Ep. 26 Converted Concert Toms
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- Опубліковано 3 вер 2018
- Support Sounds Like a Drum on Patreon: / soundslikeadrum
As a follow up to Ep. 25 in which we demonstrated different tuning approaches for a bass drum with the reso head removed, we decided to take the resonant heads off of a set of toms so you can hear the effect it has on smaller drums. We experiment with tuning ultra low and ultra high with only the batter heads intact.
Stick around until the end for a demonstration of the ultra low tuning with some added compression & EQ for a bit more of a big, punchy, focused sound.
Hosted by: Cody Rahn
Production: Ben O'Brien Smith @ Cadence Independent Media
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as i have said before, and will probably say again, to me, this is the best drum information channel available on the internet. keep up the good work.
Thanks so much for your continued support! We really appreciate it. -Ben
Sounds nice, you can actually feel it coming in the air...tonight.
lmaoo 😭
And I’ve been waiting for this moment, for all my life.. oh no.
She can feel it coming in her hair...LAST night, too. Sorry. I'm a pig.
As an old fart that played pro in the 70's and 80's, single headed toms were the way to go! As a general rule we were looking to project over the Marshall's and SVT's because the drums weren't mic'd. Only occasionally in larger outdoor venues. Then, with the right sound guy and the right effects, that SM57 shoved up in an open tom could sound awesome! I've got cassette recordings that are 45 years old that still have viable drum sounds. Makes me wanna take the heads off my studio session classics! ; )
I know this is an old post but I was wondering what kind of heads you were using on your single headed drums? I have a 79/80' slingerland kit that the bottom bearing edges are badly damaged form throwing them around with no heads on (previous owner). Right now I dont have the money to have them repaired, and I cant get them to sound good, so Im going single head on them. Not real happy with the coated pinstipe on the 16", very plasticky.
@@bryangulledge back in the day, the Remo clear w/ black dot CS heads were my first choice. It's important to consider whether you're looking to improve the sound you hear behind the kit or what the audience/others hear in front of the kit and whether or not you're putting mic's on/in them.
@@zacdrake Thanks for the reply! I like the idea of the control dot heads. Im not playing live, just trying to get a good sound for at home practicing by myself or with a few friends.
Taylor Hawkins of the
Foo Fighters is currently using concert toms. I'm not a huge Taylor fan I just noticed it as of late. Hands down, best drum channel available. No ego or endorsement junk. Just great valid information and great advice. 👌
Yep! He's been using concert toms on that setup for quite some time now. Certainly proof that they're not just for the 70's. Thanks for the kind words! -Ben
Damn I’m seeing this days after his passing, rest in peace Taylor Hawkins
Love the timbale effect, surprisingly sounds great
IRON MAIDEN POWERSLAVE TOUR-- ALL SONOR CONCERT POWER TOMS 6" - 16" !!!
CAN BE SEEN & HEARD ON "LIVE AFTER DEATH" VIDEO FROM THE LONG BEACH ARENA.
Nicko Mcbrain (the drummer) actually recorded Piece of mind, Powerslave and Somewhere in time with concert toms... Maybe also Seventh son.
I love the sly Phil Collins reference.
It seemed fitting, right? -Ben
Jajajajjaaj the last one even has a slighty smile, I really laughed at it
Keep the good job guys!!
While everyone remembers the gate on Phil's eponymous drum fill, most people don't realize that he used concert toms on all of his toms on his kit as well. Gate a concert tome and you get that PC sound of 80s pop.
, yes Phil Collins is my favorite drummer I'm not saying he's the best but it just does the right thing musically
I think for many of us, our first experience with drums was toms with no bottom heads on shitty kits. I always did like the directness and simplicity of it, even if it sounded terrible.
Keith Moon was one of the first to do it live consistantly in the late 60's, and then with his huge drum kit in the 70's (the biggest at the time).
I've been doing this for years......i love the attack of no bottom head.......the combination of no reso head and ebony pinstripes
I love using concert toms as my mounted toms. As you demonstrated, they just give a real powerful and clear attack that I can't get enough of. I too came to the conclusion that the depth of the floor toms aren't really conducive to this setup. I prefer a fuller, more boomy floor tom sound, so I run a hybrid setup to get a good balance of attack from my mount toms and full tone from the floor toms. I use Remo Controlled Sounds to give the whole kit a real old school sound which sounds just killer for my classic rock cover gigs.
