Bass drum muffling

[TAFL]

i do feel comfortable tuning bass heads and i definitely prefer heads like the remo ambassador where you can just muffle it to your own liking and tune it how you like.

I'm with you. I prefer to tune the drums to my ear and then muffle them to what sound I want.

The drums we have came with foam applied and were dampened more than I wanted, so I'll be pulling the foam off and working from blank heads. I am interested in learning about all of the available options these days for dampening, just in case I want to try something new.

[Perc_Instructor]

to offer my own opinion on the whole powermax/pre muffled heads thing I must say that I'm not a huge fan! Well I should clarify. Pre-muffled heads like the powermax are AWESOME for people who aren't comfortable with drum tuning etc. (like trumpet-player band directors etc.) however, personally, i do feel comfortable tuning bass heads and i definitely prefer heads like the remo ambassador where you can just muffle it to your own liking and tune it how you like. To me it seems like the powermax heads/other pre muffled heads seem to have a certain pitch/tension level where they resonate/sound best. But I like tuning intervals and often when I tune powermax heads to the intervals i like, they don't resonate that well. So with heads like the ambassador I can control how well the head resonates at certain pitches by adjusting the foaming etc. and then tune to my preferred intervals also. Sorry, this is super picky/detailed stuff and really doesn't pertain to this thread but I'm kinda curious if anyone else feels like this at all.

I enjoy drums tuned to specific pitch intervals, but you're going to go through far more heads and money than most schools have to keep this up through a school year when you consistently have to re-tune the drums for changing weather and wear and tear of performance/practice. With the powermax heads I don't have to mess around with adding muffling and I can always cut away the foam that is pre-installed in the head to get more resonance if a certain pitch is choking off. In my own time I've found far too many people tune the drums and only stand a foot away when doing so. Take a walk 30-40 yards away and have a student play the drum so you can hear just how big of an effect each 1/4 turn of a lug is having. After all, the audience is usually that far away from the drums or more along with the judges. Everyone has a different sound that appeals to their ear in the end and drum tuning is really about personal preference.

[08ThunderBass5]

I enjoy drums tuned to specific pitch intervals, but you're going to go through far more heads and money than most schools have to keep this up through a school year when you consistently have to re-tune the drums for changing weather and wear and tear of performance/practice. With the powermax heads I don't have to mess around with adding muffling and I can always cut away the foam that is pre-installed in the head to get more resonance if a certain pitch is choking off. In my own time I've found far too many people tune the drums and only stand a foot away when doing so. Take a walk 30-40 yards away and have a student play the drum so you can hear just how big of an effect each 1/4 turn of a lug is having. After all, the audience is usually that far away from the drums or more along with the judges. Everyone has a different sound that appeals to their ear in the end and drum tuning is really about personal preference.

These are all really good points. and you are definitely right about the value of powermax heads.

[highpitch_83]

I've had a set of Powermaxes on my basses since year one that have held up great. Perhaps it's your tuning method/selection?

After the first few 'sploded I was concerned that I was the one destroying them but once we switched back to Ambassadors/Emperors no such problems. It wouldn't be the first time that we ended up with a batch of deficient heads from REMO, sometimes you get stuck with a pile of lemons but for the most part they make awesome heads.