What's Wrong With Your Floor Tom? | Season Three, Episode 9

Рет қаралды 10,311

Күн бұрын

It’s come to our attention that dissatisfaction with floor tom sounds runs rampant so this week we’re tackling the issue from the ground up! While quite a bit of progress can be made with head choice and a drum key, your floor tom legs might just be getting in your way to greatness (at least when it comes to drum sounds…). ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Signal chain:
Mics - Focusrite Clarett 8Pre USB & OctoPre - MacPro w/Pro Tools 12.8
Recorded at 48kHz / 24bit
Focusrite Clarett 8Pre USB tinyurl.com/Clarett8Pre
Focusrite Clarett OctoPre tinyurl.com/ClarettOctoPro
Full kit: AKG C414 (ear-distance)Snare drum & tom tom close mics: Shure SM57
Bass drum: AKG D112 (at mic port) + KAM R3 Ribbon microphone ~8” away from reso
Drums:
GMS Maple 16x16” Floor Tom
G12 Coated Batter
G1 Clear Reso
Pearl Masters Maple Custom Extra Kick Drum
UV EQ4 kick batter
EQ3 Coated White kick reso
Hosted by: Cody Rahn
Production: Ben O'Brien Smith @ Cadence Independent Media
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Пікірлер: 97

@dylanrobins 4 жыл бұрын

It's incredible how every single time I come out of a recording session where I think "X sounds like shit. If only I knew more about X." you come out with the exact video I need within a day or two. Kinda creepy too tbh haha. Thanks for the awesome videos guys!

@Aquarius61 4 жыл бұрын

I find that to be so true... It's like EMPATHIC! I'm Restoring and Rebuilding a large format(12+1 Tama Imperial Concert Tom Style kit)[out of a 2 X 70's Vintage Mahogany Pearl Stencil kits]) for our home metal music studio kit. But the kit setup is based on old Jazz kit principles(Rounded over edges, and no pesky overtones from reso heads. Just low tuning Deep, Thunderous tones with just a little quickly diminishing sustain. And most of the issues I am anticipating to come up against, these boys have handed me all the answers. And they are actually doing the boring comparative work of all the different variants possible, which will save me a bucket load of time, because of the framework of knowledge they have provided so I won't have to second guess myself!

@robburgess4556 4 жыл бұрын

When I converted my Yamaha Recording 14" & 16" toms into floor toms I bought the Pearl legs and was very happy with the results.

@mattnor 4 жыл бұрын

I always have to much sustain on my floortom and almost every gig i need to turn one of the legs upsidedown. I also noticed out front that i need to tune my floortom higher to get it project well in the mix of the band. Now its tuned to a C (resonant) and A (batter).

@markamberol8592 3 жыл бұрын

Pretty crazy difference! Thanks!

@robclaytondrums531 4 жыл бұрын

Brilliant again Cody, thank you. Looking forward to the room situation episode 👊🏼🔥

4 жыл бұрын

Very interesting video ! I never thought about the legs having an impact on the sound, the difference is huge !

@davidsuprenant893 4 жыл бұрын

Love the pearl floor tom legs on pearl ref.kit.Never had a problem getting it to sound the way I want.The legs DW puts on the collector kits are perhaps the best I've ever used .With them they will sustain forever,if that's what you like,I personally love it when playing live in a club.Them babies 14,16,and 18s really project to the audience.

@austinmoore581 4 жыл бұрын

This is my favorite channel for drum knowledge, I've learned so much from you guys, you have a video for everything I've needed.

@garysmith3173 4 жыл бұрын

Another great video. I have a 1950s Sonor floor Tom with straight legs and it always sounded flat. I changed to light,angled legs,what an improvement.

