The Best Snare Drum Heads for Rock (2024)
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The drums are the driving force behind any good rock song, and the snare drum is a key part of this energy. Choosing the right snare drum is one thing, but changing up your snare is expensive. Enhancing your sound with the right snare drum head can make a huge difference to creating the right feel for rock music.
In this guide, we'll take a look at the best choices of snare drum heads for rock music from the key brands: Remo, Aquarian and Evans.
For more on choosing drum heads check out these popular articles:
At a glance: Best snare drum heads for rock
Remo Emperor X Coated Check price on Amazon
Remo Controlled Sound Black Dot Check price on Amazon
Remo Powerstroke X Check price on Gear 4 Music
Evans Onyx Check price on Amazon
Evans EC Reverse Dot Check price on Amazon
Aquarian Triple Threat Check price on Gear 4 Music
Comparison of the heads
| Name | Features | Sound | Durability | Great for | |
| Remo Emperor X Coated | 10 mm double ply, reverse dot | Focussed, enhanced mid and low end. | High | Heavy hitters, rock, metal, punk | |
| Remo Controlled Sound Black Dot | 10mm single ply, reverse dot | Focussed, enhanced mid and low end. Also open tones outside of the centre. | Med-high | Medium heavy hitters, looking for an open sound as well as focus. | |
| Remo Powerstroke X | 14 mm single ply, underlay ring at outer edge, easy tuning | Sensitive, controlled sustain, projection | Med-high | Modern rock: sensitive but controlled. Easy to tune. | |
| Evans Onyx | 15mm double ply, black frosted coating | Low end projection, fast attack | High | Heavy rock and metal. Making an impact visually and sonically | |
| Evans EC Reverse Dot | 7mm, 10mm double ply, reverse dot | Focussed, cuts through, controlled overtones | High | Hard hitters, rock, metal, punk | |
| Aquarian Triple Threat | 3x 7mm triple ply | Controlled, punchy, responsive | High | Hard hitters, rock, metal, punk | |
Remo Emperor X Coated
The Remo Emperor X Coated is a classic snare head across genres but is particularly popular with heavy-hitters.
This is due to the serious durability which is created by the 10ml double-ply construction. This also contributes to the focussed sound with enhanced mid and low end frequencies, creating a great sound profile for rock genres. However the Emperor X also retains some open sounds that give the head character.
An underside ‘dot’ (a reinforced circle in the centre of the head) adds further focus, durability and low-end punch.
These features make the Emperor X a solid and popular choice in terms of durability and sound profile for rock, metal, punk and related genres.
Remo Controlled Sound Black Dot
The Remo Controlled Sound Black Dot snare drum head is a popular choice for rock drummers for its durability and focused sound. Remo describe it as for medium to heavy applications.
The Controlled Sound Black Dot is a single 10 mil ply head, with an additional 5 mil ‘dot’ in the centre on the underside. This creates a best-of-both type possibility with the sound: playing in the centre allows great focus, controlled overtones and bigger mid and low range tones, while the outer of the head is sensitive and more characterful.
The dot also adds durability: strengthening the centre of the head where it is usually hit, and often hit hard in rock music. However as a single-ply head it’s not quite as durable as some on this list such as the Emperor X.
While popular in rock music, the Controlled Sound Reverse Dot is versatile enough to be used in various other genres as well, making it a reliable choice for many drummers.
Remo Powerstroke X
The Remo Powerstroke X series is designed to balance sensitivity with controlled sustain, easy and stable tuning, projection, and durability making them highly suitable for modern rock as well as other styles.
The Powerstroke 3 X features a single 14 mil ply and a thin underlay ring at the outer edge. The underlay ring helps control overtones and ringing out for a focused, controlled sound with short sustain, making it suitable for rock drumming. The underlay ring also helps the head to be easy to tune.
Remo describe the Powerstroke 3 X as the most durable single ply head on the market, making it ideal for drummers who want the sensitivity of a single ply head - allowing more delicate playing - while retaining control and durability.