Found this out by accident, I needed a way to consolidate my kit. I took the reso heads off and fell in love with the sound and the ease of set up and tear down. All drums fit in my bass drum. 👍
You said that you liked it more than you thought you would.... me too Brother, it sounds wonderful to me! Thanks for another super learning experience video, never a waste of time, always learning something! Your smile at the end says it all.... pure joy and happiness!
this channel is so awesome! for some reason I never thought to do this and I am totally in love with this sound
As a beginner, I used the old Sonor kit with concert toms of my jazz-drumming grandfather. I always wanted to have a new kit, but now I see that concert toms sound great! Thank you for the video
That Phil Collins break had to be really satisfying to play. You have a GREAT channel, thanks for doing what you do.
Super interesting experiment and very well executed. I gotta say this: pretty much every time there's been a drum-related question puzzling me, there's also been a comprehensive answer to it on this channel. Thanks and grab yourself a cold one! :)
Yes! The amount of playing in this video is perfect! (Although I wouldn't mind even more of those short improv solos)
Agreed with so many and as a subsriber , Cody is really good . He deivers excellent techical and "mechanical" information and great practical delivery.
Firstly: I love this channel, and your approach to drum sound; I wish your channel the best of success.
Secondly: I had a period of time where my only rack tom was a 10" RotoTom; it was that and a regular, 2-headed floor tom for a few years. I distinctly remember playing one show at SxSW where the sound engineer -- after I instructed him to mic the tom from beneath, as close to the head as the spokes allowed -- commented that the tom was "one of the best" he had mic'd in a long time. The only reason I stopped using this configuration was because I like to change my set-up between bands and/or albums, so I went back to a more traditional tom. (I also had a problem with some sound engineers only being able to clamp a mic to the rim, which doesn't work for a RotoTom.)
I have always liked concert toms, and let's be honest with ourselves here: for as much as drummers like to talk about resonance, tone, tone woods, etc. the fact is that during the gigs 90% of drummers will play -- in bars, small clubs, and maybe theaters -- nobody in the audience cares about any of that stuff; they want to hear the drummer hit the drum, and most are not listening for (or critiquing) tone woods and/or resonance. Attack and volume are what laypeople (non-musicians) hear when it comes to drums. During my 25+ years of drumming professionally: nobody has ever approached me after a show to say anything like "I don't think 1-ply coated heads and birch were the right choices for this venue"; even drummers want to talk about other things, like cymbals, the brand of the kit, or the sizes/configuration of the drums.
Live sound engineers (especially in small venues) seem to love concert toms because of the lack of resonance; there's less to EQ, and less overtones to fight with the other instruments, room, etc. I love concert toms at a live show because -- due to the lack of overtones -- they can be loud in the house and monitors, which is a thing that live sound engineers will fight back on if drums are too resonant.
Resonance and tone are great for studio recording, super-professional/high-budget shows, and lower-volume, acoustic performances like jazz, but for the majority of working rock etc. drummers: concert toms make a lot of sense; you get built-in mic isolation on stage, increased attack, increased volume, and fewer heads to buy, replace, and tune.
I think the awesome "produced" tom sound at the end of this video is an argument in-favor of concert toms, and it was probably a really easy sound to achieve.
Wow! Ditto on the love for this channel. For [reasons], I ended up with a pair of concert toms as part of my main kit. I really didn't know how to compare what I thought of them to regular double-sided drums - but this video (and this comment) really help. I mainly play power pop in crappy venues ;-) and my toms are all attack, quick decay, and volume. Usually I'm competing (un-amplified) with two guitar players and a bassist, all mic'd and loud- and the volume and projection of the concert toms really help me match levels. In the rare venues where I actually get mic'd, it's super-easy for the sound man to get a good sound from them. Now I understand what I'm missing with the lack of a resonant head; and I'm glad that my accidental set-up is kind of appropriate for what I'm generally doing.
Love this channel and the (generally positive) community! Thanks.
