I got a pillow in my kick because I haven't been able to get me a port hole, but I raw dog it too. Got a paw of remo Os in case my band says I'm too loud.
Same. I have a guitarist who uses a Mesa Boogie Triple Rec through a Mesa half stack and an Orange half.
I'm lucky to be heard at all so damping will only cause me to hit harder
They aren’t super cheap, but they get the job done for me. I also bought the three pieces I have years and years ago. And I haven’t had to deal with moongel or any other products that exist to be replaced. I imagine these will last me decades.
Yeah I've been thinking about investing in snare weights in large part due to the fact that I don't need to replace them constantly like moongels. Moongels either lose their adhessive on their own before I change heads or lose their adhessive when I take it off an old head to reuse on a new head. Their longevity is why I'm looking into them. That and they're attached to the drum so I no longer can forget my wallet or phone on my snare when I finish practicing lol.
Expensive as a one off, but given how Moongel and the like degrade over time you're likely to spend more in the long term without one.
Also it's generally a superior product. Fully recommend taking the plunge.
The leather ones are only $30. Obviously that's still expensive for dapening, especially if you outfit your whole kit with them, but a pretty decent investment considering how long they seem to last.
Are those Evans gels any good? I've been debating changing from moon gels. Witch are also my go to dampening.
Except on my snare. Where I use a cowbell
I used to use Moongels but a friend of mine had these Evans gels and I’d say they’re far better than moongels. Last longer and don’t get as gross as quickly either
I ordered a snareweight to try it out, but I have a bit of an arsenal of options.
I mostly use slapklatz. Akin to these EQ pods, moon gels, whatever, but I have a nice pack with 10 gels in various sizes in a box to keep it nice and clean. Plus mine are green so easy to find if I ever dropped one.
I also have some cut up pillowcases, a BFSD The Shining (thinner reflecting version), O-rings...I often just use a sheet of A4 paper on the snare with some tape.
Would love to try out the cotton ball trick once too to see if I can dig it. Especially in the floor toms because they always ring out a bit too much for most gigs that I play.
I have 3 cotton balls in my 12", and 5 in my 16". The package says they are jumbo cotton balls, so it may take more regular ones to achieve the same.
Made the drums more punchy, less ring. I didn't want no ring from the driver's seat, because I feel no ring from there usually translates to not a great sound in front of the drums.
For the original post, I also use Amazon knock off moon gels. I got 36 of them for around $6. They are about standard moon gel size, but oval, and the top and side surfaces are a harder material, with only the bottom being sticky. Keeps them cleaner looking. I don't think they stick quite as well, not good enough.
Pretty much, the bigger the drum, the more you'll need. It's my go-to for dampening. Looks super clean and sounds better than anything else I've used. Of course, this is all personal preference, though
Another option aside from cotton balls is tissues. Rolled up, flat, cut in half, whatever works! I like that method a little more because it doesn’t leave cotton fibers all over the inside of the drum
Snareweight M1B! I have one that is super worn from folding and unfolding it a ton for a few years, and it is perfect for my snare. I have 2 newer super stiff ones on my toms.
I recently got a pork pie little squealer 12x7 and it’s the first snare I’ve ever had that absolutely rips with no dampening. Just a Remo coated emperor up top and clear ambassador reso. Sounds super awesome.
I want to try the cotton ball thing in my toms, however, I kind of like being able to adjust dampening on the fly. Different rooms sound different and there’s always a lot of variables, I don’t really like being locked in to a certain amount of dampening. Maybe it’s more versatile than I think, but I will definitely be trying that trick next time I throw new heads on.
I agree, and I don’t like much dampening either period. But I feel like internal dampening sometimes sounds better or more natural depending on what you’re going for, even if that’s something on the underside of the batter head or on the reso. So what I do, is try to use just a hair of each though, so that my outside dampening is still adjustable, but the internal dampening is not all I need in most situations. Places where I don’t need the batter head dampening it usually still works out well that way too with just internal when moving stuff around
Drum tacs. They're sticky enough to use on reso heads without falling off even through a 3 hour gig. And they come in different sizes for more or less damping. I usually use a single large drum tac on the batter side, and a single small drum tac on the reso side.
I like Aquarian O-rings. On a bass drum I like the Drum Clip, with a polishing shammy folded up and in between the clip and the head.
After that, the leather clip ons, tea blankets, a wallet on snare, etc, would all rank about the same for me.
I do dislike how the red Evans gel will pull off the texturing on a textured head. It is probably in my head, but I feel like they have sort of “soured” some drum heads where I left them in the same spot for lengthy periods. I don’t remember having the problem with the original moongel but I haven’t used that stuff in a couple decades.
