I checked musiciansfriend, but i can only find these real crappy ones... any suggestions?

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I know these people, they serve me food from McDonalds

dont use any... i most likely know of the drummers your into. what sound are you trying to get? i can try to help you out.. don't think that the sounds your hearing on albums are what the drums sound like in person..

DD, I'd like to help you, but I don't know. The only dampening I use is occasionally a small pillow in the bass drum and a home-made zero ring on the snare, which I made by taking an old snare drum head and cutting off the hard metal or resin outer ring. I then cut out most of the middle until all I had remaining was a ring made up of the outermost one inch section of the old head. I then tucked this ring into the inside of the new batter head before I put it on my snare. It reduces a lot of unwanted ring cheaply by reusing something you were probably going to throw away. I only use this on my snare because I like to keep my toms open and ringy.

i use moongel on my snare only I like it to be tweaked very high and the gel takes off some of the ringing overtones
however, dampening is really something that can be avoided with correct tuning of top and bottom heads and the right head for the job what heads are you using and how loose/tight are they?

EricRM, I sent you an E-Mail.

For everyone else, those are some good suggestions especially from "ihategarybettman".

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I write world class music, I just forget to write it down...

I have a feeling you did not get that e mail, if not, I am looking for a bump sound that doesn't carry off the pitch but is like the bass drum, (you can hear the pitch, but like a short bump sound)

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I write world class music, I just forget to write it down...

I think I know the sound your looking for and you should really try to find a drum head that "specializes" in that certin sound. Heavy heads and proper tuning will contribute to the "short bump sound".

KEEP IN MIND that what you hear behind your kit is not what exactly what the crowd will hear and its extremely hard to duplicate a sound you hear from a recorded album because there is too much technology coming from today's studios.

I'm not sure what kind of kit you have but you need to look at a quality drum as a work of art that shouldn't be overly tampered with. For example, I can take a $5,000 drum kit, dampen it too much and make it sound like a $400 kit.

If I were looking for the sound you described I would find a heavy drum head (maybe a Remo Ebony), tune it to the drum's "sweet spot" and down tune a hair from there. The only time I would dampen anything would be as a last resort. It is also important to have a friend play your drums and you have a seat in the audience to listen.
GOOD LUCK!

thanks ss, i'll do that... Remo Ebony, i'll get those then... thanks

I believe Remo makes the Ebony in a pinstripe (others correct me if I'm wrong). If so then thats probably the route you want to take. If for some reason that did not get you to where you want to be with your sound, try a 2 ply reso head for your toms. To save money start off with replacing the batter heads first.

Talking of damping....... when you peeps are largely condeming dampening, would that also apply when the drums are close-miced?? Or more specifically would you consider more damping for studio recording???

Well here is my take on it:
I strongly stand by my previous reply but my point of view was from a stage and not a studio. Because of today's technology, I've heard great drum sounds come from a studio when the drums were dampened. I think that getting a drum sound out of the studio differs from the sound you might achieve when playing live. I'm somewhat tolerant of using some type of muffling device, if needed, in the studio but that is only if I have complete trust in the sound tech. A good sound tech can produce artificial resonance that can, in some instances, sound better tha your drum's natural resonance. Now as for playing in live situations, I like 'em wide open baby, with that sweet maple resonance. I guess I would use dampeners if my band covered KC & the Sunshine Band's tunes. (no offense disco lovers!)

I'm just the opposite. I like zero rings or RemO's on my toms, but they kill me snare too much. For my snare I use small strips of duct tape, placed around the edge. I just put a piece on, hit the snare, and if it's still too ringy I put on another peice until I get my sound.

My toms are too blaring witout zero rings, for my taste. I like them to resonate long, but to have a very controlled sound. The zero's give me that.

Here's an important concept to grasp. You do whats important to make the music be at its best.

If that means a tight sound works, then do it. If that means a loose open sound works, do it.

Making music is an art. That means there are no rights and wrongs. However, there can be shitty art in one persons view of it.

Imagine Led Zepplin with a tight drum sound, or the Beatles "Come Together" with a wide open one. Neither would be what they were at the time.

So if you start from that perspective, you'll know what to reach for in a sound...studio or otherwise. You always manipulate the sound according to the audience. So if your audience hears you from a set of monitors, through headphones, or live, tune for it. You do things differently (or should learn to) for different situations.

You cannot categorically say make the sound muffled for close micing because the choice of a mic, where its placed, the tuning, drum sound and room all affect the end result. If you take an SM57 for example and push it in within an inch of the head surface on a wide open ringy drum, you'll likely get a muddy ringy result. Pull the mic back 4-6" in an acoustically well balanced room and you will likely get a pretty balanced drum sound.

Make sense?

I refuse to READ! this thread!