What nobody ever told you about your DRUM HEADS!

What defines the SOUND of a DRUM HEAD?
German producer Kristian Kohle (Aborted, Powerwolf, Eskimo Callboy, Hämatom, Van Canto, Emil Bulls, Benighted) meets MORITZ AMRHEIN from ‪@EvansDrumheadsOfficial‬ to talk about the history of the company and all the innovative features of their drum heads. Time to learn something about your drum heads!
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#drumheads #evansdrumheads #remo #metaldrumming

[@KohleAudioKult]

Which ones are your favorite drum heads and why? Let me know!

[@matthewparent4231]

I'm not a drummer but I do know that in my previous band every show we played the sound guy and/or someone at the show always told my drummer how good his kit sounded. He played on an older CB kit that was nothing special but he had Evans hydraulic heads on it and they really do sound amazing!!!

[@ragrapios]

Evans UV1 for snare GOAT

[@Vorgaloth]

Aquarian is so underrated. Been using them for a long time. I use their Performance 2 for the toms, preferred over Evans EC2 and G2. They give that old school beefy sound with no need for additional muffling but are lively enough to sing. I'd say they're not as "plastic" sounding to the Evans. I think Aquarian tend to stay in tune longer and are slightly easier to tune with their Safe-T-Loc hoop. Their snare head (the Hi-Velocity) took the #1 spot over the Evans HD Dry. Very similar in tone and durability but is a little more distinct, if that makes sense. Can't go wrong with the Super Kick 2 bass drum heads either. I'm playing a Tama Artstar Maple Custom 9ply 7mm w/14x8 Tama bronze snare 3mm. I always get compliments on the sound of my drums.

[@analogkid4557]

I tested 6 different heads and recorded the results. If you attack and open sound, use the G1. If you want punch, use G2. If you want long sustain with solid tone, use Remo Pinstripes. If you want a natural even tone and attack, use a single ply coated.

[@bdubzdrumz]

Evans: UV1 snare, G2 clear Tom’s, EQ3 clear bass. Remo: Ambassador or CS black dot snare, Vintage Emperor Clear Tom’s, PS4 Clear bass.

[@Producelikeapro]

A subject that doesn't get talked about enough! Drum heads are VERY important! I've found I can get a few more takes out of an Evans G2, maintaining the brightness and snap!

[@legacyShredder1]

100%

[@KohleAudioKult]

Absolutely! Getting things right at the source saves so much time in post. Knowing your drum heads is a part of that!

[@Producelikeapro]

@@KohleAudioKult Exactly! Well said!

[@legacyShredder1]

15 seconds in and I already know this is going to be an extremely worthwhile video. Drum heads are stupidly important in my opinion. The heads define the sound.

[@Producelikeapro]

Exactly! Often these kinds of videos don't get as many views, however, they are very important!

[@legacyShredder1]

@@Producelikeapro You know Warren, I'd be seriously interested in watching how you tune your drums for videos and regular studio work.

[@Producelikeapro]

@@legacyShredder1 that's an amazing idea!

[@sega.milkis]

EVANS!!! Yeah! Nice to have some drum related content from Kohle once in a while)))

[@jamiemcparland]

Awhile back i bought a TON of snare heads, tuned with a Tune-Bot, and recorded all my snares with the different heads. The Evans HD Dry sounds AMAZING on all my snares. No need to moon gels, tape or other bullshit. It tames the ring of my brass snares, but is not choked at all. Truly amazing heads! Switched all 6 of my snares to the HD Dry and couldn't be happier.

[@KohleAudioKult]

Thanks! I haven’t tried that one yet.

