Big Bass Drum Muffling with Felt Strips | Season 2 - Episode 5

[@Aroyer1988]

Really glad I watched this video before adding felt strips to my 22” Yamaha kick. I’ve always always always used either a pillow or towel to muffle my bass drum. More recently I wanted to explore new sounds with the kick drum and decided to try the felt strips. So far I completely love it!

[@BryceChristopherHodge]

I bought felts several years ago! And never used them... Now that I have a better understanding of how, I'll have to experiment. :)

[@BryceChristopherHodge]

Hey Bren! Happy belated siblings day, dude!

[@johnmccorry7536]

I used to enjoy going into music stores & when the assistant asked if I needed help, I'd say, "No,thanks, I'm just in to get felt." Ah, simpler days.

[@paulmetcalf4471]

I've used felt strips on both heads for decades. Never cared for the "dead" sound of the 70's or the massively buried beater sound everyone and his brother has been using for the past 20 or so years. A bass drum should sound like.....just that....a drum, and this is the only way to get that sound. One other thing I use....a moleskin pad on the beater contact area of the head. Its an old big band/jazz drummers trick. Cheap and readily available at any drug store too. ;) If it was good enough fro Elvin Jones, then its good enough for me :) Want that Bonham sound or that 60's Motown or Stax/Volt soul sound, then go for the felt!

[@videobrains]

22" x 14" Kick here. I started with felt strips in the 70s. Went through pillows and foams. Then returned to cloth strips in the 2000s. I've used no muffling unmiked outdoors and dry sounding auditorium, strip on batter only in my drum room, and strips on batter and reso in my reverberant church.

[@jadeone]

i’m like a year late but this is so helpful!

[@cj_m2477]

I have a 26 and use a PS3 on the batter and a Remo Renaissance Emperor with a felt on the front great sound. I use the same set up on my 24 as well.

[@saltysaltine]

The only reason I even wake up on Tuesdays is for SLAD videos. You guys have me really interested in felt strips right now I’m going to have to try them.

[@SmugSuspenders]

Only amateurs wake up as early as Tuesday

[@SuperRedmenace]

I absolutely love the way Cody explains things. I had never thought of WHY pillows in drums became a thing for people of a certain era.

[@MrBrombomb]

I play a 1980s Pearl kit with a 26” X 14” bass drum, which was originally a Pearl matching bass drum that I had converted to a kit bass drum by having spurs installed on it. I use a Remo Coated Emperor on the kick side & the stock Pearl single ply head on the resonant side. Both sides have a felt strip, & the bass drum sounds just the way I like it: Big & Boomy but controlled. My Tom sizes are 12” X 10”, 14” X 14”, & 16” X 16” all with The Remo Coated Emperors on batter sides & Clear Ambassadors on the Resonant sides. Great sounding drums.

[@josephmonaco4503]

I like the sound of the wide open bass drum. The tuning is perfect to my ears. I like a nice full BOOM sound but, not a dead sound. It needs the felt strips but the note that this drum is tuned to is playing is a nice deep BOOM.. Great Tuning. I'm putting on felt strips on my 1957 Slingerland 14x26 mahogany/poplar/mahogany Bass drum right now. I always tune my resonant head tighter than the batter side. I do the same on all of my other drums. 10x13 batter is tuned with a Tama Tension Watch, so, every time Ire tune them, they always sound the same. When I put new heads on every decade, I tune them a little tighter until they stretch.. Thanks for your great videos brother.

[@DragonCrestPC]

Great video! Just grabbed a new kit with a 26" kick and wanted to see the best method for controlling that beast lol Thanks!

[@sullysullster8217]

I have a Yamaha 26. I'm a big proponent of using both gmad rings on the batter and reso side. I just glue the 2nd ring on the front and get an amazing sound w reso ance and big low end . I haven't do e that w the 26 since I have a superkick 2 on the batter but I sprayed flex seal on the outer ring in the reso side and worked like a charm. Focused low end w no felts. Another big factor I've found is isolating or getting the drum off the floor and there's a huge difference in getting more low end out of the drum .

[@lewisfirth5242]

I use a 26x14 and use an emad heavyweight or coated emad on the batter sometimes, will have to try gluing a spare foam ring on the front head. Do you use a port?

