Drum Kit Tuning
Maryetta Worm
Most kick drums (unless your doing jazz combo work or going for a non-standard sound) are muffled in some way to reduce the sustain and overtones the drum could produce. Suggestions of what to stuff in your kick drum abound from specifically branded products to old towels and blankets. I have used most of these methods. Currently, in my main rock/pop kick drum, I use at least one towel and sometimes add to that an Evans EQ Pad.
With the advent of the kick drum pedal and the development of the hi-hat, drummers finally had everything they needed to drive a band. The drums themselves evolved from animal skin heads attached with rope to a modern system that uses multiple parts.
The drum hoop is a round piece of metal that holds the heads onto the drum. Snare drum and kick drum hoops are sometimes made of wood. Each drum usually has a top and a bottom hoop, one for each of the drum heads.
The lugs are attached to the shell of the drum, and the threaded part of the tension rod is inserted into the lug. Most drums will have eight or 10 lugs. Some older vintage drums may have six lugs. The number of lugs can affect the tuning stability and the sound of the drum.
Bass drums have drum claws. The claws are metal pieces that fit over the hoops to secure the hoops to the shell. The tension rods are placed through the holes in the claws and then threaded into the lugs and tightened.
There are many types of heads, so what type of head should you use? Each type of head produces a different tone, and some are more durable than others. Drum heads are generally made of different types of plastic:
Then place the new head on the shell of the drum. You want to center the new head to make sure it sits evenly on the drum so it can be tuned to equal tension across the drum. Place the hoop over the head and then insert the rods into the hole in the hoop and thread them into the lugs. Tighten them until they are just finger tight.
Tuning the heads the same produces the most even tone, tuning the bottom head tighter than the top gives the notes a slight bend upward, and tuning the bottom head lower than the top gives the pitch a slight bend downward. Experiment with drum tuning ranges and find the sound you like.
This is also dependent on the number of toms; drum kits with several toms may need to be tuned to closer intervals to allow all the drums to sound their best and not be tuned beyond their comfortable frequency range.
There are many tools on the market that can help you tune your drums. These include devices that measure drum tension and torque, allowing you to quickly tune to equal tension across the drum. There are even drum tuners that show pitch just like guitar tuners.
As mentioned before, each drum has a range of pitch that it can accommodate. This is sometimes referred to as the resonant pitch of the drum. The resonant pitch is dependent on the size of the drum and the type of wood used. Smaller drums have higher resonant frequencies, and larger drums have lower resonant frequencies.
The snare drum is the loudest part of the drum set and is known for having a lot of attack but very little sustain. The snares are attached to the bottom head and give the drum its signature sound. Snares are made of wood or metal, which affects the tone greatly. Metal snares are usually louder and cut through a band more than a wood snare.
Tuning your snare drum is mostly a matter of personal preference. If you find a recording of a snare that you want to emulate, try to match that pitch. If your snare head has a lot of dents and is difficult to tune, swap it out for a fresh head.
There can be a lot of variety in how the toms are tuned. Small toms (8-10 inches) are usually tuned somewhere between E3 and B3. Medium toms (12-14 inches) are tuned lower, and large toms (16-18 inches) are tuned even lower. As you play across your drum kit, the pitch goes lower as you move from smaller toms to larger toms.
The diameter of the drum will determine the pitch. Most drums are four- or five-piece kits with two or three toms. Rock drums (especially heavy metal drums) generally have larger toms than kits designed for jazz.
After choosing the best drum set for you, and tuning your drums, the next most important thing for a beginner is learning how to play! From beginner to advanced, School of Rock has taught thousands of students how to play drums and achieve their full potential. From tuning to rudiments, our instructors have the knowledge and experience to have you quickly playing your favorite Rock songs on stage.
If the batter and resonant heads are tuned to the same pitch, the two heads resonate at the same frequency and reinforce each other. The drum will have the greatest possible amount of sustain and resonance.
