Why does my drum kit sound like c**p?

Question

I'm new to playing drums, but I have a good knowledge of music, so any level of help is good.

My main concern is the toms... They sound like bongos and resonate waaayy too much for my liking. What I want from them is a short thud like hard rock music (Dave Grohl/Taylor Hawkins sounds is what I aim for). The tom heads are kinda crappy, but how much affect would that have on the 'echo rattling' sound? Also what about dead rings or dampening pads? Would they help?

I already have the main idea on how to tune the drums (make sure all points have the same pitch, turn them all equally, etc) so posting any of that won't help me much.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks,

Answer 1

dampening pads will help.  but its the way the drums are made. you probably bought a cheaper kit. it happens

Answer 2

When I was in drum & bugle corps we used to put duct tape on the head to lose the tininess.

Answer 3

Because druming is c**p. Give it up and play a human instrument, violin, flute, Horn, trumpet, guitar, voice, etc. anything but noise makers.

Answer 4

2 things;

1. make sure you have 2 ply heads, alot of cheapo kits come with one ply heads

2. get some weather stripping 1.5 inch wide 1/4 inch thick. put strips of that on the bottom head near the rim, it will dampen all the crappy over-ring and its cheaper than buying damper rings

Answer 5

listen what we use to do with our parade drums (tom toms) is take the heads off and stretch a thin towel across the base then replace.its easier with two people but you can do this with tape to hold the towel