Coated Resonant Heads for Natural Tonal Control | Season 2 - Episode 7 

Usually I wind up putting a drum on my credit card rather than a credit card on my drum. Wink.

Thank you for your honest, unpretentious style, Cody. I get so sick and tired of some individuals with they're over the top presentation. If you have something to say, just say it, without all the stupid attention - getting behavior. Thanks again for all the great information.

3:44 clear reso 5:29 coated reso

I like to experiment with heads. That does create collateral damage though. Like having a garage full of barely used heads and a perpetually light checking account.

i could fall asleep listening to this guy, his voice is very relaxing and calm

I got a pair of coated reso heads for my kit awhile back, and honestly I love how it not only warms up the tone of the drum, but it also acts as a low-end boost. With clear 2-ply heads on top I get a crisp, snappy attack with a warm and beefy tone. Absolute game changer.

Three cheers for challenging preconceptions.

I really appreciate everything you guys are doing for the drum community. There’s nobody out there doing what ya’ll are with this amount quality and respect for drums. Thanks!

Been watching a lot of videos on YT about drums, heads, tuning, etc. This has been the channel that provides the kind of information that I want to consume. Thank you.

I think it's funny how companies have spent two or three decades figuring it out how to give us more sustain in drums---suspension mounts, thin shells, no re-rings, fancy floor tom legs, better bearing edges, better collar shapes, electronic processing, blah, blah, blah--and now that we have it all, we are trying to figure out how to get rid of it again! 🙄😜

Straight up some of the best drum-centric content on RU-vid - thanks for making this video! Stoked to give it a go.

I really enjoy the way you do you’re tutorials. I always learn something. I have been playing for over 50 years. Keep up the great work👍🏻😎

This is crazy! I literally just tried this concept a few days before you released this video for myself, and I was astounded by the results. After playing drums for 7 years, I'm finally getting that "subtle control" out of the toms I've been trying so hard to achieve. Then of course, seeing this video soon after just gave me a big slice of validation, so no complaints there. You guys are doing awesome drum work, I hope more people, drummers and producers especially, find this channel!!!

Hello boys. I love your videos. It is incredible not only the quality and professionalism with which you teach, but you can see the passion for the instrument. These days I was looking for ways to muffing the toms and both this video and the cotton balls are exactly what I was looking for. On the video, the difference between drumheads is incredible. While one is more current, the other has a beautiful vintage sound. Thank you very much for your work. Greetings from Argentina.

Love your channel! As a non-drummer producer, I find this channel so helpful for understanding drums and communicating well with drummers. Thank you so much!

I run coated resonant heads on all my toms. They sound warm and fluffy that way.

It be awesome if you cover next: How your tom angle might affect your sound; attack, tone, note length etc... Also how the type of tip from your stick of choice might affect your sound. BUT FIRST. Where does my damned tunning key go when it touches da damned CARPET!?!?!?

You guys are the only channel whose made videos about reso heads. I feel resonant heads can make or break the sound of a kit. I use single ply live or when not mic’d properly but studio and mic’d up I use 2 ply ebony and I prefer the ebony over the clear or white coated. It effects the sound to me. Thanks for the attention reso heads deserve!

Cody I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your channel and I love your attention to detail and just how you talk in general on the subject of drums. It is so refreshing to watch you! Keep up the great work man!

Nobody ever talks about this. Thank you

I bought a G1 coated 13 inch when I meant to buy a G2 once and got the idea to do this then. I also ended replacing my floor tom reso's with coated G2's and haven't looked back. Absolutely love the tone I get!

I used to always use coated rezo heads. I started playing when I was 12, and didn't know any better. I bought a new set a few years ago, and it came with clear heads on both sides. I loved the tone I get from them now.

The difference is barely noticeable to all but the most discerning and experienced ears. But yeah, I use coated resos, and I love it. Great video!

