Muffling / Drum Treatment
Adapted from drumdojo Article by Lyle Caldwell
What is drum muffling / Drum Treatment?
In short, drum
muffling is affixing something head of a drum to change the timbre, tone or volume of the instrument
Common examples are pillows in bass drums and duct tape on rack toms. Muffling is only one of the objectives at hand and the effort should be moreso on trying to achieve a particular sound
Should I treat my drums?
1) The
toms sustain for a long time - only a problem where the drums
are being recorded or amplified with microphones - this is desirable in an acoustic setting
2)
The snare sustains or is "boingy" or metallic. This can be a problem if amplified or not. consider also that what might
not sound great to the drummer may sound great from the audience's perspective.
3) The kick drum sustains, is too boomy, or is in otherwise unsatisfactory. Even drummers who
believe that toms and snares should be untreated often use some form of
Treatment on the bass drum.
4) Occasionally drummers can treat their cymbals also to change the sound,
decay, and even pitch.
5) Drums
are too loud. This is especially obvious to the neighbors of apartment-dwelling
drummers. This is separate from the aesthetic debate on treatment,
as it is often unarguably necessary,
Tuning
Before
going any further, let me first reiterate how important it is to have well
maintained and tuned drums. Please refer to our tuning site tunadrum for in-depth instruction on
this subject. Often muffling/treatment is used to cover up bad tuning or old heads.Make sure the drum is well tuned (to your liking) before treatment .
Adjustable Pads
I used this term to differentiate
between these adjustable mutes (typically felt) and the pads often used in bass
drums (such as those made by DW and Evans). Adjustable pads are often found on
older drum
kits,
and have their advocates today. These are devices where a mechanism on the
outside of the drum adjusts a felt mute on the inside of the drum, often
touching the bottom of the batter head by various adjustable amounts. These are
also found on bass drums, typically on the resonant head. These pads offer ease
of adjustment, even while playing, and can work wonderfully. You should be
aware, however, that older adjustable pads that have not been well-maintained
may rattle and ring sympathetically. As always, care and diligence can prevent
this.
Pillows and Pads
This can be the custom pads
mentioned above or an old pillow stuffed in the bass drum. Foam rubber and
towels are often used, too. This approach deadens the bass drum and changes the
perceived pitch of the drum as well. The amount and effect depend on the method
and application, of course. To dangerously generalize, it is often advisable to
only lightly touch the batter and resonant head, just to control the decay of
the bass drum, unless you are after a very dead sounding bass drum (which you
may be). Also very broadly, the area of the batter head where the Treatment
contacts the head can vary the amount of low end and attack of a bass drum. It
is a good idea to try a towel or a pillow to see if you like this sound (which
depends of course on drum size and material, head choice and tuning, beater
choice, and, sadly, the drummer). If you find that this sound appeals to you,
then look into the products made for this purpose. But you may prefer the sound
of an old pillow. A word of caution: don't decide on Treatment based on what you
hear while playing. Have a friend play your kit while you listen from various
distances. This is always good advice while weighing Treatment options, but is
especially important when it comes to bass drum Treatment.
Control Drum Heads
This includes double ply
heads, "control ring" heads, "hydraulic" heads, and good old Pinstripes. While
this is addressed in the Drum Head section of the FAQ, please bear in mind that
these are Drum Treatments, albeit in disguise. If you like a slight bit of
muffling as Treatment in your bass drum, a "control ring" head may give you the
desired result without additional treatment. So if you go from a single ply
coated batter head with a pillow to a clear "control ring" batter head, you may
no longer need the pillow. Experiment as much as you can, and trust your ears,
not an advertisement. While bass drums are the most common recipients of
"control" drum heads, they are also available for toms and snares.
A Hole in Your Bass Drum
Head
Openings (or ports) in a bass drum resonant head are also forms
of Treatment. Even if they are intended only for convenience in mic'ing, they do
have a decided effect on the sound of the bass drum. A closed bass drum (no
opening in the head) tends to have more resonance and sustain. It can have more
low end, and particularly a low of low midrange frequencies, which can be an
obstacle on stage or in the studio, as the bass drum can fight with the electric
bass for room in he mix, even though it may sound phenomenal by itself. For that
reason (as well as mic'ing convenience), very often a bass drum will have an
opening of some sort. This is less common with smaller bass drums, such as an
18" diameter drum as is commonly used in Jazz. The closed bass drum sound is
part of this style, and the smaller drums typically don't fight with the bass
instrument as much.
