The old expression of pounding the sound into the drum vs drawing it out comes to mind.
It is easy to do to toms because they are very loose and you can get the angle "wrong" when you're moving around fast.
People that do that to snares probably have caveman technique.
...my buddy put 2 dents in the head. I just continue to use the head that way and try not to look at the dents when I play.
If it's just a couple of dents, here's a trick that might work: Apply a bit of heat to the head where it's dented. A blow dryer on its highest heat setting or a heat gun on low (at a distance!) might work.
(I learned this trick to remove dents from the heads of marching bass drums. It's just another Mylar head, so I don't see why it shouldn't work.)
If it's just a couple of dents, here's a trick that might work: Apply a bit of heat to the head where it's dented. A blow dryer on its highest heat setting or a heat gun on low (at a distance!) might work.(I learned this trick to remove dents from the heads of marching bass drums. It's just another Mylar head, so I don't see why it shouldn't work.)
Great tip. I'll give it a try, thanks SkyDog.
P.S. Do I have to remove the head?
Nope.
...and I thought of a video example. On the TV show How It's Made, they showed some drums being built in the Grover Pro Percussion workshop. Just over 8:00 into the clip below, you can watch them use a heat gun to shrink the bottom head so it better conforms to the snare bed. Similar idea to shrinking the plastic to remove dents.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvy7iS4K0Os[/ame]
Oh, and one possible catch: I've never tried this on a coated head.
Nope....and I thought of a video example. On the TV show How It's Made, they showed some drums being built in the Grover Pro Percussion workshop. Just over 8:00 into the clip below, you can watch them use a heat gun to shrink the bottom head so it better conforms to the snare bed. Similar idea to shrinking the plastic to remove dents.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvy7iS4K0OsOh, and one possible catch: I've never tried this on a coated head.
It a ambassador black suede. Yeah, I've seen that video before, forgot all about it.
For toms, I sometimes put a calfskin patch onto the batter surface with crazyglue-----wet. It kind of makes a centre spot but with a throatier more punctuated tone than any centre spot would give. Denting is pretty much a thing of the past. I have never tried it on a snare batter but have always thought that a piece of very thin snare side slunk skin on to a single ply head would be pretty interesting..... Calf heads ,tuned properly(and that is the BIG THING ABOUT THEM) are remarkably durable and do not ever dent. They tear instead but only when played in an untuned state or if hit excessively hard. For those of you ,who have never played them,you are in for a surprise. One of the things that took calf heads out of the market was that they have to be tuned every time you play them. Well, what an odd concept, tuning a musical instrument before you play it! The plastic head makers kind of kept tuning a secret and stretching of the plastic. No wonder there are so many jokes about drummers around.
