Buying the WEIRDEST Drum Heads I Could Find

Bob, the former gear reviewer for Modern Drummer, hit me up to check out these wooden Index drum heads, so I had to buy a set of them for myself to check out. Check em out here:

Music used (background & playalongs):

- Gear Used - (affiliate links)
Pearl Session Studio Select:
Zildjian 19" K Custom Special Dry Trash Crash:
Zildjian 21" K Custom Special Dry Ride:
Vic Firth Beaters:
Vic Firth Dreadlocks:
Vic Firth T1 Mallets:
Rods:
- Mics -
Pair of Slate ML-1 (as overheads):
Austrian Audio CC8 (as rooms):
Earthworks DK7 Drum Mic Kit:
Lewitt DTP 640 REX Bass Drum Mic
Shure SM57 (snare bottom):
Austrian Audio Hi-X60 Headphones:

On my quest to find the WEIRDEST Drum gear, I came across these drum heads from Index Drums. These heads are made of plywood which as you can imagine is a totally different sound than your typical plastic drum heads. By no means are these meant to "replace" normal drum heads, but these wooden drum heads definitely create a unique sound which would be useful for a lot of different genres.

Buying the WEIRDEST Drum Heads I Could Find

[mokeimusic]

Kind of cool to know that one of the writers from a magazine I used to read is in your video. Most people that wrote for drum magazines were not paid very much and did it more for the love of drumming. Many of them have disappeared and sort of faded any along with the magazines. There is a vast knowledge out there that is at risk of being lost forever and having Bob in your corner is a wonderful chance to preserve some of that.

[CBW_MT]

The toms would probably sound really cool using those Vic firth rubber tip practice sticks

[botondbugner-carvalho]

At 3:56 when you play randomly the upbeats on the backing track is just gold editing

[TK-egvp]

As a timpanist, I liked the way the drums sounded with the mallets. Interesting concept, that's for sure

[DeadKoby]

Depending on the sticks used, sometimes its sounded like tribal rhythm, and sometimes Casio grade electronic drums.

[iiswythak]

Man, now I'm wondering what they would sound like as resos, especially on the bass drum

[StreetsOfVancouverChannel]

They definitely have a funky distinct sound... very cool textures for a variety of music styles.

[clayfoster]

This would be really cool as a secondary percussion element in a world music type of sound.

[eddy-kun]

Came for wood heads, stayed for old man Bob 😎🔥

[stevenraparelli]

Pretty cool experiment. The world of sound is endless and you never know where those sounds may come into play in overdub.

[cvnb]

The snare, floor tom and bass drum actually sound really good 👍🏽

[MPCmanNL]

Great video. You can use the wooden plates as template to DIY your own weird drum heads from other materials. Metal maybe? Or Lego floor plates? Trimmed down cymbals?

[bentheturntableguy]

I’ve been planning on checking out some of those Index heads, especially cause they’re from Louisiana. A pleasant surprise to see them here!

[AndrewKonkey]

Love the idea, Dave! Out of curiosity, what would happen if you used them as resonant heads? It might be cool!

[mountainhobbit]

'be gone boring drumhead!' I thought they sounded best with the brushes followed by the 'tubes' and then the 'rods'. I do agree that they do sound best on the kick and snare.

[famitory]

i'm still hoping someone will make drumheads that are actually gongs, made of cymbal bronze with enough flex that tightening the lugs actually adds tension to the surface.

[ronmcguire]

That K ride sound goes so well with the wooden heads. The snare is definitely my favorite.

[Bike_Chain]

I feel like I can get the same bass drum sound from knocking on any door in my house

[mathiasyt]

Josh dun has a drumset where the his bass drums reso head is made of wood. It sounds really good too

[blujay]

Fun video. I really liked the sound with the rods. 8:21