Head choice for RP's

[JimH]

I'm searching for a more open sound without too much resonance. I find that to limit resonance i limit the RP's tone boxing them in and that's the wrong way to go.

I find they ring extremely long it's amazing and beautiful on its own for instance when batter and reso are tuned the same. (Using a tune-bot for repeatability). But I want to shorten it a bit. But increasing the tension difference seems to close down the tone way too much.

I have Evens G12 on the 12 & 14" and G1 on the 10". I'm targeting the higher tuned jazz kit range for the type of playing I do.

Any way just picked up a Fiberskyn Diplomat for the batter thinking it will diminish the ring. Looking forward to trying it out but I have no idea what to expect. LOL Anyone have experience with these or Renaissance heads on their RP's?

[servant000]

From your post I assume you already found the right sound and the right drum heads, and you're fairly competent at tuning your drums. If all you want to do is shorten the ring or resonance a little bit then I suggest you simply dampen either your batter or resonant heads. Duct tape works good although I prefer Moongel because it allows you to fine tune the resonance better.

I've used Remo's Renaissance heads but didn't like the way they felt. Too papery under the stick. The Fiberskyns I liked, but they were Ambassador weight, not Diplomat.

[2012Evolution]

Evans UV1. Perfect for these drums!

[JimH]

So its been a while... I think I am in the midst of a steep learning curve where there are a lot of moving parts not least of which are my ears and tastes. This Fiberskyn test has taught me the difference between resonance and overtones. When I put the 14" FiberDip on the FT it sounded flat but still rang - all else being equal as far as I could make it. And this was not pleasant to my ears at all. So I promptly put the G12 back on. Then tried the Fiberskyn on my snare (14x5.5 Acrolite). This Al snare has (I believe now) overtones to spare and the flattening effect (is flattening the right term?) of the Fiberskyn calmed it down. That I thought was really cool. I like the snappy Al snare but it can be too much, this setup I like best so far. Before this experiment I really did not have an appreciation for 'overtones'.
Back to resonance (or ringing). I am hesitant to put duct tape or gel for that matter on the heads. Instead I opted to not be so adverse to resonance. So I basically try for the tone, note, quality I want to hear and let them ring all they want. (I am not recording or giging so no limitations but my ears really) . In this way I just get to explore what I can get out of the drums / heads with one less constraint. I still am using the tunebot to get in the ball park then modify each one so the tone quality is the same and I like the intervals (and the snare doesn't vibrate & yada yada).
Not thinking I need to get them perfect (especially when that is a moving target) has been helpful.