[@jackcolbert05]

since when did yamaha do 26 inches

[@sullysullster8217]

@@lewisfirth5242 no port. I have a couple Yamaha bass drums. I used a 22 w no hole mostly w a huge sound. I sold it since I have a 20" and can get a similar sound but being easier to haul. That one I got a temp silent stroke on the reso and a towel inside so it would be punchier but had a clean look.

[@sullysullster8217]

@@jackcolbert05 this 26 is a 80's rock tour kit I found used but in great condition. I use the Tom's all the time but the bass drums vary.

[@MrBrombomb]

I love the way this bass drum sounds, especially when it has felt strips on both sides.

[@paulbrown410]

Another awesome video and again very thought provoking! I've been using a single felt on the front of my 70s 24x14 Ludwig with a single ply head and a clear PS3 on the batter which works a treat. Since tuning it up a lot higher following your guidance from a previous video, it sounds huge yet controllable!

[@drummaman1]

I have a 14x26 Ludwig CM, it was the first big drum I have able to tweak after being "fearful" of playing them for the longest time. For a while, the sweet spot I found for me was an EQ1 Coated Reso unported (they have "dry" vents, and it's a shame Evans no longer makes this head), and an EQ4 "coated" (Frosted) and this has amazing projection, control, just the perfect amount of decay without mics. That's the rub, you can hear those rumble overtones when close-mic'ed, so I use a Slug brand bass drum felt on the reso side, and it keeps the sound tech happy since the front head is unported. I've since tried EMADs and similar heads where the muffling is glued to the head, and it muffles it too much for my liking. There's a reason we choose to play a 14x26 or 14x24 bass drum, and I want it to sound AND feel different, I want to show the audience for me playing a big bass drum when there's no point to it if you're going to muffle it like you do a 16 or 18x22. Next, I have a Gretsch USA Custom 14x24, I'm having Pratt mufflers installed, batter and reso. I can use any head I want now, and then muffle as I like. The ultimate control. Coated P3 batter and EQ3 Coated with 6" port sounds just fine for everything. I also have a Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Maple 14x24, the batter on that one is a Coated P3 with black dot. I have the felt strip running horizontally 2-3" below the beater. The reso is an Aquarian regulator, with a vinyl band logo decal. it's plenty muffled. I've actually played the bass drum without the felt and it was perfectly fine, I installed it in case a close mic picks up those low low overtones. By now, I think you can tell that I like to play big bass drums. ;-)

[@professornat]

This video was exactly what i was looking for -> going to try felts on my 24! Thank you!

[@jZildjianZj]

I won some felts that belonged to Carl Palmer at an auction. These felts were either from an ELP tour or an Asia tour.... early 1980’s.... Anyhow, I put them on last night (one on each side of the kick) and will try them out tomorrow night. :)

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

That's quite the unique item to win at auction!

[@tuulofdstrxn]

I used to use felts with my previous 24" kick drum. The reso was an Ambassador coated, and the strip helped a ton. I'm planning to record with no mic hole like with you here, on a 22" kick and an Ambassador reso. I have a PS3 on the batter, so I don't suspect I'll be using a felt there, only on the reso side. The idea is to get a soft and organic sound for the song.

[@TheRover1977]

Love it guys! My go-to for head combos recently has been a Fiberskyn Powerstroke 3 on the batter head with a smooth Ambassador w/felt strip for both my 20" and 22" bass drums. I just picked up a Rogers kit with a 14x28" (!!!!!) kick drum in mahogany veneer, and I am absolutely determined to make this kit a roadworthy kit with my folk-rock band (think Levon Helm's 28" bass). I just special ordered an Aquarian Deep Vintage II w/ internal felt strip for the batter, and I'm gonna try pairing that with a Modern Vintage II w/ felt strip on the reso side. I'm hoping the two 10-mil ply head with a felt strip will be enough to tame the drum. Should be fun!!

[@thundermolloy]

What happened guys? This video got posted and taken down like 3 time today. Everything ok?

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Ran into some technical issues. Thanks for your patience!

[@adrianmezzatesta6714]

Awesome thank you killer bass drum I’m gonna try the Felts I have a huge 26” Bonham kit

[@babar69110]

at last, someone who makes things seriously and don't kill bass drums , parking them in concrete boxes ;) thanks !

