Metal Toms - Muting or no?

[Ermz]

Hey guys,

Pretty straightforward question I've got. I'm wondering whether in general you preffer to track metal toms with muting rings (or toilet paper/masking tape etc.) or flying free?

I've had a lot of drawn-out resonance problems in the past with drums, whereas what I'm really after is that tight attack and low end package (ala Nightrage - Sweet Vengeance, Meshuggah - DEI etc.). I'm wondering whether perhaps muting rings will get me closer to that goal... or whether I should go closer to the source and attempt to get the drummers to tune with less pronounced resonance?

Thanks!

 

[xtranscendedx]

also try out some moon gel.

 

[Gnash]

I use a gate and a stereo comp on toms, and like 'ol boy says, try a muting ring on your floor tom. I just bought a set of triggers and a DM5, so I'm lookin to get "Trigger Happy" real soon too. :Smokin:

 

[daveotero]

Remo Clear Emperors and tune your toms lower.

Finger tighten the lugs then move up in 1/8th increments until your happy. fine tuning with a drum dial or equivalent will get you a nice solid sustain.

 

[Skaldir]

It's all about the tuning. Paper steals so much of the tuning, but sometimes I need it to, when the resonating is so strong. But then you can try to only mute the bottom skin. I've heard of moon gel, too, but never tried it.
The trick is that it's pretty heavy on little space, so it isn't muting that much

 

[Matt Crooks]

I find that I don't need to muffle the top heads much, except for the 16" and 18". I will ocassionally muffle the bottom heads very slightly. The big thing is to get them tuned so they have the sustain that you want. Also try putting a few cotton balls in the toms. When the tom is hit, they'll "jump" off of the bottom head, but when they land they'll muffle a little but of the sustain on the bottom head.

 

[unsilpauly]

moon gels rule. they work super good. well tuned toms and moon gels and you are good to go. moon gels dont kill the sound of the drum like the remo rings do. the gels just kind of tighten the sound up alittle. i have both around and both get some use. the gels are cheaper also which is nice.

 

[Matt Smith]

I tried those rings because we had way too many loud overtones, but yeah, it totally killed the tone of the drum. Tried cutting them in half--still too much. Quarters--still too much. So we ended up just using a little tape.

I'm in Georgia, after all. Duct tape is the answer to everything.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

I'm in Georgia, after all. Duct tape is the answer to everything.

LMAO!



It really depends on the drum & drummer. I usually let the top toms fly free & use Evans muting rings on the floor &2nd lowest tom. Moon Gels might be your solution as well. The key is to experiment!

-0z-

 

[006]

Oh fuck yes, +100 for moon gels bro. Saved many a tom from being tossed out the studio door by yours truly. Works great on snares too!

~e.a

 

[greyskull]

+1 for moon gel, kills all the nasty resonance without killing the tone of the drum

 

[John Haddad (Shiva Industries)]

I third the moon gels!!! Life savers!!! I find if a rack mounted tom has fresh heads and a drum dial tuned to the range of 68 to 75 on the tension watch your good to go without muting. you can always edit out the overage later on or replace with reverb. Oh the age of digital recording allow many cheats.....

 

[Tachy]

Hey guys what is the best way to tune the toms?

 

[Pman]

i tune my toms every so often
and then i will play on them
and they will just go out of tune like that!!
its so annoying
i use coated pinstripes and 7an sticks
i hoped to find a cheap drum dial but have had no luck so far
hmm i think i will dig out my old o-rings and try them

 

[Lopes]

Hey guys what is the best way to tune the toms?

With a Tension Watch to start with, then finish it with your ears.

 

[Tachy]

And what is a tension watch, it's a tunner for toms?

 

[Lopes]

And what is a tension watch, it's a tunner for toms?

http://www.tama.com/drums/tama_link.asp?page=http://www.tamadrum.co.jp/world/products/accessories/tension_watch/index.html

 

[Tachy]

Thanks Lopes!

 

[unsilpauly]

the drum dial works just as good as the tama tension watch. i own the drum dial and have used the tama alot as well. the drum dial is like 30 bucks cheaper at musicians friend. both work great. they get you in the ballpark quick and then you just fine-tune with your ears.

 

[Lopes]

the drum dial works just as good as the tama tension watch. i own the drum dial and have used the tama alot as well. the drum dial is like 30 bucks cheaper at musicians friend. both work great. they get you in the ballpark quick and then you just fine-tune with your ears.

Or you could also build one very cheap, I saw a "how to" on the internet somewhere.