The TLDR: I tried to temporarily convert my double-headed toms into concert toms. But it didn't sound good to my ears. Using different heads and tuning even higher probably would have improved the results.
The longer story...
Back in the '70s and early '80s, I wanted a drum set with concert toms. It seemed like lots of famous drummers I liked used them: Peter Criss, Keith Moon (in the '70s anyway), Gilson Lavis (Squeeze), Neil Peart (for his higher toms), and of course Phil Collins. Even drummers who might have normally been double-headed tom users seemed to use single-headed toms to facilitate greater isolation for mic'ing live or in the studio.
Of course, as a young player, I also probably wanted concert toms because they were slightly less expensive than their double-headed cousins.
But alas, I never got them. I went from RotoToms (a close facsimile) to Tama Granstar set with double-headed toms.
A few years ago, I thought, "Why don't I see how my current DW toms would sound with just single heads?" The answer: Not great, in my opinion!
If you decide to go through a similar exercise, here are a few tips:
1. You need a way to stop the rattling of the part of the lug that receives the rods for the bottom heads. I remember reading that stuffing cotton in there would be a good solution, but unless you tape the cotton in there, the cotton balls will just fall out when you play. Using some masking tape (or any tape that's easily removed) is a better bet.
2. Tune your top heads up a bit. When you tune the top heads to the same pitch or tension as usual, they'll be flabbier when you remove the bottom head since the air is now leaving the shell, not bouncing back against the batter head. I tuned my heads up a little (a whole step), but I should have tuned them up even more, because they were still flabby.
3. Consider thicker heads. The single-ply, un-dotted heads I tried were particularly flabby and thin sounding without the bottom head. The Black Dot heads I tried were better. But I might have even preferred Pinstripes.
4. Maybe DON'T mic within the drum. I tried that, though I didn't include the video here because I actually got a decent amount of distortion, even using an SM57! ....Also I didn't have a stand short enough to put a mic inside the lowest tom. I preferred just mic'ing as usual, from the top of the tom. In the final part of the video, I even omitted tom mics and just used overheads. I kind of like that best, if you have a decent room.
5. If you DO mic within the drum, consider flipping the phase on those mics since they'll be pointing back at you, in the opposite direction of, and out of phase with, the overheads. You can flip the phase when recording (on your A/D converter) or do it later in your DAW with a plug-in.
Equipment:
-DW drums
-Zildjian cymbals (K Constantinople Medium Thin High Ride)
-DW single-ply heads (for first 2/3 of video)
-Remo CS Black Dot heads (for last 1/3)
-AKG D112 mic on kick; SM57s on toms (for first 2/3); Blue Hummingbird mics for overheads
-Apogee Element 88 A/D converter
-Logic Pro X
-Fujifilm X100T and X100V cameras
-Final Cut Pro