eDrum Head Materials

A (rather detailed - sorry!) look at the 4 main electronic drum head materials - Mylar, rubber, mesh and TCS - and why they feel the way they do, what each is good for, and how they can help you.

[@65Drums]

Great video! I personally like 3ply the most because it can match the level of rebound of a mylar head 1 to 1. But only with certain brands. Some 3ply heads are not good, really depends on the manufacturer.

[@ianmclean5541]

Excellent job explaining all that Simon. You certainly have a talent for teaching and detailed tutorials.

[@GeorgeFalconer]

Crickey, that was fascinating and gave me a great deal to think about as I shortlist my options for an e-drum kit. Just tried a Roland VAD 507 and found it terribly unengaging and joyless. Looks like I will have to spend that bit more and go for the DTX 10 with the TCS heads. My wife will kill me, but I will probably get the kit I need!

[@steevidrums]

Love this video! Spot on about Rubber. The old Yamaha TP series were fantastic. I you can pick them up second hand very cheap, they work awesome with 2box modules and the rubber surface is soft enough to not give any shock trouble. I played an old DTXtreme 3 kit back in Dubai Hard Rock Cafe in 2008, and while the module was even then a little dated, the pads felt lovely to play. Hammered the crap out of it for 7 months! I still have a TP110 lying around that I have no use for, by maybe one day.

[@Rhythmic1]

Very informative! Thanks.

[@edruminfo]

Thanks Robyn!

[@iplaywithsticks6194]

Well done, thank you!

[@edruminfo]

No problem. Thanks for watching it.

[@AdamRobertshaw]

Great video, but not entirely a fan of the talk on triggering with 1 vs 3 ply - it's like reviewing electric guitars and saying the Gibson has the best sustain when non of them are plugged in to an amp - the module is most of the instrument, controlling all the triggering curves etc, so the "worse triggering" would largely also be down to your module and the way it interprets pulse width modulation to determine location and velocity on the head, in conjunction with the physical aspects you explained in the video :)

[@edruminfo]

Hi Adam. Firstly, thanks for getting in touch. Yes, I agree, it is a slight bit of a generalisation on my part, and yes, the module does do most of the dynamics processing. However, the module can only process what trigger info it is getting from the piezo, which is getting it from the mesh head (in this case), and the weight and stiffness of the head will change the dynamic response from it. A Remo Silentstroke (as a great example of a thin single ply mesh) will give a very different low end (quiet) response than a thick 3 ply head. If you set up two identical pads with identical trigger settings into the same module and put these two types of head on the pads, and tension them the same (or as close as) they are going to respond in different ways and 'feel' very different. The single ply will give a hotter (better) response at low velocity playing, when compared to the 3 ply, as the 3 ply is self damping - the quiet playing will give a lower output as the signal is being attenuated by the mass loading of the head - its thicker and stiffer. You'll also notice the dynamic curve response is different between the heads as the thinner head has a different dynamic range from quiet to loud. It's just one of those things, but yes, different weights and thicknesses of head will have a slightly different velocity curve as they will respond better (or worse) at different dynamics, depending on how they are constructed. Mesh heads aren't the dumb things we hit - they take the input we give them and give an output through the piezo depending on what they can, or cant translate into a workable trigger signal. Yes, it is VERY subtle, but it is there. Many drummers wont feel it as they have their kits set up so they have significantly less dynamic range then they could have, so all the low end sensitivity is gone. So yes, I totally agree, that the trigger settings can be used to counteract this, but if the cone isn't getting the trigger signal because the head is damping (thick mesh) or choking itself (thin mesh), then the trigger settings cant help.

[@grooveincorporated]

Excellent Simon. Can you recommend a thick single ply mesh head?

[@edruminfo]

Hi Michael. Not much good for you in NZ I'm afraid, but the most easily obtainable heads I've tried like this are the Drum-Tec Pro heads from Germany. There are others which are not quite the same but these seem to be very popular with anyone who sits down at the kit behind me.

[@justinfrenchau]

Thanks for this. What brand is the thick single ply you mentioned at 10:58?

[@edruminfo]

Hi Justin. Check out Drum-Tec's Pro range. There are others, but these are easy to come by (if you're in US, Europe).