Here are some thoughts from someone who is currently refurbishing my Phantom kit. I think I'll take his advice and see how things turn out.

Of course, my preference is to not cut any holes ... I love the sound of a booming bass drum when I'm not mic'ed—most of the overtones dissipate and all that's left is pure tone and thwack. It's a bit louder on stage, but recordings reveal that it's just right out in the audience.

But the sound men I've dealt with prefer having a hole, and I'll admit that it's just easier when there are only five or ten minutes for a changeover.

Anyway:

"For a 22" head I wouldn't cut (the hole) larger than 7 or 8 inches. Also I'd offset it to one side. The offset will maintain the "punch." The air column created inside the drum by the pedal beater strike will reflect off the resonant head rather than exiting straight out. The smaller diameter will help retain some of the low end."

The ported head never really bothered me and I have to agree to keep it simple when time is an issue! On the other hand, love an unmolested head, real thin with a felt strip!!

I use a retro screen. It's great. It looks just like any other black head on there but makes no sound. It's like a big mesh Roland VDrum head. I don't ever have my drums mic'd, but I'd imagine a sound man would still want to put the mic inside the bass thus wanting to cut my retro screen. I'm not sure how the head would hold up to that.

Tan

Update:

I've taken this advice on the three Slingerland kits that Steve Schmitt has detailed for me. It works great.

Each front head has a 6" hole in the lower left quadrant (from the player's perspective). I'm rarely mic'ed and there's still quite a bit of resonance. On the few occasions when I've had an engineer, he was able to place a mic easily and I could accommodate his request for a small towel with no hassle.

The head setup for each of these is a clear Powerstroke 4 batter with a clear Ambassador front. When I'm running without a mic, I don't use a towel, and I get a rich, round thump. Your results may vary.

In a perfect world, I wouldn't have a hole. A good sound engineer shouldn't need that crutch to get a good result. But when I need a mic, my band is usually in a support role, and I don't want to be the cause of any delays. Anything I can do to make a sound guy's life easier will probably pay off during the performance.

If it works for you and you're happy with it then do it!*

You are likely to be honored with the "Lifetime Achievement Award for Drumming" by the Live Performance Sound Engineers' Society of America!

*good idea to take all the tensioners and hoop & store them all away for safekeeping.

I will have to agree with you 100% well said

If John likes his to sound like the human heart then I like mine to sound like the Cannon in the end of Tchaikovsky 1812 overture I want a sudden boom as a accent i want it heard above the rest of the kit it is the heartbeat of the kit. Now as to how this started back in the mid 60's amps started getting bigger and drummers had to hit harder to be heard this was before all the great mics and PA systems and with the front head off it is louder by a good bit.... as long as the bass player could hear my bass drums all was well....... Today I see no need to have a head off their are great mic setups it is a art form it'self was it ugly? nah, just different I even ran bass drum anchors on my re rings not up against the bearing edge .. I was not that irresponsible ..... :)

I have to agree with John (Purdie Shuffle)'s comments about the bass drum sounding like a heartbeat, etc. I have three drum sets, and of all of them, the bass drum I'm most fond of is my 1970 Slingerland, because it has the deepest thump and the most impact. This is the drum that set off two car alarms simultaneously (no lie).

I'm most disappointed with my Vistalite bass, which interestingly, has a port hole cut into the resonator head. It is weak, flaccid, and totally uninspiring. I blame the hole in the resonator head. There is no air pressure in the drum. I think this "leak" of air pressure just kills the sound of the drum. I can't wait to get a new resonator head for it, and hear the drum the way it was meant to be heard. By the way, I've got the rest of my Vistalite set tuned up and they sound great. What a blast to play such a powerful set.

Just my thoughts.

-Jon