@brianfieldsdrums3220 3 жыл бұрын

Big fan of the Pearl suspension feet. They help provide an enhanced sound and are very convenient fix to leave in place. Also a big fan of Booty Shakers for a removable solution. Snare stand mounted rack toms suffer the same fate. I really love the Little Booty Shakers for that solution. (Not an endorser-just a fan.) One issue I’ve run into with my floor tom was a droning hum from sympathetic vibrations. Perhaps enhanced by the replacement feet? I placed a pad of fluffy poly foam inside the drum (the kind used for seasonal decorations). That helped tame the hum, slightly controlled the sustain in a positive way, but kept the low-end fullness intact. Head choices, tuning and dampening options obviously allow for a multitude of sound/control possibilities. Having the sustain and fullness from the start is essential. Thanks for all the work you do and information you provide. It’s truly appreciated!

@alexanderjamieson7971 4 жыл бұрын

Years ago I bought just the Pearl air suspension feet to address this same issue. At the next practice, my band members thought I put new heads on my floor tom as they noticed a better, fuller sound. A fairly cheap investment considering how greatly it improves the sound.

@leeasbury7273 4 жыл бұрын

I noticed this when I started exploring why my 13" floor tom from my Breakbeats kit was capable of such great low tone when compared to 14" and 16" floors I had. Dig this channel.

@DanKesterke 4 жыл бұрын

Great video and thanks for putting the time into the examples. I agree: big drums = low tones.

@MikeyyDrumss 4 жыл бұрын

I picked up some pearl feet for a vintage gretsch drum a couple years ago and I couldn't believe how much better it made it. Also Eric Valentines paper towel in the floor and a sand bag hanging off the leg works really well for getting rid of that basketball sound.and focusing the attack without giving up too much sustain.

@elijahfaith7480 4 жыл бұрын

I never thought that changing the leggs on floor toms would make a difference.thank you for that S.L.D!...very interesting to know.now i do hear a huge difference from floor toms with leggs and a floating floor tom and actually looking into converting mine into a floating floor tom. I find the resonance is more dynamic 😁🥁

@ferpalaciosdrums1 4 жыл бұрын

I put those Pearl legs on a Tama Imperialstar 16", and it made a huge difference on the sustain and the low end

@jbondrums 4 жыл бұрын

If you don't want to buy the pearl legs, just put your normal floor-Tom legs on some cymbal felts.

@gretschludwigdrummer209 4 жыл бұрын

Great tip !

@johncollins5552 4 жыл бұрын

She's got legs and she know how to use them....sorry😃 What did Pearl actually do with the legs? I bought a mapex kit that claimed to have special floating Tom legs, I think they are supposed to have a spring inside? But there is nothing different about the ones that came with my kit. I think it's a con. I don't see any change in the video, that floor tom sounds good to me Cody regardless of leg choice.

@jbondrums 4 жыл бұрын

@@johncollins5552 I can't say for sure, but I guess the idea is to isolate the metal from the floor. I haven't tried the pearl solution but from experience if you want less sustain you turn one, two or all legs upside down. If you want more sustain you put cymbal felts under one, two or all legs.

@mikelomax7405 4 жыл бұрын

John Collins I have a Mapex Saturn kit and the legs are very obviously spring loaded and I love what they do to the floor toms. I don’t think they were offered on any series less than the Saturns.

@flocore 4 жыл бұрын

@@johncollins5552 The rubber part should be actually made of two parts, which, if pulled apart, have a spring inside them. The Pearl ones just have slightly larger rubber feet with holes in them. Concerning the sounds of the floor tom in this video: I'm sure the differences in sustain are way more noticeable in the room and where the drummer is sitting.

@johnreardon4944 4 жыл бұрын

I put the Pearl suspension feet on every kit I restore. I put them on my own 1978 luan Pearl FTs, 16 & 18. Coated Embs and Ambs, and whoa mama! Big sound!

@TomBelknapRoc 4 жыл бұрын

I'm looking up those floor tom legs right now! Honestly, it's not even about whether you want *more* resonance, so much as having a consistent resonance. I'm actually using the cotton ball hack successfully, but the tom sounds "wobbly" even when evenly tuned and I think this might help. Thanks, guys!

@BoxUpMyBones 4 жыл бұрын

I've been waiting for this episode to happen! Been preaching this for years haha. Pearl also sells those feet individually in 3 packs for like 15-20 bucks (you can usually fit them on most standard sized floor tom legs), and Gibraltar makes floating feet that work super well, for much cheaper (usually under 10 bucks)! Makes a world of difference! To add to this: not only do the floating feet boost the low end and resonance, but if you like to hit your floor toms hard (like I do), the floating feet keep your floor tom from dancing around on the stage or wherever you're playing.