[@danlc95]

I used Remo since 1987, when I was 11. Summer of 1991 I started using Evans Rock Glass / Resonant Glass on my toms, Genera (reg, Dry, HD, HD Dry), or Uno 58 1000 on the snare and EQ 2, or Rock Glass on the bass drums. I stayed until D'Addario bought the company from Bob Beals. This was just out of high school, summer of 1995. In 1996 I started teaching in a shop and thats where I got to experiment with a variety of combinations. I also brought in Aquarian and Attack to the store. There was a short time where I used Attack, Aquarian, and Evans, but Remo's film just had that tone. I had stacks of used Emperor and PinStripes in the basement. That showed me my preference.. When the EC 2 first debuted, the rep sent me a set to try. He actsent me a set to outfit the entire kit. I liked them. They reminded me a lot of a Remo approach. But they still didn't sound like the old Rock Glass heads from the "Chick" Evans / Bob Beals era. I remember buying a set of Aquarians, I want to say 1996 and the film was no longer crystal clear. They had switched to their XW (Xtra Warm) film and I absolutely hated them. In 2010 they moved away from that film, back to a crystal clear film that offered a brighter sound than their previous film. Last summer I bought a set of Aquarian heads, but I was in the middle of a heavy gigging / recording schedule and I didn't take the time to experiment with tuning them, I freaked out and put my Remos back on. Going back and listening to the live shows I was getting a beautiful, open sound, but not enough stick impact sound. I decided to give Aquarian a try again. In 2017 I had a set of Aquarian Studio X / High Frequency on a set of PDP CX drums for a gig. THAT was the combo I needed. When I bought the Aquarian heads last summer I got the Texture Coated Super 2 and a set of Classic Clear w/ Power Dot. I put the Super 2 on the home / studio kit, and the CC Power Dot on the live / studio kit. There it was. The Classic Clear Power Dot sounded perfect. Not so much of the "ooooom" a Remo / Evans produces, but a nice, hearty "bah" attack that cut through and transferred a lot of that hearty, throaty stick attack, with a focused, rich, deep tone. If I picture the stick impact the Remo has a normal sized "ball" of sound when the stick hits the head. The Aquarian was a bigger ball, and the Evans was almost like a couple pieces of bacon frying. It was a loose, undefined attack - still excellent and useful, but not quite what I was looking for, hence the search with Aquarian. When the current tom heads wear out they'll be replaced with the Studio X / Hi Frequency combination. The snares will have Texture Coated or Texture Coated w/ Power Dot, and Super Kick 2 / Regulator for the foreseeable future. I still have quite a few sets of Remo heads in stock, and will probably use them on my home kit as time progresses.

[@Moredrums]

Thanks for the opportunity to talk about this subject - really enjoyed the time in ‚the den‘ 🙌🏻🙏🏼

[@analogkid4557]

I have used Evans heads since the late 80's. I tried Aquarians for a short period in the late 90's but went back to Evans. Also, in the 80s, I turned my 14 x 10 tom into a snare and used the kevlar marching band head on it, tuned very high. It had a crack that would split your skull in half. I use a single ply clear head on a birch Yamaha marching band snare as of last year. Sounds great and it gives me the attack that I have been struggling to get on my recordings.

[@SimonKranzDrums]

Very informative, as usual. Even after ~15 years of tuning drums and messing around with drumheads, there still were new things to be picked up here. Special thanks to Moritz for debunking the oil drumhead myth that's been creeping around the drummer's scene for ages - I even read something about Remo Emperors being filled with liquid in a drum book (from the 80s or 90s), which is of course absolute nonsense.

[@KohleAudioKult]

Tuning drums is one of the deepest rabbit holes for sure 🤪

[@SimonKranzDrums]

@@KohleAudioKult Oooh yes! Everytime I think I know what I'm doing, something I haven't tried yet comes creeping around the corner...

[@nathanielnicholson559]

What an awesome surprise, coming for some Kohle and education and it's an Evans orgy! I switched to Evans long, long ago, when I needed a snare batter and it's all there was at the particular shop at the moment. Never went back to Remo, why would I? I do want to point something out because I care... you mentioned 'back in the early 2000s' ... we are IN the early 2000s ;) won't be the mids for a few years... This coming from a guy who never realized Evans heads are made in New York state, where I live, DOH! Road trip!! Big love for you and your videos!

[@sublationband2415]

So cool that you do such deep dives into topics like this. Much appreciate!

[@ManiacFitness]

This video is full of more very useful info than all other Evans drum heads videos combined!

[@KohleAudioKult]

Haha! Moritz is great for sure!

