Tuning Drums

mr_angry

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a bit of advice when tuning my drums. I've read endless tutorials on the net, and spent several hours attempting to tune them properly, but to no avail. If I go on this way for much longer, I'm - (a) Going to go mad, and (b) make the neighbours think I'm running some kind of strange bongo cult in my house. Plus, playing them also sounds extra-sh*t at the moment.

I've read several tutorials on the subject - mainly the one from mxtabs.net - but none of them describe what notes I should really be tuning to. I assume that these should be different for the resonant and batter skins, but to tell you the truth, I haven't a clue.

I have a:
- 13-inch tom
- 14-inch tom
- 16-inch floor tom
- 22-inch kick

My snare is fine at the moment, and I'm taking the approach that if it isn't broke, I'm not going to f*ck it up by trying to fix it.

Has anybody got any tips?

Doctor J

That's a pretty standard setup, so get new skins and start from scratch. There's nothing any of us can say which you haven't read already, I'd guess.

Your best bet would be to buy some new skins and ask the guy in the shop to show you how to tune a drum just before you hand over the cash.

Töpher

Tune your toms to the same notes as the top 3 strings of a guitar. If playing in a band ask what tuning the guitars are in. Works well, I dont bother myself playing in rehersal rooms cuz I take long enough to set up as it is, but its a good way of doing it, IMO.

Dr. Loon

I've always just tuned my drums by ear, and not to any particular note. Although I tuned my bongos to A I think it was with the help of my guitarist.

Just keep tuning until you like what you hear really. Unless you're completely tone deaf, but then you shouldn't be a musician anyway. If tuned properly, you should have no need to use any form of muffling at all, although different rooms can cause your kit to sound/vibrate completely different. Maybe try tuning your drums in a different room... I once had my kit setup in a living room, and tuned it there. It sounded great, brought it to a hall then for reahearsals and it sounded completely shíte.

Just keep trying different things, and you'll eventually get to the point where you can tune on the go. I only learned to tune a few years back, and I was fairly disgusted with the fact I never learned to tune before then.

mr_angry

Thanks guys - I'll give it a go. I'd follow your suggestion Doc J, but I'm absolutely broke, and an entire set of new skins is probably about 10,000% over my budget!

I can tune guitar by ear, but the amount of lugs on each head, and the fact that altering one effects all the others... it's driving me mental. But I guess you have to be patient with these things.

Eoin Madsen

There's so many lugs on each head that the number of variables makes just "tuning until you like what you hear" a bit impractical. If you've read the literature and you're still getting nowhere it may be the poor quality of your drum kit. I owned a pearl forum for years and thought that I was just awful at tuning. I later bought a Masters and discovered that it was, relatively speaking, easy to tune. I could even afford to be fussy about different tones, notes, playing tensions etc. The Forum was virtually untuneable!

The best trick I've learned is: loosen the head completely at all the lugs (so the head is virtually falling off). Then tighten each one by hand (and use the same hand) as tight as you can get it. You'll need to twist on the threaded part since the top is too small to grip. After you've gone around each one, check them all again, and make sure they're all as tight as possible by hand. In theory they all have roughly the same tension now. As long as you give them all the same number of turns with the key, they should stay with even tension and you can experiment more easily with the sound of different tensions.

Dr. Loon

Originally posted by Eoin Madsen
There's so many lugs on each head that the number of variables makes just "tuning until you like what you hear" a bit impractical.

Sorry Eoin... but this sentence makes little to no sense. Are you supposed to tune until you don't like what you hear?! What do you mean? You then go on to explain how to tune until you like what you hear! :rolleyes:

If Mr_Angry wasn't tuning properly in the first place, i.e - losening the head as youve suggested, and starting with hand tightening the lugs, then that's his problem there. I had assumed he'd read up on how to tune and just couldn't get the sound right.

Nobody tries to tune their drums starting with a taut skin do they???
Mr_angry - I'd also advise you learn how to tune your snare. It's possibly one of the most important drums to be capable of tuning.

Doctor J

Mr_angry,

if your budget is tight then there is another way. Just go in and look at drumkits, feigning interest in buying. Especially snares, ask what they have and if there's anything still in it's shipping box, ask to hear that and then just watch. For shipping the drum will be shipped with the lugs loosened and the skins slack. The shop guy will tune it right before your very eyes. Just bear in mind what you will have read about how to tune and just watch and listen what the shop guy does. It should be easier to tune new skins which are fresh and haven't been bashed, but you can still tune old skins.

Tuning is awkward and if you haven't seen or heard it done before your eyes and ears all the words in the world ain't gonna help.

Good luck.

Eoin Madsen

Originally posted by Dr. Loon
Sorry Eoin... but this sentence makes little to no sense. Are you supposed to tune until you don't like what you hear?! What do you mean? You then go on to explain how to tune until you like what you hear!

Just randomly tweaking the lugs, which you statement seemed to imply, could take a very long time. But I gather you already know that, so must have I misinterpreted - my apologies.

Originally posted by Dr. Loon
Nobody tries to tune their drums starting with a taut skin do they???

When making minor adjustments you would. Ideally you only really detune the first time, since contantly loosening the head to retune will shorten it's life.

Doctor J is right. If you live in or near Dublin go into the drum dept in Music Maker and start making empty promises. The guys down there will be more than happy to show you tuning if you ask them straight... just express an interest in buying a snare or something of the like first.

fitz

I did precisely that when buying my snare....asked a load of questions, and cause I was spending €340, the staff in the drum dept. of Musik Maker were more than helpful.

Dunbar Mac

Yeah I find the guys in music maker great. I shop there pretty regularly and when u get to know them they'll give u a good deal.

Anyway, about tuning the drums. I keep mine in my shed and before I got the thing insulated I found they'd get messed up with the temperature changing (expanding and contracting). This might have something to do with it depending on where u keep them e.g. near a radiator.

Just a thought.

Sauron

Music Mker staff are great methinks...always giving me discounts..

Im wondering now how heat changes would affect my kit....My guitarist is definetly serious about never leaving his guitar by a radiator. My kit is kinda near one.
Tuning was always a problem for me......My drum teacher went thru it with me
and my kit sounds nice now.
-One vitally important thing to remember is that when tuning, (best to start from scratch), always tune the lugs in pairs. ie the ones opposite each other, try to turn them equally.. so as to eliminate any bumps and to ensure flatness of the head.
-also when doing this... keep ur hand pressed firmly in the centre of the head...it won't break, this helps with getting better tension ,..or something..
-with regards to the bottom head, I usually tune it a bit tighter than the top head...this gives a nice bit of resonance....I never bother trying to completely reduce this echo which so many drummers hate...when playing with others this is usually drowned out.
-I dont tune my toms exactly all together to a system of notes (standard set up) I just ensure that there is a nice even pattern between them.
meh.... it worked for meh

Dunbar Mac

It's got somethin to do with when it gets hotter the wood expands causing the skin to become tighter and then when it gets colder the wood contracts causing the skin to become looser.

I was told that one by someone who knows their stuff so I listened.
I usually get lazywith the tuning but I'm gonna be recording this week and I wanna have my kit sounding nice so I'll be usin your tips.

Cheers lads.

Eoin Madsen

Over time, that constant expansion and contraction warps the shape of the drum. On an expensive kit a certain amount of resonance from the drums is desirable. I like my snare nice and ringy.