Timesmythe, as 69yo Beginner / low intermediate drummer, who only plays for retirement enjoyment in my basement to My Music, your comments were read with lots of interest. In general, i would think that players of any instrument, would be the person most attuned (excuse the pun) to the sound of their instrument. Similar to driving a high quality sports car, the average person doesn't care about too much of how that speed is produced, but generally enjoys the ride. I am one of those people that reads specs, manuals, to learn why that car can go fast. The same with anything for me . Appliances, etc. I have returned to the pleasure of playing drums ( if you can call it that ) after a 51 year hiatus. I won't be playing gigs, unless i improve to the extent to join a Geratric Band that could play before a Nursing Home post Woodstock era crowd, but i do try to improve to the extent that i would able to play to many tunes without missing beats!!! My club includes, Beatles ( Ringo who was so often ctriized as a so so drummer, fools you if you listen carefully), Stones, Hollies, CSN, Zombies, Animals, Petty CCR, Meloncamp, Eagles, Cowboy Junkies, even Linda Ronstandt [ she and her studio band are really good] and other basic rock bands and tunes. Be well , good luck, and hopefully we ALL get through this Pandemic ....... my opion on that is not for this forum ....
Really love hearing the version with eq and compression. Please do it more! :)
Thanks so much for this. Extremely helpful.
Concert toms are AMAZING!
Thanks Stephen love the comparison. Was watching Thomas Langs new kit with concert toms. Since I can't afford a new kit....esp DW lol I'm going to try your method. Love the channel content. Makes me think everytime I watch your videos
You guys/gals are doing things of outstanding value.. I love you ! Don't stop this at any cost. I'll make sure to meet you some day... I'll find you and I'll hang out with you(s).
Thanks so much for the kind words of support! We really appreciate it. -Ben
Thank you for this video. Just came across it now, and it's exactly what I needed; making the decision to convert two rack toms. I have ended up with a kit with duplicate 10s and 12s so will have a few choices of setup by setting up a pair of them as concert toms. I'll be removing the bottom hardware too to reduce the weight on the shell a bit more.
KISS has almost always used concert toms. It’s really neat, because it gives the drums a swing band/vintage jazz sound which is Peter Chris’s musical background. I always found that their music was a blend of so many different sounds and the concert toms just added to that.
Criss**
Thanks for the information👍👍🥁🥁
Your explanation is very informative.
I haven't heard of single concert tom's in years! great vid as always.DUDE,MILFORD GRAVES! your good,most guys have never heard of him,kudos to your devotion to the instrument
Thanks so much! -Ben
it´s been 2 years now since i removed the resonant heads of my late 70s pearl drums. i´m using clear G2s and i love the results. btw, i prefer way better the low tuning rather than the higher option. cheers, guys, loved the video and your channel!
Just bought my first drumset, and all of the toms' bottom lugs are really tight, so i opt out the bottom reso heads. And i really like the sound. Didn't realize this is actually a thing lol.
Thanks for the vid!
My toms are always set up this way. Mainly because I was born 20 years too late and I'm a massive Genesis fan.
No fan of Genesis was born too late.
love watching these videos.
I can’t believe this info is free. Thank you guys!
Thanks for the support! Anything you can do to spread the word to your drummer friends is greatly appreciated!
I have always loved the concert tom Phil Collins drum sound.
It’s a lot of fun! Especially with some gated reverb.
Billy Cobham used cool non reso drums on 1976 motreux jazz festival playing with George Duke,..sounded wicked good,..love the 1970´s drumsounds a bit dry ina studiosetup,...Ahhh so good...And the Phil C drums sound is sooo epic,..Thanks you made drumtuning and knowledge so easy to understand,..Love cheers 😄😆💚
Great video dude, groove on! 🎶🥁😎👍DC
Hearing Gino Vanelli's original version of Appaloosa made me fall in love with concert tom sound once again.
I would mix different toms and use double headed floor toms with concert rack toms. Best from both worlds
Thanks man, learned a lot from this video.
Been building a massive tama cocktail jam and I definitely love the tone with a clear head compared to coated!
I realize this video and presentation is 4 years old (at this point), but I've been playing True concert toms for 45 years and have been playing 55 years total. I bought a Slingerland drumkit in 1978 with 6 concert toms and 2 floor toms. Initially they came with coated heads, but over time and trying various heads, I came to find that remo pinstripes worked well with those drums, and particularly on the floor toms as I tune them low, but I get a nice bottom end out of the 16x16 and the 16x18. The upper toms range from a 10 inch all the way up to a 16 inch head. Some people aren't crazy about concert toms, but I love them. They're easier to tune, they weigh less than a double headed tom would, and they record very well even without close miking. Hal Blaine as well as Phil Collins and others have played and used concert toms for years with great results, and that was without the suspension systems they now use for rack toms. In my view and from my experience, the suspension systems are much ado about nothing. Some will argue they allow the shell to sing/vibrate without being stifled, but considering all the drums that have been recorded in history up until the suspension systems were introduced, I'd say they turned out just as well as anything suspended today. Frankly, it's added weight and a sales pitch to buy into the whole suspended tom thing. Again, that's my opinion from someone who's been playing for 55 years and have seen fads come and go when it comes to all things drums. Oh, and I do have a very nice set of Pearl Studio Masters drums that are incredibly well made, double headed, and use a different suspension system than other companies sell. They sound great and record very well too, but being birch shells they have an entirely different sound to them versus the Slingerland shells. Anyway, this was a very informative video with some great info, and as always, kudos! Keep up the great work.
