Tuning, defined?
Richard Osborn
OK, what's the deal?
I went tuning my drums over again and, after
hanging around here for AWHILE, I'm confused.
We've posted back and forth about the effects different tuning
has depth of the pitch, length of the resonance. Tuning top and bottom
to same pitch, tuning top head tighter than bottom, bottom tighter than
top.
Which does what?
Does tighter on the top make deeper pitch and more resonance?
Or is it looser on the top head?
And to WHOM does it make it deeper pitch for? Just us or the audience
also?
And where's tuning to the same pitch fit into all this?
I've gone back and forth with my kit now, and I can't remember or tell
which does which anymore and I need to know. Anybody have definative
answers?
- R.
__________________________________________________________
richard osborn
net Gain communications
www design & development
www.ngain.com
TMamatas
Here's what I have learned from experience:
(1) The tighter the batter head is, the higher the drum sounds.
(2) The tighter the resonant head is, the higher the drum sounds.
(3) Once you have determined the general pitch you want from your drum(s)
by tensioning both heads, fine tuning can be done by altering the
resonant head, while leaving the batter head as it was (much of the
decision on which tension is right for the batter comes from how you
want it to feel when struck).
(4) Improper tuning can result in pronounced ring (different from
resonance), so care must be taken to tune the drumheads properly in
relation to each other. Improper tunning can also cause "unpleasant"
frequencies to be produced, a similar phenomenon to dissonant
intervals on a piano. On a snare drum, the tension of the snares must
be correct in relation to the snare head in order to get the most
pronounced snare response.
(5) A drum's natural resonant frequency (the frequency at which the drum
will be loudest and most full-bodied) depends on many factors,
including shell depth, material, and the kinds of heads used. Every
drum is different, and the best way to find your drum's most resonant
tuning is to tune across the whole range of tensions from slack to
very tight, and it will become self-evident after a while where your
drum "prefers" to be.
(6) With regards to performance venues, each room has its own resonant
frequency, and the audience hears more room reflections that the drummer
does, so it is better to tune the drum's pitch for the room (if you
can) in this case (many rooms resonate on the bass guitar's
frequencies, which can bury some of the transients in drums, so it's
important to tune so you are clearly heard).
(7) Tuning the heads to the same pitch must be done carefully, because if
they are not exactly the same, the unpleasant frequencies can become
a problem (like playing a note and its flat at the same time on a
guitar).
(8) The best way to learn what's right for your drums is experimentation.
Hope that helps; good luck! :-)
MuffinHead
>Which does what?
>Does tighter on the top make deeper pitch and more resonance?
>Or is it looser on the top head?
Tune the top head so it has good feel, rebound, and pitch, then tune
the bottom head to adjust the overall pitch of the drum.
>And to WHOM does it make it deeper pitch for? Just us or the audience
>also?
There's very little difference in the audience. What they hear mostly
is the overall sound of the drum as a whole, not just the bottom head
(well, maybe, if your tom heads are perpendicular to the floor).
>And where's tuning to the same pitch fit into all this?
This will give you the most amount of resonance and fullness of sound,
along with projection and everything else.
MuffinHead
Drummer, Mac geek Armpit Studios VIII
http://www.visi.com/~muff/ Plymouth, MN
______________________________________________________________________
And so, may evil beware and may good dress warmly and eat lots of
fresh vegetables.
--The Tick
ianwa...@aol.com
What follows is my opinion on tuning. Tuning is a very personal thing
I feel many drummers destroy the sound of their drums by bad tunning
PRIMARILY THE PITCH OF YOUR DRUM IS DEFINED BY ITS SIZE
If you want a deeper sound buy a larger drum
if you want a higher sound choose a smaller drum
Aint that why Bass drums a big and concert toms small?
Dont tune your drum to a pitch it wasn't designed for.
Around the main note that your drum is designed to project there will be a
number of higher or lower frequencies or overtones
Tensioning tightly will loose the lower over tones
Tensioning loosely will loose the upper overtones
Many drummers use this to tune their drum to a pitch other than what it
was designed for.
Incorrect tension will also give the risk of dammaging your heads on stick
impact
Incorrect tension will cause poor physical stick response or bounce.
When you hit your drum's batter head the movement of the skin causes air
movement that generates a sound wave. This wave travels to the bottom head
and displaces that head. The bottom head then reflects the note back to
the batter head with slightly reduced enregy. This reflected wave inturn
gets reflected withl reduced strength back and forward untill it dies.
Incorrect tension prevents this reflection.
Tune your drums so that there is a good physical stick response and you
wont be far out.
In general tension the batter head a little tighter than the bottom head.
Tuning for playing will require a different approach for miking and
recording
In the latter case I would maintain the tension but this is the only time
I would maybe use a little dampening.
Drums should sound like drums and SING!
If your drums have buzzes and rattles when tuned correctly then fix the
buzz and rattle DON'T DAMPEN THE DRUM FIX THE PROBLEM
Buzzes and rattles come about because you have either a worn head that
needs replaced or an unevenly tensioned head or loose tension brackets.
rec.music.makers.percussion
On 1997-02-04 tmam...@aol.com(TMamatas) said:
>Here's what I have learned from experience:
>(1) The tighter the batter head is, the higher the drum sounds.
