Heads / Tuning Ideas for Yamaha SFZ snare & Power-lite quads

[TMdrumbum]

Hey all,

My high school battery is getting swamped by a large and powerful hornline in the fall season.
These Yamaha drums I have to work with sound like plastic trash cans. I don't have the money to experiment with a lot of different heads, but I need to try something new.

We've been using Remo Blackmaxs on top and a single-ply Remo clear head on the bottom. The quads have double-ply clear Ambassadors.

In short, I just need advice for drum heads and tuning ideas that will give these tubs a little more beef and power in the sound. I'm willing to try different brands. Thanks in advance!

[joe356]

Hey all,

My high school battery is getting swamped by a large and powerful hornline in the fall season.
These Yamaha drums I have to work with sound like plastic trash cans. I don't have the money to experiment with a lot of different heads, but I need to try something new.

We've been using Remo Blackmaxs on top and a single-ply Remo clear head on the bottom. The quads have double-ply clear Ambassadors.

In short, I just need advice for drum heads and tuning ideas that will give these tubs a little more beef and power in the sound. I'm willing to try different brands. Thanks in advance!

Well, a lot can be done with tuning alone. That being said, you are shooting yourself in the foot a little with the clear ambassadors on the quads.

If you want to stick with Remo, you might try switching to a fallams II or fallams XT on the bottom. You'll get much more tone from them, and will be able to crank the pitch up higher to get more carry. On the quads you might switch to pinstripes. They tend to project a little better than the weather king series on quads.

If you want to look into Evans, the Hybrid Gray and MX-5 has been my favorite combination, and the Corps Clear has given me the most overall sound (although I prefer the EC2s for the type of sound).

But again, some of that can be mitigated with projectors, tuning and implement choice.

[TMdrumbum]

Thanks for the recommendations!