I use clear pinstripe for both the reso and batter sides. It gives me a very focused sound, short sustain and a lot of attack. Also I can get lower pitches compared to single ply heads. Using double ply head as reso increases the volume too, just what I need as a metal drummer 🤘🏼

I’ve done this for a long time as well! It all comes down to preference. Coated resos make the drum sound a little tubby which is perfect for that vintage sound. Very 60s and 70s to my ears. Maybe not the best choice to cut through the mix, but always fun to have in your back pocket. I’m glad you mentioned the feeling being different as well! I actually prefer the feel of clear heads on the bottom, but sometimes the sound just can’t be beat. Great vid as always, guys

its decided! emporer clear batters and ambassador coated resos on my renowns! you guys are the best 👌

I just can’t thank you enough for these videos! If I was rich I would give you money to keep making these.

This is a really intelligent and well thought-out comparison. Really makes sense.

OMG OMG....thank u so much.. I have a set of Gretsch drums i love love love.....toms 10, 12 and 16 are a joy to tune....but the 14" floor tom absolutely refused to be tuned. Tried every 14" batter head on the market and: NO. DrumDial: NO. Tunebot: NO. Original reso head: NO. Every clear 1 ply reso head: NO. Was ready to put them up for sale. And then i saw this. For whatever reason, a 1ply coated Evans head on the bottom fixed everything. Would never have thought of this. Keep those ideas coming and thanks again.....

I found that whatever the coated were doing to the resonance added to the attack on the batter side. I snugged everything up a tad & got a sound that I hadn't heard my old Gretsch produce before. Loved the new sound & it inspired me to play a little differently. Great video, man!

I'll have to watch the video again when I have time to focus. The idea reminds me, I've played G2 resos on my toms for years.

Back in the day drum kits had a smoothie on the bottom now it’s a clear drum head I keeped the originals on the bottom my Ludwig kit accent I’ve had for fourteen years now & still looks great 👍

Yeah man I noticed right away the wavey or shimmery sustain especially on the floor tom tightened up! My experience with reso heads goes back to the mid 60's cause I'm old! I started out with coated mylar heads and some calf skin but as a kid of 7, Remo Weather kings were cheap and easy to use and my ear wasn't quite developed enough to discern calf from mylar. But if you look at some pictures of drum kits on album covers or convert footage or stills, you'll see how batter heads were used on both sides of the drum and many drummers played both sides of the rack toms! It wasn't as critical then as it is now that the batter is the batter and reso side is reso side. One side could be and was hit just as easily as the other! No doubt things changed as recording technologies advanced and the quest for he most realistic renditions of recorded live music was the end game. So now we have a plethora of options to achieve our musical goals and at a considerable cost! Music stopped being affordable sometime ago but the past 20 years or so it has gone on a greedy feeding frenzy! How I long for the "old days"! But I digress..... I like a pronounced attack, but not an overpowering click sound of the stick, with a rich, full,even tone and a short sustain. I use wooden tipped sticks, Evens EC 2 clear heads on toms (batter and reso) and Genra dry coated on all snares, a clear EMAD batter and coated reso with a 5" sound hole and my own version of an EQ pad for all bass drums. For extra volume and clarity I have microphones and a mixer and amps if need be. I have several kits and have found this combination to suite all "my" musical needs so far. After a while of playing, I think one finds their wheelhouse and builds their arsenal accordingly. Not everyone plays everything and therefore doesn't really need a Mike Mangini or Neal Peart drum kit, " just in case!" but boy the drum manufacturers love it when we think we do! I love this channel! You guys get to try things I couldn't but thought to and do alot of what I've experimented with and it makes feel good to see others search for themselves. Of course you get to share with the world on the web. Our phones had a wire and a rotary dial. That's it! 😉 Keep up the great work!

It's pretty nuts that you guys uploaded this video right after I switched my clear Ambassador reso heads to coated Ambassador reso heads this past weekend. I ended up having to change all the heads on my kit before church & I've been watching a lot of Bonham & Benny Greb videos & how they tune their kits, only to find out that they use(d) coated reso heads. I ended up trying it out & I noticed how much more warmth & control I had just by making the switch. Drums are buckwild, my dudes.

