It does look awful.

You can still mount the front head, but just have a hole cut that leaves about an inch of head attached to its hoop. Then you can enjoy the sound of a single-headed drum and the appearance of a double-headed one.

I use 22" heads with centered 12" holes. I actually prefer the whole head, but per a recent posting here, I do so to help the sound engineers. I'm not playing at the elite level where the engineers know how to handle fully closed bass drums.

To each his own. If it sounds good to you, more power to you. I wouldn't do it. To my ears, a bass drum should sound like a human heart beat. If you've ever listened to your own heart through a stethoscope, you know what a deep, resonant sound it is. I like to tune my bass drums just above the lowest fundamental I can get. I want to hear a low musical note come from the reso when the beater strikes. But that's just me and my personal taste. As far as recording closed bass drums, been going on since the stone-age of the recording industry. Just about every jazz recording ever made was with a mic'ed closed bass drum.

What some consider annoying tones or over-ring is a non-issue in a playing situation. All those frequencies get eaten up by the other instruments. All you end up hearing is that 'deep heart-beat' when the drummer uses the bass drum. If all you want is a dull thud... you can attach a Speed King to a cardboard box and get the same sound.

Just personal opinion, (:2Cents:) no criticism or harm intended.

John

PS - leave the head and hoop off your bass drum long enough and it -will- go out of round,

I have to agree with John completely.To be fair though, I think that just about everything he says is gospel!

Brian

Thanks for kind compliment, Salty, but don't believe everything you read! I'm wrong about as often as I'm right. :p

Caveat Emptor! - buyer beware! ;)

John

Of course I am the one saying that one should seriously consider having a port if you are typically working in a mic'd situation. I am generally referring to rock, pop, country, funk, fusion, etc. i.e. "contemporary" music,...whatever that is. If I were playing a jazz gig, be it a drum piano duo, a small combo all the way to an 18 piece big band, I would typically not put a port in my reso as that is just not the sound and you often will not be mic'd anyway. If you are mic'd the engineer really isn't looking to cave the audience's chest in as is often the case in the aforementioned styles of music.

I am not a fan of the single headed bass drum, however, as I have said before, the final output of a kick drum through a PA is a combination of many things and not simply the kick drum itself.

I absolutely agree with Purdie on this...keep something on the front to keep your drum from going out of round, especially if you are still mounting toms on your kick. Also, the aesthetic of a single headed kick is a bit pedestrian IMO. Here is a simple solution:

http://www.evansdrumheads.com/EvProductDetail.Page?ActiveID=3567&productid=495&productname=Retro_Screen

I have never used one or even seen one, but it will do exactly what you want and still look great.

There was a big fad for it in the late 60's and into the 70's and certainly in the punk era. ---break a head, swap it around and there you go . Alot of thrashers ended up with their drum's logo on the batter side and no money to buy a replacement!

Where there is minimalist music--and heavy guitar bands----- the open drum will project. It can be super cool , albeit unrefined for a bar band. A lot have paid their dues and kept playing, in this way and it shouldn't be considered as a sin.

I kind of like the punch it gives, in the right place.

every one here has there own opinion on what works and dont work for years people played only one headed drum i did for years and it worked so i say if it sounds good do it anyway i say if it was good enough for Ringo on a roof top it works for me !and i agree about the protection of bearing edges and also the front hoop on stops drum warping..

Almost without regard to whatever brand of drums you own, it is a mortal sin to play without the front head... at least some sort of front head that will protect the bearing edges, and support the roundness of the drum.

Playing without that protection is inviting disaster, and you kind of get what you deserve when the drum is wrecked.

Put an Evan's Retro screen head on the front.