@jbondrums 4 жыл бұрын

Try normal leggs and put cymbal felts under them, works a treat

@SoundsLikeADrum 4 жыл бұрын

Jostein- that’s a great little hack! Included that in our Controlling Your Floor Tom episode a while back alone with some ways to shorten sustain without killing the resonance.

@tylerblake3596 3 жыл бұрын

Even swapping out the feet on your floor toms can make a massive difference. I have a 60's slingerland floor tom with the original straight legs and tiny rubber feet. It sounded super dead and I couldn't figure out what to do with it. I went to a local shop and got some Gibraltar floating floor tom feet, and it immediately brought the drum to life, to the point where I had to tune some resonance out. It was a $6 fix for a problem that gave me a ton of grief!

@Laurence_Balfour 4 жыл бұрын

One thing I've seen is putting a cymbal felt underneath each leg so that the resonance stays in the drum and doesn't disperse into the floor. But like you said, if you pitched it up the problem could be solved and you'd have a super resonant sound. 16s are always a bit of a fussy drum but, as they have a load of natural low end, having them slightly higher than as it's tuned in the video, I've found, doesn't reduce all that much low end as it promotes the low end to resonate more (like you said) whilst still being in the Mariana Trench

@paulchanning3147 4 жыл бұрын

I have those Pearl Air Suspensión feet on 8 floor toms and 2 baritone snares lol. They are excellent. I wonder if the ‘Booty Shakers’ are noticeably better?

@vinnyrac 4 жыл бұрын

Two words for anyone who's brave enough: Carnauba Wax, and I don't mean just on the edges though that 's a good first place to start. I mean a healthy coating on the entire inside of the shell. Warmed my toms and snare drum up like nothing else. (Canopus Yaiba bop) Got rid of the ping from my snare snare and the boing from my floor tom. No muffling or dampening required. Just naturally, open, warm sounding drums. Takes some stones though as there's no going back, so you better be at the point of wanting to sell your drums because the sound is driving you nuts before you even think about attempting it.

@Aquarius61 4 жыл бұрын

Another Timely and Truly Valuable episode! Thank you! Have you already covered working with Open bottom Concert Toms? I'm specifically interested in how they take low tunings, but specifically using Evans Onyx heads on Rounded Over edges (jazz style). I am about to invest in new heads for a low tuned 12pc kit at the cost of over $500 cnd... It would be nice to know if it's close to what my expectations are or worth the squeeze. Keep up the great work.

@jasonrobelia8829 11 ай бұрын

I recently picked up a gms grand masters kitvwith 14, and 16 suspended toms. I didn't want to drill so i decided to go with the world max floor tom suspension mount. So far so good.

@weschilton 4 жыл бұрын

Both of my Eames floor toms ring like bells... its crazy. I use standard old 1990s Yamaha floor tom legs too.

@pheachshorbet916 4 жыл бұрын

So many things to say! First, I love that you actually have something tuned LOW. I love dark sounds and find that you lean much more toward the bright and cutting side of things. No judging here, but it's nice to finally hear something more my vibe coming from you. Second, I'm very surprised to hear about a GMS drum not being super amazing. They have such a reputation among pros and drummer nerds that they are super premium and amazing in every way. I find it interesting that so much of their drum making method is wrapped around sustain. They have innovated so much to promote resonance, yet here we are talking about their dead floor tom. Third, I would have liked to see some straight legs. I think it is Mapex that now offer adjustable legs that can be made straight to further dampen if necessary. Would be great to test those out.

@tillsommerdrums 4 жыл бұрын

I have used cymbal felts under my floor tom legs for the same effect. Works really really well although it is a bit tricky to find a way to make them stay under the legs. But you could just use gaffer tape or something like that to stick it on there. Probably the cheapest option since drummers usually have some cymbal felts sitting around

@flocore 4 жыл бұрын

They demonstrated exactly that on an earlier video and taped the felts to the feet, as well :)

@ILikeWafflz 4 жыл бұрын

6:45 rdavidr did a video with drumeo about uses for old drumsticks; one idea was emergency tom legs.

