Drumheads
What is a Drum Head? Although there are few variants, typically they are made of polyester or Mylar®. Mylar® is a registered trade name of DuPont Teijin Films, which can be read about here if you want the detail. These films are tough, general purpose films that are transparent in 48 through 92 gauges and translucent in heavier gauges. They have balanced tensile properties and excellent resistance to moisture and most chemicals. They can withstand temperature extremes from -100°F to 300ºF. Mylar® does not become brittle with age under normal conditions because it contains no plasticizers.
Heads:
o Coated heads will be warmer and minimize high frequency tones. The stick slap has a very bright element to it, much like sandpaper rubbing together, but the main element is darker in tone. Coated is probably required if doing brushwork. What follows are general observations and you should try them all to see if you hear or experience and differences? Coatings vary depending upon manufacturer. Some manufacturers have created heads which give then a very unique sound and wear characteristic. By way of example, REMO offers the Renaissance™ or Suede™ series which gives the head sort of a less resonant but midrange presence to the sound, whereas the FiberSkyn™ heads have a much more mellow tone to them. Coatings from brand to brand not only offer a sound that separates one brand from another, but wear characteristics are affected as well. In most cases, REMO will be a warmer coating at the expense of faster wear on normal WEATHERKING™ drum heads like that found of the Diplomat™, Ambassador™, Emperor™, etc. However heads like the FiberSkyn™ may potentially last less or longer because a lot of this has to do with your style of play. Heads like the REMO Suede™ series and Evans J1™ have an embossed textured surface, thus longer life and do not chip like normal coating would. To my ear, Aquarian is on the brighter end of the scale for presence but their coating will outlast most everyone else’s and is also thinner and a bit smoother. Evan’s sort of strikes a medium balance between REMO and Aquarian. Keep an open mind because manufacturers are improving their lines all the time.
o Clear heads are bright with overtones, the stick slap does not have bright sandpaper like characteristics as found on coated heads, but the overall presence of the slap is very bright in the upper register and carries through the mix very well.
o Ebony is in between the coated and walks that balance of properties between coated and clear and the stick slap does not have bright sandpaper like characteristics as found on coated heads. It produces a less of a high frequency overtone resonance (“darker” tone).
o 2-ply: These aid in durability and can also limit high pitched overtones. Often referred to as “muted” in tone, when they do not have a control ring adhered to them do produce lingering resonance and bright overtones the higher they are tuned. These come in multiple film weights depending upon the manufacturer.
o Snare Side Heads are specifically designed to be thinner and should be the only style head used on the snare side of the snare drum. Thin heads enhance sensitivity and are brighter whereas thick heads are exactly opposite. The most common weight is a 300 weight.
o Hazy heads are generally both "bright" and have a stronger "midrange presence" to the sound.
o Glass heads are both brighter and drier than Hazy or other pigmented heads.
o Thickness - In all cases thicker heads will be mellower and less sensitive than that of the exact same thinner counterpart. For example, a REMO Diplomat Clear will be brighter and more sensitive than a REMO Ambassador Clear, the Ambassador being thicker than the Diplomat and both being single ply.
o Etched – The finish of the film has rough sort of embossed surface and does not chip away as does true coated surfaces. Good examples of this are the Evans J1™ and REMO Suede™ series of heads. These are favored for Jazz like applications.