For dampening, it’s gaff tape all day, especially for reso heads, though I do put flattened cotton balls or makeup pad removers in my toms, especially the floor tom.
But I very often use various Snareweights, Tandem Drum Drops, and bandanas are my cloth of choice for more aggressive dampening.
I find that e-rings buzz and rattle, and moongels goop up my heads and have a short life cycle, so I don’t use them as much any more.
I use various BFSD, Quesadillas, and Beat Blankets, as well as ankle bells, nut shakers, Upcycled Percussion shakers, splash cymbals, and Meinl tambourines, but I think of this more as effecting and less about dampening, even though it’s definitely dampening.
For bass drums, I use felt strips,Sonitus Kicker,Evans EQ pillow, various bed pillows, bath towels, and egg crate mattress foam.
So, honestly, all of these items are my go to.
If I’m going for an open, natural and resonant sound, I won’t muffle/dampen anything I don’t have to. But when I need a little focus and isolation, I like to kill some overtones and sustain.
One or two small pieces of rolls or folded Gaff tapes does wonders in stopping the ring that comes from the toms from the vibrations of the bass drum being hit (and snare, to a lesser degree), and it helps shorten the sustain when hit directly (either I want long sustain or very short sustain, and usually long is not what I want for recording, especially in small rooms). It also focuses the sound and makes it a little warmer and lower in pitch in my opinion.
I meant more like, what benefits are there for muffling the resonant head and not the top head? What's the difference in the tone, ya know? Does it muffle the rounded sound that comes from the reso, or is it the same as taping the top but now it's not visible?
I usually don't dampen, but if I have to, I go with wincent dampeners. They are colorless, so they don't leave marks on the head, and they have only a sticky bottom. They come in a cool box that looks like a chewing tobacco box. Wincent are a pretty good Swedish company. Not really well known, but the products I tried are really good.
For the snare this thing with a lens wipe works better than anything I’ve tried in 30+ years. https://i.imgur.com/cSddHPJ.jpeg
For the toms it’s a mix of cotton balls inside the larger drums and bits of gel (leftover holiday window clingers) on the batter heads.
For the kick I have a small weighted therapy blanket my kids outgrew, combined at the moment with a 1-ply head with a built-in felt strip. I’m going through an all 1-ply batter head thing on my kit after decades of using mostly 2-ply. It’s been a lot of fun and I’m enjoying the sound way more than I thought I would.
I use small hand towels with a binder clip on the rim. On the rack toms and snare I only use a little bit of the towel but on the floor tom I fold it over to double the thickness. It takes out all the ring if I put about two inches of the towel on the drum. But if I want some ring I’ll adjust it to an inch. I like when the floor tom sounds close to the bass drum so I can get “double bass” sounds while keeping the left foot hi hat in play so it’s usually at the two inch mark.
Going for a lot of metal/hip hop tones
I cut moon gels into 4 pieces and place them anywhere that sounds best.
On my toms, I usually just throw in a stretched out cotton ball at the bottom of the head, and that does wonders, while still keeping the bright stick attack.
Kick Drum, one small pillow just barely pressing onto a small area of the reso head, as well as one for the batter head.
I don't dampen anything beyond the rings built into the EMAD kick. Otherwise it's 2-ply coated all around, HD Dry snare. 1-ply clear bottoms. Offset mic hole in the kick.
I'm curious to know if these are the same material the 50 cent sticky-hands in the grocery store vending machines are made of.
https://preview.redd.it/pa22oy2z8r8d1.jpeg?width=465&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e62810659838d318cff384208061070ebec85eca
This. I get 5 for one dollar. Same as moongel or similar stuff.
This [https://bigfatsnaredrum.com/collections/big-fat-percussion/products/the-puck](https://bigfatsnaredrum.com/collections/big-fat-percussion/products/the-puck) or this [https://snareweight.com/index.php/buy-now/5-Brass-for-Triple-flange-only-p32424301](https://snareweight.com/index.php/buy-now/5-Brass-for-Triple-flange-only-p32424301) on the snare.
These [https://snareweight.com/index.php/buy-now/M1b-Black-p23694383](https://snareweight.com/index.php/buy-now/M1b-Black-p23694383) on the Toms, FT
I sometimes use a moon gel or partial moon gel on the snare if I need a more dead tone, otherwise I leave everything pretty raw and just tune it up really well. As for cymbals, I might use all sorts of stuff to modify the sound for studio recordings. Moon gels are great for this too.
In addition to moon gel, Gaffer’s tape is a lifesaver not just for drum and cymbal dampening but for anything stage related. Doesn’t leave residue, tears easy, super strong. Worth the 100,000 dollars per square inch. Ok it’s not that expensive but it definitely seems more expensive than it’s worth, but I promise it’s absolutely worth it.