Just finished fixing up a '65 Club Date and put calftones on the batters with coated g1 on the to tom reso and (thanks to the store not having any g1s in the right size) a uv1 on the floor tom reso. Vintage sound for days.

How do I like this video twice? I've been playing coated reso heads on my toms for a while now, and I get some people genuinely shocked that anyone would consider such a thing.

Thank you. Finally a video that provides the info I have been seeking. Going to switch my clear G2 batters for coated G2.

I love that snare sound

I seem to say this often, but.....another well done, and well presented video. keep up the good work.

Single ply coated batter & reso is my favorite combination. The coated resos give the toms a tiny bit more focus while still providing all the sustain and tone I could ever want.

This channel is soo usefull. Greeettings from Perú, guys.

I switched to coated a little over a year ago and haven't looked back, but after watching this, I want to try clear again... ya know, just to be sure. As always, great video, guys!

Your videos/tutorials are so helpful. Cody, you have great way of explaining things and your open mindedness about drum styles and tuning sounds is refreshing. I wish that I could tune drums like you can. It's tricky. I've watched six or eight of your videos and learned something every time . Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.I'm subscribing now.

Thanks for this. Reso heads have always been an enigma to me. Growing up a huge Phil Collins fan and never having formal training, I took the bottom heads off my first kit and never really learned the relationship between heads. Years later, when I purchased my first (and still) quality kit, I kinda just left the reso heads it came with as-is and just fiddled with the reso if I was having a real issue with the batter. I kept those heads through the years I was actively gigging and then the band broke up and the drums got practice mute heads placed on top so I never had to touch the heads. Little bit ago, I had the chance to play with some guys again and was working towards a wedding gig for one of their kids' reception so I finally got all new heads, top and bottom. Wish I found your channel sooner because I'm not super thrilled with my choices (Remo coated vintage emperors on top and Remo clear diplomats on bottom). Wish it wasn't so pricey to experiment when you have a 7-piece kit. That all said, I really get a lot out of your channel - so thank you again.

wow..that clear head made a big difference...much more resonant!!

In the 80s Drum companies put Clear reso heads on their drums simply because they are a bit cheaper to make without the coating. And so we got used to that sound and it became the norm. But ALL pre 70s drum kits had coated reso heads. My 60s Ludwigs have coated Ambassadors. They became the industry standard in Canada. Evans not so much. My 80s Gretch kit has the original coated reso heads. Jazz drummers tuned their drums quite high BUT use lite sticks w a soft touch. Also we use brushes.

Good episode. I use Aqauarian Modern Vintage on both reso and batter.... great for jazz and low to moderate volume gigs...

Thank you for demonstrating these comparisons.

I have coated bottom heads on my Camco which is currently my main studio kit. I use coated Aquarian Modern Vintage 2 (2 ply) on the tops, and coated Aquarian Modern Vintage Medium (1 ply) on the bottoms. They sound so FANTASTIC!! I agree with your comment about the floor toms having a more meaty tone, especially when played harder. It's like there's an attack, and then there's a little extra "swell" of low end from the floor tom with the coated on the bottom. It's definitely a more vintage-y, vibey sound, which I absolutely love.

Fantastic video, thank you!

Right on!...I like the coated head on the resident side...Sounds tight

Yes I did and I a still am! Clear Emperor top and Vintage Coated Ambassadors bottom. Great dynamic indeed!

Wow, I've never thought of that would make a big of difference as I heard! Thanks for a great video

Very informative video. Smooth playing examples. Appreciate your analysis of the Physics behind the sonics.

This is super informational. I love being able to hear the comparison. Thank you.

I couldn’t help but chuckle with the slow-mo head change out. Looked more like a sexy commercial! On a serious note, I’m intrigued. I’ve never been opposed to using a costed on the bottom (I actually think my first kit came that way), just never used it. Love the ideas that differ from the standard norm.