[@Customwinder1]

I remember felt under the batter side head of my marching snare drum at school. The tenor drums and bass drum had them as well. They all sounded great with just that little bit of muffling. I may try this on my 22"×18" bass on my kit. It has a clear PS3 on the batter side and ebony PS3 on the reso side with no internal muffling. It sounds punchy as it is but with the felt on the reso side it might sound that little bit better. Thanks guys great video 👍

[@richardedupre2018]

Very much needed for my 26x16 Ludwig Classic Maple bass. Superkick 10 does a nice job also!

[@BeantownSwing]

On our vintage 14x28 bass drums for Swing Era music (we have five of them), felt strips on both calfskin heads work best for four-on-the-floor due to the shorter sustain and more distinct articulation. It never needs to be miked. The width and thickness of the felt do make a huge difference, which we get at the local fabric store and cut them to size. It's a pain getting them on with the single tension rods, as you have to put them both on and hold them in place before putting on the counterhoops and tensioning them down.

[@rockdrummer80]

I have a drum kit built by precision drum company . All Bonham sizes in green sparkle. When I got the kit the kick came with a coated emad on the batter and smooth white eq3 reso without a port hole. I added a felt strip in the reso and tuned it up high. Recently I cut out a port hole on the reso still with a felt on the reso no other muffling. Changed the tuning as well not as high. Like the way it sounds. More punch not as round sounding. I feel its more versatile now. Definitely cuts through loud guitars. Love it

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Yep, absolutely. Precision makes some of the finest drums around! -Cody

[@rockdrummer80]

Sounds Like A Drum I’m like 45 mins from them. My wife surprised me with this kit last year for my birthday.

[@creekcritter2112]

Really good stuff here, and a ton of food for thought. Thanks for inspiring me to want to experiment more with my drum sounds and giving me the insight on how to go about it!!

[@davidsuprenant893]

I absolutely love your channel. You have people trying different ways of tunning drums and not just relying on tun bots and other tunners.People are trying different methods and that's a wonderful thing.For the longest time people have been killing the sounds of there drums.They spend a lot of money and they sound like shit.Thanks for getting people to think and try new ways without killing the sound.These shells are supposed to resonate not sound like cardboard boxes.

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

You nailed it! Thanks for the kind words. -Ben

[@mcTOOSH1]

Been watching this with interest. I have a 24 x18 so obviously a lot more air to move around. The reso head has an internal ring so I’m hesitant to add a felt strip on that head but I have one on my batter. My reso has a 4” port hole so I’d like you if you could experiment with a ported head and unported head both with felt strips. What’s interesting I have a remo power stroke 4 coated as the batter but I cut out the internal ring and just added a felt strip for more of an school sound. There is a evans EQ pad inside resting on the batter head. I love your videos cheers mate

[@johnmccorry7536]

I put the Felt strip on the batter head parallel to the floor so its equidistant from both besters while the reso head has a vertical felt. Also the batter felt has a couple of velcro cable ties around it so there's loops of fluffy velcro dangling inside the drum for a bit more absorption. My theory being that the loops damp a wee bit more than plain felt. Reso head Kickported but with an extra circle of felt round the KP "collar" cuz I'm sure I heard it 'buzz' on my 24 inch kick. So now my 24" kick has horizontal felt strip very low on the drum close to the 2nd lug up on the batter side & just a Kickported hole in the reso head plus my old flat cap cut into a circle. No peak.

[@joelbarr5171]

I'd bet the no strip drum would sound excellent with a puffy beater in a trad jazz context

[@jimflys2]

The same with the 18 for me. I like one felt it none. I would have to see what being behind the kit felt like to choose batter or reso. I just found a band room recording where I was playing big band in 1985. The kick was YOOGE! I Think I was using a reso felt only back then. And the heads were a Ludwig white no coating. The batter side was the same. No fancy stuff, just med heads. When I had to play rock I would loosen most of the top two batter claws and maybe put an external towel left and between the pedal. Still do external because the bib band repatouire is so varied from rock and or roll styles to Buddy and Mel. So all over the map.

[@georgebirddrums]

You guys should do all the other bass drum muffling techniques. Including filling it with plastic packaging

[@sidmarks265]

Funtastic! Great playing, you've dislodged my rug and teeth. You've also set all the alarms off in the house and my grandkids are crying. The dog's had a nosebleed and my wife has started drinking again as the sound has caused a flashback from WW2. No. 3 for me. The email link failed.

