Why do people put duct tape on the sides of drum heads?

[C.Thep]

Do you know? I would sure like to. Is it because it deadens the sound? If so, then why do people only have them on some toms?

[Rekuss]

Hey,

I'm no drummer, but drummer friend puts it on his kit to dampen the sound. As for the toms, I'm not sure. Perhaps they need the most dampening?


Reece

[shogun]

because they want to make their toms sound like ass

[Mr.WizardNeck]

Some people just want to deaden the the sound on some toms while leaving the others open to resonate. It all depends on what sound that person prefers to have.

[Tom Gilroy]

Originally Posted by shogun

because they want to make their toms sound like ass

Sometimes it makes a kit sound considerably better actually, in my experiece of listening to the sounds of some of my father's kits.

[jim777]

It's all done to get the sound to where the drummer is happy. Like guitarists, not all drummers have the same touch or technique. And duct tape is both readily available, inexpensive, and doesn't harm the skins. Like an amp that sounds great on 2 but not on 7, not all shells reverberate the same way either, so you may not want them blasting out even when you can take the volume

[shogun]

i would spend the 15$ on gels instead of using tape, sounds much better if you need to dampen a bit..

[rty13ibz98]

Originally Posted by shogun

i would spend the 15$ on gels instead of using tape, sounds much better if you need to dampen a bit..

yeah, moon gel is definitely the way to go. i have it on all of my kits(3). life saver, for tone and volume. we use it with my electronic kit because we have live cymbals on it and it kills a bit of the high end and volume. this makes it easier to even it out with the drums in the PA.

rich

[jb4674]

I've seen drummers put their laundry in their drums to dampen the sound. Those were some stinky drums too

Jimmy

[rty13ibz98]

Originally Posted by jb4674

I've seen drummers put their laundry in their drums to dampen the sound. Those were some stinky drums too

Jimmy

and cheap drummers.


rich

[jim777]

drummers can be an odd bunch

[ScottB]

How do you get a drummer off your front porch?

















Pay him for the pizza!

[Ekim]

I would say for the most part folks that use tape have either wrong drums or the wrong heads.

But I know Kenny Aronoff uses duct tape from time to time.

I really don't like using tape. It feels like a cheap cheat to me. Plus - MOST importantly - it leaves residue on your drums. I usually just switch heads or my tuning.

Snares are the drums that usually the hardest to tune "just right". I've nearly driven myself nuts tuning a few of my snares. So I sure understand the desire to use the shortcut of tape.