@pablofunpeople89 4 жыл бұрын

I just wish I knew this a long time ago. There's also an option with Mapex legs, I believe only in the Black Panther lines. They have this adjustable segment for you to choose the angle on one of the legs, so you can go from a straight leg to a more extreme z shape to dial the sustain. Have you tried that? Amazing stuff as always, kudos!

@jdion79 4 жыл бұрын

Not a shill for Evans heads but I have a super problematic 16 floor. Rattled and everything. Strapped on an Evans emad 16 tom head... problem solved. Somehow, magically, the rattle was reduced by like 90 percent. When it comes to the legs, one of the factory rubber feet fell off so I bought some Gibraltar rubber feet. They were hollow and I thought that was weird but when I switched them out the sustain was suuuper noticable and it sounded much more buttery. Pleasant surprise for a 6 dollar purchase!

@weschilton 4 жыл бұрын

Rattle? Or that papery head sound? What kind of drum is it? if its rattling you might have loose parts inside of one or more of your lugs, or leg brackets. if its that papery sound, you just have it tuned too low.That would make sense as you stated the emad solved it... since its got a HUGE foam ring around the edge.

@jdion79 4 жыл бұрын

@@weschilton it actually sounded better even without the ring. I tuned it high, low, medium. Took off the legs, took off the reso... I tightened every screw on that tom 3 or 4 times over. Tried different heads even from Remo to no avail. I think the shell may be warped but at this point it's acceptable. Lemme tell you it was effing frustrating.

@weschilton 4 жыл бұрын

@@jdion79 Well if its warped it should be easy to measure with a tape measure...

@snapascrew 3 жыл бұрын

You should try and grab a Sennheiser 421 or two for this channel... that sm57 rolls off the bass quite high. Sennnheiser is having a crazy sale on 421’s right now too!

@ShakingTwoTrees2012 4 жыл бұрын

I have a 14" with hollow legs that has similar resonance to the Pearl feet in the demo and a 16" with solid legs that resonates much less and sounds closer to the other two. Matching the legs on both would no doubt solve my problem, but I don't often play both floor toms together other than when I'm at home.

@DZNTZ 4 жыл бұрын

I do love a new episode of SLaD! Thanks guys 🙏 Yeah man, it’s all about how the floor tom interacts with the floor. The old school L- shaped legs seem to work well, like the George Way style (as opposed to the Z shape usual nowadays). I think maybe companies went to the Z shaped leg to purposely dampen the drum by transferring more energy into the floor, for a more ‘modern’ rock sound. And then, turning a leg or two upside down will drastically reduce resonance if that’s your thing. For me, I want the RESONANCE! You can always dampen a drum when needed, but let’s start with a drum that sings. I love a loooow tuned 16” that just ripples through the room like sonic pudding - bwwwwOOOOMMM There’s a couple products worth a mention here that get right to this very resonance issue- For getting the feet decoupled without changing a thing - TnR Booty Shakers (and don’t forget Little Booty Shakers!). You can keep these with you and rescue a poor sounding kit anywhere. Good stuff, good company. Gibraltar floating floor tom feet - I must have 3 or 4 sets, I even put them on bass drum spurs when I can. A set is like $6, and they will TRANSFORM your tom. Same concept as the Pearl, though I guess the Pearl are cooler looking. Options. INDe Drum suspension brackets - We all know how cool and innovative the gadgets from INDe are, these are no exception. A U-shaped ‘sprung’ mount, which grabs any size tom leg (or rack tom post or whatever else). Looks great too. Suspension mounts for rack toms have been around for ages, why did it take so long to get to the floor? Idk. Thanks INDe!

@flocore 4 жыл бұрын

There are Gauger or DW floor tom RIMS (I think Gibraltar offers them, as well). They've been around for ages.

