If you’ve read my past posts about snare tone, then you’ll like my latest discovery. In an effort to make using the sheets-of-paper-on-the-snare trick a little easier for live playing, I’ve been experimenting with using an old drumhead as my “paper.” It works great.

I cut the collar off a 14″ batter head right on the bearing edge crease, and I just set the floppy head on the snare drum. It fits perfectly within the hoop and sits comfortably on top of the snare… and stays put while you hit it. It also looks great… and by that I mean there doesn’t appear to be any muffling on the drum at all. The collar-less head just blends in with your snare’s real batter head. The tone is the same… nice and deep with no ring… but now there’s no little pieces of paper ripping off while you’re playing.