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Where's your head at? Find out with Rhythm Magazine's top 10 tips for choosing, using and abusing your drum heads.

10 drum head tips

1. Heads = sounds

The sound of a drum is said to be 80 percent due to the heads you use.

2. Different heads = different sounds

If you want a different sound, try changing your head types rather than buying new drums.

3. Don't forget your bottom heads

The bottom heads are often the cause of tuning and ringing problems but they're the hardest to reach and often go untouched.

4. In fact, start at the bottom

To tune your toms, take them off their stands and seat them on the floor. Tune the bottom head first and damp it while you tune the top.

5. Feel vs tone

Many drummers say they tune their top (batter) heads for the feel and their bottom (resonant) heads for tone.

Next: hands, plies, angles and, er... hair dryers!

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