An age-old technique for reducing, or dampening, the resonance of drums and cymbals is to place duct tape on the drum head or cymbal. It can also reduce low rumble in toms and harmonics from an overly “live” drum or cymbal. Duct tape is cheap and ubiquitous, but it’s not the best solution. It can be hard to tear, hard to reposition if you place it wrong, and it leaves a gunky residue when you remove it.
Gaffer tape, such as our selection of Pro Tapes, is similar, but better suited for drums. It’s thicker, easier to tear into pieces, and leaves no residue. It’s made of cloth, so there’s no unnecessary reflection on stage, and available in three different widths with a wide variety of colors so you can choose exactly the right tape for your application. Gaff tape is also easy to remove and replace to make sure you get your desired effect!
Of course, there’s other accessories you can purchase for the purpose of dampening, such as REM-O’s, but who wants to keep up with multiple giant, flimsy o-rings. Some of you may also be familiar with Moon Gels, but for anyone who’s used those for an extended period of time know that they collect dust, dirt, and hair, and washing them removes just a bit of stickiness each time. We’ve also heard tale of drummers’ children stealing and eating them!
So how exactly would you use gaff tape to get the desired dampening effect on your drums or cymbals? There are a variety of methods, but SUBTLE muffling can be achieved with by using the following technique:
First and foremost, make sure all of your drums are properly tuned before resorting to dampening. If you find that you're still getting too much ring, try some of these helpful tricks below.
-Tear off a one inch (2.5cm) length of one inch wide tape.
-Roll it 'back on itself' so that you form a narrow tube with the STICKY side facing OUTWARDS.
-Place this PARALLEL to the rim, approximately one inch in for more subtle muffling.
-Alternatively, place the tube about half-an-inch in at RIGHT ANGLES to the rim for increased muffling. This method works well on all drums.
For larger sized drums, more than one 'tube' of tape may be needed to achieve the desired amount of muffling. You may also place some tissue paper underneath the tape for additional help.
Alternatively, you may want to use the “fan” effect, like pro drum tech Kenny Sharretts uses.
No matter which method you find works best for you, you can always rely on gaff tape’s ease of usability, RE-usability, and lack of footprint it leaves on your equipment.
So the next time you reach for duct tape — don’t! Reach for Pro Tapes gaff instead. Your drums will thank you.
Check back next week for another musician hack with the use of gaff!
