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Earthtone Drumhead Review from
Vintage Drummer, 1st Quarter 2004 Edition
Review by Jack Dukes
Earthtone Drum Heads are genuine goat skin heads. They are pre-mounted on aluminum rims with a built in crown. They are very easy to mount onto drums because they are installed just like a synthetic head.
Earthtone uses a proprietary process to treat and pre-stretch the head. Wayne Rogers, president of Earthtone Drum Heads explained to me that the heads needed two or three days to allow for "seating". Once the drums are tuned, minimal adjustment is necessary to maintain tuning.
The heads were used over a period of two evenings for several hours in a live performance setting. Styles of music varied from swing to rock and blues. The snare drum sounded good, particularly strong in mid to mid-low frequencies. The heads produced a wonderful brush sound with no resistance to the brush.
When I first heard the sound of these heads, I was reminded of the tonal quality of Elvin Jones and several other great jazz drummers. These heads are great for jazz, from be-bop to big band. The tones are clean and pure. The sustain of the tone is impressive with virtually no pitch bend. Tone is the operative word in Earthtone heads. Although I did strategically place one small "moon-gel" on the snare drum, I would shudder at the thought of attempting to muffle the beautiful tones produced by these heads. I was most impressed with the sound of the toms. I would be very interested in hearing hand drums (Tumbadora, Djembe, etc.) set up with Earthtone heads. The toms produced nice, open, clean and sustaining tone. It is possible for a good player to produce very musical tonal combinations for soloing. I was concerned that the heads might not produce enough volume for rock styles. However, I noticed no significant sacrifice of volume in rock styles.
I was very impressed with how well the heads maintained their tuning. Over the course of two evenings, I played the heads for several hours at volumes ranging from double piano to double forte. I usually make two or three tuning adjustments for every hour of performance. I made amazingly few minor adjustments to the tuning of these heads. When I arrived at the club for the second evening, I was amazed when I sat down to go through the usual 10-15 minute tuning "ritual". Though I did make a couple of minor adjustments, the tuning of the entire kit was virtually perfect. I was finished in five minutes. After the live performances, I moved the drums in cold weather and set them up in the studio the next day. The drums still sounded great. The tone of the Earthtone heads is so clean that the drums were noticeable easier to tune. It was much easier for me to hear the clarity of tone between one lug and another. I really liked that!
I feel that these heads will work well across a wide spectrum of performing situations. They are exceptional for jazz and jazz soloing. I look forward to taking the Mapex kit that I have outfitted with Earthtone heads to my next swing session.
I want to thank my drum technician, Paul Montineri, for setting up the heads prior to performance.
The Reviewer
Jack Dukes is a PIT graduate, professional drummer and drum instructor located in Atlanta, Ga. Jack endorses Mapex Drums exclusively for recording, live performance and in the studios of Jack Dukes School of Drumming.
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