Are DW Drums good for playing heavy metal music like Tama and Pearl drums?!
Question: I was looking to get a new drumset because i play
in a band and i've always been skeptical about DW
Drums and their sound quality.I've also noticed
that alot of heavy metal drummers use Tama and
Pearl drums.So what i wanted to know was do DW drums have the same sound quality that that Tama
and Pearl when it comes to playing heavy metal?
Answers: I was looking to get a new drumset because i play
in a band and i've always been skeptical about DW
Drums and their sound quality.I've also noticed
that alot of heavy metal drummers use Tama and
Pearl drums.So what i wanted to know was do DW drums have the same sound quality that that Tama
and Pearl when it comes to playing heavy metal?
DW makes top of the line kit, just like Pearl and Tama. The big difference is that DW only makes top quality stuff, they've actualy created a whole different company to market their mid-range stuff called Pacific Drums and Percussion (mostly reffer to as PDP).
In terms of sound and style of music it as alot more to do with what heads you're using and how you tune them. Virtually any kit can sound metal or pop or jazz, you just have to pick up the good heads and tune them properly. For example for jazz you'll want 1 ply heads (like Remo's Ambassador or Evans G1) tune really high, wide open with lot's of sustain. For metal, go with thicker, more control heads like Remo's Pinstripe or Evans EC2s. Being two ply heads they'll have a lower, darker tone, will be able to take more of a beating and will produce fatter more control sound, especialy if you tune them lower.
Tuning as alot to do with the overall sound quality of your kit. You can have the best drummer in the world, playing the most expensive kit and it will still sound like crap if it's not tuned properly. On the other hand what sounds good to the drummers hears is not always what sounds the best to the audience or to the microphones. If you're working with a producer or a sound engineer don't be mad if he/she plays around with your tunning, even though it may not sound as good to you it may do a hell of a difference behind the mixing board or to the people listening. With that in mind, if you're playing an unmiked gig, always tune your toms higger, it cuts more through the stage noise and peolpe will hear them clearer (human hear picks up higger sounds more easily).
Back to the point: yes DW are excellent quality drums and although they're not as popular amongst metal drummers, you have some pretty big name playing them: Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour), Alexei Rodriguez (3 Inches of Blood), Chris Antonopoulos (Opiniate For The Masses), Thommy Lee (Motley Crue/Methods Of Mayhem) to name a few.
Cheers!
just make sure you have really good heads, they're a bit more sensitive
NO NOT REALLY CAUSE OF THE WOOD THE COMPANY MAKES THE KITS OUT OF
The heads are the most important piece for making the sound. That being said, go test drive a bunch of different kits (you'll have to restrict yourself to shops that have sound rooms) and find the kit that has the sound you're after.