[@leocomerford]

7:14 This seems to be making a case for using some kind of external and/or mechanically-controlled bass drum muffling, as that could give you access to the fully-open sound relatively quickly and easily without the hassles of buying, bringing and setting up an auxiliary bass drum. Maybe take a look at some of those in a later video? (Ideally such a muffler should be able to engage and disengage quickly, as that would make switching sounds more than a once-before-each-song option. It's probably a lot simpler to manage that for batter-side muffling.)

[@pjones8404]

I very much enjoy your videos but I wish you would demo with a wider range of volume. Not many players kick that softly and you get a whole different set of attributes when you give it some volume.

[@stevenwilson9865]

Yes, I use felt strips on both sides of a 26"

[@avidavid-rx6vt]

Do you think it would be worth it to do a virgin bass drum vs drilled? I'd like to hear it!

[@pyroeuropa]

Thanks for this video;)

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

You're very welcome!

[@austinfitzmorris7250]

Love the channel! I liked it with no felt strips though. I personally play a vintage Maple 14×24" with a clear Remo PS3 batter, and smooth white PS3 reso with a 6" port and absolutely nothing in it. I usually have both batter and reso heads tuned up a good bit.

[@1122stardust]

I actually like the bass with no muffling! Haha

[@BCSchmerker]

+soundlikeadrum *As of April 2019 my poplarbuilt TAMA®/Hoshino® set has one φ22"x18" kick (IMB22E)* with an EVANS®/D'Addario® BD22EMADHW batter w/ broad foam and a TAMA-branded REMO® ES-1022-00 resonant (Hoshino P/N BH22B) essentially wide open for the historic jazz-kick tone. For a second kick (probably IPB22E), I'd stick with the same heads but crank the ES-1022 up a fifth over one foam strip for articulation over sustain.

[@leeschmitz993]

In the early Beatles recordings, Ringo used felt strips on both sides.

[@allancueto22]

I have a 22x16 with coated batter, no reso head and sounds like this one 😂 so vintage!... Sometimes I love it and sometimes I hate it hahaha 😂😂

[@MrRCOTE]

I'm coming a little late to the party. I heard about you from a Mike Dawson podcast. I think you 2 have forgotten more about drums than I could ever learn. I'm gonna call you guys "The Drum Wisperers" if you don't mind. I use 2 felts on both sides of a 22" Slingerland with Fiberskin 3 drumheads BTW.

[@jonaslangebro9533]

Check out Remo Felt Tone heads and the Dunnett version of the head !. I use a Dunnett 26" Resotone PS3 on the batter, and Dunnett Felt Tone on the front. The Felttone head is kind of free floating and sounds like thunder !!

[@andrewlockett863]

i have a 26 bass.......... old vintage bolt on mufflers are my way to control the drum.....

[@solidpotatosalad]

If I use 2 strips on big BD, I put one vertically on batter side 1/3 from left and another one horizontally on reso center.

[@astraplaneta4656]

Felt strip newbie here. How wide are your strips? Do you use a brand or do you just get it from a material store?

[@lazydobo1094]

Hi i have a 22" acyrlic bass drum from dw it has two of those muffling pillows that taper off to the sides and mostly stuffed towards the middle would i be able to get away with one pillow touching the reso head and a felt stirp on the beater side?? Im not sure how acyrlic would effect the overall tone so would love to see some more footage about that!!! Thanks again! -lazy dobo

[@MrLeeziebee]

What thickness of felt are you using?

[@johnnymerritt9544]

just use super kick 2 head that's all you need with no muffling in my 20 inch Gretsch usa custom kick and same head on my 22 with 1 felt strip works great for me

[@Eudemon0013]

The outfit matches the bass drum to a tee.

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Cody claims not to have done this on purpose but we know better... 😂-Ben

[@leocomerford]

@@SoundsLikeADrum Any good drummer does all the right things subconsciously. ;)

[@NEALBABBITT]

What about two felt strips per head?

[@fomosmith]

Hey guys. Love your channel.

[@ralphbenites1819]

Felts. Fount & back.one ply bass drum heads. Big & bold

[@thomashope373]

Hey guys, great video, as per usual. Just wondering, where about do you buy your felt stripes from?

[@fffffunky]

Third time's the charm

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Certainly hope so...

[@misterdogbiscuit]

They all sound good.

