little snare help please!?

[12ZSAWER]

yo! im trying to get a kit set up for a drummer to come in and lay some tracks for me. im a guitar guy mostly, so a bit behind the curve on tuning drums. i'd like him to be able to sit down and go, and not have to spend all day tuning. the toms are pretty good, but the snare has got no crack, you know? the head isnt very old, what affect does the resonant head have on the tone of the snare? how do i know im not just going to break the head trying to tighten it to sound the way i want? especially if the drum is just junk and will never sound good. which i just dont know. any words of advice for a non drum-tech? thanx -Z-

[thejusticelair]

alright the first thing you should do is loosen all the lugs all the way and then tighten them just using your fingers (basically so they are loose but dont move at all) then your going to go around the lugs turning opposite lugs ( across from each other, 2 at a time) a quarter turn. do this until the lug resistance is fairly tight ...but not too much. do this on both the top and the bottom. the bottom is crucial in the tone as is the top. you want to tighten the resonant head tighter than the batter and tighten the snares so they dont rattle at all. now you should have some sort of note coming from the snare, you can tighten it to your liking now but keep the bottom tighter than the top. trust me... you wont break the head, i often stand on my heads when tuning to stretch them out ( little trick i learned) one thingg i do to check the individual tension is press one finger down in the center of the head and using the stick tap around the edges at each of the lugs and make sure the notes are the same. as long as your tension is consisten you can play around to get it right. i tighten the lugs around the snares tighter than the other bottom lugs, but dont be afraid to play around with it to get it soundin good. hope this helps
theres also youtube videos on tuning snares and many of them are excellent

[12ZSAWER]

thanx a million, that was great advice. sounds realy good now. now just a matter of getting it picked up nicely. i put a LDC about 3 feet outside the kit facing the snare. it adds a nice something to it when i mix it with the top and bottom close mics(of course its picking up the whole kit, but it makes a noticable difference with the snare in particular. thanx again. -Z-

[tjones62]

yea there are alot of ways to do it, i'm going to play with what justice said....

personally i normally keep my snare side head as loose as possible and the top head tighter so i can keep sympathetic vibrations down. i can get a good high crack that way.

with the bottom head looser it really helps with excess snare buzz.