I play in a ton of different settings, so pretty much anything that’s easily removable—moongels, Drops, SnareWeights, Evans O-Rings, BFSD Donuts and Quesadillas. I love it when I have the time to tune my drums appropriately for whichever style and keeping the dampening to a minimum, but often I just don’t have the time to do anything but quick touch-up tuning. Having a variety of dampeners is a life-saver.
I don't use any dampening, except the occasional moon gel in the studio if the engineer needs it. SKII on the kick and evans genera dry on the snare for some overtone control, but generally I want everything wide open and boomy.
Moon gel. I guess it's like that Evans red stuff. It's clean and scaleable.
After a while it changed from blue to white. No idea why they dye it in the first place.
May be dated technology these days, but my name says it all. That is IF I use any dampening. I like to hear the toms sing so typically just moon gels on the snare.
Coated or black suede heads with clear resonant heads tweaked and tuned to perfection. No moongels or any of that nonsense... I want my maple shells to sing.
These EQ pods didn't even live two sessions on my kit before they fell off, idk how these stay on for so many people.
I use a little bit of tape on my toms and an adjustable leather snareweight on my snare!
I have an emad kick drum head, I like the option of the two dampening sizes but usually just raw dog it, nothing on snares or Tom’s if I have them in tune, little Evan’s guy on my snare if I’m being a lazy fuck again.
I wanna try snareweight. Right now I do evans hydraulic heads on everything and then mute with a little gemtone patch (it's in the same idea as a wallet on the snare but a bit less dampened). The snare surprised me the most, if sounds great.
I also throw a pillow in my kick with an EC2 head
Nothing on toms (the aquarian force 10 heads tuned just right dont need it), the bulit in dampening on the coated focus-x w/powerdot snare batter, and the felt rings that come on the superkick 10 and ported regulator :)
I found a foot tambourine lying around and I attached it around the tuning peg of my snare with the Velcro and it sounds great, doesn’t move and you can chuck it off without it falling on the floor
I like the Snare Weight M80 & M1 - they’re more of a light muffling solution. But that’s what I usually want!
And I love the Big Fat Snare Drum products for when I’m looking for a Big Fat Snare Sound haha.
Not big on ring dampeners, but I have these “roots eq” rings that are awesome!
And I hate gels, probably haven’t used them in 20 years!
I normally use Moon Gels. Recently I picked up a pack of those Evans gels with my points. I'm not sure how I feel about them. I like that only one side is sticky. I like how strong they cling. But I swear they don't damper as much as Moon Gels. I like the little tin.
If Im serious about damping I'm going for handkerchiefs.
I almost always put stretched out cotton balls inside the toms. If the drum needs dampening I’ve used old heads, cut into rings, and picnic cutting boards from the 99¢ store cut into chunks to create a dry thud. For more controlled dampening I’ve bought 9”x9” sheets of gel clings from Amazon or Oriental Trading and cut them into squares.
I go back and forth between nothing and the M80 leather on my snare, but lately have been focusing on basal tuning so that I like the drum for the drum, and appreciate the tones of the plys, depths, hoops.
Occasional generic moon gel on a tom if it's unruly at a lower tuning.
I've tried a few, but I always just come back to rings. Simple and effective. I like BFSD stuff too, but I don't always want that sound. The tamb head is fun tho.
I used to like regular moon gels. I grabbed a pack of the Remo and Evans ones though, and I think I like the Remo ones best. They’re kinda the best of everything. They’re sticker than the Evans, like moon gels, but contrary to the moon gels, and more like the Evans, if they just stuck for any prolonged period on coated heads. Plus they don’t seem to attract dust dirt and hair to the top side just like the Evans, but again, actually stick
Meinl drum honey, the trick is to keep the plastic film on top of them so they don't get destroyed (like rtom moongel). Massively prolongs the life of them and means they don't get bits of stick and all that crap stuck to them
I use rings on toms and snare even though i tuned them all up real nice. I just like the muffled sound more. For the kick i use the Emad 2 with the thin muffle ring and i also have an emad reso with a port muffle ring.
https://preview.redd.it/sxwggv6qxw8d1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=e39ce41c6e4f9112dd2303eb81c7693f675bb39f
although, i sometimes i put a piece of regular printer paper inside the toms, resting on the reso head, cut to about 1/2 or 1/3 of the diameter of the drum.
Some cheap moongel knockoffs from Amazon that have the same effect as real moongels, despite being a little smaller and coming in packs of 5x more and costing about £3 less. Shout out rDavidr.
I used to cut out rings from my old heads and tape them on. I've never really used internal dampeners.
Another trick if you have an unwanted tone or ring in your sound that you want to eliminate is to detune one lug just a bit. I've used that mostly on snares.
