On my 18" for years I usually would end up with an 8" strip of gaff tape off centre on the reso head. A couple of years ago (having read an article on the subject) I switched to a thicker 2 ply head for the reso.
Tends to give it just the control that I needed...no more tape..
Cheers
John
I ride the floor tom in about half of our songs, granted it's not quite the extent of the Krupa Sing, Sing, Sing! reference you made but the drum definitely gets some love. Pretty common thing in the garage/rock scene... the jazzers may have neglected it but they're a staple out there where the amps go to 11!
Still aching to get a 18" to add to the Slingerland so there's another layer of low end between the 16 and 26.
Death to floor toms! Hail really large cowbells!
Oh, btw, it's also always the drum I have the biggest problem to get to sound how I want it to. I usually use quite a ridiculous amount of external muffling...
Oh no! Let her ring free. Let her go BOOOOM.(cue theme to Born free)
Seriously I don't know the sound in your head. Or what size and make/era drum your referring, or even if its all floors you've played. I find a little square of moon gel is all I need if any. Actually I usually have them wide open. Maybe try thicker heads.
I do however get a little trouble tuning to jazz tension and making it sound right. But that's not a resonance issue, just not making them sound wheezy and choked. Maybe some jazz guys might say "but thats it!". Who knows.
Otherwise just above wrinkle is a good start. Then once you get used to that you'll be off.
I have 2 floor toms on my Ludwig Kits. 16 X 16 & 18 X 16. Huge sound on both of them.
Floor tom has always been my favorite part of the kit, it's got sort of a tribal feel to it. I really like when the song enables me to just ride on the floor tom as I would on a cymbal.
+1 to the max!
Not only is it great for raw power, but bring it down with the guitarist in the middle of a solo and build it up again. Cathartic!
Even better with mallets.
All of mine are wide open. Unmic'ed, the overtones just disappear.
Al
I've always loved my floor toms. Especially my 16" 1984 Tama Imperialstar. I have a diplomat bottom and remo ebony pinstripe on top. All I have to say is this past Saturday as the guy was mic checking my drums all he said after each drum was " That's gonna be loud " then he got to the floor tom " WOW that's gonna be loud! " the room stopped and turned when it was time for the kit check,lol. I like my bass drum to have boom, but my floor tom is where I wanna conjure the THUNDER!
Cowbells are just so passé. More Jam block! lol
When you tune it up, it's crucial to tune the heads differently. reso higher, mostly). The square size somehow chokes the sound with two heads at the same (tighter) tension. The square size is flawed that way, but the rumble isn't the same with a 16x12 or similar size.
Jazz players have always made good use of the floor tom as a fill/solo voice, often it just sounds higher so you might not recognize it. Take Tony Williams on something like "Maiden Voyage". He also played rimshots on the floor toms fairly regularly. Later on, he used 14, 16, and 18 floor toms, in one kit.
Elvin Jones, Jeff Watts, Bill Stewart etc. all wouldn't sound the same without their (often multiple) floor toms.
Btw, deeper depth per diameter doesn't increase sustain duration, to the contrary. There is more volume to the fundamental tone, but the pay-off is shorter duration. You can't have more of both, as the energy from the impact is divided between both.
Yep, something primal about the sound of floor toms! For my second floor, I use a 16x24 cocktail drum. The old girl booms out like a cannon!
Brian
