floor tom is a standard move for every floor tom now and has been for a few years. Every drummer who comes into my studio gets one. I've not tried the round pads, though. I'll have to give it a shot! Thanks for the video!

[@MarkDaDrumma]

Love the floor tom for sure… but what’s that snare drum??

[@Nevernow721]

The cotton thing works extremely well

[@CarsonHoy]

Hitting a deep floor tom while hooked up to a big subby sound system 🤤

[@m6hill983]

16*16 ft with Snareweight M80 on top and some pieces of acoustic foam inside. 2ply coated on top and 2ply clear on reso.. Tension rods as tight as i can get with a drumkey that only has griptape and no wings... And yes I have alot of sparetime some days..

[@La_sagne]

16*16 feet? thats one bigass floortom ;)

[@m6hill983]

@@La_sagne Yes, go big or go home!

[@goose962]

“Inch“

[@m6hill983]

ft = floortom

[@zosterinski]

Would love some info on that neo bow thing

[@illuminaelsenyor]

❤

[@snar347]

I think 4:38 is my favorite floor tom tone I've heard in a youtube vid. I am curious what it sounds like off of a camera mic though. More importantly, is this the same as a 14x16? It looks a little larger than pictures I see of the 14x16 Design floor tom but it might be appearance.

[@tmappe]

How many cotton pads did you put inside?

[@magnusimrie1719]

hello, I am struggling to get a good phatt sound from my floor toms, especially on ky 14' floor tom, I am getting an excessive ring from my reso head and I don't know what to do, can you help at all?

[@pibroch]

Solved that problem by using an Evans HD Dry snare batter as the reso head. To deaden the ring even more I use the thickest 14" foam ring from a 16" Emad head laying loosely on top of the reso (inside the drum). Another method is to use the 16" Emad complete with the thickest foam ring as the reso but that makes for a deader sound. The key is to keep on experimenting. It's so much fun exploring and finding an array of sounds you love.

[@eyesoftheworld73]

we need the michael bland from prince drum tonez off of the gold experience

[@SAHBfan]

Nice video - but trouble is, I usually play unmic-ed - but you can’t really demonstrate an unmicrophoned sound on a video… mic placement, mic choice and signal processing makes a huge difference to the sound.

[@josephgiarraffa6379]

16/ 16 is the best for me for floor toms That DW sounds great though and it’s not a 16/16 They are great sounding drums

[@hauntedhose]

Another way is to get a 70’s Ludwig FT

[@KlitasRecords]

First, buy dw kit 😂

[@markrawdon4680]

You pay enough money for high end shells way comperise it with jells tape etc with a good choice of heads and tuning just let the drum do its thing!

[@DevinDeCremer]

"Fat" or "flat" floor tom sound. 🤔

[@oneleggedhoneybadger1301]

I'm sorry you lose all credibility as soon as you said ambassador or emperor and fat tom together. aquarian is king for fat toms period. It's not even a close comparison. Don't get me wrong aquarian heads are not the best for alot of sounds but they do specialize in fat and vintage sounds.