If you're looking for a modern version of that classic calf skin sound there is (in my opinion) no better sound to cost benefit out there on the market today.

These heads give a very warm and dark sound, reminiscent of old jazz recordings. They lack a bit of a focused attack, but feel extremely nice under the stick and give a nice response. When played with brushes these heads give a particularly nice response, one that I think is superior to coated drum heads, as it is warmer and more mellow.

These heads work well as resonant as well as batter heads- I have a fiberskyn on my 16 inch jazz bass drum as a resonant head and it really gives it a lot of body and depth. The warmth of these heads is really unbeatable and can really give a nice aura to a jazz piano trio gig.

As a batter head the fiberskyns lack a bit of a sharp attack but make up for it with a nice fat spread an quick decay. I play them on my 14 inch snare and 10 and 14 inch toms and they give a great sound that can't be beat when going for an authentic acoustic jazz sound.

These heads also work well in orchestral work and I have seen some guys play them on R&B and Motown gigs and they fit quite nicely. I've never seen them in a loud rock and roll or metal situation, but I highly doubt these heads would give the desired sound (but if you can make it sound good then thats all that matters!).

If you like these heads, try the Evans J1 etched heads- they're similar but don't last as long (and they're more expensive!), although they do get a better sound.

These are very nice drum heads that the Remo corporation developed to sound more like the calf skin heads of long ago (well it wasn't really that far ago, but it definitely feels like it!).

At the time they were developed these heads were definitely the closest thing, but there have been more recent developments in head making (some by the Remo corporation themselves) that have not necessarily made the Renaissance heads obsolete, but have given them a place all their own.

First off, these heads sound UNBELEIVABLE on tympani and I personally don't think there is any better head out there. They really do give the feel and sound of calf skin on tympani better than any head I've ever tried.

As a tom head however, the Renaissance heads leave a bit to be desired. They do give a warm and focused sound, and if you want a good attack to balance the two, then this is the head for you. But for my tastes they are a little bright and while they give a warmer, darker sound than regular coated heads (and definitely more so than clear heads) there are better products (in my opinion) currently on the market for achieving that warm dark sound characteristic of calf skin.

The most notable is the Remo fiberskyn heads, and secondly are the Evans J1 etched heads.

One thing to try is using these as resonant heads on your toms- I've done so and like (but don't necessarily love) the results.

These heads are great for orchestral use and for playing in acoustic jazz situations, but I don't see them as being very applicable in genres outside of the two aforementioned- absolutely not rock and roll and absolutely not metal, but could possibly fit into an R&B band and probably wouldn't fit into a funk situation (but feel free to experiment and surprise me!).

These drum heads are amazing. These are truly the closest thing to replicating that vintage jazz sound you hear on so many old recordings. They are, in my opinion, the closest thing to calf skin heads on the market.

Nothing quite gets that old school sound like calf skin, but if you cant get calf skin this really is the next best thing. With a very warm and sensitive sound that you can really 'play into,' these heads are a pleasure all around to play.

These heads were designed for the jazz musician in mind, and I honestly cant see them in any other settings- except maybe Motown music or older R&B.

My only gripe with these heads is that the 'etching' tends to come off fairly quickly (and can get your stuff a little dusty!). Once the 'etching' comes off the heads develop a very bright and brittle sound that I don't particularly care for and find quite the opposite of the sound you're looking for if you buy these heads in the first place.

These heads are expensive however and wear out quickly. While they are the closest thing to the sound and feel of real calf skin to me, they are absolutely not the kind of thing I would throw on my drums and gig for a while and be able to leave there. I honestly don't know anyone who KEEPS these heads on their drum- but I know quite a few (myself included) who will throw these on for a couple of special shows and then revert back to my regular heads. I think these heads would be best suited for studio use.

If you're looking for a suitable alternative to calfskin, I would recommend the Remo Fiberskyn heads, as they give a comparable sound and tend to last forever- not to mention the fact that they're cheaper!

This is yet another great invention from the Evans company. This is basically one of their normal snare drum heads with an interior muffling ring around the outside interior edge and several pin prick size holes around the exterior of the head which serve to dry the head out a bit.

The 'dry vents' as Evans calls them will really help to give your drum a low fat sound. They really kill a lot of the higher frequencies of the head and fatten up the sound quite a bit. This head really gives you that60's and 70's, low, fat classic rock sound that you hear on so many recordings (think David Bowie, 'Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars').

This head is particularly suited for classic rock, but it could also work well in funk, R&B and possibly some hard rock and metal situations. This head won't help your drum cut over a lot of overdriven guitars, but it will add some serious punch to your drum.

This head can also work particularly well in jazz situations, when paired with the right drum and the right cymbals. This head can really help you get a sound similar to Jack Dejohnette when tuned correctly.