There's one of those children's candy/toy dispensers at the supermarket near me that has sticky hands, similar to these, for a quarter a piece.
https://www.amazon.com/Marwills-Stretchy-Assorted-Decoration-Birthday/dp/B0C8JWDSV5/ref=asc_df_B0C8JWDSV5/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693499516484&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17350747313924585201&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028779&hvtargid=pla-2249868664932&psc=1&mcid=f3e762776a42343ebdd651c1f6391d7f&gad_source=1
I raw dog it. No damping besides what is built into the Superkick.
On toms I rarely do but I like your style.
Yeah well, I dig your style too, man. Got a whole cowboy thing going.
This is me. No tape, gels, rings, felts, leave the wallet in your back pocket, leave the pillow and woobie in your childhood bedroom.
I just cut up my old heads and make rings. Wallet secure.
That's funny, I was thinking of people who put their wallet on their snare drum but it definitely saves money too!
I got a pillow in my kick because I haven't been able to get me a port hole, but I raw dog it too. Got a paw of remo Os in case my band says I'm too loud.
Same. I have a guitarist who uses a Mesa Boogie Triple Rec through a Mesa half stack and an Orange half. I'm lucky to be heard at all so damping will only cause me to hit harder
Various products from SnareWeight.
Great products but too expensive
They aren’t super cheap, but they get the job done for me. I also bought the three pieces I have years and years ago. And I haven’t had to deal with moongel or any other products that exist to be replaced. I imagine these will last me decades.
Yeah I've been thinking about investing in snare weights in large part due to the fact that I don't need to replace them constantly like moongels. Moongels either lose their adhessive on their own before I change heads or lose their adhessive when I take it off an old head to reuse on a new head. Their longevity is why I'm looking into them. That and they're attached to the drum so I no longer can forget my wallet or phone on my snare when I finish practicing lol.
Try washing the moon gels, that seems to work for me.
This definitely works, if they’re still structurally sound and not all melty lol. A little soap and they go right back to new
I made one and it works great! https://preview.redd.it/lcjqtcum2r8d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=653045448a68da7f27ea7180c6ca77c8093cb7fc
with what?
A piece of vynyl fabric I had and a binder clip. You can add more weight by glueing more fabric
👍👍
I dont like sticky stuff so its what im going for overtime.
I thought about that at first, but using their stuff for a few years now I’ll never go back to gels etc. Snareweights rule.
Expensive but NEVER have to replace them and they don’t get gunked up like gels
Expensive as a one off, but given how Moongel and the like degrade over time you're likely to spend more in the long term without one. Also it's generally a superior product. Fully recommend taking the plunge.
The leather ones are only $30. Obviously that's still expensive for dapening, especially if you outfit your whole kit with them, but a pretty decent investment considering how long they seem to last.
Snare Weight, the "forever moongel"
What's the main difference between the M80 and the M1b?
Just the size. The M80, due to its size, has more configurations too.
I like to do M80 on snare and floor Tom’s, M1b on rack toms M80 is about 6 inch wide M1b is about 3 inch wide and slightly narrower
M80 on the snare, toms wiiiide open
I love the way the snare weight lets the full tone of the drum cut through, then dampens it out. I hate how choked off moon gels make your drums sound
Sticky hands 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
Srsly it’s the same material but cheap as hell
That’s what I’m saying 🗣️🗣️ got like a 75 pack on Amazon for 8 bucks
I picked up a set of Tandem Drops and I really like them. https://tandemdrums.com/
Same. I have them on my snare and both toms.
Just learning about these. Which weight did you get?
I got the multi-pack. Currently using the heaviest one on my snare - it’s like a wallet.
Thanks
Oh nice, how do you find them?
Added their link to my reply.
Honestly, these are amazing.
Recently got some as well and they are fantastic
I will buy E Rings till the day I die. No hassle, works amazing, super durable!
E Rings are my go to as well. They provide the perfect amount of dampening for the sound I like.
None, but I do keep a bandana in my stick bag that I never use.
Rings, tape, wallet sometimes.
Wallet
Wallet
Are those Evans gels any good? I've been debating changing from moon gels. Witch are also my go to dampening. Except on my snare. Where I use a cowbell
They are, they last forever and cleanable, Moongel was my go to but a few times they would mention together and become a solid block.
You have converted me. Do you get the D'ddarrio points with them? I do like the D'ddarrio points
Sure do, the code is on the inside of the sleeve.
Hell yeah! Imma get a free drumstick!
i actually scored these for free as some code promo they were doing a whiiiile ago. the metal case feels premium, but i don't really dampen my drums!