@isihernandez9752 4 жыл бұрын

Mapex used for their floor toms and bass drums the same suspension system used for their rack toms in their Orions and Saturns (I have an Orion Classic Series kit for 20 years or so, and I love it). They also used it for their Deep Forest line (wich didn't last much though, and their early Black Panther kits, I think). Floor tom legs also had springs inside their feet. All of this made the floor toms very resonant and the bass drum is one of the best I've ever heard. Then they suddenly discontinued the Orion line (I'll never understand why...!!!) and they changed the Saturn, supressing this system for their FT and BD.... It's a shame imo, I love it.

@rademasi 4 жыл бұрын

nice video, i've wondered if basic springs from hardware store would work if you can find the size that fits sunugly on to floor tom leg feet?

@SoundsLikeADrum 4 жыл бұрын

There are actually some floor Tom legs that have springs attached to the feet as connectors to the legs. Pretty impressive though a bit too much sustain in some cases.

@garyjohnson4988 4 жыл бұрын

It’s not about the weight or metal make up of the leg itself. It’s about isolating the metal off the ground. That’s what the pearl feet do. An I can assure you the pearl feet will fit on about 90% of all brands of floor Tom legs. I’ve been teaching this hack for years. And I’ve tried every product and the Pearl R/40 iso feet work better than anything being the top in function and form.

@garyjohnson4988 4 жыл бұрын

It’s just like using Kbrakeson your bass drum Spurs. Your bass drum gets about 20% bigger ungrounding it from the floor cuz your sharp spur no longer touches the ground and sits within the Kbrakes material. Try it!

@GuitarHeroIsShit 4 жыл бұрын

Mapex tom feet have springs inside the rubber feet; I'd never really thought about this with my own kit (Mapex M Birch), but my floor tom has always been verrry resonant and maybe the springs contribute to this? To the point where, in the studio, I wedged my winter coat partially underneath to dampen the reso head, it was that nuts lol

@RorRiiZzLE 4 жыл бұрын

For a long time I wished I had a floor tom like the one in this video, especially before I got pretty good at tuning. I’m sure my parents would still gladly accept less resonance and just boominess from my floor tom. Pearl Decade Maple, used to be only 16x16, but I added a 14x14. I still have a little trouble with the 16, but I think that’s due to a slightly dinged hoop. I have turned my legs upside down once to see the legs and I am a fan of those little kinda hoop feet on the Pearl legs. Btw, I sometimes get a little basketball in my 14 floor, but not my 16. Now when I have too much sustain, I tend to wanna keep the tone, so I put a pillow underneath the floor tom and if having just the pillow under it isn’t enough, I’ll make the pillow just ever so lightly touch the Reso head to still keep at least almost all the tone still, but take a good bite out of the sustainability of each note.

@flocore 4 жыл бұрын

Great tip with the pillow underneath the floor tom! In genereal, the surface area of the floor makes a big difference. Wood or linoleum flooring will give you more liveliness and more attack prominence than a regular carpet, for example. Udo Masshoff recommens bringing a fitting cut of linoleum flooring on tour as a more portable option than the wooden drum riser that Buddy Rich allegedly used to carry with him.

@dustbunnys 4 жыл бұрын

The heat of my garage has done a number to the tuning of my floor Tom. Somehow my rack toms actually sound better after being heated to oblivion!

@remygaron8311 4 жыл бұрын

All my floors are mounted pearl like you have but i found that the floor is the prob try hardwood floor ans a rug floor you will be surprise👏👏👏🥁🥁🥁🤟🏻🤟🏻🤟🏻🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

@Elboy522 4 жыл бұрын

My mantra is that you can always take sustain away from a floor tom that sustains too much, but you can't do the reverse for a floor tom that is being choked, so I have 2 words for my key to having a fantastic floor tom sound: Booty Shakers Also, with floor Toms especially, tuning them lower is generally the easiest way to bring out that extra bit of sustain, but obviously that won't work with every genre of music, but yea, BOOTY SHAKERS YALL

@SoundsLikeADrum 4 жыл бұрын

Booty shakers, better hardware, suspension mounts, even simply placing cymbal felts underneath the floor tom legs will all do the revere- bringing back more sustain and actually enhance resonance overall. Tuning ultra low is actually what tends to put resonance and projection at risk, as it does less to activate the shell and might only sound halfway decent above the drum (and then sounds like hitting a wet cardboard box if you stand in front of the kit).

