In the studio, where drums are close-mic'ed, the issue for me is to worry about any inadvertent sounds, like the metal reinforced bottom of the drum moving against a hard floor and making a "crunching" or scraping sound - especially on my main drum, which I have against my body and tilted. Any shift can cause a sound. The close mic'ing and reverb takes care of the actual drum sound in the recording process. * Meinl's Marathon line of congas feature a rubber ring on the bottom of the drum, alleviating this issue. When I play congas live in a seated position, I oftentimes use Meinl Percussion's wooden sound plates to maximize sound reflection (especially because most drum risers are carpeted).
