Ding! Ding! Ding! Folks, we have a winner! This one tops my “George’s Picks” list. From Cympad’s Website: “The gated drum damper enhances the attack while keeping the tone of the drum. The Shark’s exclusive hinged design allows the device to float on the playing surface— subtly reducing the volume and resonance by reacting to the intensity of the stroke. Rugged, re-useable, with plastic carrying case included.”
To me this just about says it all about a product that falls into the “best thing since sliced bread” category. We drummers have tried everything from internal mufflers, to wallets, to tape, to plastic rings, to Rube Goldberg type mechanical devices to try to soften some or all of the ringing sound of the snare drum, but without muffling its tone. I have tried a few gated mufflers in the past but none of them were designed this well. One of its prominent features is that it is removable and reusable. I’ve removed them and reused them numerous times now, and it does not lose any of its stickiness. It also does not leave any residue on the head.
As soon as I tried this, I ordered five more. Made of the same type of memory foam as the Cympad cymbal washers, this simply sits on the edge of the drumhead with the smaller part of it adhered to the head. The larger part, what I’m calling the “flap”, sits flush with the head until it is struck, at which point it lifts slightly then falls back down. I put it on two drums I used in my recent gigs and it gave me that perfect dry sound, but with just the right hint of head ring.
I use muffling when it is called for but I usually like a wide open drum with all the inherent ringing depending on the situation and the music. I have been using gaffers tape for the longest time to kill a little bit of the ring, but this is my new “go to”. i wonder when they will come out with a tom version.
Though Cympad advertises that it can subtly reduce volume as well, I’m not hearing it.
I hesitate to use the word dampener or muffler to describe this. It’s more like a controller; a ring controller. It does not effect the tone of the drum or the head, only the resonance of the head; the ringing sound that occurs in the outside 2” perimeter of the head.
The Cympad Shark is reasonably priced and available at www.Cympad.com