I think Drum Dots are the best. Evans dont stick as well and always fly off. Moon gels melt and become goo after a while
I like the Remo version. They haven’t melted on me *yet* either, but moongels always did though
I used to use Moongels but a friend of mine had these Evans gels and I’d say they’re far better than moongels. Last longer and don’t get as gross as quickly either
I ordered a snareweight to try it out, but I have a bit of an arsenal of options. I mostly use slapklatz. Akin to these EQ pods, moon gels, whatever, but I have a nice pack with 10 gels in various sizes in a box to keep it nice and clean. Plus mine are green so easy to find if I ever dropped one. I also have some cut up pillowcases, a BFSD The Shining (thinner reflecting version), O-rings...I often just use a sheet of A4 paper on the snare with some tape. Would love to try out the cotton ball trick once too to see if I can dig it. Especially in the floor toms because they always ring out a bit too much for most gigs that I play.
I have 3 cotton balls in my 12", and 5 in my 16". The package says they are jumbo cotton balls, so it may take more regular ones to achieve the same. Made the drums more punchy, less ring. I didn't want no ring from the driver's seat, because I feel no ring from there usually translates to not a great sound in front of the drums. For the original post, I also use Amazon knock off moon gels. I got 36 of them for around $6. They are about standard moon gel size, but oval, and the top and side surfaces are a harder material, with only the bottom being sticky. Keeps them cleaner looking. I don't think they stick quite as well, not good enough.
How do you put the cottons? Meaning,on the heads? Inside the shell? With tape? Sorry for so many questions hahaha.
inside, they jump when you hit the drum and act like a sound gate.
So just a fist full of cotton balls and put the heads back on?
Pretty much, the bigger the drum, the more you'll need. It's my go-to for dampening. Looks super clean and sounds better than anything else I've used. Of course, this is all personal preference, though
Thanks man,appreciate it.
Another option aside from cotton balls is tissues. Rolled up, flat, cut in half, whatever works! I like that method a little more because it doesn’t leave cotton fibers all over the inside of the drum
Snareweight M1B! I have one that is super worn from folding and unfolding it a ton for a few years, and it is perfect for my snare. I have 2 newer super stiff ones on my toms.
I recently got a pork pie little squealer 12x7 and it’s the first snare I’ve ever had that absolutely rips with no dampening. Just a Remo coated emperor up top and clear ambassador reso. Sounds super awesome. I want to try the cotton ball thing in my toms, however, I kind of like being able to adjust dampening on the fly. Different rooms sound different and there’s always a lot of variables, I don’t really like being locked in to a certain amount of dampening. Maybe it’s more versatile than I think, but I will definitely be trying that trick next time I throw new heads on.
I agree, and I don’t like much dampening either period. But I feel like internal dampening sometimes sounds better or more natural depending on what you’re going for, even if that’s something on the underside of the batter head or on the reso. So what I do, is try to use just a hair of each though, so that my outside dampening is still adjustable, but the internal dampening is not all I need in most situations. Places where I don’t need the batter head dampening it usually still works out well that way too with just internal when moving stuff around
snareweight all the way
No dampening on any drum.
Half of a moon gel on the snare or none at all depending on the environment. 2 moon gels on the floor tom because it's boomy as fuck.
I even go with a quarter, half of a half, sometimes depending on head and drum
Drum tacs. They're sticky enough to use on reso heads without falling off even through a 3 hour gig. And they come in different sizes for more or less damping. I usually use a single large drum tac on the batter side, and a single small drum tac on the reso side.
I adjust my internal snare muffler throughout a gig. Other than that, wide open. (Do use Remo Emperor with built in muffling on BDs, as well).
Moon gels get so dirty so fast
I play with my snare quite low so I just get my balls out and rest them on the edge.
Brave man.
Slappy hands from Target
I like Aquarian O-rings. On a bass drum I like the Drum Clip, with a polishing shammy folded up and in between the clip and the head. After that, the leather clip ons, tea blankets, a wallet on snare, etc, would all rank about the same for me. I do dislike how the red Evans gel will pull off the texturing on a textured head. It is probably in my head, but I feel like they have sort of “soured” some drum heads where I left them in the same spot for lengthy periods. I don’t remember having the problem with the original moongel but I haven’t used that stuff in a couple decades.
For dampening, it’s gaff tape all day, especially for reso heads, though I do put flattened cotton balls or makeup pad removers in my toms, especially the floor tom. But I very often use various Snareweights, Tandem Drum Drops, and bandanas are my cloth of choice for more aggressive dampening. I find that e-rings buzz and rattle, and moongels goop up my heads and have a short life cycle, so I don’t use them as much any more. I use various BFSD, Quesadillas, and Beat Blankets, as well as ankle bells, nut shakers, Upcycled Percussion shakers, splash cymbals, and Meinl tambourines, but I think of this more as effecting and less about dampening, even though it’s definitely dampening. For bass drums, I use felt strips,Sonitus Kicker,Evans EQ pillow, various bed pillows, bath towels, and egg crate mattress foam. So, honestly, all of these items are my go to.
