Radek Owczarz is one of the best studio and touring drummers in Poland. He has collaborated with some of the top names in Polish popular music, such as Kasia Kowalska, Pilichowski Band, Edyta Bartosiewicz, Patrycja Markowska or Jan Borysewicz. He is the master of groove and feel, a total professional and an all-around nice guy. Very recently, we hooke dup with him to make a test of a few sets of Aquarian heads. The first of those skins is:
Aquarian Response 2 Coated 14″
1. The test
The test was carried out in professional studio conditions, at the CLC recording facility in Piaseczno, Poland. We put the heads on a Ludwig kit (Radek himself does not remember what model it is, maybe you could help?) and a Ludwig Supraphonic LM402 snare. The resonant bass drum head is Aquarian Regulator, while the batter head is Aquarian Force I. The batter heads on the toms (depending on a given shot) are Aquarian Super 2 (both coated and clear) and Aquarian Response 2 Clear. The resonant skins are Aquarian Texture Coated. The bottom head on the snare is Aquarian Classic Clear, while the batter skin is a 14-inch Aquarian Response 2 Coated. The toms and the snare drum were tuned with the help of the Tune Bot device, and in the following fashion:
- Low tuning (pitch E)
- Medium tuning (pitch F#)
- High tuning (pitch A)
2. Basic specification of the Aquarian head tested by us:
- Series: Response 2 Coated
- Size: 14″
- Plies: 2
- Thickness: 14 mil (7 mil + 7 mil)
- Colour: White
- Character: Full, deep, great attack
- Aquarian’s Vacuum Process™ technology
- Application: Snare drum, toms
- Size: 6″ through 26″.
3. The product and the sound
The process of manufacturing Aquarian Response 2 Coated heads features the patented Aquarian’s Vacuum Process™ technology, which is to eliminate air bubbles and wrinkles between the two plies. The Aquarian Response 2 Coated 14″ is a classic, rather thick, double ply, coated head with a full sound and strong attack. In our opinion, the skin used by Radek Owczarz has truly delivered: it had a lot of “muscle” and focus regardless of the pitch or the level of dynamics applied.
4. Summary
We think we should Radek Owczarz himself sum up the whole experience:
“All you need to do is to put on a pair of good headphones on or use some decent speakers and just listen. This head sounds great in all tunings, with no studio magic. All we did was mic up, use a preamp and…go! Generally speaking, all the Aquarian skins we tested here speak (or rather sing) for themselves and don’t need much talking or writing.”
Producer: http://www.aquariandrumheads.com/
Distributor in Poland: http://www.musicinfo.pl/
OUR VERDICT: 5/5
Advantages:
- Very well crafted
- Great dynamics in all tunings
- Air bubbles and wrinkles between the two plies eliminated
- Price
Disadvantages:
- None
Drummers and Drummerettes! It’s time to put the Aquarian Response 2 Coated 14″ head to the most important test of all, i. e. the www.beatit.tv viewers’ test! Exclusively for you, we give you Radek Owczarz!
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