Drum tuning

[DogpitStudios]

I was wondering if anyone wanted to offer their expertise on drum tuning?

Thanks,

Ben

[Smidgelton]

Just go for the sound that you want. There is no definite precise tuning you have to go by. Find the right sound out of the floor tom that you're looking for and then tune each tom about a note higher. The snare and kick drum don't have to follow any formula either. It's all up to your ears.

[brandondrury]

Oh come on, it's not all in your ears. There is some skill to this.

Saying that drum tuning is simply requires you to use your ears is a bit too vague.

Anyone have any pointers?

Brandon

[randy]

I've always just tuned by ear. They do make those little drum tuners, but I've never even thought about buying one, ok maybe some day-for studio use. I used to try to tune the snare tight, but I thought I was getting it too tight, so it didn't sound right. Actually, I wasn't tuning it tight enough! But easy, because you can choke a snare pretty quick if you tune it too tight.

Smidgelton, interesting point. I've never tuned from the floor tom up. It's always from the snare down. I might try that.

Kick drum tuning is more important than what most people think also, and often gets overlooked. Drummers rarely check kick drum tuning before each show, but need to.

[DogpitStudios]

Most people tune from the floor tom to prevent from tuning the highest tom to low making all the rest way too low for the toms them selves. A lot of starter kids end up tuning there toms to low because they tune the high tom too low for itself. I've found that the higher the tom usually the easier it is to tune and make it sound good. Who has pointers about tuning drums though besides by ear. You cant just rely on your ear if you dont even know how a drum works.

Ben

[brandondrury]

I don't deny that you have to use your ears to tune a drum. I think the orginal poster is aware of the fact that he doesn't want to tune a drum with headphones blasting the Brady Bunch.

I think the original poster was looking for more specific methods to take a drum that sounds like this to his ears and make it something that sounds amazing.

Brandon

[lumpy]

Before even placing the head on the drum, make sure the bearing edges are clean and even. If they are beat up, the only way to fix the problem is taking it to reputable drum dealer. Also while the head is off, ensure your hardware is tight.

Lay the drum on a carpet, put on the head, make a fist and push down firmly in the center of the head. This guarantees that the head is resting evenly against the bearing edge.

Put on the rim and start tightening the lugs until they just touch the rim. Always work cross ways on the lugs (like tightening the lugs on a wheel) to ensure eveness. Once all the lugs are touching the rim, turn each lug 1/2 turn working cross ways again. NEVER tighten lugs clockwise or counterclockwise. Once all lugs are 1/2 turn, tighten each lug 1/4 turn cross ways again until the edge of the head is still "soft" but not "spongy".

Mount the drum and tune to your ear.

A couple of suggestions. Once you get the drum tuned to your liking, tap the edge of the head near each lug, cross ways again (can't emphasize that enough), and make sure the tone is even across the head. Most likely you will have to finetune it. And try to stay away from any kind of dampning. I know it has it's place in the studio but in live situations it kills projection and resonance. Also have a friend sit behind your kit and play while you stand 10 - 20 feet in front of it to make sure it sounds like you want. What you hear behind the kit is totally different than what everyone else hears. I like to tune the resonant and batter heads the same and then tighten the resonant head just slightly tighter than the batter.

Hope that helps. There is no real science to drum tuning. It's a matter of taste and application. You can visit Aquarian's site to learn some more. Also experiment with different weight heads, coated vs. clear if your budget allows.
Lump

[brandondrury]

Great post, lumpy.

I know it has it's place in the studio but in live situations it kills projection and resonance.

This can be one of the reasons that I don't like damning a lot of the time in the studio, too.

Brandon

[Geisler]

Some guy named J. Scott Johnson wrote this thing he called the Drum Tuning Bible:

http://www.menet.umn.edu/~kgeisler/Tuning.pdf

There are a lot of interesting suggestions in here. Lumpy's right though, you gotta have good bearing edges, or a lot of this stuff won't work very well.

[brandondrury]

Tremendous post, dude.

Brandon