Guide

A guide with tips and tricks to help you get the best sound from your drums

Using SlapKlatz drum damper gel is easy. However, you should know a few things about how it works, in order to get the best results.

We see many drummers placing their drum dampeners in ways that chokes the drum, and that will make it feel out of balance to play as well. This is a pity, since it's so easy to do it right.

There are two things to consider:

Don't place your SlapKlatz damper gels in the middle of your drum head!

Even though the dampening effect will get more pronounced the closer you place it to the center, this is not a good way to go. The drum will begin to sound choked, and will also feel more out of balance to play.

Instead, use a bigger gel, or even better - use several smaller ones.

Which leads us to the next thing…

Place your SlapKlatz damper gels around the edge, and make sure you have the same relative spacing between them.

We see many drummers with several damper gels placed in the same area of the drum head (usually at the top). This can work, however, there is a better way…

1. If you need one gel, place it at 12 o'clock.
2. If you need two gels, place them at 12 and 6 o'clock.
3. If you need three gels, place them at 12, 4 and 8 o'clock.
4. If you need four gels, place them at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock.

In other words: Distribute your SlapKlatz damper gels evenly around the drum head. This gives you the best sound, feel and dampening, without getting your drum heads out of balance.

Tips & tricks
How to avoid dust
If you worry about your gel dampeners getting all dusty, use the included plastic spacers, place one on top (upper side) of the damper gel. This will prevent the gel from picking up dust.

How to clean your SlapKlatz
If you find that your SlapKlatz damper gels has become dusty over time, just wash them with soap, rinse in water and let it air dry. Don't use a towel or paper to dry it up, as it will leave new dust on the gels.

Alternative use of SlapKlatz
You can use the clear SlapKlatz as bumpers that can protect your drums. A typical example, will be where you snare drum is close to your first rack tom. To avoid scratches on the tom caused by the hoop of the snare drum, simple put a large SlapKlatz clear on the spot of the drum, where the hoop will be likely to dent it.