Floor Tom to Bass Drum Conversion

[@Luisrdrummer]

Killer drum sounds! The snare has that 311 ”amber” tone 😮

[@malonedrum]

That’s an iconic sound that I know instantly when you say that

[@jessdrummer_]

This is one of my favorite drum videos, great job. Nice and simple, yet it works! I will try doing the same thing, but instead of using the Gibraltar System, i’m gonna use the Evans Dixson drum lifter

[@malonedrum]

That's a great option as well!

[@jorymil]

This is what I do with my 15x12 tom, down to the riser and spurs. The Pearl conversion kit works too, but requires more fiddling. I end up just leaving the hoop clamp on the batter all the time and remove the riser portion as needed. The clamp can be used for a cowbell or wood block when the tom is upright.

[@malonedrum]

I wish the Pear kit would come with the hoop mount you need to finish the conversion, but other than that, it’s a great option.

[@Medievalfan94]

repeatability on the spurs would be fixed by a permanent marker to mark the position of the spur relative to the bracket. just a ring around the spur to mark the insertion depth and a line across the meeting area to mark the angle. I did that with my cymbal stands to have the set up the same way everytime. works fine, although I need to refresh the markings every once in a while before they rub off completely.

[@malonedrum]

I've done stuff like this with a snare stand, but the teeth help it to remain consistent, I've just found even with marking on bracket like a leg spur, it's still so much more frustrating than the fold out spurs that lock in place the exact same with a couple of seconds of work.

[@Medievalfan94]

@@malonedrum yeah true, indexed mechanics are just so much faster to setup repeatedly to the same position. My suggestion was just a remedy if you HAD to work without it. :D

[@malonedrum]

@@Medievalfan94 Of course, great hack!

[@DrumnBird1]

Thank you! This video is very helpful for me. I will definitely return to it if I decide to convert my floor tom to a bass drum! :-)

[@malonedrum]

Glad it was helpful to you!

[@juancarlosbrenes4741]

Nice video as always! I love your channel. From all the settings, I preferred the sound of small or no ring at all tunings. In my experience, adding too much muffling or using pre-muffled heads sucks out the volume of such a tiny kick drum. I love my 12x16 Broadkaster kick with no muffling or with one narrow felt strip for different jazz-related styles (e.g., bebop, swing, jazz-funk, Latin, or even fusion at lower tuning à la Keith Carlock). IMHO, 16 kick drums are not meant to substitute larger kick drums (20 or 22) or to emulate their sound in pop and rock contexts, although they can be used for those purposes when low volume is required.

[@malonedrum]

Good tip.

[@frankspikes7858]

Hey Mike cool project. I've seen this done before. Years ago this one company was selling a bass drum cradle device. I also saw an article in modern drummer doing the same thing. So the idea is not new. Thanks leaving the finish as is. That orange is really nice.

[@malonedrum]

If you like the finish because you’re a Bears fan, we’re done…

[@Quartiano]

Cool comparison! I find myself using an emad with no ring so often! The plastic ring alone provides just enough tone control for me.

[@malonedrum]

I can see that on a more conventional bass drum.

[@adammono1839]

Great video! I'm shocked by the price of heads lately, might check out that rewards program

[@malonedrum]

Yeah, it's certainly risen like everything else. The rewards program is really great.

[@NintenDub]

Everything is ridiculous. It's so depressing

[@jc3drums916]

You would've had no reason to worry about stick marks with the black suede, considering you would've been using it as a reso. I heard the white suede heads are really easy to clean, perhaps the black suede are as well. I should give the EMAD a try on my converted bass drum. I use it on my other bass drums, but I had an Ebony Pinstripe lying around, so I've just been using that for the past 20 years, lol. It sounds good enough paired with one of those old hourglass pillows, and it's pretty much indestructible. Eventually I'd like to cut the drum down to 12" and set it up for bop.

[@malonedrum]

Yeah, the emad is a really great system and I love the ability to adjust the muffling externally. Evans’ always does a nice job innovating in my opinion.

[@mccbuddytaras6637]

i did a similar thing with an 18, i used some gibraltar memory locks on the legs so it wouldn't be so fiddily when setting up.

