Bass Drum Dampening Methods | A Sound Comparison | Drum Dog

[@drumdog]

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[@Gk2003m]

My 20x16 Yamaha Stage Custom kick needs no dampening to sound great. It has clear Ambassador batter and black Ambassador front, and it sounds like a cannon. That’s a combo of the birch/mahogany shell construction and good tuning. I do muffle the impact itself when playing small combo jazz, by taping a hihat bottom felt to the front of the hard felt beater. This allows me to ‘feather’ the kick nicely; you feel it without really hearing it. And it still has real impact if I kick it harder.

[@87sport]

I like the comparison blend you did, my favourite was for sure the domestic pillow

[@tonypureheart7462]

A lot of answers to a lot of questions. Thanks

[@FakeDave]

Another cracking vid. I use the Evans emad2 and the evens pillow just resting on the resonant head. Came to this solution after the drum shed session in that very studio with Nick.

[@michaelbrown1895]

Thanks guys for the usual thorough test drives in gear.Agree totally with thd drum clip, no difference in sound. My favourite from the lot was the normal pillow,enough attack n low punch for the 22x18.I have an Evans Onyx Emad on my Pearl Birch B.L.X, but prior that,the Simon Philips method of a hand towel rolled up n gaffa taped to a twin ply batter head,then a thin cotton t-towel on the front head,works for me,good work as always,cheers Mike😊👍

[@ralphgilbert9527]

I use the evans emad it sounds great when you tune it the way Rob Brown (from another channel) shows it being done, sounded like you did it the same way.

[@drumdog]

Rob Brown has some fantastic tuning tips, @ralphgilbert9527! Glad to hear the Evans EMAD is working out great for you following that method. It's all about finding that right sound. 🎵

[@stevenwilson9865]

I have felt strips front and back, about 2-5 o'clock verticaly. Big boom from the 26".

[@krysborek8724]

domesticated pillow wins! :)

[@jasonmusic9938]

was looking at the kicker 2.0 a while ago, but after listening with a lsr10 sub in the room, i concluded that it's my favorite tone of them all because of the ability to dampen yet keep that tone of the shell

[@willsanford2378]

Dig the eq pillow for sure. I’m also a big felt strip guy, but they make the biggest different on a shallower drum and using heads that don’t have any pre muffling IMO

[@philipdean3688]

I was looking at different methods of dampening and saw the Evans EQ online and thought I'd look to see what difference it made. I really think it was the best of the lot, with the nice deep tonality and keeping some rumble, but not too much. I noticed with some of the methods like the felt strips there was a bit of a ping that made it sound pretty bad. Overall a very helpful video, thank you Drum.Dog.

[@drumdog]

Thank you bud, so glad it helped

[@jmb92555]

Interesting vid and much appreciated. While there were obvious differences I think it really comes down to what you (or the sound guy) prefer. Also it seemed to me that 'burying the beater' (or not) made the biggest difference.

[@funk4ever]

Thanks guys.

[@jcdrums2798]

very good comparison video! i prefer the domestic pillow sound.

[@liamfitzdrums]

It's also the cheapest too.

[@MadWinter889]

My go to is a small pillow only touching the batter head. Somehow I don't like the feel of pre-dampened BD heads, or an empty bass drum really.

[@soulintake]

Interesting note, I play both 24 and 20 for reference. I'm not even sure on my 20 inch that I play with the beater raised that high above center on that drum, your quite a bit above center. On my 24 I'm just slightly under the center when I raise my beaters from the 20. 24x18, 24x16 and 20x18 starclassics here for reference

[@soulintake]

I'd wonder if lowering the beater would change the sound on your equipment or change the way it feels when you bury the beater, especially any dribble

[@tonymilone5458]

I think the domestic pillow sounded best 😂 What I got from this test is that almost any of the head dampening products do an acceptable job, but without something inside dampening the shell they don't sound as good. I think you really need something inside to dampen all the sounds bouncing around inside that deep shell. Nice test!

[@Gk2003m]

Nope. Tuning is the key to getting good sound. You shouldn’t need pillows or anything else inside the drum to get it to sound good. It amuses me to see guys lay out $3K for the most resonant shells they can get, only to do everything they can to eliminate that resonance.

[@czystakrev]

Nice work man's Emad sound it's ok, but same on all bass drum 18,20,22 ect I like remo, & always TAMA 👊 drum brother...

[@seanmcconnell5303]

Hi, Did you have tge evans pad touching the batter or resonant head? Thanks, Sean

[@drumdog]

Hi Sean! Just touching the batter head 🙂

[@rudysnell5079]

@@drumdog Thanks for that clarification. Just bought the Evans EQ pad and plan to install on a Gretsch 18" mahogany with Emad. Probably the smaller end against the batter.

[@sogent56]

Gretsch felt strips on reso heads. Next topic. Port hole or not

[@drs-Rigo-Reus]

No… sick of those ports. Do two full heads and learn to tune them.

[@kushking420]

TBH i loved all except for the Evans EMAD. I can see them all being used for different sounds your trying to achieve when recording songs

[@stefanbrodsky5876]

Thanks for doing this guys! Had been thinking of investing in one of those Kicker pads, but the video confirmed, what I suspected- they're just too much of a dampener. I play a Yamaha MCAN kit w/a 20" x 16" kick. Currently use a GMAD and an Evans EQ3 ported reso. Also use a smaller DW pillow. I couple these with a Shure B52 knockoff mic (from now defunct Carvin), which is then run through a TC Electronics Octavizer guitar pedal, and finally into my PA. The octavizer drops it down a full octave and can really be dailed in. What part of the UK are you from? My wife and I have been binging on numerous British crime series, e.g. "Sherlock" and "Law and Order UK" during the pandemic. Quite good.

[@drs-Rigo-Reus]

Jeff Indyke has the best KZbin BD sound. Look it up.

[@drs-Rigo-Reus]

What’s with all those holes in the front. No fan of THE BOOOM? I am.

[@chillpillology]

Yea i def like that evans pillow. I think you could diy something similar, but its under $20 so probably not worth the effort

[@drumdog]

Yeah if you've got an old small pillow lying around, it can do wonders 👍

[@drs-Rigo-Reus]

Why a 22’’ when the void is filled with a pillow?? It decreases volume…..

[@charlesbeauregard3618]

You've done those tests with a damped drum head...

[@richardrichard5409]

Pillow sounds ggod to me

[@MrE1981]

Use a smaller pillow if you want to match the EQ pad, no reason to spend money for something like this.

[@VVRAITH6]

Felt on reso sounded best. Nice clicky but deep sound and not so choked but not boomy. EMAD sucks.

[@onlyrealufos4146]

best way: buy an electronic drum