How to Port Yamaha Heads

Port a Yamaha's bass drum for a crisp attack.

Bass drum heads are often ported, either to alter the tonality of the head, facilitate insertion of a microphone or both. Yamaha heads are routinely found onstage and in recording studios around the world. Change the sound of your Yamaha bass drum's resonant head with a common procedure that creates a clean, smooth hole.

Things You'll Need

• Drum lug key (optional)
• Coffee or soup can
• Oven mitts
• Stove

Instructions

1. Loosen the lugs on the front of the bass drum by turning them counterclockwise. Use the lug key, if necessary. Remove the bass drum resonant — the drum head that faces the audience when a drummer is onstage.

2. Slide the resonant head free of the bass drum. Lay it face down on a nonflammable concrete or metal surface.

3. Turn on a burner on the stovetop. Put on the oven mitts. Heat the round edge of the coffee or soup can for approximately 30 seconds.

4. Press the round edge of the can firmly and evenly against the back of the resonant, where you want to make the hole. Pull straight up on the can.

5. Replace the resonant head and test it with a quick session.

Tips & Warnings

• The cutout portion of the resonant may come with the can as you remove it.

• Use a fine Emory board to smooth any residual imperfections around the inner portion of the cutout, if desired.

• Cut the hole off to a lower "corner" of the resonant to preserve depth in the sound of the bass drum.

• Never remove more than 7 or 8 inches from the resonant. Doing so is equivalent to not having a resonant at all.

References

• Drummer Connection: PreviousNext How To Melt a Bass Drum Head Porthole