Lots of good suggestions, guys. I'll try some of these methods out and let my ears figure out what they like best!

Ludwig 3 ply 22x14

Coated Ambassador batter with Falam patch tuned low-medium, with rolled up tea-towel duct taped to the bottom of the drum in 3 places, touching against the head.

Smooth White Ambassador tuned medium-tight, no muffling.

*THUMP*

Slingerland 20" 3 ply, mahogany,poplar,mahogany

Sk11 with original Slingerland reso head, no port, very thin with felt strip. My old favorite use to be clear pinstripe batter with a dead ringer, no reso. Do they still make those dead ringers?

Holiday Inn pillow inside the drum, horizontally following the curve, nothing in the world is better. It muffles both sides gently. This is what I was told in the 60s and I still have the same pillow in my drums. (but I didn't steal it from a Holiday Inn, it was a leftover from our cottage in the woods.)

Just had to add this, with all the fluid heads, porting, thickness, Mfgs. and specifics.

Stuff a pillow in it! Keep on Pl

Before the days of miked drums BTW.

slingerland 20" - maple pop maple

emad 2, tuned to lowest fundamental and ec 3 a couple of steps up (ported)

it all depends on the sound you want, never say never.

"never port a reso bass drum head" unless you are using two mics and you want to get one mic close to the beater and get a fat attack

"never use muffled heads" unless you want to control the sound

unfortunately there are no short cuts, give yourself an hour and a good room and work it till you have your sound and be willing to try any approach.

check out the drum tuning bible - home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/index.html

that gives a great explanation on how and the physics behind it then you can make informed decisions. good luck!

ya, right, I'm callin' the cops... you know how many people try to pull that "cottage in the woods" crap? Old as the hills.

See ya on the 6 o'clock news buddy!

Violin

I am currently messing with different head combinations on my Pearls. So far, the EMAD batter and Evans Ebony reso with a very small pillow inside seems to work (fyberskin reso next). Very deep and punchy thud, good tones, fast decay. On my newer kits, I port the reso head. I have used Powerstrokes, EMAD, all sorts of batter heads. EMAD tends to ring my bell so far.

I tune all kicks close to the same way...batter side high, reso side low (same for all my drums really). I just barely get the slack out of the reso side...no more. For the toms, I find I tune the reso side a little higher than that, but I like the tone to dive. The kick end up EXTREMELY punchy with a very nice booming thud. I do use flam patches...not the heavy ones, just enough to give some extra meat to kick into. I have pulled the pillow for some shows, practiced a few weeks without it (forgot to put it back in and I was too lazy to put it back in), the difference is slight. More overtones and longer decay.

On my oversized kicks, I put in larger pillows. I am a big fan of a quick thud, no more. The 24" Pearl I had ended up with a Holliday Inn pillow. x-mas3 The 28" will get the same treatment. Since I mostly discuss things with local drummers...the biggest complaint I have heard against oversized kicks (sound schmucks and drummers alike) is they get a little out of hand. By that...the overtones, the ring, the volume...it's too much. I had my 28" kinda dialed in with questionable heads and a large pillow...very powerful thud...shook the floor. However, quick decay, no ring, minor overtones...loved it. That's why I should really start working on my Ludwigs...so I can use that!!!

I inadvertently posted this reply to the incorrect bass drum head thread last night. I'll repost it here where it belongs:

At the risk of offending some I think I would like to weigh in on the "port / no port" conversation. Before I do, I promise I am not starting an argument, however, it may be beneficial to some to hear a different point of view. My point of view is that of someone that has produced or been involved with various production aspects of every conceivable type of live event in all types of venues all over the world for the past 30+ years. In other words, I have been sitting out front for more sound checks and concerts than I can possibly count. I say this not to brag by any stretch but simply to pass on my thoughts of having seen hundreds of professional drummers from load-in to load-out.

I am of the belief that, if you fall into any the following categories:

- a gigging drummer that typically plays shows that require sound reinforcement including drum mics.

- you do not have a staff FOH and monitor engineer (in other words you are at the mercy of whomever the audio engineer is that day)

- you do not carry your own detailed mic package or cannot specify exactly what you want in your detailed and followed to the letter production rider.

- you have limited or no sound check time.

Then you should probably have a ported resonant head.

The reason is simply that it is far easier for a sound engineer of whatever caliber to produce a great or at least passable kick drum sound and do so quickly. If you prefer a non ported reso then by all means have one. It is great for practice and great in the studio so long as you have an engineer that understands how to deal with that. When you play out on large club dates, theater shows, arena and stadium concerts, then I highly recommend a ported head.

In a lot of situations audio engineers will place a PZM style mic inside the kick on the pillow (which is reason enough to have a small pillow) and then a large diaphragm mic in the port. They may also add an inverted speaker such as the Yamaha Sub Kick to accentuate the low end and "air". (If you are looking for a large diaphragm mic, it's tough to beat a 6" diameter diaphragm). We might even add a fourth mic on the batter head that is, of course, switched out of phase.

In reality, as has been stated in other threads on this subject, the sum total of a kick drum sound through a PA is quite dependent on the electronics after the fact. I just saw Jonathan Moffat the other night and his three kick drums were over 60% filled with giant pillows. His kick sound was great. I am not suggesting you should do that of course, but I am suggesting that, after sitting at the other end of the snake, I think you are far better off making it easy on everyone including yourself.

Not picking a fight at all, but I would offer that spending 20 minutes arguing with an unwitting sound man that has no stake in your gig other than an hourly wage may not be the best use of limited sound check time. Spending that time making the audio and monitor engineer your new best friend might be time better spent.

Also, the concept of mic'ing a full reso head kick drum from a certain distance does not take into account the type of mic, the type of processing available nor the output transducers. One particularly unfortunate side effect of mic'ing a solid reso is the tendency for the kick to become a parabolic reflector of sorts; gathering up much of the ambient stage volume around it and feeding that back into the mic. The science of audio is a very complicated thing and, for the lesser practitioner, generalizations can prove problematic.

In other words, I don't think "not having a port" is a hill one should climb up and die on. If you feel comfortable without a port and can get what you want from your PA and monitors, that is great. If you can do that without getting into confrontations with various audio engineers on a daily basis, so much the better. I will say that this will put you in the extraordinarily small minority of drummers that play utilizing mics.

On the other hand, if you have your own FOH engineer, monitor engineer, mic package and can get everyone on the same page to get what you want, then that is outstanding. As to the "feel" of the kick, that is going to completely change once you hear the monitor package anyway. A great example of this would be if you could play a set of Simmons generation or generation two pads without any amplification. It will feel like a table top or a mediocre practice pad. Turn them on and turn them up and you can "feel" the sticks give into the heads, even though they really are not doing anything different. Very psychological.

That is just my opinion, and no disrespect intended. By the way, my home kits have no ports because I like that as well. I just wouldn't tour that way.

Standing by to take cover from scathing arrows.

I've got your back. I think that was a very reasonable post.

I have a superb boomy, unported bass sound on my Blakrome kit that works great when I'm not mic'ed. It freaks some people out until they hear it within the context of the band.

But when I play outside or in larger rooms, I use a Vistalite kit that has a huge hole in the resonant head and an Evans pillow. It's easier for the engineer and I rely on him to augment the signal with the gear at his disposal.

I wouldn't worry too much. This thread discussion is about two And a half years old.