I used Remo diplomat coated for years beneath on one of my kits, but I first saw Gavin Harrison using them and in the past jazzdrummers would use ambassador coated a lot...Thanks man!!!

Thank You not only for sound clips and sound comparison but also for Your comment. I just put coated reso on my Pearl Decade and it sounds really nice (sorry but I can't describe the sound - its bit different but still very nice)

Thank you so much, I'm about to change my heads, this helped me a lot to decide on the resonants. I like your style too. Keep doing the good work.

Calf skin heads. Dad was a jazz drummer and did a fair amount of brush work playing small clubs in 3 piece groups. Typically, Bass, Piano and drums with a female singer. He always used calf skin heads. When they would get so thin they might wear through, he could make them last a little longer with some nail polish.

I love how you guys, when comparing the sounds side by side, rather than doing by reso head comparison (ie. rack and floor tom with clear and then batter head) you went by the reso head (doing the rack tom clear and coated reso, then floor tom clear and coated reso). In a lot of your more recent videos, you compare by the whole kit, and it’s not as easy to hear the side by side of each individual part of the drum pertaining to the subject matter of the video

I'm using coated on the bottom. As a go up on the sizes I add them a little thicker, especially on the 16''. For example, remo amb coated on the 12'', remo emperor coated on the 16'''. Great video guys!

If the only thing I leaned from this lesson was to switch to coated resonant heads for my floor toms, it will have been worth it. But I leaned so much more...

I use the combo of clear ec2s for my batter and reso 7s for the reso. I’ve used this combo for awhile now and have not had to use any muffling and get some awesome tones from my toms

My first non rental kit was a used Pearl World Series. I believe I put the stock coated batters on the resort side when the batters were replaced with remo coated. I was just screwing around, but looking back I was able to get a sound I loved and this video has me wanting to try it out again.

Nice job!

Love it! Lots to think about here, dudes! It's an interesting observation you made about muti-tom kits running coated heads because I have always sort of thought coated are better for two-tom kits and clear for anything more than that. I guess thinking that clear heads make each tom's fundamental pitch more distinct. I did run coated Ambassadors top and bottom for a year or so after Benny Greb's first DVD came out and to me my toms just lost definition. I find I keep gravitating to the sound of Todd Sucherman, Steve Smith, Simon Philips, Billy Cobham (I think?), Virgil Donati, and other "big kit" players who all play clear Ambassadors top and bottom. So now, by contrast, I look forward to the your deep-dive into that. Thanks again guys!

Rather inconclusive, but interesting post. It's really nice to see the differences presented in the context of the whole kit, which I don't think you used to do before.

you're just a genius! Ideas! wow! love from europe!

Great info. Thanks!

Best resohead i ever played have been Evans Black gold a very thin hea, i played at a poremier signia with Remo Emperor, when i changed the topo head to ambassador it also worked perfect, good controll and nice overtones

I love using this option with different top heads. I have the evans reso 7 heads i use occasionally. Great option

3:17 HiTom Clear Reso 5:01 HiTom Coated Reso 3:30 LoTom Clear Reso 5:14 LoTom Coated Reso 3:46 Crescendo Hitom Clear Reso 5:29 Crescendo HiTom Coated Reso 3:50 Crescendo LoTom Clear Reso 5:35 Crescendo Lo Tom Coated Reso 3:55 Performance Clear Reso Heads (Snare Wires Disengaged?) 5:40 Performance Coated Reso Heads (Snare Wires Engaged?)

I remember puting duckt tape in a plus sign shape on the bottom of my toms that went from one side of the hoop to the other. That was on a clear single ply head. I stoped using reso heads because I hated the basket ball sound I got from them. Now that I have seen this video I may try coated resos with my clear batter heads. Thanks for the info!

I use g2 coated on top and g2 clear on the reso side. Makes tuning very easy and I love the modern sound a lot.

I love your content guys..I am always changing things up and you always have great ideas/fixes etc...keep up the great job

very helpful. thank you

state of the art in drum tech

I can also remember using clear powerstroke 3's as a reso. It controlled the over tone like a coated head but still had the high end attack.