[@GinoCournoyer]

I saw a video of a song of the '70s and the snare had a clear head on it. I tried a clear Powerstroke 3 on one of my 2 Maple snares : more clarity and more attack... just loved it. Now they have both clear P3 on them! :)

[@jerryarmitage8904]

Omg!!! Love the Dog Eat Dog shirt. Killer album. Love those guys. I used to have a supped-up Camaro back in the day and I had Dog Eat Dog on the top of the front windshield. You just brought back a bunch of memories wearing that shirt.

[@KohleAudioKult]

I agree. Great album and also very nice dudes!

[@Swervbot_]

Loved the America Comment... and I'm from the states! It's just so true. Great video! Been thinking of switching to Evans...

[@KohleAudioKult]

Good to hear you take it that way! 😂

[@Philipp.of.Swabia]

Im currently using an Evans Hydraulic 14“ floor Tom head on my snare and I cranked it up quite high, the snare sounds great, it has a ton of tone and overtones ( which are unexpectedly quite pleasant ) and it also has a ton of attack. ( only started using a Tom head because my Remo snare head literally fell out of the rim after 3 days of playing and I didn’t have any spare snare heads, but hey, as long as it sounds great. 😆).

[@LeoMargarit1]

My usual setup is Clear EQ3 on bass drum, HD Dry on Snare (the one with the holes all around) and Coated G2’s on toms. To answer your question about why nobody uses clear heads on snare, my guess is it’s because of durability mostly, and also possibly for the use of brushes…? :) Great video as usual!

[@KohleAudioKult]

Brushes is a good argument! But I haven’t seen many of them in metal, haha!

[@LeoMargarit1]

@@KohleAudioKult No? :D There’s nothing as evil as a gravity blast played with brushes! 😂

[@IvanKolev.]

Clear head on snare !!! Rule them all 💪 I put fat single ply clear head on my 12 piccolo snare and pop like popcorn in can. With nylon sticks gives you attack and tone, when it’s tuned up right !

[@xGoldenBloodx]

I actually use a non coated snare head with just a black point in the middle, killer sound, love it

[@KohleAudioKult]

Wow! Not many drummers out there like you!

[@HitTheRoadMusicStudio]

Cool Dog Eat Dog Shirt! Man, awesome episode, I think the tips on this channel are to the point, really helpful in our daily audio engineer's life and with good humor!

[@KohleAudioKult]

Thanks! Much love 🤘❤️

[@JenariJosh]

So I play clear EC2 as batter head and coated G1 on the bottom. I think I even got the idea from a former colleague of Moriz if not from Moriz himself. Nice to see you two together in a video, viele Grüße

[@KohleAudioKult]

Beim Session?

[@JenariJosh]

@@KohleAudioKult yes, der Fredrik der jetzt in der Drumstation Maintal arbeitet 🙂

[@blakemcelroy4706]

UV 2’s on my Tom’s and UV-1’s on snares has worked well. Nice punch and warmth. UV Emad and Emad on kick with smooth white reso. You can’t go wrong. Nice video

[@legacyShredder1]

If I need more attack with the control of a UV2 I use EC2 controlled heads. I love the UV series heads, and the HD Dry on some of my snares.

[@oldowl4290]

I love the UVs but grew bored of the eMAD. Seems everyone with a bass drum has one and I feel that, while great for studio recording, it just dampens the bass too much for my tastes even with no foam rings. I like the wide open boom feel. So if anything I just leave them out. I do however use a single bath towel in the bass for subtle muting of overtones or if using the foam rings I only use the smallest one but I also cut out half of it (so cut out the inside ring diameter by ~1cm.)

[@potp5150]

I use the kevlar marching head for my metal and punk bands I play in live and they're amazing. Also a throwback to my band geek days.

[@KohleAudioKult]

And how do you tune them?

[@keyjay_hr]

@@KohleAudioKult cranked high, real high

[@ShanesGettingHandy]

I do the same, I've tuned my snare so tight the rim is bending, but damn it snaps.

[@ShanesGettingHandy]

And it's a steel piccolo. Plug your ears.