In general, the smaller the
opening, the more resonance the drum will have. An opening in the center of the
drum may commonly have less low end and more beater attack than an off-center
opening. This is a matter of personal choice, and you should listen to both
before choosing. The trend in recent years among manufacturers is to put a small
(typically 4"-6") off-center opening in their resonant heads. Ten years ago,
pre-cut openings were typically larger and more centered. Today there is also a
resurgence in closed heads. Again, a matter of personal preference. Be aware
that most drum stores will cut a head to your choice of size and placement. You
can also do this yourself.
Tip: get a coffee can or
other metal can of an appropriate size, and heat it up over a stove (please
take all necessary precautions so as not to burn yourself). When the can is hot,
you can press it against the drum head and a hole the size of the can will
quickly be seared into the head. Remove the can quickly and the hole should be
smooth. You can purchase reinforcement rings to prevent the edge of the opening
from being damaged if you choose, though this is often unnecessary.
Other Approaches
There are many other valid ways to Treat your drums, often with whatever you
have handy. Without attempting to list them all, here are two well-known sounds
and how they were achieved:
Ringo Starr's distinctive
late '60s sound with The Beatles, on recordings Sgt.
Pepper and Strawberry
Fields Forever, was achieved (in part) by draping tea-towels on the snare and
toms. For those that don't know, a tea-towel is about the same size and
thickness as
a dishtowel.
Al Jackson Jr's snare sound on all the
classic Stax and Al Green records was often achieved by placing his wallet on
the snare.
Tip: if you drop a few
cotton balls in toms, they can cut the
ring
just the right amount without affecting the visual or playability of the toms.
When the batter head is struck, the cotton balls lift off the resonant head
briefly, then softly and naturally fall back and prevent the resonant head from
ringing.
cymbal
Treatment
This can range from rivets (a semi-permanent change) to
electrical tape. This affects the timbre, sustain, and pitch of cymbals. You can
dry out a washy ride, shorten a crash, darken high hats, whatever. This one is
really up to you.
Tip: for a rivet sound on a
budget, or when you don't want to modify a ride,
get a length of fan and
light chain (the little metal balls in a row) from a hardware store and drape a
suitable length around the wingnut, so that it hangs down on the ride itself. It
works pretty well.
When Do Un-Treated
Drums Sound Best?
To a lot of people, all of the time. But let's be
pragmatic for a moment. While moving your kit from gig to gig, with little if
any soundcheck, some form of treatment may be necessary to ensure a consistent
sound from night to night. Even if you would usually prefer an open (untreated)
sound, it might be best to treat your drums when opening up for another band,
without a reliable soundcheck.
The Studio
The
studio is a good place to let your open drums shine. The time it takes to tune
an open kit can pay off in spades in the studio. The extra attention to detail
really makes a difference. Just as many drummers will use coated single ply
heads for studio and double ply clear heads for live, the studio is the time to
get it right. This is assuming that you are the one responsible for the recorded
drum sound. If you aren't the one paying for the session, you may have to play
whatever drum sound the artist or producer demands. That said, if you know how
to get a great open sound out of a kit, this sound can get you future jobs. Even
if you aren't an untreated drum fanatic, it is a good tool to have at your
disposal.
Big Gigs
When
you have the time to get it right live, do so. If you can get a distinctive,
natural sound live, that immediately separates you from the standard Treated
drums people are used to hearing live. If the music calls for it, and you can do
it, this is your time for you and your drums to shine.
Do I Have To Be
A Fanatic?
Not at all. Many drummers choose to blend the two
approaches. For live shows, Billy Cobham has been playing a kit with open toms,
an O ring on the snare, and ported resonant bass drum heads with pads in the
bass drums. And no one complains much about his sound. For his recent acoustic
albums, Cobham has played more open kits. And that's a wonderful sound, too.
 This isn't designed to prove one way or the other is the "right"
way. Hopefully, though, the reader will come away from this section with a
better understanding of the methods and reasoning behind each approach, and will
be better able to apply these techniques in his or her future musical endeavors.
Lyle
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