Great video💯✊🏾.

I use reso 7s ever since I heard of them and I don't know how else to say this but they make toms sound woody (think Mark Guiliana) at higher tunings as tall have mentioned and it sounds absolutely amazing. As for low tunings they can soften up the over tones (besides at quiet volumes) which I find very appealing since I don't use any muffling on any of my drums

Great Video

Amazing! I actually never thought of putting the coated on my reso sides! My next head purchase will include coated reso heads)

Ok i will try this! I think in a very small recording cabin this will work great for controlling overtones as well. Awesome video as always guy's!!!

Very interesting and great content delivery...instant sub!

Under the advice of Jimmy Chamberlain (via a phone conversation which was catalyzed by a friend who knows him personally), I went with Evans Level 360 heads for my 6-pc Crush 5-ply maple kit which I use exclusively for studio work, and I've found they work great for everything I do here. For the record, my work tends to exclude "metal" and other "extreme styles". I've been super-happy with the results. They do almost every job VERY well, and I don't have to fight them with EQ very much, if ever. Whether it's jazz, country, rock, reggae - you name it - I get great tones.

When it comes to head selection it all revolves around your playing situation, like the top pros running clear heads wide open with no dampening have PRO sound engineers at their beckon call running compression, noise gates, and every other processing trick in the book, they can make a cardboard box sound awesome, but I play clubs mic"ed with out a lot of processing gear, that is a whole different situation, you need a lot more control over your drum sound or your kit will sound like a herd of whales coming out of the water through your sound system, uncontrollable feed back, so head selection is key for your situation, and as they say why put all these wide open heads on your drums then cover them in tape and moon gel, get it right from the start, at the same time ALWAYS put the heads on YOU like your the one that's going to play them 😎

Great video as always on an often overlooked subject. I have been using coated ambassadors over coated emperors for a few years on my old 70s Luddy kits and love the very slight change to the overtone control and tone. I've been tuning a lot higher than I would usually (due to your guidance ina previous video) and feel coated resos work great at super low as well as high tunings.

Nice.... I use 2 floor Tom's, 16in each... One has a clear reso and the other has a coated. It helps change the tone just enough so the tuning and notes are different! Really like the Evans Deep Vintage II line a lot,they sound incredible

Great camerawork at 4:28 !

Love that Pearl Masters!

Props. You guys make great vids.

I remember that my 69 Ludwig maples sounded best with the original coated DB 750 coated on tops and bottoms.

I've been using coated resos for years (math rock/progressive/alternative/funk) originally because I saw a promo shot of Vinnie Col with it and initially did it for aesthetic - but now, I prefer the rounded, punchy tones. (Remo coated vintage emps batter / remo coated amb reso). Great channel btw!

John Bonham used coated resonate heads on his wood drum kits. If it's good enough for the god of rock drumming then it's good enough for me.

I’ve been doing the wallet trick for 30 years, but I only know what it sounds like when it’s empty!

I've held to the belief that I don't like mixing finishes and materials. I don't mixing clear and coated heads, and I don't like wood hoops on a steel snare. And after 27 years of playing, it has worked it great for me.

Love the videos! I like Evans J1 Etched as resos for my Pearl kit. BTW, that bass drum is outstanding, it shines on every video. Very sexy tone and punch...as Little Richard said about Elvis, makes my big toe shoot straight up in my boot! 😎 Hell of a bass drum and masterful tuning all around with you guys.

My favorite resonant side head for a snare drum is Remo 'hazy' Ambassador..just seems to round out the tone and take a bit of excessive 'ring' out of a snare drum but still have good snare response.

I play coted top and bottom on my Bop kits, I really like the warm sound I get out of them. And for backbeat oriented music I play coated tops, and clear bottoms which give me a little more attack (punch) at the initial strike of the drum. It fits backbeat styles better. In both situations I don't use any muffling on the drums. Bottom line: there is no right or wrong way, there just options we have to chose from.