Tame Your Drum Set With Drum Muffling
Getting your drum kit to sound exactly how you want it can be somewhat of a challenging task. Tuning the drum set should be your first port of call when setting the drum kit up. Sometimes however the drum shells can be too lively or 'ringy' for the sound you are after. Careful drum muffling can enhance the sound and playability of your drum kit it can help to make it punchier and snappier, but beware if you over muffle the drum set you can cause the drums natural sound and timbre to be choked and lifeless.Whether you have purchased a starter or top of the line drum kit these tips and tutorials for muffling your drums will help achieve the drum set sound you are after.
Muffling The Bass Drum
The bass drum is often the first part of the drum kit that you would want to muffle. The reason for this is that the drum shell is very large and therefore large amount of air travel through the drum producing it's rich deep sound. The less drum muffling that takes place the longer the drum will sustain for when kick with the kick drum pedal. It is this long sustain and decay that most drummer want to either calm slightly or eliminate all together. The amount of sustain and punch you want from the drum set is personal preference and down to your ears.How to muffle the bass drum
The cheap free way to muffle your drums! - An effective way to muffle the bass drum is to use an old pillow or blanket. DON"T fill the bass drum chock full of material you will destroy the natural sound of the drum. Instead use just one pillow, maybe a small one to start with, rest it against one of the drum skins to help damp and muffle the sound. If you have a hole in the front drum skin you can just push the pillow straight through otherwise its a case of taking off the skin. Experiment by moving the pillow/material around the bass drum to find the best muffling results. Ideally you want the solid punchy drum kick sound with its natural sustain still present, just calmed down.
Splash the cash and muffle your drums - If you have 20 - 40 bucks to spare you can buy dedicated drum muffling products. There are a number on the market and the best thing to do is go down to your local drum shop and ask the about which drum muffling products they supply. Alternatively take a look on-line.
One such product (pictured below) is the Remo Adjustable Bass Drum Muffling device developed with Dave Weckl. The advantage of buying these products is they tend to be smaller and therefore take up less space which allows for both muffling and good air movement. The system come in three sizes and for different size drums and is fully adjustable. You simply move the muffling strip closer to the skin which creates more muffle and dampening or move it further away to allow more of the drums natural sustain and tone to ring through. The Remo drum muffler cost around $17.95
Evans EQ Bass Drum Muffling Pad is another possible option for good bass drum muffling. It is placed in the drum shell in the same way that you would with a pillow. The drum muffling pad ress on the bottom of the bass drum but has a hinge that allows the muffling pad to bounce away from the drum head on impact. Creating a good balance between natural sustain and tight muffled punch. This drum muffler costs around $21.95.
Muffling the snare drum and toms
The first and most important point to make is DO YOUR DRUMS NEED TO BE MUFFLED? Apart from the bass drum I rarely find the need to muffle my snare drum or toms. If they are well tuned and looked after they should sound great with out the need to muffle the drums. Remember by muffling you are damping and reducing the resonance and natural sustain of the drums. However there are a few options that you can apply externally to the drum skin to help improve the sound of the drums.
Moongel Damper Pad are a good option when when drum muffling is required. They are re-usable small, sticky pieces of plastic that stick to the outer edge of the drum skin parallel to the rim. They are very effective for muffling the drums with out removing the character of the drums completely.
Costing $5.95 you can muffle your drums very quickly and effectively. It is worth experimenting, where you place the Moongel on the drum head will effect the sound and resonance produced. You can even cut and re-size the gel to produce less muffle from the drum head. They are particular useful if your snare drum is very 'tinny' and rings excessively. The Moongel will muffle those frequencies and immediately make your snare sound more expensive.
Remo's RemOs drum muffling product is one such example and are the latest in sound control and drum muffling design. Made with Mylar® there are a quick and easy way to tame unwanted frequencies on your toms and snare. The good thing about these is they aren't sticky and are easy to remove for varied drum sounds. They are also a bargain at $8.95, I'm sure you'll love 'em!
I might also add that when recording in a studio it is sometimes wise to muffle the drum heads as this can in some cases (aside from jazz etc) give the sound engineer more control over the drum kit sound.
Above are just a few possible ways you can muffle your drums. Most drummers only go as far as muffling their kick drum but if you have an overly loud or ringing drum kit muffling products can really help to get the drum set sound you want.
It is all down to what you want out of your drum set and how you want it to sound. Use your ears and with a few tweaks you can subtly improve the sound of you drum set with drum muffling.
Now check out your all you need to know guide to ... Bass Drum Muffling
