Why do drummers remove bottom heads?

To make it easier to tune – one head instead of two. Possibly to place a mic under the batter head to get more attack rather than resonant tone from the drum (i.e. the concert tom sound mentioned by Radio King).

Does the bottom drum head matter?

When it comes to really making a difference on your drums, the most important factor when choosing a resonant skin is the thickness. The thicker the bottom head, the more resonance you get. As a result, thicker heads give more overtones.

How do I stop my tom drums from ringing?

Tape drumheads near the edge to reduce overtones, but still allow for some focused sustain. This is the usually the best place to put tape on drumheads, especially on the batter head. You’ll keep some tone, but stop some of the drum ringing.

How often should you change bottom drum heads?

Drum heads can be replaced on an as-needed basis. Replacing all of the heads every time would be unnecessarily costly and wasteful. Some experts recommend switching out the bottom drum heads, the ones which aren’t struck, either every third time you replace the top heads or, alternatively, once a year.

How tight should the bottom drum head be?

The general rule for tuning the bottom head is to tune it up to a quarter higher than the top head. So if you tuned the top head to 3 turns of the drum key from slack then the bottom head would tensioned up to 4 turns of the drum key. .

How tight should a bottom snare head be?

Through experimentation and the advice of some other experienced drummers, I have come to the conclusion that the snare-side (bottom) head of a snare drum should be tensioned extremely tight. Don’t be bashful about this. Crank that puppy up very tight. For most styles, you want the snare-side head very tight.

Should resonant heads be tighter?

To a certain point, the tighter the reso head, the more resonance the drum will have. But after that certain point, the drum becomes choked and doesn’t sound too good. If you want to minimize sustain, detune your reso head until you find the sound you want.

What is drum overtone?

An overtone is simply the extra harmonics heard above and beyond the fundamental note. When you strike a drum, the fundamental note is produced with the attack (when the stick first hits the head). The overtones are the resulting harmonics heard after that.