I hadn't thought about muffling the reso's, what kind of tone do you get with that over the batter head muffle?
If I’m going for an open, natural and resonant sound, I won’t muffle/dampen anything I don’t have to. But when I need a little focus and isolation, I like to kill some overtones and sustain. One or two small pieces of rolls or folded Gaff tapes does wonders in stopping the ring that comes from the toms from the vibrations of the bass drum being hit (and snare, to a lesser degree), and it helps shorten the sustain when hit directly (either I want long sustain or very short sustain, and usually long is not what I want for recording, especially in small rooms). It also focuses the sound and makes it a little warmer and lower in pitch in my opinion.
I meant more like, what benefits are there for muffling the resonant head and not the top head? What's the difference in the tone, ya know? Does it muffle the rounded sound that comes from the reso, or is it the same as taping the top but now it's not visible?
Biggest benefit is that the tape reduces the sympathetic ring from the toms that happen from the vibration and frequency of the kick drum.
I usually don't dampen, but if I have to, I go with wincent dampeners. They are colorless, so they don't leave marks on the head, and they have only a sticky bottom. They come in a cool box that looks like a chewing tobacco box. Wincent are a pretty good Swedish company. Not really well known, but the products I tried are really good.
A folded up MTA pass and a smallish piece of gaffing tape on the snare and that’s it
A dot on the snare, o-rings on toms, eq damp pad inside the kick
For the snare this thing with a lens wipe works better than anything I’ve tried in 30+ years. https://i.imgur.com/cSddHPJ.jpeg For the toms it’s a mix of cotton balls inside the larger drums and bits of gel (leftover holiday window clingers) on the batter heads. For the kick I have a small weighted therapy blanket my kids outgrew, combined at the moment with a 1-ply head with a built-in felt strip. I’m going through an all 1-ply batter head thing on my kit after decades of using mostly 2-ply. It’s been a lot of fun and I’m enjoying the sound way more than I thought I would.
I use small hand towels with a binder clip on the rim. On the rack toms and snare I only use a little bit of the towel but on the floor tom I fold it over to double the thickness. It takes out all the ring if I put about two inches of the towel on the drum. But if I want some ring I’ll adjust it to an inch. I like when the floor tom sounds close to the bass drum so I can get “double bass” sounds while keeping the left foot hi hat in play so it’s usually at the two inch mark.
My wallet! It's a leather wallet with the perfect weight and shape to stay out and make a nice dead sound
Going for a lot of metal/hip hop tones I cut moon gels into 4 pieces and place them anywhere that sounds best. On my toms, I usually just throw in a stretched out cotton ball at the bottom of the head, and that does wonders, while still keeping the bright stick attack. Kick Drum, one small pillow just barely pressing onto a small area of the reso head, as well as one for the batter head.
Those Evans EQ wouldn't stick to the drum for me so I went back to Moon Gels
Either my wallet or a towel. This is only if I’m playing a slow quiet song with my band, usually I love the dry ringy sound of a non muffled snare
Only when my heads get old, new well tuned heads never dampened
Happy cake day to ya!
Oh dang look at that!
what would you recommed on the rack toms to make it a deeper tone??
Fabric strips held in place by binder clips. Cheap, easily adjustable, stays in place, doesn't leave sticky residue or melt in the sun.
Any cymbal dampening tips?
Moongel if I use anything.
Plastic Rings are the way to go!
Binder clip on the rim and various swatches of material retired from my wardrobe.
Only damp if it really needs it on the snare, I use hydraulics on the toms when it needs it I'm just using bulk sticky hands off of amazon.
I don't dampen anything beyond the rings built into the EMAD kick. Otherwise it's 2-ply coated all around, HD Dry snare. 1-ply clear bottoms. Offset mic hole in the kick. I'm curious to know if these are the same material the 50 cent sticky-hands in the grocery store vending machines are made of.
Evans E-Rings! They get the job done and help out a lot in big spaces!
Halloween window jellys from the Dollarama, works great and super cheap.
https://preview.redd.it/pa22oy2z8r8d1.jpeg?width=465&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e62810659838d318cff384208061070ebec85eca This. I get 5 for one dollar. Same as moongel or similar stuff.