Artimus Pyle played Slingerlands like that back in the day.
That was awesome fax of Pill Collins tom sound
Hi. First of all, very good channel. Very informative, very good vibes, very good everything. Thanks for that.
Now, the other day (after watching a video of Dave Grohl playing in a concert) while cleaning the drums, I decided to get the resonant patch to the drum. It's like you say. It sounds much louder and more fundamental. I liked it so much that I left it like that.
Maybe I'll do the same with the toms.
Thank you very much for the video and I hope you continue like this.
Bye.
PS: I don´t speak english too much. Sorry for the mistakes.
Judas Priest, Sepultura, Kreator, Jethro Tull, Nocturnus, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Exodus, Necrodeath... All of these bands can be seen with concert toms at one point in the 70's-80's.
Eloy casagrande still has a concert tom for metal
@@ashriot6742 yes, even tho it's used more like a timbales.
I was just looking for a video on concert toms from you guys, that I thought I'd seen- turns out I'm psychic! :D
Excellent! Gotta love that sort of timing. Thanks for watching! -Ben
What a great video!
Very useful. Clearly that is how Gus Dudgeon and Nigel Olsson got the drum sound on Captain Fantastic. That is unmistakably the tom sound on "Curtains".
In around 94' i bought my first drum set which was a CB700 for $90, I bought Remo Pinstripes for thw whole kit but i didn't know how to tune yet so i couldn't tune the toms right ao i decided to take the reso heads off and dang it totally improved my kits sound. It turned into this nice fat boomy little kit 👍
I refurbished some Tama drums. Stripped and recovered them.. new lugs, hoops. 14X11 tom (formerly a flying floor-tom) and placed it on a snare-stand. 2- 16X16 floor-toms.. and an 22X18 bass drum. Single heads on the tom and FT's. Remo Ambassador X coated (1-ply 12 mil) batter heads. Remo coated Emperor (2-ply) on the kick-side of the BD.. and a Remo Diplomat Fibyrskin on the front. No holes on the BD. No muffling. Kit sounds amazing. I used to play single-headed drums years ago.. taking the resonant heads off. Then, had several kits with two-heads. Now, I'm back to my favorite. Remo Ambassador X heads are great sounding/feeling heads for single-headed toms.
That ping pong analogy really helped picture what's going on between the 2 heads.
I really love concert tom!
Chico Hamilton used a Grestch concert toms and single head bass drum (both tuned high). It had a very interesting sound, even the floor tom. Very good channel
I have a 14x10 concert rack tom that is all about quick attack/quick decay. For live, I feel it’s perfect. Because any sustain will quickly be drowned out by guitars & vocals.
My floor tom is a 16x16 and when I pull the bottom head off, I keep the tuning low to get that Black Sabbath “tubby” sound. Anything higher, then it’s more “boingy” and that doesn’t work well with most music.
Great video, Sir! Much knowledge here.😎
Tommy Aldridge used concert rack toms on one of his early sonor phonic kits when he played with pat travers. Huge sound! I currently own a 70's centennial phonic kit with 4 concert toms, a kick, and a floor tom. I put evans hydraulic heads on the toms.
my first drum set back in 1993 was a CB700 that I bought in high school for $90, I was new to drums and I couldn't tune the rack tom to my liking so I took off the rseo head and was able to get a good sound but man oh man did that tom sound huge without the reso head!
John Densmore of “The Doors” done this with his toms too as well with his bass drum so the sound he produced booms like hell 😂
This will flattened out a bass drum. There's no boom because the resonance is not being trapped in the drum shell
I love concert toms - great attack, and I never realized how tribal they actually sound - makes sense since I love doing rad polyrhythmic stuff, and the quick decay allows for wonderful clarity in those more busy sections. And yes, the single-head tuning is a lot more convenient.Maybe a matter of taste, but I can get away with a surprising amount of dynamics and tonal range. I recommend it, haven't gone back since tbh.