[@malonedrum]

Yup, that seems like a great idea

[@Miloshe71]

I like your detail to the recording comparison. That’s a tough thing to do right, much less edit and compile.

[@malonedrum]

Appreciate it, that’s always a challenge to make it pleasurable to listen to, but not overproduced.

[@triboluminiscencia_]

I gigged with a similar setup for a long time although I used the whole Dunnet kit to mount toms and all that, and a EMAD Calftone. Also needed a felt strip on the reso head for those punchy tones.

[@malonedrum]

How’d you like the tom mount? I was curious if it really holds up or has enough flexibility for positioning

[@triboluminiscencia_]

@@malonedrum honestly positioning wasn't a hassle but it was a bit wobbly and got some time to get used to it. I suspect my tom mount didn't really fit my bracket but the legs did so I just swapped the mount for a snare stand and occasially used the tom mount for cowbells and lighter stuff.

[@Overlycomplicatedswede]

personally i think the mid level tuning is best with a large ring sounds best with the sharper snare tuning you are running in the tests the highs feel more supported in my opinion but either way i really enjoyed hearing you play you were killing it on those fills!

[@malonedrum]

Appreciate the kind words, I like that sounds as well.

[@jamescassidy4045]

Hey! So for the different tunings, when you went back through them the second time for each tuning, what changed to make them sound a lot more punchy, and dampened? Dampening inside the drum also or something?

[@malonedrum]

Hmmm, there’s a segment of the demo that has some added effects to the audio. I try to keep that stuff light, but there is some with compressions and EQ. Also, depending on if you play off or into the head with the beater it makes a huge tonal difference.

[@ronaldwhite3836]

Love my micro

[@malonedrum]

Certainly a fun/space saving option.

[@founboy78]

What do you think of the Emad UV? I'm thinking of getting it for my new kit.

[@malonedrum]

I don't have any specific feeling for the texture of the head given it's being struck with a bass drum beater. I'd be more inclined to give some thoughts on it if I could try it on snare, especially with brushes.

[@scmcarthur]

Pearl also makes a conversion kit/hardware for much less then the Gibraltar one but it doesn't come with the tom mount.

[@jc3drums916]

I don't know if it's the same as the one I got ~20 years ago, but the spurs are a little short. It isn't a big deal, as the entire drum is still off the ground, but it's a little weird to have the front be ever-so-slightly lower than the batter side, and it may mean the beater has to travel a little further than usual to make contact. I should remove the rubber feet and replace them with KBrakes, that might add a bit of extra height.

[@malonedrum]

Yeah, I find their kit weird because if you have three floor tom brackets to make it work, why would you also have the ISS mount to attach the kick pedal to? Doesn’t make sense to not have it come with that.

[@jorymil]

Having to buy an ISS bracket separately is annoying with the Pearl kit. And they are quite heavy brackets. You can actually get some mileage out of the Pearl riser by using it as a cowbell mount, but if that's your intent, a dedicated cowbell bracket is better.

[@LeakyJAZZ]

i have a lot of experience tuning small bass drums, and let me say man, that "low" tuning could have been a lot lower.

[@malonedrum]

👍

[@davidhuckstep9703]

Awesome video mike

[@malonedrum]

Thanks!

[@ivecadit]

You said "floor tom to Snare drum conversation kit"

[@malonedrum]

Whoops, it happens. Hope you were able to look past it

[@brothermyke6523]

He's a fulltime drummer. No big deal.

[@NintenDub]

As someone who also doesnt have a beard, but scraggly solo hairs that grow up on the sides of the eyes, i think im qualified in saying the "sideburns" gotta go and you gotta shave your upper cheeks

[@malonedrum]

Thanks for watching video, glad you took something away from it.

[@adammono1839]

​@malonedrum I think you look great Mike! And I'm really enjoying more of the pieces to camera you have been doing lately 👍

[@malonedrum]

@@adammono1839 Thanks Adam!

[@gregwonhoff7161]

Mike, thank you once again for sharing your work with all of us. I am a retired 39 year veteran in education and am so impressed with your teaching style. I think that you are a wonderful part of KZbin drumming.❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️