>(2) The tighter the resonant head is, the higher the drum sounds.
The more ringy too!
So, if I may be so technically naive, when I was a teen and playing,
it was fashionable to remove the bottom head, as I am told Ginger
Baker did--though I can't confirm being blind--but my own
experimentation makes it seem as though that's what he did in "Wheels
of Fire" the live disk, although it might've been a marvel of
micing... When I removed the bottom head, it seemed as though I got a
flatter sounding less resonant note than with the bottom head, but
less volume too, and an apparently deeper tone than I could
get--although I had to loosen the batter head quite a bit for both...
Was my empirical observation correct or was enthusiasm to sound like
Jinger, or Ringo on Abbey Road fooling my ears? How did they mic them
back then?
Is my surmise that jazz drummers like Joe Merillo (sorry about
spelling) Dave Brubeck quartet's drummer, used both heads?
>(3) Once you have determined the general pitch you want from your
>drum(s) by tensioning both heads, fine tuning can be done by
>altering the resonant head, while leaving the batter head as
>it was (much of the decision on which tension is right for the
>batter comes from how you want it to feel when struck).
>(4) Improper tuning can result in pronounced ring (different from
>resonance), so care must be taken to tune the drumheads
>properly in relation to each other. Improper tunning can also
>cause "unpleasant" frequencies to be produced, a similar
>phenomenon to dissonant intervals on a piano.
In school we were taught to tap every other lug, until we got back
around to the first one, then do the alternate ones. Was this
correct? I understood this was to keep even tension on the heads so
as not to damage them? What's the real story here?
On a snare drum, the
>tension of the snares must be correct in relation to the snare head
>in order to get the most pronounced snare response.
>(5) A drum's natural resonant frequency (the frequency at which the
>drum will be loudest and most full-boddied) depends on many
>factors, including shell depth, material, and the kinds of
>heads used. Every drum is different, and the best way to find
>your drum's most resonant tuning is to tune across the whole
>range of tensions from slack to very tight, and it will become
>self-evident after a while where your drum "prefers" to be.
I've never understood the very tight tensions some use on their snares
because there is a choking wheezing sound each time the drum is hit,
much like the sound of a dog coughing. I've always loved the cracking
snare sound like a Sucretes(throat lozenge spelling again) metal box
full of marbles with a rubber drum pad on top but with more high
frequencies. That was my first snare drum before my parents could
afford a Maastro then a SuperPhonic 400 which I have still and another
for two snares with different tunings.
>(6) With regards to performance venues, each room has its own
>resonant frequency, and the audience hears more room reflections
>that the drummer does, so it is better to tune the drum's pitch for
>the room (if you can) in this case (many rooms resonate on the
>bass guitar's frequencies, which can bury some of the
>transients in drums, so it's important to tune so you are clearly
>heard). (7) Tuning the heads to the same pitch must be done
>carefully, because if they are not exactly the same, the
>unpleasant frequencies can become a problem (like playing a
>note and its flat at the same time on a guitar).
I've loved that aspect of playing, but it takes lots of set up time,
although carpeted rooms certainly got the lower pitched treatment from
me, while concrete rooms got a higher pitched setup. That was one
place where only batter heads was a time/life saver. We were never
big enough to afford roadies...
>(8) The best way to learn what's right for your drums is
>experimentation.
>Hope that helps; good luck! :-)
I hope you didn't mind my questions, but I'm just coming back after 24
years away, and never was brave enough to ask my fellow drummers while
in school, couldn't afford lessons then, and the band teacher pretty
much let us teach ourselves...
Nick DotsonGProprietor of Dots-On Enterprises
Net-Tamer V 1.08.1 - Registered
MuffinHead
In article <5dov06$6...@cobia.gulf.net>, rec.music.makers.percussion wrote:
>Was my empirical observation correct or was enthusiasm to sound like
>Jinger, or Ringo on Abbey Road fooling my ears? How did they mic them
>back then?
Yes. A single-headed tom will have less resonance and body than a
double-headed tom. Single-headed toms are usually miked by sticking a mic
below or inside the drum.
>Is my surmise that jazz drummers like Joe Merillo (sorry about
>spelling) Dave Brubeck quartet's drummer, used both heads?
Yes, it's safe to say that most jazz drummers use double-headed toms.
And these days, it's safe to say that most drummers use double-headed
toms.
>In school we were taught to tap every other lug, until we got back
>around to the first one, then do the alternate ones. Was this
>correct? I understood this was to keep even tension on the heads so
>as not to damage them? What's the real story here?
When tightening the head up to the primary pitch, you should skip lugs
like you described above. But when tuning the final pitch, you tap near a
lug, then tap near the two lugs adjacent to it to compare the pitches, fix
it if necessary, then move onto the next lug.
MuffinHead
Drummer, Mac geek Armpit Studios VIII
http://www.visi.com/~muff/ Plymouth, MN
______________________________________________________________________
Hey! You're the guy who made my head hot!
--The Tick