Bob Gatzen Discusses Resonant Heads 

this dude for real sitting on a console? expensive ass chair

RIP BOB ur tips helped me out so much! wished i was able to meet u in person 😢

"Am I right?...RIGHT!" Oh, I thought I had a choice ;)

its weird how little information there seems to be about resonate snare heads. it seems to me that the reso head is the most defining factor in a snare drum...

This video was a godsend. On my old set, My 13" and 16" toms sounded super dry and with almost no resonance, but my 14" was FULL of sustain and it annoyed the Absolute crap out of me. I had just got new heads, why do they still sound like crap? I tried tuning the batter side, tuning the reso side retuning, muffling, reseating the heads, tuning again, Everything that was humanly possible. Then I watched this video, and looked my reso heads. Turns out that I didn't know what I was doing when I purchased new heads and bought a 6.5 mil Resonant Glass for my 13 and 16, but got a 10 mil Genera Reso for the 14. This video made everything so clear now. I was completely ignoring the main problem. I will always buy Evans Reso heads from now on.

The Resonant clear is a 6.5 mil head, and the Resonant Black is 7 mil. The Clear EC2 batter combined with the Resonant Black is the best sound I've ever heard from my dw's. I love Remo, but those Evans just sound so damn good!

the 7mil head sounds amazing! I have the 10 mil clear ec reso heads on my kit and they sound horrible. Will definitely be getting 7mil heads on my drums!

Rest in peace Bob 😪

i like how hes just sitting on his equipment

Underrated video. Resos need love too!

the information on this channel is essential for musicians, i will be keeping touch.

Really liked the 7mil reso head! Gives a nice warm attack then dies off very quick!

@zobomobo Ya, it's true. When I first started out about 9 years ago, I never even considered changing the reso's. I finally started studying drums more as I became more passionate about drumming. Long story short, I use evans g2 as batter heads (top) and evans g1 as my resonant heads (bottom). After I did this, then fine tuned all my drums, they sounded so much more full and deep. I stopped using dampening after this because I found that my drums sounded better, with full tone and depth.

I prefer the first reso drum head l left the original bottom head on . I like let it to sustain a little.

I like the sound of the 7mil Clear "Resonant"

13 year old video and still relevant. Good work!

Great video of real-life comparisons. More of these "compare" videos would really help those of us looking at the differences in sound.

I just picked up the ec reso heads. I'm going to replace my G1 today when I get off work. I'm using the hydraulics as batter heads. Gonna be a long day...

I wouldn't say anything bad about Bob. He's an awesome drummer! lol

he's a great drummer and this video is very informative but his voice and demeanor crack me up haha

I got the EC-Reso for my drums thinking the dampening ring would reduce the sustain. I find that I still have to dampen my drums with moon gel or gaffer tape for recording purposes. From this video it seems the 7mil head reduces the sustain the most, which will mean less of a gate on the mixer and a happier sound guy. I am gonna give it a try. Thanks for the comparison.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME I SEE A DRUMMER THAT KNOW WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT YOU MUST UNDERSTAND MOST ON YOU TUBE ARE YOUNG AND BIG TIME BRAIN DEAD IF YOU REALLY WANT TO LEARN STAY WITH PEOPLE LIKE HIM AND ME AS WELL? WE KNOW MR DRUMS PHIL AMBROS

I'm using G2 clears on reso heads and Hydraulics on batter heads. On the toms of my Sonor ascente series ( beech wood), 10,12,14. They sound Fat, low, modern, dark...but they respond to heavy sticks and heavy hits... I recorded a glam rock disc with those.... Now I'm going to Gplus coated on batter heads and G1 clear on reso heads as I'm using my kit to play more jazzy things, more acustic situation, i'm playing notes with the drum, more musicaly... With the hydraulics u just get a powr sound

Bobby G, drumming badass. Oodles of intense studio recording equipment.. and then the 1990's CRT Monitor to top it off! Its like $100 worth of groceries in a .2 cent sack..!

What you say here Bob makes sense I should have been able to hear longer sustain with the G14's on bottom instead of the 10mil ' ole stand by but didn't.

On this video the 7 mil Resonant sounds best to me, the EC Resonant has a boooing sound with a pretty obvious downward pitch bend.

I have heard so many differing opinions on resonant heads over the years. Does the quality matter? Does manufacturer matter? Do you tune to an interval? Match the top head? Tune to a set tension? I have heard people swear on all sides of these arguments.

always great! thanks bob for every your lesson!

