Preparation.
As for any drum, while you have the heads removed, give the bearing edges a wipe with a soft cloth, and the inside of the hoops, and even the inside of the drum.
Some people like to give the bearing edges a once over with paraffin wax to help give the head a full clean contact with the bearing edge of the drum. A good bearing edge is essential for a good sound. A quality drum should already have a good bearing edge, but every little bit helps.
It is a good idea with any drum to add lubrication to the lugs about every 3rd head change. This will make tuning easier, stop the lugs from rusting, and the lug mounts from rusting. Some people use Vaseline, grease, sewing machine oil, or a spray on lubricant. Personal choice, but don't get something that will collect dust too easily, as this will seize things up.

Tuning - Batter head.
This method gives the kick drum a punchy sound, and evenly tuned head, and best of all it's so simple it's a 3 minute job. If you prefer your drum to have more high end for whatever reason, follow these steps, then turn all the lugs an extra 1/2 turn till you have the pitch you are after.
Place the head on the drum, place the hoop on the head, put each lug in. Finger tighten each lug, working your way around the drum in a star pattern, never from one lug to the one text to it. Tighten the lug at 12 O'clock, then the one at 6 O'clock, then the one at 3 O'clock, then 9, etc. I call it a star formation because working this way you kind of draw a big star.
Tighten each lug down till it almost puts pressure on the hoop. With the palm of your hand, press into the middle of the head so that the head dips an inch or so. Don't push so lightly that head doesn't wrinkle, but not so hard you put your hand through either. This will 'seat' the head on the bearing edge.
Now tighten each lug down until it starts to put pressure on the head. Still working your way around the drum in a star/opposites formation. Now there should be no wrinkles in the head. Give each lug another 1/2 turn, or just a little bit more so that each lug sits parallel to the edge of the drum, like this...

This not only looks neater, the lugs the less likely to get in the way and catch on things, the lugs on the floor sit nicely, and best of all each lug should be evenly tuned. Tap the head about an inch in from each lug to check that they are tuned evenly. A 180 degree turn of the lug should even out any unevenly tuned lugs.

Front head.
Repeat the above for the front head, then give each lug an extra 1/2 turn. This will tune the head a little higher than the batter head. If you prefer the heads tuned the same, don't do the extra 1/2 turn.
Hole in the head. A small hole is very useful for drums that are to be miked - for recording or gigging. Some heads are sold with a pre-cut hole. Ask your music shop to help you cut a hole if you are unsure how to do it (That way, if they wreck it, they you don't have to pay for it!). Anything from a 3" diameter hole, up to... well... no front head at all is ok. It's a matter of personal choice. Just find something round the diameter of the size hole you want (Big coffee cup, splash cymbal, etc), place it on the head (Off centre looks better for smaller holes), and cut around it. I prefer the smaller holes myself, as they allow the tone of a front head (like toms with 2 heads - fuller tone) but still allow easy miking. The small hole also allows you to get at your muffling device to adjust it if needed.
Be careful seating a head with a hole in it. Too much pressure may rip the head. Another way to seat a head is to hold the rim and turn it back and forth a few times, like driving the Seasame St bus. This doesn't work as well as shown above, but it's better than nothing.

Muffling.
Muffling the kick drum gives the drum a punchier sound. The amount of muffling may also differ the drums sound. People use many different things to muffle the ring of a kick drum. Pillows, towels, foam, blankets, newspaper, packing foam snowflakes, felt strips, feathers, rugs, and even external mufflers (blearchk! I hate those things.). It is a good idea to muffle both heads, and easiest to muffle both using the same item.
Minimalism is probably the best approach (In my opinion), so as not to choke the drum - from as little touching the heads as possible, to no muffling at all. I use a rolled up towel. Roll the towel to make a snake. Place it inside the drum. Tape one end to the batter head, about 1/3 to 1/4 of the way up from the bottom, run the towel along the bottom of the drum, and tape the other end to the front head. Simple, light, and effective.
Felt strips are also light. Simply put the strip across from top to bottom, or side to side of one end - only needs to go from 2 O'clock to 5 O'clock position - on before you put the head on. Hold it tight while tuning so that when your drum is in tune, it touches the head. Done.
The idea of the muffling is to lightly touch the head in just enough places to remove the funny ringing sound produced when the head is hit (Sympathetic/harmonic tones.), not to smother the sound so bad the drum sounds like a big cardboard box.
Taping a small piece of cloth (One that holds static) is also easy and light. Static will help it stay resting against the head, and the duct tape stops it from flying away. Shouldn't need to be too big, but size will depend on muffling taste.
Pillows, blankets, rugs, cotton wool, and feathers are used in the same way - to put some light pressure on the head. Try and keep the muffling fluffy, as opposed to tightly wadded up. This will keep the dampening to a respectable level, and not choke the drum.

 If you lay the drum on one end and hit the head lightly with a stick, you will notice that just by laying some light cloth over 1/4 of the kick drum head that all ringing after the initial punch is gone. This is the effect you are after with muffling. Just enough light pressure on the head so that no overbearing ringing occurs after the head is hit, whichever method you use to achieve this is personal choice..

Double Kick Setups.
Most drummers have gone for the same sound for each kick drum. Drums the same size, same model, same depth, same make, same pedals, same beaters, etc, etc, etc. Same! On occasion the more daring drummers (like Cobham, etc) have gone for different sounds on each kick drum. This is done a number of ways - different tunings, different depth drums, different diameter drums, different heads, different beaters, or a combination of these. It's really one of personal choice. Heads and beaters provide a subtle change, depth less subtle, diameter and tuning less subtle again - in fact very noticeable. With attention to tuning some of these differences can be quite melodic.

All software programs, images, sounds, and documents contained within this page are © Dave "Stik" Furlani and Steve Mills (MuffinHead) except where otherwise noted.