So lately I've been kind of re-inventing myself as far as drum tones go. I just felt like it was time to change. I usually get pretty good snare drums tones, and decent tom sounds, but I wanted to find ways to improve to get consistently great snare and tom tones. The reason I haven't mentioned kick drum sounds, is because I think my kick drum sounds are beyond reproach... (well at least for pop/rock.)
I've been using 2 ply heads most of my life due to primarily being a hard hitter and not wanting to change my heads every 3 days. I've also been using Evans drumheads since I was about 15-16 years old. Back then there were serious QC issues with Remo and Evans had just been purchased by D'addario whose QC was (and still is for the most part) pretty bang on.
Earlier this year I was on another audio forum where William Wittman was saying that 2 ply heads don't sound good. Period. He was his usual authoritative and unapologetic self. I was going to question this statement but thought better of it. He's never been wrong (that I know of) in all his years of posting (nevermind all of the amazing records he's recorded/mixed/produced.) So I decided to wait until I have the opportunity to mess around off the clock and completely change my approach with my Maple Custom kit.
Around the same time I was talking with dylanger (who works at Morris Music) and they had a bunch of Aquarian heads there, and I was thinking of taking this opportunity to try a different brand as well. Finally a few weeks ago I was able to pick up a set of Aquarian 1 ply coated batter heads. I took my time to seat the heads properly and let them stretch. When I started tuning them up I noticed the difference immediately.
I recorded my first set of drum tracks with them last night and they are completely blowing my mind. I don't know how much of it is the 1 ply vs. the fact that they are Aquarian but I've never recorded drum tones this good before.
That being said, the snare drum headwon't last more than 3-4 hours of that kind of abuse, and the rack tom heads "may" last two days maximum. So this could get expensive. Another complication I'm dealing with is that the distributor for Aquarian drumheads in Canada went out of business so I have to get a retailer to order them direct from the US. Minimum order they will entertain is $500.
I don't know if they grade the price of sonic excellence but................. Coarse.
What are your thoughts/experiences with different types of drum heads? Either live or in the studio.