@MadJazz81 i think it's because with the EC head, he tuned the batter and reso heads exactly the same, whereas with the other two, the resos were slightly lower in pitch... i'm not sure though :P

@SuperGilbs Thanks, SuperGibs. I'm not saying I'm right, of course, but I'm going by what I learned in physical science and common sense. :) To my ears, two single-ply heads produce a more resonant, sustained tone with slightly less attack and an overall more "open" sound. On the other hand, double-ply heads on the batter sides usually results in a more controlled, darker sound with more attack and a less "open" sound.

@MadJazz81 In this vid its clear.... due to dampning its got a lower fundamental pitch and longer sustain. Lower frequencies equal great sound waves ;) higher equal little. Little goes faster. big goes slower. Pure sound stuff.

RIP Bob

Well I need to tell you guys something. If you haven't read my discussions/questions below about sustain after watching video please do then read the following: up till now I've always used ambassadors on resonant side and thicker heads of some kind on top of toms for over 30 years. Recently I desired more "sustain" than I'm use to achieving so as an experiment I put G14's on bottoms and EMPEROR Renaisance on tops. The 2 ply emperors DEFINITELY have more sustain than the 1 ply G14's. This combo tuned up was VERY disappointing. I would have gotten MORE sustain if I had put the ambassadors on bottoms and Emperors on tops. After ALOT of tuning the toms sound ok but disappointing compared to if I had just put the ambassadors on bottoms. So the lesson learned was 2 plys dont necessarily have less sustain than 1 ply of same thickness. Same thickness heads top/bottom tuned to same pitch dont necessarily give more sustain. I put EMAD Heavyweight kick with a G14 as kick reso and didn't hear any more sustain than if I had a 10mil head as reso. I spent $350 on heads to do this experiment and still have 3 more drums to buy heads for.

Bob Gatzen, the Bill Nye of drumming

Why is the drum upside down when he switches to the EC Reso?

@TheBigBoss324 Yes. Usually single ply are preferred.

it shouldn't matter - John Bonham used coated ambassadors - most use clear ambassadors, there is no right or wring, but try to stick with one-ply on the bottom

I have to "keep it 100". I prefer the tone of a plain 10 mil reso. The 7 is just too short. Actually...now we have the choice of the g14 clear, which sounds fat too.

WE

G1 makes a great reso head

love his kit!

@SilverFoo79 Those g2s are awesome heads. I know it's just a straight up two ply 7+7, but they must be using unicorn blood in the film to make them sound as good as they do!

The EC Reso sounds like it has a pitch bend in my opinion. Genera Resonant has much less resonance and sustain. I thought the G1 Clear was the best sounding resonant head.

i just got ec2 sst's today. put them over my ec reso's and :O amazing

@MadJazz81 if you tighten it up alot it has much resonance but it's very low and has a ton of attack and punch

Probably okay. But if you have G2 Coated go with G1 Clear on Reso side. A lot of people say that. I have yet to try.

my perfect sound in EC2 over Remo Ambasador. :)

Wow you`re tuning those toms tight! But I love your vids!

there's a diff in sound when he taps each of the resonance head and when he plays it after mounting it. i think that's where its confusing

Me too just got brand new in the box Gretsch kit

i have that ec reso and it is insanely low my lowest tom sounds like an earthquake and it has a very defined attack if at any time you think you need your reso's replaced even if you have remo's on top get these heads you want more lo end and punch? BUY THESE HEADS ( ec2 reso's)

you shoulda demoed the coated ones aswell!

I like the 7 mil one the best, I like very little resonance.

@SuperGilbs Would be nice to see Bob or an Evans folk chime in... :)

Good video

@MadJazz81 yeah i know, but these are nice heads ive used them for ages, because the vibration from the edge is taken away so the middle vibrates hense you get a much more focused sound the head vibrates more becuase its thicker, perfect in my opinion lots of resonance but only for a short time when you have everything tuned and your playing with other people the ec reso sounds like its discribed, try them. Do you play evans by the way?

i feel ec-reso has litle sustain though the tone is nice

just one question:a 2 ply head would have even more mass than a 10 mil head so is it going to have even more sustain?? please respond ty :))

Best overall combo? g2 clear top and g1 clear bottom. There is absolutely NO reason to dampen your drums whatsoever. The whole point is to have the drum RESONATE. Exception is the kick though. (For my personal tastes..) If you want to hear a WIDE variey of Evans heads, go to my page and browse around. Make sure you use headphones.