We finally see you play drums!!! Dude, I want to hear your playing so badly! :)
Aww thanks man! You can always check out my instagram @codyrahn :) - Cody
Brann Dailor of Mastodon usually records without bottom heads, and it sounds awesome.
I love concert Tom's after years listening to Peter criss of kiss. my favorite drummer of all time. I love the 70s which used it a lot across all genres. It sounds good when I play 80s glam metal, death metal or hip hop and other styles. I turned my to sound like timpini drums high pitched. 🌈🦄
This is also a great idea for drummers who play in really tight cages. The cage that my church’s drums sit in is a bass trap; especially with the floor tom. The Gretsch Renown kit is almost too resonant for its own good. So I threw hydraulics on but still got too much low end bleed. Took the bottom heads off and boom: way more controlled. All attack, and enough sub lows to reach the close mics.
I had a Premier kit from the 70s which I bought in 2013..with the bottom hoops and heads removed by the previous owner, for that 70s sound. .It sounded fine.
This year, however, I had the bottom hoops and heads added to the toms and the sound was brilliant...so much better.
I wish I had done that from the start....They actually sound more like my favourite Slingerlands .
I have two drum kits. One is a 4 pc. set of Ludwig Super Classics from the 1960s with 2 toms - 13 & 16 inch. The other is 5pc. Ludwigs from the 1980s with 5 concert toms 12,13, 15 & 16 inch. The bass drum came with no resonant head but after a while I added one with a port because I just like the sound. I have played the 80s kit quite a bit on club gigs, outdoors and church gigs. I definitely have to make a mental adjustment when switching from one kit to the other because of the difference in tone but I find the concert toms fit in musically and seem much easier to mike. I have used Remo Black Dots, Pinstripes and Ebony Pinstripes to tweek the sound with good effect. I like the 4 pc. kit with the resonant heads for some gigs and I call it my Jazz Kit but it is good for any purpose. Your channel is tops in content. Keep it going!
Thanks for this particular vid! I can't remember when my parents gave me my first set of drums but it was a Christmas gift and it was a good kit to start with. After I had been playing them for a few years I started looking around for a pro quality kit and "Santa" gave me a pair of Ludwig Melodic aka Concert toms. I remember thinking if Don Henley uses them, they must be good lol. I ended up with 6 Melodic toms but these days I would stick with a resonant head set up.
Thanks for watching! Sounds like that setup must have been pretty cool with the 6 melodic toms. Cheers! -Ben
Last floor Tom sound was nice.
Peter Criss used concert toms all of his drumming career with kiss (not sure about the late 90s and early 00s) and because he’s my absolute idol, I wanted to convert my normal toms to concert toms
yes!!! i was thinking of that big kit he had in the 70s and remembering he had no reso heads
I’m almost positive I’ve seen Joey Jordison use single head drums at some point or another. RIP
Sameee
Playing the rim on a concert tom sounds great too. I keep the reso head off of my 10" tom, and that's a part of the reason why.
Hi, I Remember in the early 70's I heard Harvey Mason on a few records using concert toms. If I'm not mistaken he said he would tune all the tension rods the same, tuning the head as even as possible. Then going to the one tuning rod furthest away and de-tuning it slightly or until he would achieve what he was after. In my opinion his concert tom sound was the best! ( Kenny Logins Celebrate me home album) and early Seals and Crofts)
damn that sound awesome
Great video
Would have loved to hear an AB comparison in the context of a regular rock/metal drum beat with the full kit.
Great this video brought back memories of 10 years ago I gigged a bit with a maple 12,13,16 and single coated ambassador headed with a poprock combo, it worked out fine when closemiked ,felt weird in rehearsals with no mikes.It was mainly because the tripleflange rims on the resos were not great quality and made worse by stock singleply resos. so they were pita to tune.Hmm, interesting!