[@newamerikangospel]

When you do the kick drum head test, if possible I would love to hear different beater types and maybe click pads? That’s probably a lot but if you can that would be incredibly useful

[@KohleAudioKult]

I’m planning on doing a full nerdy course inside the academy

[@theedwardssessions1650]

I find the reason I use coated snare batter heads is cos I also play with brushes so clear heads don't work with brushes... I also currently use coated resonant heads on my toms and clear batter, because I found they cut down the over-tones that toms can incur. I haven't tried coated top and bottom but i imagine that'd be badass for floor toms cos you'll be able to tune them low and the coating will give you an even lower frequency and attack.

[@marcuslangford4679]

In the UK we call a thousandth of an inch a "thou". I don't know if that's colloquial or not, but I've heard it many times from older people than myself. I tend to use metric for things that small.

[@oldowl4290]

Across the pond I use a lot of "thous" on my lathe and mill. :)

[@blakedmc1989DrumsHD]

welp there's one of tha few things i agree with ya on, Live and Die with Evans drumheads! i've been using Evans since tha early 2000's, before i had a mix of jank cheap stock heads and only 1 Remo head on my old Pearl Piccolo snare but it didn't last very long at all and it broke in half and Remo became tha #1 brand i had to stay away from at all cost because i had tha most problems with Remo and i ended up puttin' a Evans Hydraulic on it and it lasted and lasted and lasted! and when those other jank stock heads broke, i almost went to Aquarian but i was introduced to Evans and i've stuck with Evans ever since, glad i was introduced to Evans and never looked at any other drumhead brand since i made a full switch to Evans and omg i'm so glad i did because every drumset i came across especially if it was at a Urban Gospel church i became their drummer at which it's how i and alot of other great music Artists and Musicians got my start from mainly started as a Urban Gospel drummer at (now known as Gospel Chops), most of them drums would either have tired jank stock heads or Remo and ended up quickly swappin' them out for Evans and i ended up makin' alot of those offbrand stuff sound like SLEEPERS with just a quick swap to Evans and Evans is way more easier to deal with and tune especially when i mainly a Pearl Drum user and Evans made it so much easier because everyone else outside of Evans Drumheads i tried to use, gave me way too many issues several times, so i refuse to use any drumhead brand not named Evans! great video btw and it's nice to know i'm not tha only person who had tha most issues with Remo on compared to Evans and Remo kept wearing out on me way too quickly vs good o Trusty Evans

[@gabrielsanchez1979]

Killer, as always!!

[@jobaecker9752]

Hab schon lange mit Remo gespielt, aber nachdem wir unsere neue Platte veröffentlichen muss ich mich unbedingt bei Evans melden. Ist doch mal Zeit, oder? Grüsse aus Minneapolis.

[@mrcoatsworth429]

That man has convinced me to buy the Evans UV tom heads for my next drum recordings. Good marketing.

[@KohleAudioKult]

Haha! They make great heads. Otherwise I wouldn’t support them!

[@mrcoatsworth429]

@@KohleAudioKult of course! Seriously though, really informative video!

[@oldowl4290]

I love 10-mil single ply heads with a little gel damping. You can always tone down thin or single ply heads. You can never "tone up" thicker or double ply heads. I like playing drums, not cardboard boxes. And I REAAAALLLY wish Evans would make colored single plys!! C'mon EVANS!!!!!

[@brianvillage5]

I used to love evans hydraulics on my toms and I always and always will use Aquarian super kicks on my kick drum, I tried a few Evans kick drums and they didn’t do so well. I switched from hydraulics to pinstripes then eventually found single ply heads to have the best tone of all. For snare I really like the Aquarian Hi Energy head they ring good and also give a nice snap. I’ve ran through Remo, evans and Aquarian on all of my drums and those are the combos that give me a great metal sound that also has a lot of dynamics and useful overtones. I do not muffle my drums with tape or pillows, if they’re tuned good they don’t need it. If you find yourself muffling drums down to short transient with no ring you might as well buy the cheapest drum heads you can find.

[@blakedmc1989DrumsHD]

what about Emad? i've been runnin' it since 2006, never had issues with Emad

[@petervitusaudio]

Clear heads on snare were pretty common in the 80s.

