Best way to dampen drum heads

Hi, I'm a new drummer and I'm wondering the best way to dampen my drums. Some say tape........... others say cloth under the heads.....A rag laid on the head vastly improves the sound and dampens the ringing sound..These are 70's Ludwig concert toms and deep snare......Thanks for any help.....JG

I played with a guy once (I'm a guitarist) who swore by pantie liners. They're self adhesive, remove without ruining the head, and can be moved around under the head until you find just the right place for them. Use one or more depending on the degree of damping required.

Stranger things have worked for weirder needs ...

Good luck, Jeff

Hi! That's a frequently asked question. Go to this page on our website and you'll find answers: http://www.rmmpfaq.club24.co.uk/toctuning.htm

Basically, the better you become at tuning and playing your drums the more you realize why drums are sold without muffling devices.

George Lawrence

That is true. Well now they are anyway, in the 70's there were Ludwigs that came with dampening devices built into the drum, even on the toms. That's kind of ridiculous I think.

As a rule I don't like to dampen anything, with the exception of the bass drum maybe. If you dampen the snare or the toms, the drums really sound flat and don't have much life to them.

This will date me good and proper, but I¹ve got a batch of these external round felt dampers which clamp on to the rim; you use a wingnut to control how hard they press and the heads pivot so you can quickly dampen or not.

Bart Windrum, Director, SoftSmart LLC Developers of It¹sYourMove! (tm) - Ergonomic stretching for stress relief through Virtual and/or On-Site Workshops http://softsmart.com

moon gel works very well on smaller toms. dead ringers on others. or cut up old drum heads to make your own dead ringers. find an old head the size of your drum, cut a 1' circle out of the outer edge of the head...lay on drum.

That is the same method I use... The old drumhead way. Works great.

I just discovered that foam self-adhesive weather-stripping is an exellent way to dampen drum heads. You can cut them to any length and bend them in a circle if you want. They are a quick and effective on the spot solution and easily remove for re-adjustment or if you`re done with them. I`m using them to reduce vibrations for drum triggering. It works great! You can cut them any length and bend to shape to customize for the specific drum size. For example, I found that the smaller toms needed little or no foam, and the need increased with diameter. It looks much better than panty liners I`m sure!

toonxz:

It looks much better than panty liners I`m sure!

I'm sure too!!

Great tip btw, thank you very much for that

i would say all of the above the thing is, for every drum, head, and dampening technique there are those who like and dislike the result play around with different heads, dampenings, drums, and environments (inside, outside, studio,small room, big room, hot dry wet cold...... there is no single best way find what works for you have fun

""Yes"

Thank you on the good thought "

Please keep it coming

Hi,

With all due respect this post is 1 yr. old and I'm not sure whether to answer this with a reply or not! If you don't mind would you reply and let me know if you got the answers that you were looking for or not?

Thanks,

Tim

Fell like put it on here .Then do it {IF} not don't do it ...

Tim

I know lot's of posted on here ...Been on here for a good long long time ....I am going to ask the {CHOPPer} about something ...When he come's back on here ""

Thanks for your help!

Tim

Drums are made to ring. No pro as I know of muffles their drums except for the bass drum.I know this to be a fact because I'm a pro myself,at least I want to think so

Tim

I was going to try styrofoam peanuts like you get in boxes. A friend at church did this in his bass drum and it worked fine and kept the weight down.

the best way i have found it to put the cloth under the headds use like a old pillow case and it will give you the best deep sound for the drum