I like this head, but honestly its not one of my favorites. I really like my drums to open up and have a wide spectrum of sound. This drum cancels a little too much of the high end of my snare drums response to suit my tastes- and no matter how high you tune your drum, you won't be able to get it back.

I would recommend this head to most anyone but especially those of you playing in classic rock cover bands and very loud metal situations, looking for a fat, punchy sound.

Man these suckers are amazing.

Why no one thought of this before is beyond me, and also the reason why the person lucky enough to have patented it is probably retired at 30!

The Evans Emad head is truly a work of simplistic beauty. Back in the day you had to stick towels, sheets, pillows or whatever else inside your bass drum to get a good sound- or maybe one of those annoying Remo muffle rings or any number of other muffling systems- but now all you need is an Emad bass drum head.

The muffling system is built into the batter side of the head, in which you can stick one of several sizes of fitted rings made of foam (of varying degrees of width each). Want a more muffled sound? Just stick in the widest foam ring. Want a more open, long sound? Simply replace the widest foam ring with either the middle width foam ring or the smallest width foam ring- or go without a ring and play the head by itself.

Playing the head by itself gives a great sound too, as the mounting that the foam rings fit into helps to dampen the head a bit by itself. I generally play this head without any of the foam rings to get a big open sound.

This drum head is sure to make any bass drum sound awesome. I play the clear Emad on my twenty two inch bass drum and it gives it an unbelievably deep, fat sound. This really is the quintessential head for funk and R&B in my eyes. It also works great in louder rock and roll and metal situations.

Evans also makes a coated Emad head that works very well for jazz- although they don't come in sixteen inch which irritates me slightly. The coated Emad heads also work well for Motown and lighter R&B situations as it gives a mellower sound and still offers the great controllability as the clear Emad.

This is one seriously awesome piece of hardware. I've got to hand it to Richie 'Gajate' Garcia for coming up with such a brilliant idea and to LP for having the 'huevos' in the industry to mass produce and market it.

This little puppy has really changed the arena of conga drumming. Now you can be a one man band by playing congas while at the same time playing all manner of percussion with your feet. I personally use two Gajate's in my set up when I gig, playing a red jam block on the right and a cha cha cowbell on the left. On the cow bell on the left I usually keep the quarter note and play clave on the jam block on the right. You can then play a simple tumbao over top of these and you really are doing the job of two people. Not to mention the general street cred you get by being the first guy on the block to do with congas what drum set players have been doing for almost a century now (putting percussionists out of business by playing everybody's part themselves!).

But enough about all that- the gajate features a very sturdy design for use with almost any bass drum pedal (although those secured with a metal plate at the base work best). The gajate also features reversible spikes that can be set with the spike part down (for preventing slippage on rugs and such) or with a rubber stopper down to prevent slippage on wooden and slick surfaces (and to prevent the spikes from tearing those surfaces up!).

Your imagination really is the limit with this piece of hardware- anything thats mountable on an 'everything rack' is now playable with your feet- from cowbells, jam blocks, tambourines and every other manner of creation.

Thanks to LP and Gajate himself, the gajate has upped the ante and opened up a whole new world of possibilities for the modern conga player and percussionist.

This is not a drum stool.

Its a THRONE.

This piece of gear is WHY its not called a drum stool- about an inch to an inch and a half of padding is enough for even the heftiest of hitters. The double braced tripod design is amazingly sturdy and the nitro adjustability is amazing.

Just one touch on the pneumatic lever and up you glide (or down for that matter) to your preferred seat height. There has never been a more adjustable and ergonomic throne.

The bicycle seat with the raised ridge in the back is very comfortable- but the 'bottle nose' in the front can stick up in a most uncomfortable way for some males sitting close to the front of the seat. (I personally performed a 'nose-ectomy on mine by pulling back the fabric and foam and cutting off part of the supporting material, then stitching it back together).

My only other gripe about this throne is its slightly ineffective compactability. The seat detaches from its tripod base via two nuts at the base of the seat, which both require a wrench for tightening and loosening. If you're not the kind who usually breaks down your throne this is not a problem, but if you're like me and have to break EVERYTHING down than this can cause a slight problem- although if you're a conga or bongo player the same hex wrench that you need to turn your lugs will fit the nuts on the Roc'n'Soc).

Another way of neutralizing this otherwise annoying point is to always carry around a wrench in your gig bag. Because my wrench kept falling out of my gig bag however, I eventually just made a holder out of two straps of backpack strap that I screwed into the supportive material on the bottom of the seat that hold my wrench nicely so that break down and set up are a snap.

This is easily the most comfortable and ergonomic drum throne I have ever sat on. Match that with unparalleled adjustability and, despite minor overcomable gripes, this is easily the best throne on the market.