There are other options available in the Powerstroke range, however they are generally well suited for rock drumming due to their durability, control and projection. That said other heads in this article are super charged in terms of focus and durability that may be more suitable for heavier rock and metal.
Evans Onyx
The Evans Onyx snare drum head is designed to provide a combination of durability and tone control, with big low end projection and fast attack to cut through the mix. And it also looks great! This is why rock and metal drummers often opt for the Onyx to stand out sonically and visually.
The Evans Onyx snare drum head features a matte frosted black coating on the surface, giving it a dark appearance that matches the sound profile. The black coating helps to dampen overtones and produce a slightly warmer and deeper tone with short sustain, making it ideal for rock and metal music where a punchy, controlled sound is desired.
The Onyx head is made from two 7.5 mil plies, allowing the head to withstand heavy playing and deliver powerful, focused snare drum sounds commonly found in rock music.
Overall, the Evans Onyx snare drum head is an excellent choice for drummers looking for durability, tone, sustain and attack control, and aesthetic appeal, making it particularly well-suited for rock and metal.
Evans EC Reverse Dot
The Evans EC Reverse Dot snare drum head is popular with hard-hitting rock and metal drummers. This is because it’s durable, and produces a controlled, focused sound with reduced muddy overtones, giving it a clear sound against a loud distortion-driven band.
The durability comes from a two plies: a 7 mil and a 10 mil, plus a 3 mil dot for additional durability in the centre and underside. This makes it capable of withstanding heavy playing.
The reverse dot also adds control and focus to the sound, controlling overtones and creating clear hits that will cut through guitar fuzz.
Similarly, the thick construction of the EC Reverse Dot enhances projection and articulation, allowing drummers to cut through dense mixes and deliver powerful, punchy snare drum sounds that stand out in live performances and studio recordings.
Aquarian Triple Threat
The Aquarian Triple Threat snare drum head is designed to offer a combination of durability, articulation, and controlled sound, making it a much-loved snare head for heavy hitting rock drummers.
The Triple Threat features three(!) plies of 7-mil film, providing enhanced durability and projection. This construction makes the head capable of withstanding heavy playing and delivering powerful snare drum sounds.
The Triple Threat is engineered to sound full with great durability, but also retaining some responsiveness in the playing. This makes it well suited to particularly hard-hitting genres like hard rock and metal.
What to look for in a drum head for rock
Of course “Rock” is a broad description for many sub-genres. Generally speaking though you might want to decide if you’re a heavy hitter, perhaps in hard rock or metal, or you want a more vintage, sensitive head perhaps for blues rock or similar styles.
Whatever your sonic leaning many rock drummers look for:
Power and projection
Controlled overtones for a consistent, driving sound
Sometimes rock drummers may go for a vintage resonant sound, with more overtones
Durability for hard hitting
The key features to achieve this typically include:
Double-ply for controlled sound. Single-ply for resonant, vintage sound.
Thickness for durability and control
Additional features like dots and rings that add focus and durability to the sound, particularly for hard-hitters.
Our selection includes the snare drum heads that use these features to achieve a great sound for a wide variety of rock drumming preferences.
Summary
For rock drummers choosing a snare head is a key part of developing your sound and contributing the right feel to a band.
Whether you’re looking to control overtones and add focus and cut through in a mix full of distortion and fuzz, keep some of the sensitivity in the head for more intricate playing, or just save some money by investing in durable heads, this list has you covered.
The latest technologies developed by Remo, Evans and Aquarian have been applied to these rock-focussed heads so drummers can sound better than ever before.
Rock is a broad church of musical styles and different drummers will be looking for different things.
If you are looking for durability and focus go for a head with a power dot, or thicker heads. This may appeal more to heavy hitters and metal leaning drummers.
If you want to retain some overtones, perhaps for blues rock, go for the less engineered, thinner options that retain some vintage elements.
Our guide on how to choose the right drum heads gives you everything you need to know when choosing a drum head, if you want to know more.
Rock on friends!
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