Drum Heads with Evans (D’Addario UK)

Drums are often the most neglected instrument when it comes to maintenance and refreshing of the consumable element – the drumheads. It is really worthwhile to spend a little bit of time familiarising yourself with how a drum  is constructed and how sound is produced. A drum that   is tuned correctly and has the right combination of heads could be the deciding factor when auditioning for a drumming job. After all, a great sounding kit is much more inspiring to play than a mediocre set.

Drum Heads

70% of a drums sound comes from the heads fitted to  the shell. The combination of heads used on the batter and resonant side can have a huge bearing on the overall sound of a drum. Tuning is the next part of realising your drum sound. The shell has the least effect on how the drum sounds but is still an essential part. The player hitting the drum is also a huge contributing factor as to the overall sound of the drum, but that is down to you! 

Drum heads are constructed of 2 elements.  The  film  and the flesh hoop. It is worth becoming familiar with  the terminology used to describe sounds. This will make communicating with sound engineers, producers, drum techs and drum suppliers much easier. 

Overtones: Tones that are produced after the drum has been struck. Overtones can be seen as both good and bad depending on the sound required.

Brightness/Darkness: Can be used to describe the amount of cut a sound has. Brightness has more attack – Darkness less attack.

Attack: The initial sound produced when a drum is struck. Can be used to refer to the amount of cut a sound has.

Sustain: The length of the sound produced after the drum is initially struck.

Sensitivity: How the drum responds at lower volume. The term can also be used to describe how easily the snare wires activate at lower velocity.

Resonance: Relates to the head and drum shell working together at various frequencies to produce variations in sustain, sensitivity, tone and volume.

Wet/Dry:

Wet – Longer sustain, more overtones, more resonance.

Dry – Shorter sustain, less overtones, less resonance.

Single Ply Heads

A single-ply drumhead is constructed from 1 layer of Polyester film. While less durable than a two-ply head, they respond quickly at a wide range of dynamics and resonate freely. Heads are available in a variety of film weights (Measured in mil’s - One mil = one-thousandth of an inch.) 10mil is the benchmark film thickness, used on heads such as an Evans G1.

The thinner the head, the more open and high pitched the sound. A thinner head also has a shorter sustain. A thicker film gives the head more projection and a lower fundamental note with longer resonance.

Double Ply Heads

A two-ply drumhead is constructed from 2 layers of Polyester film. This makes them more durable than a single-ply head. In addition to greater durability, two-ply heads have a shorter sustain with fewer overtones, a more defined attack and deeper tone.

Two ply of 7mil making a head of 14mil is the benchmark film combination for a 2 ply head and is used on heads such as an Evans G2.

Different combinations of films create different sounds. The thicker the combination of film, the lower the fundamental note.

Clear & Coated Heads Explained

Clear Heads

Clear heads are the Industry standard for Tom batters, resonant heads and kick batter heads. A clear head is exactly as it suggests, utilising a clear or hazy polyurethane film for the playable surface. This film produces a clear tone with clarity and attack, increased volume over a coated head and improved resonance.

Coated Heads

A coated head starts life as a clear head and then undergoes a spray process which applies a textured coating to the playing surface. The coated finish adds warmth to the tone of the heads, softens attack and shortens sustain. Coated batter heads also offer a textured surface that is ideal for brush work. The application of a coated head is most often found on snare drums but can also be used on Toms and bass drums to offer an element of control to the resonance of the drum it is fitted to.

Snare Drum Specific Heads

Snare drums are generally tuned with higher tension than any other element of the drum kit. Often this can produce excessive resonance and sustain. The preferred snare batter head choice for most drummers are coated due    to the shorter resonance inherent with this type of head. Unwanted overtones or ‘ring’ (especially on metal shell drums) can be further controlled using snare batter specific heads with damping features built into the construction of the drum head e.g. dry vents and overtone rings.

As snare drums are generally tuned to a higher tension, using a clear head on a snare drum will create a very open resonant tone often resulting in undesirable  overtones. On the other hand the resonant tone might be the exact sound you are looking for!

Resonant Heads

Resonant heads on toms are often the most neglected head on drums. It is still important to ensure they are tuned correctly and replaced from time to time (We recommend changing resonant heads every 4th time batter heads are replaced. Although these heads are not struck, they vibrate every time the drum is hit, over time stretching the polyester film). They serve an important purpose in how your drums will sound. Depending on how the resonant head is tuned, it can affect pitch, duration of resonance and the volume of your drum. It’s all about balancing the batter side and resonant side to produce your desired sound.

The resonant head on a snare drum or snare side head is a much thinner film (3mil film) than would be found on a resonant tom head. The thinner the head the shorter the sustain. This is ideal to work with snare wires. As the head vibrates it activates the snare wire giving the snare drum its buzz and quickly dissipates creating the characteristic short dry sound.

Bass Drum Heads

Bass drum heads generally have more elaborate damping systems to further control overtones and sustain and to enhance attack. Our most popular Evans bass drum batter head is our EMAD (Externally Mounted Adjustable Damping) which allows players to tailor the degree of damping and attack without removing the head or reaching inside the drum. It utilises two interchangeable foam rings to maximise attack and low end dependent on the room and surrounds in which the drum is being played. Just like heads for other elements of the drum kit, bass drum batters are available in a number of film thicknesses, ply combinations and coatings to further adjust the sound to your personal preference.

Head Combinations

Choosing drum heads is very subjective. There  is  no  right or wrong. Selecting a drumhead all depends on the sound you want to achieve from a particular drum. The combination of batter and resonant heads plays a big part in creating your desired sound. There is no right or wrong combination for a particular genre but certain heads will sound more at home with particular musical styles.

Shell material should also be considered when selecting drum heads for snare drums. A metal shell drum is generally more resonant or ‘pingy’ than wood which may require a more controlled head with tone control or dry vents to suppress any unwanted overtones.

Below are a few head combination suggestions:

Drum Hoops

Different counter hoops will affect the drum sound and feel of the drum in different ways. You can further change and adjust your sound by changing counter hoops.

Die Cast Hoops: Reduce overtones and resonance, resulting in enhanced attack and a dryer more focused sound.

Flanged Hoops: Increase overtones and resonance, producing a more open and frequency rich tone.

Snare Wires

Wires are what give the snare drum its distinctive white noise or buzz. The wires vibrate across the surface of the resonant head when the batter head is struck.

Snare wires are typically manufactured using steel or brass coiled wire strands.

Brass models provide a brighter, resonant sound, whereas steel provides a darker, crisp response.

Snare wires are offered in a number of wire configurations which will affect the overall sound of the drum. More wires will create more snare sound in the overall sound   of the drum; fewer wires will allow the drum shell sound to be more prominent in the overall sound of the drum. Upgrading stock snare wires to a higher quality wire such as Puresound will improve the consistency and sensitivity of any snare drum.

One mistake that is often made with snare wires is over tightening them. If a wire is too tight against the resonant head the drum will sound choked and flat with no sensitivity. This isn’t good for the wires either as they will stretch.

Under tensioning the wire can also have undesired effects on the sound of your drum. The wire will become over active and will buzz too much.

The key here is balance. Not too loose, not too tight.

Ben Alldred

Percussion Specialist with Evans (D’Addario UK)