The idea of tuning an instrument generally conjures thoughts of guitar strings being adjusted, going higher or lower pitch. It's surprising to most that not only do drums need to be tuned, but that the process is much more complex. The head of a drum is pulled in many directions, the tensions between each lug creating many overtones between them. The drum shell even plays a role with it's own inaudible fundamental note, and the drum stands affect it also. These factors make the tuning process difficult, and can often lead to unwanted sympathetic resonance tones, especially on older drums.
The RTOM Moongel damper pads are a wonderful solution for this problem, offering a lot of tuning and envelope shaping. When placed on drum heads that need…show more content… The gels are non-toxic and self-adhesive, so they stay in place on snare drums and toms set at an angle. Drummers using these dampers will notice that the stickiness goes down a bit after getting hit with sticks during sessions. Luckily, it's just dust accumulation on the moon gel, and they are washable to get that stickiness back very easily.
The RTOM Moongel damper squares really shine as a sound control tool for the metal snare that rings too much. The snare is notoriously difficult to tone, with the overtones diminishing the powerful hollow crack that most drummers aim for. While there are other accessories to help with this, you can use more than one Moongel pad between lug points. You can add one or take one off, or move them around to experiment with the sound until you're happy. These little things offer a lot of variability and can even be changed based on the venue and music style.
They can be used on all types of percussion instruments to help dampen dominant tones that need to calm down. The large standing bass drum or timpani in the percussion section can blend in better for playing smaller concert halls. Smaller halls have drastically different acoustics and the percussion can have a tough time adjusting to a good sound mix. Even cymbals can add cut to the crash sustain so that there's more of a splash cymbal like volume
