Evans EMAD Resonant; booming while controlling

The resonant heads of a drum set play a very important role in shaping the overall sound and tone of your kit. They are the ones responsible for creating that full body sound that you can feel in your stomach every time you hit your toms or kick your bass drum. They literally give life to them. Nowadays, the market is flooded with many different options of resonant heads for almost any situation. One of the most recent releases of resonant heads was the Evans EMAD Resonant that was introduced following the success achieved by its EMAD (Externally Mounted Adjustable Damping) batter-brothers. Here is what I discovered after running some tests over in my studio with the EMAD Resonant installed on my kit.

First off, I decided to place some mics around my bass drum, focusing on the resonant head of course and on the overall room sound of the kick. I had a regular resonant head installed that I usually use for live performances, single-ply with a hole and an internal control ring. It was a slightly thicker when comparing with the EMAD that features an 7.5mil film, which made me expect less resonance and boom right of the bat. After sitting behind the kit and recording some kicks I quickly switched the resonant head for the EMAD. Being a thinner and less tough head, I could already hear hints of the tone that it was going to produce while I was tuning it. But what got me really curious about this head is the feature that not only gives its name but also sets it apart from any other resonant heads out there; the Externally Mounted Adjustable Ring that was designed to control sustain and the overall sound of the drum. Right after the very first kick I played, I could not only hear the difference but feel the difference. And what a difference it was, it was like comparing a riffle shot sound to a cannon blast! I could literally hear one of my wife’s paintings rattle on the nearby wall every time I kicked the bass drum. I was very impressed with the low-end boost I achieved just by replacing my regular resonant head for a thinner and sustain-controlled one like EMAD’s. After such a great first impression, I ran quickly to the record some of those kicks and see how they where going to sound on my monitors. Note that I didn’t change mics or the batter tuning for this test, I only switch a conventional resonant head for the EMAD Resonant. By playing back the recording I did with the EMAD installed, I realized that not only did it give my kick a more refined tone, but it boosted its overall presence and boom-strength.

Accentuating low-end qualities while controlling sustain and refining the overall bass drum tone, the Evans EMAD Resonant is a head that can help bring a live and strong presence to any bass drum. Hard rock as RnB/Hip Hop drummers can really have a blast with this resonant one.

For more information about Evans Drumheads, please visit www.evansdrumheads.com