If the resonant head is tuned higher than the batter head, there will be a slight pitch bend evident in the sustain of the toms. Also, because the impact is reflected off the tighter resonant head at a faster frequency (because it is tuned higher), the two heads no longer reinforce each other as much and there is less sustain.
i use a 68 Ludwig 3 ply set 12, 13, 14, 16,18 and I had Eddy Ryan build me a 26 inch kick before he died. The question is if your playing in a pub or average size room without microphones which tuning in your opinion gives the most projection, as a general rule i dont tune very low but medium low batter and the Bonham method higher resonant head in my opinion sounds great but I feel it sends the tone of the toms up to the mikes instead of out.front, lately i just drop the bottom head a semitone thinking that it slows the air from going back up to the batter side, two different head speeds may allow for more punch if not a little flatter sounding. Any ideas Chris?
out of the three examples you have, I thought the last one sounded the best.
I tune my toms with rest head slightly looser than the batter head. on the snare tuning it depends on the snare. I most cases I tune the rest a bit looser or I tune them with even tension.
Drums can go out of tune for a number of reasons. Drastic changes in temperature can cause the shell to expand or shrink, loosening the tension rods. Bumping or shaking the drum during transport or excessive playing can have the same effect. So if you want the drums to sound as good as possible, you should be checking their tuning regularly.
Yes! For example, thinner single-ply heads resonate more quickly than thicker 2-ply heads, which will affect the final sound. A clear head will sound brighter and have more attack than a coated head. And if a drumhead has a built-in muffling ring (more common in bass drum heads), this will also affect the resonance (and sounds) you can get out of the drum.
For the resonant head, try to get a similar pitch/note. You might want to tune the reso head a bit lower than the batter side, but see what works for you. To confirm an even tension around the drum, tap on the head close to each lug.
To tune a floor tom, give each tension rod half a turn, going around the drum in a star pattern. Now hit the drum and compare how it sounds to the other toms. Think about giving it another quarter turn. Next, tap the head around the drum in front of each lug to make sure the pitch sounds consistent between all of them.
Get all tension rods finger tight. Bring the snare drum up to tension with a full turn of each one, moving in a star pattern around the drum. Use a drumstick to tap around the drum by each tension rod and listen for a consistent sound. Try to bring up the snare nice and tight right away.
Bring up each tension rod another quarter turn. You want to hear the wires, but not so much that it overwhelms the attack.
Tap the head beside each tension rod, then start to even out the pitch with the tension rods so they all match.
Samantha Landacurrently drums with Conquer Divide and has been featured by outlets such as Sick Drummer Magazine and DRUM! Magazine. Sam proudly endorses Mapex Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Evans Drumheads and Los Cabos Drumsticks.
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How To Tune A Snare Drum (The Easy Way)
It's easier to tune a snare drum than you think. Here's a clear and simple walkthrough to get your snare sounding perfect.
In the above drawing, the grey part is a solid piece. The black portion rotates on the grey shaft mostly freely and only in one direction. Looking from the top of the drawing, the black portion will only turn clockwise.
While in the neutral position, as you tighten the red screw, it causes the bearing to be set in to the bushing. This creates friction when attempting to turn the black part. As you hold the black portion and turn, eventually the torque of the tuning rod will overcome the friction of the bearing-bushing (red/blue) joint and they will separate.
Since you can adjust the amount of force between the bearing-bushing joint by adjusting the red screw, you can control how much torque occurs before that joint breaks. The bottom of the red screw has numbering and an index, and the turning is detented. This allows you to set torque values relatively accurately.
As a simple drum key it is an improvement over what most drummers seem to use. The handle is large. The socket fits various tuning rod types from vintage to modern drums. There is a knurled top that allows you to correctly set your drums to finger tight (never use your fingers for this!). Mine appears to have a magnetic insert which is very handy.
Using torque as a measurement for fasteners works quite well. However, this presupposes that you have a few things (more than I will list in fact): linear friction on the thread, relatively non-elastic mating surfaces, a consideration for fastener failure and the desired preload. With drums, you have none of these things.
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