I play drums for my church and also use the church as a practice space. There I have a Tama Rockstar kit setup with 12, 13 rack and 16 floor outfitted with Evans Frosted EC2 heads and no reso heads. All I use for microphones is a Sabian Sound Kit and the drums sound fantastic. They have a lot of attack yet still have the tone I'm looking for. I don't know if it's just that kit or what, nut I could not get the tone I wanted with using reso heads on the toms. I tried so many different tunings and none of them were content enough for me. This video really gave me a good reference on how they are maybe supposed to sound just with batter heads on them. Now, the kit I use for gigging with my band is a Pearl Vision with 12 rack and 14, 16 floor toms. I do use reso heads on them and they sound great. They have great attack and great tone. Again, I don't know if it's just the Tama Rockstar kit that has those problems that I encountered, but it definitely helped to take the reso heads off. Thanks for the great video and keep up the great work. You guys are awesome!
my setup is a C&C drums superflyer with 12" rack, 15" floor, and 18" bass, with an additional 18" Ludwig floor tom, all with only batter heads. It took a lot of experimentation, but I love using remo fiberskyns tuned a bit on the high side, the dryness of the heads really bring out the attack/articulation and are dark enough that they don't really sound like timbales. Love the videos, btw.
Way cool! I've played a few of those C&C Superflyer single-headed kits and really dug them for a specific sound. Glad to hear that you've found the perfect setup for your needs. Thanks for watching! -Ben
Have you guys tried the Rythm Travler by Pearl? The shallowness of the drum makes a huge differance! Very musical imho.
Fibreskyns are perfect for bop kits being the closest sound to calfskin heads used back in the day but with the advantage of not going out of tune due to temperature and humidity air changes. Thanks Remo!.
When I first started playing drums that was just the accepted way of doing it. John Densmore was using single-headed drums back in the 60s. Chico Hamilton the Jazz drummer was known for using single-headed drums, I believe back in the 50s.
pretty much everybody was doing it back in the eighties when I was 1st learning to play drums. Nicko mcbrain was using concert times through the 70s and 80s was Pat Travers Band and of course when he first started in Iron Maiden. Iron maiden's Clive Burr was going back and forth between concert toms and double-headed toms those guys along with a lot of other guys were very influential for me and a lot of other people Rick Allen from Def Leppard was using single headed, the list goes on and on and on so a lot of drummers like me when we were first starting out just started using single-headed drums automatically. It made it hard to learn how to get a good drum sound because those drummer had single-headed drums and they were recording in the studio with Studio Effects and so it was frustrating to try and get a sound that sounded like our favorite drummers when what we were hearing was being produced artificially.
All of this goes back to Hal Blaine with the Wrecking Crew in the 1960s and 70s
I just do it cause it gives a different sound and I love it.
Timbale sound was awesome
I think Billy Martin uses them for timbre and articulation. I love the compressed sound at the end - it sounds like they are distorted in a good way. Also the stick feel is amazing on single head drums.
I believe Billy has gone back to double-headed toms in the last couple years.
Sadly You did not even mention Hal Blaine, who appeared in countless top-100 and top-10 hits of the 60ies and 70ies. The majority of which he performed with his infamous concert tom kit with thin custom made shells. I really like the sound of concert tom sets, they definitely deserve a renaissance. Just removing reso heads from a standard modern drum kit does not cut it in my opinion.
Good response Wayne. I agree 100%. Cheers!
For my 4-tom setup I use Remo Emperor heads(8", 10", and 12" rack toms and 14" floor tom) with Aquarian studio rings on most of the time but take them off if I want a more resonant sound like timpano if playing with mallets or a pattering rainy sound if playing with nylon tipped sticks
The drummer who popularized concert-style toms was John Densmore of The Doors, though drummers like Jazz legend, Chico Hamilton, were doing it years prior. For me personally, I like concert-style toms. They have a great bark about them, especially in low tuning situations with double-ply coated heads. Other drummers who did this to their toms, mostly in the studio, were Hal Blaine of the L.A. session group The Wrecking Crew, Ringo Starr of The Beatles, and Levon Helm of The Band. That's kind of where the sound of concert-style toms started before blowing up in every recording studio in the 1970's and 80's.
I did an Elton John tribute and wanted the Nigel Olsen sound so I took the bottom heads of my drums. To me they were boingy with the top heads tuned as if the bottom heads were still on. I tuned them higher then put a bit of duck tape with a square or two of toilet paper on the bottom of the heads inside the drums and they actually sounded great and much deeper sounding then how high they were actually tuned! I love tone and resonance at the same time I do a lot of quick intricate rolls (not so much on an Elton John gig) and man were they precise obviously with a ton of attack which I love!
