Evans EC2 and EMAD Drum Heads

ManualsBrandsEvans Manuals24" Bass Drum Heads24" Bass Drum Head

006

ESSENTIALS

PRICES

EC2s £15-£18

EMADs £37-£45

EMAD Clear Batter

£35-£43

CONTACT

Summerﬁ eld

1-2 Vance Court

Trans Britannia

Enterprise Park

Blaydon-On-Tyne

NE21 5NH

Telephone

01914 149000

Website

www.evansdrum

heads.com

eveloped in conjunction with

drummer and inventor Bob

Gatzen – he of the fascinating

Drum Tuning, Sound And Design

video –

the EC2 sees Evans introducing us to

yet another novel chapter in their ‘sound

control technology’. EC stands for Edge

Control and the ‘2’ refers to the fact the

heads are constructed from twin plies

of 7 mil Mylar.

Silver borders

The Edge Control ring is a band of silver

material which is stuck to the underside

of the head. The ring has

channels – which

Evans

EC2 & EMAD

Dru

Head

Evans describes as ‘stress-relief slots’ –

running through its middle. These

channels allow the ring to ﬂex with the

head, controlling edge vibrations and

higher overtones rather than completely

eliminating them. The EC2 is therefore a

little livelier than, say, Remo’s Pinstripe,

which also has two 7mm plies but which

are bonded together around the outer

inch, leading to a sound that is slightly

darker and ﬂ atter.

Damping the outer edge by a small

amount reduces some of the high

frequencies you always get around

the perimeter. The deeper tones thus

come through while

at the same

time

the damping combined with the twin

plies gives increased attack.

The other advantage of only partially

damping the edge is that the EC2’s

tuning range is barely compromised.

In particular you can tune the EC2 right

down until it’s just about to rattle and it

still holds its tone.

ss control

Back in July 2001

Rhythm

carried a

review of the Evans EMAD (Externally

Mounted Adjustable Damping) bass

drum batter head. Now we get the

front resonant head, which completes

the system. The EMAD resonant

bass head is a thin, black display head,

7mm thick with an internal 1" perimeter

damping ﬂap. It also has a 5" diameter

porthole positioned two thirds of the

way up the head and off towards the

right – an ideal position for miking.

Once again it is the brainchild of

Bob Gatzen who had the novel idea

of controlling damping and tone

by slotting a specially formed

foam ring around the porthole.

To understand the complete

system we need to backtrack

brieﬂy. The EMAD batter has a

plastic perimeter sleeve mounted

externally. Into this sleeve you can

GEARREVIEWS

From £15 | Evans steams ahead with yet more intriguing and novel ideas

for external drum head damping systems. Geoff Nicholls gets padded up…

The EC2 tom heads

have a great new look

with the silver control ring

around the perimeter.

With the EMAD external system

changing rings only takes a minute

and is easier than messing about

with internal pillows.

RHY121.gear_evans 0105RHY121.gear_evans 0105 16/12/05 5:20:35 pm16/12/05 5:20:35 pm

Summary of content (2 pages)

PAGE 1
GEARREVIEWS The EC2 tom heads have a great new look with the silver control ring around the perimeter. Evans EC2 & EMAD Drum Heads ESSENTIALS PRICES EC2s £15-£18 EMADs £37-£45 EMAD Clear Batter £35-£43 CONTACT Summerﬁeld 1-2 Vance Court Trans Britannia Enterprise Park Blaydon-On-Tyne NE21 5NH Telephone 01914 149000 Website www.evansdrum heads.com From £15 | Evans steams ahead with yet more intriguing and novel ideas for external drum head damping systems.
PAGE 2
GEARREVIEWS KEY FEATURES Quick as a ﬂash, I then took both front and rear rings away and got a great open, rounded sound, with more highs, perfect for non-miked situations. With the two heaviest rings in place, the attack was maximised and the tone was short, dark and brutal. But as there was no pillow in the drum there was still lots of air and body. The clever thing about the EMAD external system is that changing rings is quick, and easier than messing about with internal pillows or felt strips.