@Elboy522 4 жыл бұрын

@@SoundsLikeADrum you make a good point there! What I consider to be "low tuning" is much higher than a TRULY flappy low tuned drum, I just consider it low as in what the note of the drum sounds like. Love you guys! Keep on educating the drummers of the world!

@georgebirddrums 4 жыл бұрын

Would like to see you guys do something on centre dot heads

@georgebirddrums 4 жыл бұрын

Especially the Tony Williams/70's rock thing of centre dot heads on both top and bottom

@jonathanreddish8590 4 жыл бұрын

i have so much resonance, i use an emad beater and an hydraulic on the reso....

@Zachadiddle 3 жыл бұрын

Alright guys I need help. I’ve got an 18” pearl decade maple floor tom. I’ve got it tuned roughly to an A natural with the reso tuned to an A flat and the batter to an E. And this thing just sounds dead very similar to what’s happening here. There is no sustain to the fundamental and it’s driving me bananas. I’m not doing anything wild just coated emperors over ambassadors. Ive added a little mass to the reso with gaff tape which helped a little but still not getting a desirable sound. I appreciate any help that can be offered

@johncollins5552 2 жыл бұрын

I put my feet on the floor tom and it really changed the tone but I can't wear shorts now that show the black bruises on my legs....boom boom! Have an awesome day!

@the6ig6adwolf 4 жыл бұрын

Curious what effect a RIMS mount would have on the floor tom?

@SoundsLikeADrum 4 жыл бұрын

Would definitely allow for even more resonance.

@garyjohnson4988 4 жыл бұрын

I put the pearl iso feet on all my floor Tom legs. They are $15 a 3 pack and fit on any legs. I like pearl feet on do aluminum legs.

@garyjohnson4988 4 жыл бұрын

Pearl R/40 is the model # for the iso feet. They are better than booty shakers because they are inconspicuous and are not a huge thing that sticks out that you have to worry about in travel. Been doing this for years. I put these on all my floor Tom legs. Last 3 pack I bought was $12 dollars. It really opens up your floor Tom sound.

@MrMrh1958 4 жыл бұрын

Get a Gauger floor tom mount!

@SoundsLikeADrum 4 жыл бұрын

That’s another (costlier) option!

@rapscallion52 4 жыл бұрын

"That's why I have such a BIG floor tom, like this 16" here" Me with my 20": "..."

@simonvasey8546 4 жыл бұрын

I hear the term "basket ball sound" used a lot when talking about low tunings. Just for fun, can you actually record a basket ball for a back to back comparison.

@lightfootmusick 4 жыл бұрын

oh, so floor toms don't sit directly on the floor? coo

@SoundsLikeADrum 4 жыл бұрын

Nope, they stand on their own three feet 😉

@yelltempus 4 жыл бұрын

You duh men!

@isihernandez9752 4 жыл бұрын

Quick answer: nothing's wrong with my floor toms.... ok, now I can watch the video...

@isihernandez9752 4 жыл бұрын

Ok, video watched... yeah, it's interesting how the legs can change the sound of the floor tom. Many brands use their own version of this "suspension system". I have a Mapex Orion and there are springs inside the rubber feet (I guess Saturns used this system as well). I think they don't do it any more, but the Black Panther's Sound Lab floor tom legs have a cool (maybe) feature. In 1 of each 3 you can change the angle, from totally straight to 90° (I think). It's supossed you can control the sustain with that, being straight = shorter sustain and 90° = max sustain. I never tried it actually, so I can't say how it works, but it could be a cool experiment if you ever have acces to them. I've also seen some people flipping one of the legs upside down when they wanted to shorten the sustain and resonance of a floor tom without adding any muffling, etc. Apparently it works, but I don't know how much control do you really have in the amount of sustain that you cut. I never tried because I like them to sound full and resonant, but maybe one day I'll do, just for curiosity...