Re-using drum skins? (for sampling, not tracking)

[JeffTD]

I've got some friends with awesome kits that I've talked into letting me borrow for about a week at a time to play around with heads and sample the kits. Since a lot of them are going to have the same sizes (esp snare/kick), I'm hoping to save some cash by re-using heads, but I'm wondering if that's at all kosher. Is there something about stretching the head over the shell that makes it tonally unusable on other drums compared to a brand new head? The things are only going to be smacked 30-50 times for sampling purposes, so I'm hoping I can reuse them once or twice!

 

[RichMinerva]

Just make sure they're tuned back right between uses and that there's no horrible big deep dents in them that could potentially affect the sound

 

[JeffTD]

Not really sure that's applicable/an issue? They'll be put on the drum, stretched + tuned, sampled, and then removed, hopefully to be put on another drum to repeat the process.

 

[RichMinerva]

That's what I'm saying! As long as they're not too battered after the usage

 

[Lasse Lammert]

depends on what you want...I'm using a new set for every samples /well, not for every sample as in "every velocity", but for every ....well, you know)....but since I'm selling them I'd feel bad i if I compromised on the sound in any way....
for regular every day use you'll be fine as long as the skins aren't dented etc I guess

 

[JamesNorman]

Yeah and different drums have different bearing edges, so setting to different edges will not allow you to get the full sustain and tone of a drum skin.

Also different kits, because made differentley and have different wood etc will also affect the skin, say one toms pitch is quite high, all drums have a tuning were they will sound and ain't there best, and the next Tom you put that skin on is quite low pitched, the skin will be flabby and flappy.

However just my input, and how I noticed my drums to be.

 

[JeffTD]

Ah thanks for the input guys, I appeciate it! I think what I'll do is try out re-using heads and if I notice a huge detriment I'll bite the bullet and re-skin for each kit.

I won't be selling these samples unless they turn out retardedly awesome - it's more for my own personal collection and to better learn/practice with different kits/skins/mic setups.

 

[jeid]

Are these gonna be for selling, sharing or just for yourself Jeff?

My mate just got a DW kit and I'm thinking I need to make samples of it while the heads are still new!

 

[Straight Shooter]

I have swapped out heads many times on sessions. If you start with new heads and the kits have decent bearing edges using the same heads for each kit is fine. Put the head back under tension via the seating process each time you switch between drums. Because you are sampling the drums I would let the drum sit under re-seating tension for a few hours and then tune before sampling. If you find you need to tune higher, or there is buzzing, or the tone is flat, then you need to just bring the head back up (tension) and let it sit for several hours. Then a natural reforming will occur but you may never be able to be tuned as low as before because it becomes more difficult to get the film to reform a second time. Low-pitched tuning might not be attainable and will not give the desired pitch due to a distorted sound or buzz. This is an indicator that the head has begun to stretch and is no longer capable of remaining in constant contact with the shell. 2-ply heads seem to go bad sooner when re-used due to the upper ply stretching at a different rate than he bottom ply. The head may not be completely bad, but you may have to use a higher tuning. So if you are looking to gather some low tuning, low pitch samples do them first.
Have fun.

 

[JeffTD]

Are these gonna be for selling, sharing or just for yourself Jeff?

My mate just got a DW kit and I'm thinking I need to make samples of it while the heads are still new!

Depends on how good they end up.

While I do have a feeling this will largely just be a great learning experience for me, the first kits I'll be doing are a custom DW kit that was originally made for Muse's drummer and an upper-end Mapex kit, so we'll see!


Straight Shooter, thanks a ton for that run down; everything presented makes sense. I'll be using single-ply heads, Remo CS on snare, clear Emperors on toms, and Powerstroke III on kick. Will definitely start low and then work my way up!