Snare Drum Head Shootout

[sethmeister]

Thanks for posting this!

I liked clip 3 (Ambassador coated) best.

[Croaker]

Im curious, what resonant head did you use and did you tune them all to the same tension with a drum dial or by ear?

good job and thanks

[Tom Orrow]

Nice shoutout man. Thanks. I personally love the Remo Control Sound though. Tight center but a very gradual transition to the edge unlike the reverse dot. Check it out.

[laughton]

This is awesome! Thanks for the shoot out. I really need to start paying closer attention to the finer details like this for drums.

[amishsixstringe]

I have always used coated ambassadors and have just recently begun to question trying something else. After this, i don't think I will. Thanks!

Neil

[Slap Back]

Originally Posted by Croaker

Im curious, what resonant head did you use and did you tune them all to the same tension with a drum dial or by ear?

good job and thanks

The resonant head was a remo ambassador snare side

I used an evans torque key + experience/common sense. Bottom head torqued to "10". All top heads torqued to "11".

It was really interesting to see how the different heads responded to the same torque settings.

I had serious doubts, but that evans torque key really helps me get things dialed in, especially on larger toms, which can be challenging for me when tuning only by ear/feel.

[Croaker]

Originally Posted by Slap Back

The resonant head was a remo ambassador snare side

I used an evans torque key + experience/common sense. Bottom head torqued to "10". All top heads torqued to "11".

It was really interesting to see how the different heads responded to the same torque settings.

I had serious doubts, but that evans torque key really helps me get things dialed in, especially on larger toms, which can be challenging for me when tuning only by ear/feel.

I agree, I use a drum dial to measure all the tensions when I get a good tune up or sound I like with a certain head and record the settings. It helps me get back to a certain sound or at least in the ballpark when I need it.

Im particular to the hazy 300 snare side.

thx again slap back

[bulls hit]

Nice job!

maybe I'm biased but I liked the Remo single plys

[Mike Caffrey]

The G2 is the closest to what I use.

I mainly use the Evans ST..

I have an endorsement deal with them and I tried to get them to design a custom head with a relocated dot. They sent me some of the EC2s , but I'm still happiest with the STs.

[Osse_87]

I just wonder how accurate this test is, how do you know you tuned the snare the same with each head? But also, I don't know how much a difference it makes. The snare seems to be rather well and same tuned on each track. but it's just a thought.

How reliable is this test when choosing heads? that's all I want to know

Great work anyway! thanks a lot for this.

[junior]

I picked the coated Ambassador and coated rev dot. Funny, because these are the heads I use on my own drums. The others sounded a tad "box-ier", to my ears.

I thought the clear pinstripe and Aquarian sounded cool for a thicker tone, though...

Thanks for posting these!

[Jason Poulin]

This is awesome!


Great post

[clearwave]

Thanks for the shootout, well done!

another vote for the coated Ambassador and Reverse dot coated..

the g2 clear was pretty good too.

btw. cool avatar slap back

[jamsmith]

I wish you had not posted the key - blind would have better. I guess I will have to come back later after I forget the positions. I am completely biased against the Ambassador coated it ridiculous. In the 10 years of my studio, I can only remember very few sessions that didn't use the studio's 1970's Ludwig Chrome concert snare with an Ambassador head on "Skin-Tight" (if you are too young, wiki Ohio Players). It took nothing to get the drummer to us it: "Here, hit your snare...now hit this..."

It is interesting to see the Ambassador doing so well here. Somethings remain standards. Now maybe you should to a shootout on Rides and Hi-Hats and see where Zildjian scores.

Torque keys can definitely work some magic. We always did the snare by ear and the tourque key for the toms.

[MaestroNYC]

Great thanks for doing this! Very insightful.
I've been using coated ambassadors on my Black Beauty for rock; also was starting to wonder about other heads. Tried a powerstroke 3 coated, but will prob go back as I miss the crack and ring of the coated ambass.

[Slap Back]

One thing this shootout revealed to me is what a huge effect modifying the sound source itself has on the track.

Would I be correct in assuming that the intrinsic sound quality of the instrument or voice being played is where the thickest line is drawn between great sounding recordings and crappy sounding ones?

[jamsmith]

Originally Posted by Slap Back

One thing this shootout revealed to me is what a huge effect modifying the sound source itself has on the track.

Would I be correct in assuming that the intrinsic sound quality of the instrument or voice being played is where the thickest line is drawn between great sounding recordings and crappy sounding ones?

Certainly been something I have been hammering on around here. I believe the most important function I performed as an engineer was one generally not associated with the job. Teching the instruments. I would always do what I could to get the best possible sound out of the instruments before I even pulled out the first mic. Even when I when doing mic checks, I would always try to be sure the source was not the problem. Of course not having a large bankroll to spend on expensive equipment, I really had no choice but to use what I had.