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Yep! Different sounds for different applications. Best to have a variety of options available depending on the scenario. Knowing what your drums are capable of will save you time and will often help you get more gigs. -Ben

[@C0zyDunt]

For a future video, how about doing tuning toms like Cozy Powell did on his kit. He used 2 x 15" rack toms and 2 x 18" floor toms. So would he have managed to keep the batter heads roughly the same tension and just manage the steps between the toms by changing the reso heads?

[@willsanford2378]

not sure if this helps but 70's Cozy mostly had nothing in the bass drum when they would port the front head. Maybe a small pillow sometimes. There's a studio picture of him out there using 2 felts on the batter side, both just off center going vertical. Later years I think he just used a P3. Tuning wise, it sounds like he was pretty close to the Bonham thing, but could have used tighter tension because of the drum size and Mach Lugs. Again, none of this is gospel, just tidbits I've seen from pictures.

[@TweedSuit]

I use felt strips on my 22x13 and 26x10.

[@cj_ssfsm]

With definitely!!!!

[@garye4678]

Good video Cody. I haven't used felt strips yet, I must give them a try one day. Have you used the Evans EQ Pad before? If so what are your thoughts about them, Cons & pros? I use one on my Tama Superstar Classic Maple 18" x 22". I only use it on the batter side. I like how I can vary the amount of muffling, by simply removing the pad from the Velcro stips and re-positioning the pad, depending on the sort of the room or an outdoor gig. I can manage to re-adjust it via the port hole. Sorry if it's already been covered.

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Hey there! Yes I use them all the time, in fact this drum normally has two of them stacked in it for rock/pop stuff. The normal setup for this kick is those along with an Eq3 batter and ported Eq3 reso. Can't go wrong! -Cody

[@garye4678]

@@SoundsLikeADrum Cool, I've been using them for a few years now. I heard some reviewers say they had a problem with the velcro strips not sticking to the floor of the bass drum very good, so I went down to the beach & filled up a couple of plastic bags full of sand and left them on top of the velcro strips for 48 hours. Mine never come loose :-)

[@Czyszy]

New camera?

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Same setup we've been using for all of Season Two so far. -Ben

[@christoferhardcastle2708]

What kind of acoustic treatment do you use?

[@thomaskleinhans2384]

What if there´s a solution to change the muffling in-between seconds - live! Interested?

[@aaronrochotte6342]

I have one. Placing/removing a stick bag against the batter head. Try it! Or you could buy an adjustable, external muffler.

[@willsanford2378]

Wayyy late to the party on this but a small towel between the pedal and the head works really well if you need to add some extra muffling for a room and don’t have a port or are doing the felt strips

[@thecavedrum]

The sound you get with the felt strips on both heads is more open than using a pillow?

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

Hey there! It's somewhat of a tricky comparison, the felts are really different to pillows in both the sound and, maybe moreso, the actual feel of striking the drum. A very small pillow might behave similarly to felts in a drum this size but the neat thing about the felts is that they stay put during transportation, making them much nicer when you're using an unported reso head. To me, the felts aslo help to project both the attack and the rumble of an unported drum better than other alternatives. Hope that helps! - Cody

[@thecavedrum]

@@SoundsLikeADrum Thanks for answering, very helpful!

[@drew_on_drums]

What hats are those? They looks massive from the Ariel angle

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

They do but the angle is deceptive :) they're 15" Zildjian Fat Hat prototypes. - Cody

[@alparrott]

Love that bass note in the unmuffled clips... just a great low pitch bend. I'd love to use that in a big lo-fi sound situation.

[@GOLDSMITHEXILE]

what does bloom mean?

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

To me it’s the phenomenon of a sound growing a little before diminishing after the initial impact. -Cody

[@dosanchoas]

get the feeling you're ONE SMART DUDE!

[@mattzitzer7607]

Cody’s pants match the kick drum! Haha

[@SoundsLikeADrum]

We're just pulling out all the stops for Season Two...

[@Coylee91]

Playing a 2013 DW Collectors maple, I have used, for about 6 years now, a single strip in the reso (factory DW logo) and a coated P3 on the batter, both tensioned pretty high, with an internally mounted mic to keep the front head solid, it started as an experiment and became my go to sound to this day. Good example of the sound and shameless plug: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooeqkmNjid-FnLc

[@josteinv.jordet257]

4:40 SEXY