[@shadowwraith4958]

I really wish Evans would make a 23" EMAD so i could put it on my DW 23" Collector's Purple Heart kick drum!

[@TheDarknessBane]

Hey Kristian, a secret that some of us use for really fat drum sounds is actually using a smaller wood tip/stick (think Vic Firth AJ6) Give it a shot! I think you may be surprised by the result as opposed to 5B size sticks. Granted they are not as durable if you do rimshots, and not as loud. It's really odd to consider, but try an AJ6 for the snare hand and a 5B for cymbals, so long as the drum section doesn't call for rolls then I'd use two aj6's. Try it out! I suppose in some circumstances the sound difference may be negligible. Salud brother

[@KohleAudioKult]

Despite the fact that I’m not a rimshot fan anyway, I always felt like: The bigger the better. Thicker sticks just have more punch. Or am I getting this wrong somehow?

[@analogkid4557]

@@KohleAudioKult I would say that is true but with a lighter stick you get more attack.

[@georgepelekoudis]

Heavyweight EMAD + Heavyweight Snare 🔥Clear vs coated bass batter would be interesting as well.

[@enjoyevan]

clear heads on a snare sound great

[@KohleAudioKult]

I’ll still have to find out for myself!

[@enjoyevan]

@@KohleAudioKult please do! Actually you can see me play one on my one and only KZbin video 😅

[@mrcoatsworth429]

I think Nicko McBrain from Ion Maiden used clear ones in the 80s.

[@enjoyevan]

@@mrcoatsworth429 I don’t know why it’s not more common. You get more shell sound I think. A wood shell sounds woodier.

[@drumgod666]

Diehard Evans user since mid/late 90's. Oddly enough, I don't have any Drumhead questions/comments. I actually wanted to ask about that TC Electronic cab in the background. Who carries them? I've looked and seem to get nowhere.

[@KohleAudioKult]

Really? I just bought it from Thomann a year ago

[@blakedmc1989DrumsHD]

i don't regret my decision to go full Evans since tha early 2000's

[@klauth_Yksyn]

Not a big fan of Evan's but, this was cool 👍

[@blakedmc1989DrumsHD]

i had tha most success with Evans out of anybody else

[@DontWorryImAPilot]

The only person I know of using a clear snare head is Steve Carey of Senses Fail. His drums always sound great so that might be a cool conversation to have - for KZbin or just in some DMs. Steve seems cool so he might be down for a chat! It's something I've tried to talk drummers into but if they give me any resistance on that I stick with coated. I'm already asking them for a lot of compromise - "let's move these cymbals up just a couple inches...and I'll handled the tuning...and do you really need all 6 toms on the kit even though you're only hitting 2...I get that you've had that Mapex snare since you bought the cheapest shell pack 14 years ago but, just for comparison's sake, let's check out this Ludwig snare" - so I'm not going to go blowing the vibe for something like that. I go back and forth on head selection. I feel like I prefer Remos on snares more often - I'm a sucker for an Ambassador on a snare - but for kicks and toms I almost 100% prefer Evans. Seems to be a cool company making cool products. I respect that.

[@particlejim]

I've used a clear head on my snare before, it was purely because I was too broke to buy a new snare head and I happed to have an old 14" tom that I wasn't using anymore. The tom had a clear remo pinstripe so I decided to just try that on my snare until I had some money to buy a proper snare head. It actually sounded pretty decent and the stick response was super bouncy which made blastbeats really easy I still wouldn't pick it over a coated snare head but it got the job done perfectly well as a temporary measure

[@CountNetsrac]

I wonder if it's possible to put such a marching drum head on a "normal" drum kit. Might sound cool. And Kohle, if you are trying different drum heads, could you try those coated resonance heads for the toms? That would be interesting.

[@KohleAudioKult]

I should do that! Noted!

[@Renaissance-Hell]

I'm not 100% sure about this, but I think marching heads have crumpled rims specifically designed for how bearing edges are cut on marching drums.

