Drum Skins
About Drum Skins
The quality and characteristics of the drum skins will significantly affect the sound of the drum. In fact, with correctly tuned professional quality drum skins, even cheap acoustic drum sets can sound fantastic.
Every single part of a drum has an impact on the sound and tone of the drum. Even the lug set can alter the sound. However, some of them are more vital than others. Probably two of the major ones are the drum shell and the drum head, also known as a drum skin. Among these two, it is the drum head that literally takes all the beating. Even if you use the best quality drum head on the market, you will have to change it eventually as the skin wears off. Read this article to find out more about them. Having a better understanding of them will help you choose the right type of drum head for your drum set.
Four best drum skins to buy
A drum kit will consist of at least four different drums. There will be two or three tom drums, snare drums, and the largest one, which is the bass drum. All of these have different sizes. Before buying drum heads, you should be careful to choose the drum head of the right size. If you’re not sure, just get out a measuring tape and put it across the drum shell to figure out the diameter. But that is obviously not the only thing to consider. After that, there is the matter of sound. The sound and timbre of the drum would be influenced by the material and style of the drum head. This article will tell you everything you need to know.
Remo Emperor snare drum head
Remo is one of the leading brands when it comes to drums and drum accessories. Therefore, it is not surprising that many leading drum players prefer to use drum heads from this brand. Out of all the drum heads from Remo, the Emperor snare drum heads are especially good. It provides outstanding power and will last you for a very long time under right conditions. Drum experts consider this to be the most robust drum head in the world. With two free-floating plies, it comes with a reasonable price tag and simple design. Probably the reason for its outstanding durability is the 10 mil Mylar. It comes in various diameter sizes, ranging from 10 to 14 inches, and is primarily used by rock drummers.
Evans EC drum head
This is one of the most popular dot snare drums on the market right now. Also, both layers of this drum head have the same thickness. Keep in mind that this is a traditional two-ply drum head. The external ply of the drum head is 7 mils, and an inner ply is of 10 mils. This combination creates a wonderful balance of tones. That means you won’t get any undesirable mid-and high-range overtones while you are playing. In fact, the reverse dot is on the underside of the head and will give you excellent control and attack. According to the manufacturer, you can also use brushes on this drum head instead of drumsticks.
Remo Ambassador drum head
Ambassador is yet another popular series of drum heads from the ever-popular brands Remo. This probably one of the most popular series of drum heads in the world, especially when it comes to tom drum heads. Remo Ambassador tom drum heads are 10 or 12-mil coated single-ply heads. In addition to exceptional longevity, these heads are also well known for their warm and well-balanced tone that also delivers plenty of attack. There is no shortage of drumhead sizes in this model either. You can find drum kits of 10″12″14″, 10″12″16″, and 12″13″16″.
Evans bass drum heads
Evans drum heads are to bass drums what Ambassador drum heads are to tom drums heads. If you want to produce warm rich and long sustaining notes with a bass drum, you should put on a high-quality drum skin from Evans on your drum shell. The EMAD2 model from Evans has an exceptional level of longevity and amazing quality. Most of all, they are reliable. If you want to create great sounding tones, EMAD2 drum heads will not disappoint you. The outer film of the drum head is 6.5 mil thick, and the inner film is 10 mil. Also, it features an adjustable damping system. So, you can set the damping to vary the length of the notes.
Tips on how to buy Drum Skins Online
Finding the right drum skin might seem like a simple enough task at first. But when you start thinking about how the drum head affects the sound of the drum and all the factors that determine the timbre of the drum head, you will come to the conclusion that it is extremely difficult. However, it gets easier if you know what factors to consider in them. Here are a few things to keep in mind while you are shopping for drum heads online.
- Type of the drum – Not all drums in a drum kit are the same. Depending on the type of tones and tonal characteristics drums have different names. Drums that produce lower frequency undertones are called bass drums, toms are responsible for middle tones, and snare drums produce higher frequency sounds. The diameter of the drum head and their thickness dictates the tonal characteristics of the drum.
- Single-ply vs Double-ply – Like the name implies, single ply skins have just one layer of material in the drum head. Not surprisingly, they are thin and have a thickness of around 10 mil. Sometimes they can be as thin as 3 mil. Double-ply drum skins have two layers of material and are generally thicker than single-ply drum heads.
- Clear heads vs Coated heads – The terms clear and coated don’t have to do with how the drum head looks and has more to do with the way they sound. Having a coating on the drumhead tends to change the character of the sound. The coating muffles out the sound of the drum a little bit. A drum head without a coating is a clear drum head. A clear drum head will have a fuller sound than a coated head.
- Special purpose heads – If you want to achieve a special type of tonal character with your drums that are difficult or impossible to get with a regular drum head, you can look at any of the speciality heads. But the downside of these heads is that they are not as flexible as the regular heads.
Besides drum skins, there are many other drum accessories you will need. These include items like drum sticks, drum thrones, drum stands, instrument covers, instrument cases, instrument cleaners, amplifiers, and preamps. You can easily find any of these using our shopping search engine . It will also let you compare the prices and features of different products and let you pick the best one among them. So, don’t forget to check out other amazing products from the Musical Instruments category.
Question & Answer
What are snare drums?
When you look at a drum kit, it can be difficult to tell apart a middle tone to drum from a snare drum at first sight. This is because both of them have almost similar frequency range and, therefore, similar size. That being said, there is one key drum, and it is in the lower head of the drum. Unlike regular drums, the lower drum head of a snare head has strings that stretch across the head. This string can be nylon, silk strings, or wire. When the top drum head vibrates, naturally, the lower head also vibrates. The presence of strings in the head produces a distinctive high-pitched sound.
How long do drum skins last?
Technically, the longevity of a drum head depends on many things. Firstly, there is the quality of the drum head itself. It is not a surprising fact that a good quality head will last longer than poorly made one. Another factor is the way that you play. Typically, people starting to play the drums tend to ruin the skin faster than experienced players. That is why students use heads that might not have good tonal characteristics but are durable. Generally speaking, a drum head will last for around six months under normal use.
Where to buy drum skins online in the UAE?
The drum head is the most important part of a drum, and often the costliest part. If you want the best results from the drum head, you should put some effort into finding a good quality head that will give you the best sound and lasts for quite a while. It would be even better if you can save your money as well. Luckily, there are plenty of great drum heads on Shops.ae. Not only are they of excellent quality, but you can buy them for the bet prices if you are shopping on Shops.ae.
There are more than 500 shops and brands offering drum skins online on Shops.ae. These shops offer products from brands like Evans, Remo, Pearl, LP, Tama, Sonor, and DW.