Great!!!

Hey Bob, What Evan's resonant head would you recommend to put under Evan's EC2 batter heads?

I

Bob, over 30 years of playing and sure, over the years tried all kinds of heads as experiments and as tastes change. But for the resonant heads I've only used Ambassador 10mil single ply heads. But now as I'm getting old I want even a little more sustain than what I'm use to. I was thinking the Diplomats which I believe are 7.5mils would have more sustain but now you making me think different...confused.. I think you are saying the evans G14 as a reso head would have more sustain than a Diplomat or Ambassadors? Please clarify... thanks

Is that a pair of Genelec 1031A's on the console?

If you look at what remo were making in the 50's and 60's then the only comparison is a single ply,thin head--Not only has drum construction moved to making drums more resonant but heads as well!! Then everyone mutes everything. Go a step further and try calf-skin heads, I finally found the sound in my head by doing away with plastic heads all together--I mean why don't they make guitar strings out of plastic?

Happy Drumming ...

Remo Ambassador and Evans G1 would give me that long sustain I'm looking for? I need ultra resonant heads...

I have never tried Aquarian, but I have hated every remo head I have used

Is there any comparison video of Evans resonant heads for SNARE DRUM? I tried to find it but found nothing...

@sp3ci4lkpo i think your exactly right i see this very often and i would think that if you want more punch and attack and less overtone and sustain you would use a two ply head on both reso and batter so what im really trying to say is im still a bit confused and honestly once again im starting to get tired of saying this but it all comes down to preference but once again just to clarify i am agreeing with you and thankyou for saying what iv'e been trying to say for very long

What is a warm sound?

it's called a mylar not polyester and it doesn't dry out

hi! Ive just bought a Pearl Reference kit. As you know, its a drumset with a lot of wood and diecast hoops...what resonant heads would you recommend me for this drumset? I want it to sound fully resonant and I use G1s coated on top....thanks!

how would g2 coateds and ec resos sound?

So....if I go from the ole standby Remo PS3/Ambassador combo on the bass drum ....to Evans EQ4/G14 combo then then Audience side of the kit should hear a little more sustain from the bass drum? I think its worth experimenting. Even going Aquarian Performance II batter on toms with Evans G14 reso heads would be worth a try to get really low tone AND sustain huh?....

well that sucks, but don't get too bummed. Bigger drums sometimes require a different approach.

I bet the sound guy was very unhappy with him after filming this..

So..a 2 ply batter head takes away alot of over tone, but a 2 ply reso head adds tone? Confusing...

240p is a bit too low quality for this kinda video, even 360p would suffice

can someone explain to me the difference in reso heads combinations with acrylic drums? I see Charlie watts uses black dot on resonant side of his tom. why?

I want that EC resonant but the music store here in our Fvcking country(PH) doesn't have EC resonant, they only have genera resonant DEYM!

Who on earth sits on their console?

EC reso = epic win

@MadJazz81 I came back to this video because I was wondering the same thing.

maybe thats why my drum sounds VERY BAD!!! im such a noob.. im changing into proper reso heads now! coz the reso heads im using was the previous batter heads of my drum.. I SUCK!

what heads are good for acrylic shells??

@secondshen exactly what i was thinking

i have g2 coated batter and just bought resonant glass heads, good combination??

how many mils equal a ply?

anyone out there now

sitting on a mixing desk wtf lol

Having to change your reso heads every 3 times you change the batter heads is not exactly necessary.......

I love Aquarians for the sound, but I tend to be a gorilla behind my kit live and Aquarians last about 2-4 months for me. Sucks, but I guess that's the price I pay. Evans just sound really cookie cutter to me, despite being a better choice given their durability. Aquarian has always been my preference.

would i be able to get endorsed by you guys i currently have 19subs 1,187 views i currently use the coated ec2 and the g2 for snare i bought a g14 cant wait to try it out

no

Hes sitting on the mixing board!!! get off of that!!!

I think old Bob likes the fellas. He's a goofy S.O.B. but he knows his shit. I have to say it, he could be the black sheep brother of Dr. Oz. Who's that? Search it and see. Twins right down to the speech impediment. Bonkers.

if only the EC Reso came in Black.

@sp3ci4lkpo very much so

aaaaa