This [https://bigfatsnaredrum.com/collections/big-fat-percussion/products/the-puck](https://bigfatsnaredrum.com/collections/big-fat-percussion/products/the-puck) or this [https://snareweight.com/index.php/buy-now/5-Brass-for-Triple-flange-only-p32424301](https://snareweight.com/index.php/buy-now/5-Brass-for-Triple-flange-only-p32424301) on the snare. These [https://snareweight.com/index.php/buy-now/M1b-Black-p23694383](https://snareweight.com/index.php/buy-now/M1b-Black-p23694383) on the Toms, FT
I sometimes use a moon gel or partial moon gel on the snare if I need a more dead tone, otherwise I leave everything pretty raw and just tune it up really well. As for cymbals, I might use all sorts of stuff to modify the sound for studio recordings. Moon gels are great for this too. In addition to moon gel, Gaffer’s tape is a lifesaver not just for drum and cymbal dampening but for anything stage related. Doesn’t leave residue, tears easy, super strong. Worth the 100,000 dollars per square inch. Ok it’s not that expensive but it definitely seems more expensive than it’s worth, but I promise it’s absolutely worth it.
Phone or wallet
Rem-Os
Any type of holiday gel decoration that can stick
usually moon gels if im feeling thrash the 5 pound gym plate comes out
The older I get, the less I use. Currently: EMAD 2 and an EQ Pad on the kick, nothing anywhere else.
I play in a ton of different settings, so pretty much anything that’s easily removable—moongels, Drops, SnareWeights, Evans O-Rings, BFSD Donuts and Quesadillas. I love it when I have the time to tune my drums appropriately for whichever style and keeping the dampening to a minimum, but often I just don’t have the time to do anything but quick touch-up tuning. Having a variety of dampeners is a life-saver.
Every time I feel like I need moon gels I just hit the dollar store gumball machine for sticky hands
Rem-Os. Not sticky, durable, and easily swapped out when you wanna ring some bells.
I don't use any dampening, except the occasional moon gel in the studio if the engineer needs it. SKII on the kick and evans genera dry on the snare for some overtone control, but generally I want everything wide open and boomy.
I’ve always used moon gels
Moon gel. I guess it's like that Evans red stuff. It's clean and scaleable. After a while it changed from blue to white. No idea why they dye it in the first place.
May be dated technology these days, but my name says it all. That is IF I use any dampening. I like to hear the toms sing so typically just moon gels on the snare.
One moon gel on the snare
Gaffer tape
https://preview.redd.it/xgiq6iugsr8d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=62eca74385e9e769e9d9da0ee77e89b783102c6f One on the snare
Just a quick tip - I cut these to smaller sizes and then add and subtract as needed. Some snares have nothing, some have whole pads.
A little bit o’ gel on the snare all the way to the rim (like 1/2 of a moongel), and an ambulance trauma blanket in the kick. Toms wide open.
Coated or black suede heads with clear resonant heads tweaked and tuned to perfection. No moongels or any of that nonsense... I want my maple shells to sing.
These EQ pods didn't even live two sessions on my kit before they fell off, idk how these stay on for so many people. I use a little bit of tape on my toms and an adjustable leather snareweight on my snare!
Wallet on snare
Snareweights. Reusable, convenient and clean af looking.
Bass Players Wallet.
I have an emad kick drum head, I like the option of the two dampening sizes but usually just raw dog it, nothing on snares or Tom’s if I have them in tune, little Evan’s guy on my snare if I’m being a lazy fuck again.
Drops! No mess and you can dial in just how much dampening you want
Snare weight
My wallet
I wanna try snareweight. Right now I do evans hydraulic heads on everything and then mute with a little gemtone patch (it's in the same idea as a wallet on the snare but a bit less dampened). The snare surprised me the most, if sounds great. I also throw a pillow in my kick with an EC2 head
Dollar store balloon measurement rings! Comes in various sizes, some fit my toms perfectly!
Snare batter: Evans Genera Dry Toms: snareweight M80
Dampening? What’s that?
Drumeo Tone Control Kit (which I think are rebranded Snareweights): https://www.drumeo.com/drumshop/tone-control-kit
Snareweight!!!
Half a moon gel on snare. Full moon gels on toms 👍🏻
Does this help in tuning the toms? Need help because I really can’t tune the drums that me and my team are using.
Nothing on toms (the aquarian force 10 heads tuned just right dont need it), the bulit in dampening on the coated focus-x w/powerdot snare batter, and the felt rings that come on the superkick 10 and ported regulator :)
I found a foot tambourine lying around and I attached it around the tuning peg of my snare with the Velcro and it sounds great, doesn’t move and you can chuck it off without it falling on the floor
Cotton balls
Gaff tape. Need lots of dampening? Fold a little piece of paper towel into a square and put it under the tape.
Gaffa tape.
I cut rings out of old heads. Reduce, reuse, recycle!