[@Jeanhates]

Great chapter! I recently bought an Onyx 13" for my snare, and it worked really well in studio; I'm really happy with it. Moreover, it added the extra darkness my black/red ddrum snare needed to look even more metal. See you in hell!

[@KohleAudioKult]

It definitely looks damn metal! 🤪

[@bdubzdrumz]

This was cool! Definitely learned a few things like why those holes on G2’s exist and what Genera actually meant haha. I’ve used Remo and Evans off and on over the years, mainly Evans however mainly due to price, availability, and overall consistency. My favorite drum sounds and drummers are typically guys that use Remo…and one thing they have over Evans is that the tone seemingly lasts longer than Evans. That said, their design where you have to conform the head to the bearing edge and tuning just seems a bit more difficult. I think this design gives Remo a more “springy” feel as well. But Evans are insanely easy to tune, sound and feel good, amazing packaging, and the product is exactly the same every time. I’ve had on multiple occasions dead Remo’s, and have never experienced this from D’Addario. Most diehard coated Ambassador type of players should definitely try the UV1’s as those are easily the best single ply coated heads I think I’ve ever tried.

[@KohleAudioKult]

Like I said in the video, I had the opposite experience with Evans lasting way longer. But that was long ago. My theory is that the Remo monopoly was getting lazy back then so Evans could kick their ass. These days it feels like the durability is more or less the same.

[@majorstokem8839]

IF THESE ARE GOOD TIMES!!!!!

[@geoffarcuri7877]

Great info on Evans, (which I’ve been using since the 90s) but didn’t really cover the “wrong” drumheads vs the “right” drumheads. I guess that video is still to come. Very subjective topic for sure and very dependent on what style of metal you’re playing. What will work bass drum wise for a death metal band will not necessarily be the right choice for slower, heavier stuff.

[@rockdahaus]

I´m more a Remo guy, specially on snare... bought four or five Evans Power Center and the center did break up pretty fast and the debris was in the snare and a shit thing to remove. Remo CS for ever! On toms, i tend to use Remo Emperor. Because they are a little more open/bright. But if i don´t get the Emperor, i use the G2. On kicks Remo P3 or P3 with the dot. Toms are ok with Evans.

[@blakedmc1989DrumsHD]

i tried to do what i could with Remo but i had way too many issues with Remo especially on Pearl drums, so i quickly ended up swapin' out for Evans and my live has been so much easier with those decisions

[@blakedmc1989DrumsHD]

for me i would like to use a Hydraulic head on a snare

[@alexandrereis246]

Who's the King!!!

[@KohleAudioKult]

Great album!

[@alexandrereis246]

@@KohleAudioKult indeed. Great memories hehe

[@HR2635]

In the 80's we all used clear on snare... mostly Pinstripes. Pretty ugly sound but it works in the mix :-).. you definitely wont need much high shelf!

[@PooNinja]

Is putting a coin where the beater hits the kick a bad way to add click?

[@KohleAudioKult]

That’s an old school alternative. But not really needed if you have the right head. Better spend the coin on a beer!

[@PooNinja]

@@KohleAudioKult moon coins aren’t worth a beverage. Lucky to a place that even accepts em. I will say it has had 0 effect on my e drums.

[@legacyShredder1]

I would use a purpose built metal click pad over a coin. Coins destroy heads quickly. Having said that there are better alternatives in batter head choice.

[@queenpurple8433]

Aquarian tho 🥰

[@henryegan666]

why hasnt usa worked out measurements yet lol

[@SpendCroof]

00:19 bull shiit😂

[@blakedmc1989DrumsHD]

i beg to differ because Remo is tha company i had tha most issues with along with anybody else who ain't named Evans Drumheads

[@nuynobi]

Evans heads sound too plastic. With the exception of their kick heads, I have always been disappointed with Evans. I prefer Remo because they make my drums sound like drums.

[@blakedmc1989DrumsHD]

i beg to differ, i had way more issues with Remo than i did with Evans even dating back to tha early 2000's so i just said i'ma go full Evans my best decision ever also i have Raynaud's on my hands and everytime i play on Remo anything for an extended time, it always aggravates my Raynauds so no thanks i'll stick with Evans because of those disabilities