Skins (or Heads)
A good skin, tuned well, will make a bad drum sound better than it should. A bad skin, or not tuned very well, will make a good drum sound worse that it should.
ie. have good skins, especially if you have a good kit and especially if you don't have a good kit.
There are way more skins on the market than I've bothered trying. I basically just use Remo Ambassadors on everything. That doesn't mean everyone should, in fact I wouldn't even recommend it for the average student (try something else on the bass drum at least)What on earth are the thicknesses about, and hydraulics?
Good question. I'm no expert, but my understanding is that you have normal heads which are 1, 2 or 3 ply then you have hydraulic heads which are two bits of plastic with oil between them The first come in Remo's Diplomat, Ambassador and Emperor heads (1, 2, and 3 ply respectively) the and Evans' equivalent. The second (hydraulic) heads come in Remo's Pinstripes and various others that I haven't used and I don't know much about.
Snare
I basically wouldn't bother with anything other than a Remo Coated Ambassador on top, and an Ambassador Snare Side on the bottom. The snare side head is thinner, make sure you get the thin one! Only get coated heads for the snare. There are good equivalent skins from Evans and probably other companies.There are other options for rock drummers that hit really hard, for example, but I don't think the average student needs to worry too much about all the other options.
Bass Drum
I use Remo Ambassador or Emperor, which is fine for me. If you're not just doing jazz gigs, and you want a bit more of a punchy bass drum, get a hydraulic head. Usually the heads that come on a new kit are fine for a while.
Toms
I use Remo Ambassadors, clear on bottom and coated on top. There are equivalents for other brands. If you play more funk/rock/country/louder music than I do, you might want to check out Pinstripes or some other hydraulic head on top, but still Ambassadors (or similar) on bottom.
How often do I change the heads?
That depends on how much you use them, and I don't have an exact answer, but I would change them in this order of frequency (highest to lowest)
1. Snare (top) - at least once a year, more if you play a lot
2. Toms (top)
3. Bass drum (the one you hit), Toms (bottom), Snare (bottom)
4. Bass drum (front) - hardly ever
Some people switch the top and bottom heads on toms when the top wears out. This isn't a great idea, because you end up with worn out heads on top and bottom. Just change the tops normally, and change the bottom heads every 2nd or 3rd time you change the tops.
Holes in the bass drum
There are a couple of uses for a hole in the bass drum: 1) you can put a microphone inside without the engineer having to worry too much about spill, it makes their life easier; 2) it's easier to stuff a pillow inside or adjust your muffling, and 3) um...actually there's no other good reasons. There are a couple of good reasons not to put a hole in the bass drum: 1) it's more resonant, and 2) you don't have a hole in the bass drum.
For a student it makes virtually no difference, so don't worry about it.
Mufflers
Drum shops have been known to sell muffler rings or offer them as some kind of bonus. Muffler rings are just bits of plastic which go around the head (on snare and/or toms) and cut out some of the overtones, ie. taking some of the ring out of it. This can be good if a) you're having trouble tuning them and want to take the ring out, b) you're recording and the engineer is too lazy to deal with the sound, or c) you like the sound of the drums with some muffling. It can sound good.
You can either buy muffler rings, or cut a piece out of any old drum skin (to go on a 14" head, use an old 14" head) which is about 1 inch wide around the perimeter.
Bass drum muffling
It's pretty common to have muffling in your bass drum, unless you like a really open sounding bass drum (usually jazz drummers or similar). There are a few options: 1) a pillow stuffed inside your bass drum, 2) some sheets, towels or similar stuffed inside your bass drum, 3) something against the skin you hit, on the outside of the drum (that's all I use - an old scarf from some football team), or 4) some fancy product from the drum store which is built for the purpose.
Brands: Remo, Evans. When I checked the Wikipedia page for drum heads there were 21 brands listed, most of which I've never heard of. I'm sure others are good, but why not just use Remo or Evans?
Practise Pads
Like everything else, there are loads of brands and different designs and sizes of practise pads. You can get full practise pad sets for your kit, practise pads for cymbals, bass, a practise pad kit, and so on.
My view is that you need to buy a good practise pad (ie. a "snare" practise pad), that's about it. If I want to muffle the sound of my drums to give the neighbours a break I can always put some towels on the drums.
Yes, TOWELS
Hand towels or tea towels are about the right size to put over snare, toms, and cymbals. Clip them on with clothesline pegs. Even use it in between the hi hats. A regular towel is good for the bass drum. There are various pads that you can pay for but ultimately, a) you can't stop all of the sound, b) it doesn't feel quite the same as playing on the acoustic instrument no matter what pads you use, and c) your money is better spent on one good practise pad, or a whole lot of other things.
Get a Quiet Tone pad
This is one excellent practise pad on the market that I've been using for almost 10 years (same one), and it's one of the few specific products I recommend. There's a 14" version and I think a 10" version, but I just have a 14". You can sit it on a drum but I just sit it straight on the snare stand. It costs a lot more than your average practise pad.
You don't have to get a Quiet Tone pad
They're good, but not every student needs to run out and get one. At least have a rubber pad of some description that you can practise your paradiddles (etc) on.
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