The best informations about drums sounds . Great job! Congratulations
What I’ve herd in the late 60’s drummers were looking for a bigger sound in rock music so the heads were removed. Then came north drum kits horn shaped tom’s but didn’t really catch on. So slingerland/ Ludwig had them in the 70’s if that’s what you’re looking for. Thanks 🥁
*plays the fill from that one Phil Collins song*
"These drums sound super Phil Collins to me"
Never would have guessed
Love concert toms. I have them. Also use CS Black Dots
Classic!
Me and my father was a drummer in the 60s 70s and the 80s he used concert times with cs heads by Remo the black...
Everything is a Fad! We called them BOTTOM HEADS (now,Reso Heads).
As far as I know, rock bands in the 60's and early 70's used concert toms for projection purposes to make up for poor P.A. technology. It eventually became kind of a trend( looking at you, North drums). Then...we got power toms. Smdh!
I used to set up like that in my Dio tribute time 1987👏👏🥁🥁🇨🇦🇨🇦
As someone who uses Concert Toms on my kit I would say that this is a good starting point in getting into concert Toms. Dedicated concert Toms rely more on the tone of the shell itself. You see a lot of very thin shells in this world and a lot of fiberglass shells. Copper/Brass shells are incredible imho. Always angle your floor tom because the reflection from the floor can be inconsistent. I use a thicker head pretty cranked and my personal love is wooden hoops. They add a kind of wild resonance that really transfers into the shells in a nice way.
Yes......thicker shells, and (useless) lugs, on the bottom of the shell, are not the best case scenario when judging the "concert tom" sound.
I just bought a concert tom set (1979 Slingerland). I’m cleaning them up, putting new heads on. I can’t wait to hear the difference. As you hinted at, my guess is that toms built to be concert toms will likely have a better sound than taking the bottom head off of a standard kit.
Nigel Olsen reference! SWEET
I have been playing the drums for 50,years and for the first 30 I never used the bottom heads at first I took them off from the 80’s to the 20’s I had concert Tom’s I’m getting to the point I think I’m going to take them off again that sound is coming back
Most drummers in the 70s when using concert toms used pinstripes or other thick heads. Phil Collins went the other direction and used clear diplomats. Apparently he said it made them louder.
I'm gonna try it for my next gig
Nice! Let us know how it goes. -Ben
John Densmore of The Doors used to do that to his toms. I think the main reason drummers used to do this was so they could stack drums inside of each other to save on space.
I have 8" 10" 12" 14" rack toms and 16" and an 18" floor tom all concert toms. It saves money too!
Nice! No reso hardware or just no reso heads? What's your go-to batter head for these drums?
@@SoundsLikeADrum I took the reso hardware off and the heads. I also cut the 8" 10" and 12 so they would be more shallow to enhance the high end. At the moment I am only using the 14" 16" and 18" with clear pinstripes tuned some where in tthe middle with Aquarian studio rings on the heads to get rid of some over tones. I want to use Aquarian's clasic clear (wich is comparable to an Evans G1 or Remo Ambassador) on my 8? And 10". Then I want to have Aquarian's classic clear with power dot on the 12" and a Studio X with a power dot on the 14". Lastly I want an Aquarian Performance 2 clear on the 16" and a Performance 2 with a power dot clear on the 18".
How about the edges? Aren´t they getting damaged?
@@Eurodrummer666 nope
John Densmore of the Doors liked using one headed toms in the 1968+ era of the band. He tuned them crazy low and used very low and beat up heads. Thats one way to make your top of the line Ludwig kit to sound like a cardboard box lol.
Ive experimented with taking the resonants off, the toms sounded kinda cool to the player, but the tone doesnt carry at all if you listen from a distance. Using close micks is deffinitely a "must" on these
Don't forget that taking the bottom head off may cause some buzzing as the tuning lugs internal parts mayvibrate without tension rods to hold them in place.
Love your channel! Any chance at some point you could do a comparison of snare reso head tuning... tight versus medium etc?
Thanks for the kind words! Ep. 2 goes into different snare tunings which require changes in snare side tension to balance for sound. We may consider making additional videos showcasing alternative methods in the future but the methods previously illustrated are the ones we choose to employ without fail on a regular basis. Cheers! - Ben
My mans smirk when he plays the Collins fills lol
i started being interested in these toms from listening to yussef dayes he is an upcoming drummer and I think that he uses them in creative ways