I'm not a real drummer, I just play one on weekends.....
I hope you're thinking more of a pitch you want to work with your UB, as opposed to volume, cuz a leadfoot will kill you with a 16 just as well as a 22. I will say with a 22 I do feel like I'm in the way of the bassist, like I'm on his turf.
To do it, you'll want one of these gizmos to get the beater where you want it:
http://www.amazon.com/Pearl-JG16-Jun.../dp/B0002F4TBO
Tuning, well, 100% subjective area, but if I were doing that mod it would be so I could get a nice long note out of a medium touch. A long tone with a little pitch bend and a sudden cutoff, like boooooooozzzt. For that, take the heads off, tap on the shell with your finger tip to get an idea of the tone the drum wants to make, very evenly tune the reso (bottom) head to just above that note, then the batter head to just below, and work from there. As the pitches come closer together the sustain increases, there's a happy spot before that where you can control the length of sustain and bend real nice. The starting point for the batter head should be around a half turn past finger tight. LOL, drum tuning must sound goofy to real musicians.
Muffling? Negative. Let's throw a blanket over your bass, or on your horn. Sounds kinda crazy, don't it? It's fine for rock where you're looking for an amplified thud. Maybe your drummer should check out some different bass technique, maybe heel down, and if it's the rumble you want to take out of his drum then maybe tune his up a bit higher.
Here's a handy link:
http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/index.html
This is a touchy area, as I think technique may be your culprit, and it's tough to tell someone how to play, or how to tune, etc. Now where do I join one of these bands where the bassist will help equip the drummer? I could use a new sizzle ride.
Now you've got me jonesing to try this.
