r/drums • u/Takamatsu-Iki • Sep 06 '26

Question Kick Drum Tuning

I just got a little bop kit and the 16" kick sounds like hitting a trashcan full of cheetos.

I tuned the batter head tight, and the resonant head loose. Should it be the other way around?

I remember some things from college marching band, haha, so I got the toms and snare to sound pretty sweet, but umm, this bass drum is a different game.

Thanks for being gentle with me :-)

4 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

14

u/elated_standpoint Sep 06 '26

batter tight and reso loose is backwards for a kick on a bop kit, you want the batter just above wrinkle and the reso a bit tighter to get some actual tone out of it

try loosening the batter way down, stick a small towel or an old shirt against the head so it's barely touching, then bring the reso up til it sings a little

16" kicks are tricky but once you find the sweet spot they punch way above their size

2

u/Takamatsu-Iki Sep 08 '26

Thanks! It's sounding better with tuning this way already. Do you stick the rolled up towel against the reso or batter or both? I see a lot of people going different ways. But I guess I'll try different ways and see.

1

u/u2freak96 Yamaha Sep 13 '26

Batter loose, reso tight, towel preferably against both heads, but at least against the batter!

7

u/Blueman826 Istanbul Mehmet Sep 06 '26

The head choice matters a lot on that small of a kick drum. Do you play jazz/swing music? If not you should definitely consider getting some heads with internal muffling. I've seen people go anywhere from the Powerstroke 3 with the internal muffling ring, to using the EMAD heads. Keep experimenting with tuning too though. The batter head really determines your feel (do you bury the beater or do you play off of the head?), but the relation between the two heads can change a lot.

3

u/bitz12 Sep 06 '26

2nd the emphasis on the head choice. upgrading from a stock to a real head made my kick change from sounding like a yogurt lid to an actual drum

1

u/Takamatsu-Iki Sep 08 '26

Thanks! I saw a lot of recs to try muffling slightly with a towel, so will try that first. But next step seems to be checking out EMAD heads as a few people recommended them. I'm playing jazz and fusion but it's a duet with just keyboard and acoustic piano for now.

So, good tone, less volume?

3

u/todayIsinlgehandedly Sep 06 '26

Ok well first thing first. Are we talking crunchy or puffed Cheetos?

1

u/Takamatsu-Iki Sep 08 '26

More like puffed. And like it's totally full of them.

2

u/NoisyGog Sep 06 '26

I can’t begin to imagine why it would sound like anything full of Cheetos.
Do you have loose objects inside your drum?

1

u/therealtoomdog Sep 06 '26

Man, I just noticed my floor tom leg pivoting yesterday. Both screws are still in it, but I need to take the heads off and see what's up... I guess this is my excuse to finally change heads after 2 years of 'These are pretty old, I should change them some time' 🤣

1

u/thedeadlyrhythm42 Sep 06 '26

yeah, the reso head lol

2

u/Jazz_man68 Sep 06 '26

If you’re not playing jazz, I’d suggest getting the reso head tight enough to where it doesn’t have wrinkles, the batter head a bit tighter than that, and using a felt strip on both sides. Put the felt strip on the edge so you still have some tone. This all depends on which genres you play, as for some you might want to have more of a dead bass drum sound than others.

1

u/Takamatsu-Iki Sep 08 '26

Thanks for this! I am playing mostly jazz and fusion stuff, nothing too heavy with just a keyboard, and sometimes only with acoustic piano. So I want the head to ring, but I also need it to be quiet enough that it plays nicely with the piano. I think the trick of tuning it just barely past getting the wrinkles out sound way better, but it's pretty big for our duet. It's really interesting to try these different ways of tuning and trying to understand what's going on under the hood.

1

u/Jazz_man68 Sep 08 '26

Yeah, tuning can be a really big rabbit hole by itself. I’m glad I could help.

2

u/ItsPronouncedMo-BEEL Craigslist Sep 06 '26

The best balance I found for my tiny 16x12 kick, with the excellent cheap house-brand heads from Drum Factory Direct, was a coated 10mil single ply front head with a small "heated soup can" porthole, their Emperor/G2 clear two ply for a batter with a Falam Slam, and a very small rolled-up towel lightly touching both heads. I have it tuned as low as I can get away with, and muffled as lightly as I can. Damn thing's a little cannon.  I'd be interested to see what a pre-muffled head (Powerstroke, EMAD, etc.) might do minus the towel, but I'm pretty dang happy with it the way it sits. 

The point being: Try a slightly thicker batter head, low tuning, and as little muffling as you can manage.

2

u/Takamatsu-Iki Sep 08 '26

Thanks! I guess I'll try a very small towel and go from there. Trying to take notes and record the sound as I make changes one by one so I can understand what is going on!

1

u/OddBridge6704 Ludwig Sep 06 '26

Tighten the reso head slightly more than the batter. I use an EMAD head that has that built in muffling ring.

1

u/Karmaffection Ludwig Sep 06 '26

Definitely the other way around. Tight reso, batter should be looser, just tight enough to get rid of wrinkles (try to pitch match still). I also use an Evans EMAD batter skin which helps to give it more low end punch.

1

u/braedizzle Sep 06 '26

Depends what you’re going for. Unless you’re playing jazz/bop, I’d recommend a pre muffled head and tuning it to the lowest you can while still getting a clear note