Ep. 5 Kentville Drums Kangaroo Hide Drumheads 

Glad you enjoyed the episode, Mark! Thanks so much for watching.

Indeed he is! Thanks for the kind words. Be sure to subscribe if you haven't already. Lots more coming soon!

Very cool! We knew that they offered custom sizing for older kits/metric sizes but we weren't aware of anyone who had taken them up on the offer. Glad to hear that you're enjoying the heads. Cheers!

That might have to be a thing for the future! Thanks for watching. -Ben

Sounds Like A Drum Sure thing! Thanks Ben!

Thanks for watching! That 30's NOB must be quite the sight (and sound)! Let us know how it works out when you get it on there. Cheers!

My bass drum sounds beautiful with its’ roo skins.

Well played...

@@SoundsLikeADrum I couldn't resist! :-) I must tell you that I bought me a kentville head for my snare and I absolutely love it! It has a nice bounce to it (partial pun intended) that feels more rubbery that a synthetic head. Tunes very easily, sounds great tuned low or high, played loud or soft. This is truly a revelation for me. (Sound like I'm fishing for an endorsement doesn't it?) Great videos! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We did a “first look” video on our Patreon about a year ago: www.patreon.com/posts/29785319

Hey Nathaniel, great question - I've used these heads now for a wide variety of gigs that got quite loud without any difficulties at all. I think that it's more that people often automatically think "old-style heads are good for old-style music" and pass over things like this for modern performance situations without really seeing if the sound and feel is something that could add a cool dimension to their music. These Kentville heads being tucked onto metal flesh hoops rather than wood also seem to be much more resilient to harder playing without pulling out at the edge (which, frankly, can be an issue with synthetic heads too - it's happened to me), and if durability of the skin itself is also a concern you can go for a heavy-weight skin since that's an option they offer. For what it's worth, I used this drum with this head on back-to-back shows last saturday, the first being a rock thing and the second a very VERY low-volume singer-songwriter and it smoked both shows with no tuning adjustments or anything. Also, it's worth mentioning that we aren't affiliated with the company at all and i'm only singing the praises of these because I buy and use them myself. Hope that helps! Cheers :)

No, I know you guys are not, I have talked to Ben a bunch and this has been a product I have had my eye on for a long time. I'll be interested in seeing how it sounds. I am a heavy hitter so I'm glad to hear they have different options

Oh cool man! That's awesome, i hope they work for ya! Let us know what happens if you end up taking the plunge :)

I'll let you know my next question would be which snare should I put it on. I have 15 snares lol

Hahaha, yeah hard choices :)

You could get what's called a 'slunk' head. Usually it's made of the skin from unborn calves. I think mylar has generally been accepted as better overall. Even the orchestral guys typically keep plastic snare sides.

With regards to the texture?

Sounds Like A Drum Brush wise, yes. They do a great job at getting the responsiveness of a skin head. As far as synthetic goes, they're pretty great.

Cool! Mine lived on my Crav for years - highly recommend :) calf/hide heads on metal drums can be fantastic too but I’d get behind the Craviotto choice 👍🏻-Cody

They make heads as thin as 8mil, though that may be a bit thick the snare side of most modern drum set snare drums. They sound equally (if not more) impressive on toms, as they help to bring out the fundamental of the shell by taming the overtones. As far as the various thicknesses, we prefer a similar take to various thicknesses for synthetic head - thicker heads on larger drums, thinner heads on smaller drums. When it comes to snare batters, you're balancing durability and sensitivity along with elements of tonal control (a thicker head will have an inherently deeper tone due to the extra mass). These heads are definitely worth checking out!

Thank you very much for taking the time to provide this educational channel, and for taking the time to respond to your audience/subscribers. I've had some experience with the more traditional calf skin heads, and I live where the humidity is usually quite high, but I've found that if the drums with calf heads do not experience a sudden and drastic change in the weather and/or humidity, they have been manageable for me. I have some old/vintage calf skin heads that are on drums inside my home, and I have not taken them out to gigs. I have a 28" Leedy Bass Drum that I'm told might be from around 1930, and the drum itself, and what just might be the original calf skin heads are all in great shape. This Bass Drum is displayed in our living room, and at times of high humidity from outside, I can see the calf skin loosen and tighten all on it's own as if breathing..... Sorry to start rambing! Once again, thank you for this most informative channel which you provide. I would really like to try these Kentville Drum Heads, and when I do, I'll have to let y'all know.... thanks and Blessings!

It's a pleasure! We'd be grateful if you'd help spread the word about the channel to the rest of your drummer friends. With regards to the 30's Leedy bass drum, that's quite cool to hear that everything including the calfskin head is in such great condition! Bet it sounds thunderous too. Cheers!

Thunderous indeed! This beautiful drum was supposed to be a "coffee table" in our living room, but has yet to happen, if ever.... it's a beauty standing all on it's own! Cheers!

Well the short answer is I don’t use calf anymore 😂 I find the the kentville more durable and warmer when wide open than the calf I’ve used. The brush sound is a bit beefier too and it seems less prone to stretch over time. Having these heads tucked on metal flesh hoops also is a big step up for durability and perform better with triple flange hoops than the old wood flesh hoops do (no spin/pull-out. -Cody

That was the medium! I’ve tried the heavy which is awesome for toms and low tunings in general as well and hope to get my hands on a light batter at some point too 👍🏻 -Cody

@@SoundsLikeADrum Nice! Thank you for your reply and all the great videos. ❤️🥁

I can almost guarantee it’s an Evans Snareside 300 👍🏻 pretty much all I use :) -Cody

@@SoundsLikeADrum thank you brother and smooth hands that’s for sure!

Good thing most of us play and practice inside with A/C these days.

They react quite similarly and should be cared for similarly. "Better" is subjective in this case but we're big fans of the consistency of performance from the Kentville Kangaroo Hide drumheads.

Sounds Like A Drum thank you for a fast reply

There are shops here that carry the heads so maybe consider purchasing from them.

Hey there! This is a fair point and not to be discounted, but I will say that since shooting this I’ve also had this head on a Worldmax brass snare, a COB Ludwig and a cherry stave piccolo (just because I was curious) and there is definitely a fundamental tone and feel that remains regardless of the instrument. Having said that, It for sure just modifies the intrinsic character of the drum you use it with, same as any other head. :)

Number one factor in sound is the drums dimensions. Second is heads and tuning. Third is construction. Crappy drums obviously have a limit to how good they can sound, but heads and tuning can accomplish a lot.

Oh please. There is a very distinct difference between the sound of plastic and hide. Rick Door recently did a good side by side with his concert snares if you want something very to the point. For sure hide gets over hyped but the jaded 'i doesn't matter and youre all saps' approach is far more obnoxious and unhelpful.

Thanks for the feedback! We've actually had some positive feedback regarding the background drumming in the first and last minute of the episode. We recognize that this can be a polarizing topic, so we'll likely do short performance features in the context of the episode going forward. We hope you're enjoying the series. Thanks for watching!

This video is great just as it is.

Good information + drumming background = 😇😇😇🔥🔥🔥🥁🥁🥁

What color is the sky in your world BS?