Another option from Remo is their Ambassador Renaissance heads. Much better than spray coated heads and you can also get the snare side heads in this model as well. they sound wonderful with brushes and last longer than the regular Ambassador.coated heads.
I might be the newest Von Baron student, so I apologize if you've answered these questions elsewhere. 1. Is the advice in this video specific to the batter head of the snare, or does it apply to the snare head too? And if not, do you have any tips for the snare head? 2. Does the snare shell make any difference when playing brushes? 3. Suppose you're playing a gig with lots of brushes but with a couple pieces that calls for (light) sticks. Are you bringing two snares to the show? Or are you playing the snare described in the video lightly with the sticks? Thanks for the video. You stand out among the RU-vid drum instructors because of your clarity.
1. Evan thanks so much for watching and for your kind words and questions! I haven't yet covered the snare side head so it's a great question. For the snare side, I use any head maker's clear snare side drum head. As you know, snare side heads are thinner than regular drum heads to give the snares maximum vibration. 2. Yes, I think playing a metal snare sounds different than a wood snare when playing with brushes. Metal is brighter and wood is more mellow in my opinion. I recommend wood for brushes playing. 3. I only bring one snare drum to the gig and use both sticks and brushes on it. As you know, having good stick control at quiet volumes is important to respond to the music. In general, I've developed a touch and technique that makes it possible to use my Fiberskyns for a long time without damaging them. Thank you for your kind words! Everything I share here and at my online Jazz Drum School: jazzdrumschool.com/ comes straight from my experience on the gig. I'm glad it's valuable for you. Many thanks again and keep swinging my friend!
This is great, but as a working drummer, I need a head that's thick enough to sustain rimshots abuse all night long while also allow me to play brushes very well for the occasional ballad, or to grab the same snare to go to the local jazz gig afterward. I like the Aquarian textured coating although I advise to reduce it's harshness a tad with some scotch-brite. I will be looking into the Jack Dejohnette signature as well, as the coating seems nice and smooth! Also, the Calftones are Evan's, the Fyberskyn's are Remos - little mix up there. The remos are very expensive for some reasons, bu they have that in different thicknesses.
Thanks for sharing you experiences using various drum heads. I totally understand what you are sying about the head thickness. Certainly, if you're playing hard hitting music, Fiberskyns and the like are not going to work. I found that the Calftones actually peeled within a week or two of constant use and I couldn't use them anymore. I had to swap them for some Fiberskyns which have worked out for the most part. I'm going to look into the Jack DeJohnette heads too. Thanks for the tip. On a side note, I recently got to try out a Remo Skyntone snare head and I didn't like it so much. Very think and very little tone. Obviously the Skyntone wouldn't work for your playing but I just wanted to mention it. May thanks again and keep swinging!
Please, what drumhead do you suggest for a beginner who is going to study jazz and need to play fast without too much drag from the drumhead ? Thank you very much in advance.🎉🎉❤
Would using a Diplomat head on the snare give more volume/projection? (I'm thinking un-mic'd use but with amplified guitars). Also would a coarser texture head be inadvisable or actually better for brushes? (I'm getting conflicting advice reading different reviews)
Thanks John for watching and for your question. A Diplomat head is a thin drum head. From my experience, it doesn't project as much as an Ambassador. You also can't hit too hard on a Diplomat as it can break easily. I find coarse, coated drum heads to be too loud and grainy for brushes. Jeff Hamilton taught me a little trick years ago to take a some fine sand paper and buff out new coated heads a little. This takes the "edge" off of the coating and makes it better for brushes. My personal recommendation (because it's what I use all the time for my Yamaha Jazz kit) is to get Fiberskyn Ambassadors for the snare and floor tom. This controls their overtones a bit more and gives a meatier sound than a Diplomat. I then use a diplomat on my rack tom because it gives a more open sound on a smaller drum. I hope this helps! Let me know if you've got any other questions 🤙 PS: I also talk about this topic in my video about my Pearl MidTown kit. You might find it helpful as well. On this kit I use an Ambassador Fiberskyn on the rack tom as it seems to have cleaner tone than a Diplomat: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2awYSlSQy6M.html
Sorry I’m a little late to the party here. I have a love hate relationship with Fiberskyn heads. I have gone back and forth with using a Fiberskyn Diplomat on my snare. I like everything about it but the delimitation. Nearly all of my playing is light with sticks and brushes. Do you have any experience with the Skyntone heads. Their single ply construction would eliminate the delimitation issue. However I don’t know if the surface texture/feel/sound would be much different than a white suede, which I don’t care for.
Fred thanks for the comment. I don't have the same problem so much but I do know other drummers have complained about it. I have drummer friend who uses the Skyntone heads and really loves them, especially with brushes. I haven't yet tried them but will in the near future. If I like them, I'll do a video about them. Appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment. Keep swingin' man 🤙
⚠️ Please, what drumhead do you suggest for a beginner who is going to study jazz and need to play fast without too much drag from the drumhead ? Thank you very much in advance.🎉🎉❤
Thanks for the question and for watching! My go-to head for brushes is a Remo Fiberskyn or Evans Calftone. Both are smooth, give just the right amount of swish sound with little resistance between the brush and the drum head. Here are a couple of affiliate links for the heads. Thanks very much if you choose to buy through me: 1. Remo Diplomat Fiberskyn: amzn.to/47QgPEF 2. Evans Calftone: amzn.to/45wNDku If you are learning brushes, I also encourage you to check out my Brushes Mastery Course at Jazz Drum School. You'll learn dozens of patterns, fills, trading 4's and 8's and so much more: jazzdrumschool.com/course/brushes-mastery-course I hope all this helps. Keeps swinging my friend 🤙
My pleasure and if you ever need a hand with your Jazz Drumming, I'd love to help you at Jazz Drum School. Recently, I created a Complete Drum Course Pack for beginners: jazzdrumschool.com/course/beginner-jazz-drums I know you'll enjoy it and you'll improve quickly. Have a swinging great day🤙
I like the 'faux calf' type drum heads..I play with brushes a lot like the 'feel' and tone I get with brushes on the calf-style heads. I need new batter heads for my Sonor Bop kit pretty well set on getting calf-style heads but can't decide between Remo Fiberskyn, Remo Skyntone, or Evans '56 Calftone. I have experience with Remo Fiberskyn both in Diplomat and Ambassador weights..have experienced the top layer delamination issue with them so I'm leaning towards the Evans Calftone (have a snare drum with an Evans Calftone head on it sounds good no delamination with it so far) or the Remo Skyntone series if they hold up better than the Fiberskyns. Any insights on those?
Thanks so much for watching and for your comments! Interestingly enough, I have had the opposite experience with Remo and Evans. The Remo Fiberskyn holds up really well for about 4-6 months of heavy playing. The Evans Calftone head starts peeling with a week or two. If I get any peeling on my Remo Fiberskyns, I take some fine course sandpaper and buff it out. That seems to take care of it for awhile. Now on to the Skyntone. I just happened to have played on a great snare drum with a new Skyntone the other night on a gig. I have to say, I wasn't so impressed. The sound was pretty flat and I didn't like how buzz and double stroke rolls sounded. Just not much tone at all. Not sure if that's just my experience but I'm glad I had the opportunity to play one without buying it. Definitely the closest in feeling to a real calf-skin head but the tone was just dead. Hope that helps in some way. Keep swinging my friend🤙
