Thick Drumheads vs. Thin Drumheads

When choosing a drumhead, you should consider:
—how much you want the overtones to ring out,
—how much stick response you want,
—how sensitive you want the drumhead to be
—and how durable you need the drumhead to be.

Thin drumheads produce more overtones. They ring out more clearly and brightly, and for that reason they can be more expressive. But some drummers find them to be TOO bright and expressive. In some situations, the overtones may cause the sound of the drums to stick out too much in the overall mix. It depends on the style of music. Thick drumheads produce more even tone, which is duller but more focused.

Thin drumheads have a slightly greater stick response than thick drumheads. If you tune them both to the same tension, then the thinner head is going to give a little more rebound because there is less mass to absorb the energy of your stroke. This particular point has more to do with the physical feel of playing than with the sound.

Thin drumheads are more sensitive than thick ones. You have to hit a thick drumhead much harder than a thin drumhead to get the same volume.

Lastly, for obvious reasons thin drumheads are less durable than thick ones. Given the same treatment, the two different types are going to wear out at different rates.