Best Drum Heads For Recording Small Kit?

[emptyman]

I want to replace the sub-par heads (kick, toms and snare) on my Pearl Rhythm Travelor kit to increase attack and punchiness. It's a cheap kit, but it sounds quite good in my 25' by 18' wood floor room, much better than larger & better kits. I will be using a modded MK-319 as FOK, D112 inside kick, 57 on snare, and two Fathead 2's in Glyn Johns mic setup.

Recommendations?

[travisbrown]

I have a tiny little Manu Katche Jr. kit (12,10,14,16). I have Evans Genera G1s and EC2s on them and am finally happy. I like more resonant drums and tend to tune the tops and bottoms close to unison. Took me a while to finding heads that worked well. Double plys or hydraulics - meh - drums are too small for those. Less ring.

[travisbrown]

Oops, Sorry. Evans Genera G1s. The EC2 is on the kick.

[emptyman]

I'll check those out - thanks. I don't have a front head on the kick or resonant heads on the toms though...

[RobDrmz]

What kind of sound are you looking for?

Currently my studio kit is a Premier birch kit with: TOMS - REMO:coated emp's top & clear amb/bottom. SNARE EVANS:Pwr Center reverse dot top & REMO snare bottom and last but not least, the amazing AQUARIAN SUPERKICK III on the Bass Drum.

Hope this helps.

[The Chemist]

Toms: Coated Emperors on batter, clear Emperors on reso,
Snare: CyberMax on Snare batter, Aquarian Side on snare
Bass: PS3 on batter, ported Reso on reso.

Works for me.

[Protools Guy]

here's what i've been using:

remo emperor coated batter for toms (coated ambassadors sound great, but wear out quickly)
snare top: remo coated emperor x ,
bottom sn & toms - clear amb
kick - remo power stroke 3 w/white flam pad for beater ball,
outer kick head - ambassador

[AllAboutTone]

I have always used Sonar drums and remo oil filled is a must for my toms, i used 10,12,14 and a 20 inch kick < Emad.
On my snare drum i use Hi Energy heads.....

[Grumblefoot]

Coated G2's mmmmmm....... (and clear G1's if you had bottom heads) EMAD clear on the kick but with no reso heads you might look at the G2 clear.

[deve]

nothing beats coated ambassadors

[HeavyG]

I think your drums will tell you what they like...for the studio, I would suggest a coated head like an Emperor, Ambassador or an Evans G1 / G2. The same for the snare. For the bass drum, the Remo PowerStroke or the Evans EQ1. I would use a clear resonant head. Tuning is the often forgotten part of this...understand the relationship of the batter and resonant heads. Do you want an open, resonant tone? A snappier, highly focused tone? Bonham? Watts? Copeland? Do your drums lend themselves to these sounds? IE...are you asking a jazz kit to sound like Bonzo's?

On my GMS Maple Kit, I use Evans G1s and the EQ1 on my bass drum. They absolutely rock...and for some reason, my Keller's like Evans better than Remo (to my ears, anyways).

Cheers and good luck,
Heavy G

[mltamisin]

I have that kit. There's only top heads. I've only tried Clear Emperors on it. I think Coated Emperors would work better on it though. Try remo coated Emperors and a Aquarian Superkick 2.