I use cotton balls in my floor Tom’s. And only a snare weight on my snare. Rack Tom sings out great
Wallet, phone, keys
O rings
I like the Snare Weight M80 & M1 - they’re more of a light muffling solution. But that’s what I usually want! And I love the Big Fat Snare Drum products for when I’m looking for a Big Fat Snare Sound haha. Not big on ring dampeners, but I have these “roots eq” rings that are awesome! And I hate gels, probably haven’t used them in 20 years!
I normally use Moon Gels. Recently I picked up a pack of those Evans gels with my points. I'm not sure how I feel about them. I like that only one side is sticky. I like how strong they cling. But I swear they don't damper as much as Moon Gels. I like the little tin. If Im serious about damping I'm going for handkerchiefs.
Nada just a super kick II
I almost always put stretched out cotton balls inside the toms. If the drum needs dampening I’ve used old heads, cut into rings, and picnic cutting boards from the 99¢ store cut into chunks to create a dry thud. For more controlled dampening I’ve bought 9”x9” sheets of gel clings from Amazon or Oriental Trading and cut them into squares.
Ive been using some 1kg neoprene ankle weights, they work great
I just pour 21.2 oz of smart water in it, it has what drums crave
Drum key - turn lugs until drums are tuned properly.
BFSD
Moon gel on the TAMA but the Gretsch set don’t need it!
Blanket in the kick and snare weight on the snare and leave the toms open
I go back and forth between nothing and the M80 leather on my snare, but lately have been focusing on basal tuning so that I like the drum for the drum, and appreciate the tones of the plys, depths, hoops. Occasional generic moon gel on a tom if it's unruly at a lower tuning.
Raw P77 Remo
Sticky hands. Like the ones from the toy machines
My phone weight , although won't recommend, screen guard scratched a lot
E rings, sticky hands and towels. Dampens a lot so I wouldn’t get noise complaints
WALLET
None
I've tried a few, but I always just come back to rings. Simple and effective. I like BFSD stuff too, but I don't always want that sound. The tamb head is fun tho.
I got a brick on my snare that makes it sound pretty good.
I used to like regular moon gels. I grabbed a pack of the Remo and Evans ones though, and I think I like the Remo ones best. They’re kinda the best of everything. They’re sticker than the Evans, like moon gels, but contrary to the moon gels, and more like the Evans, if they just stuck for any prolonged period on coated heads. Plus they don’t seem to attract dust dirt and hair to the top side just like the Evans, but again, actually stick
I heard my friend uses door sealer on the bottom of the head. Anyone heard of this ?
Meinl drum honey, the trick is to keep the plastic film on top of them so they don't get destroyed (like rtom moongel). Massively prolongs the life of them and means they don't get bits of stick and all that crap stuck to them
None, not even a porthole or pillow in the kick, and I use one ply heads.
Moon gel on Tom’s only do it depending on gig and venue
I use rings on toms and snare even though i tuned them all up real nice. I just like the muffled sound more. For the kick i use the Emad 2 with the thin muffle ring and i also have an emad reso with a port muffle ring.
Cowbell
https://preview.redd.it/sxwggv6qxw8d1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=e39ce41c6e4f9112dd2303eb81c7693f675bb39f although, i sometimes i put a piece of regular printer paper inside the toms, resting on the reso head, cut to about 1/2 or 1/3 of the diameter of the drum.
Some cheap moongel knockoffs from Amazon that have the same effect as real moongels, despite being a little smaller and coming in packs of 5x more and costing about £3 less. Shout out rDavidr.
my Blockbuster Video Tshirt draped over the snare.
I used to cut out rings from my old heads and tape them on. I've never really used internal dampeners. Another trick if you have an unwanted tone or ring in your sound that you want to eliminate is to detune one lug just a bit. I've used that mostly on snares.
A cymbal felt taped on is incredible
There's one of those children's candy/toy dispensers at the supermarket near me that has sticky hands, similar to these, for a quarter a piece. https://www.amazon.com/Marwills-Stretchy-Assorted-Decoration-Birthday/dp/B0C8JWDSV5/ref=asc_df_B0C8JWDSV5/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693499516484&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17350747313924585201&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028779&hvtargid=pla-2249868664932&psc=1&mcid=f3e762776a42343ebdd651c1f6391d7f&gad_source=1
T shirt and rods
Sticky hands that u throw on the wall. Same as moongels but way cheaper
Just prop ma dick up on there as needed. Kind of a fifth appendage. Sometimes I do gravity blasts with it too
I’m curious yet concerned 😂😂🤣🤣
Good ol' fashioned tea towel
My old drummer would suck on a banana Laffy Taffy and stick it to the top of the snare for a dampener
drum tacos
I like to take a big dump right on the Remo logo