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Thread: Tuning new drum set and snare

  1. #1

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    Default Tuning new drum set and snare

    Hey there everyone,

    I just got my first drum set last week and I am excited to delve right in and have already been learning some basic things to get me started. I went through several different tutorials with how to tune all the toms, the snare and the bass drum but I just wanted to see if there was any other helpful advice fellow drummers had for me on here about tuning?

    The thing is, I do not know what I am listening for since I am a newbie. It is a 5-piece Pearl Roadshow and from what I can tell, the floor tom sounds good and so do the other 2 toms, but I feel like the snare is a little off somehow.

    I followed instructions carefully for tuning in opposites and seating the head for each of them and again, I think the toms sound ok but the snare is giving me a problem. How is it supposed to sound? Should it be a slightly higher tone than the other 2 mounted toms? It makes a vibrating sound when I play the other toms and from what I read, that means that 2 of them are tuned too much alike, is that true?

    If you have any tips on what I should do next or how I know I have gotten them all tuned correctly (again, if it's incorrectly tuned, I may not be able to pick up on it as much as an expert would), that would be MUCH appreciated!!

    Thanks!

    -Ty

  2. #2

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    Default Re: Tuning new drum set and snare

    Congrats on the new drum set. Go to YouTube and look up drum tuning videos published by Evans drumheads. The guy's name is Bob Gatzen or something like that. He makes it so so so easy to do.

    http://youtu.be/uJ9Unab1OzU
    Last edited by CycleDude; 11-16-2015 at 05:31 PM.
    Kevin
    DW Performance series - Gun Metal Metallic Lacquer
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    Drummers can be very tempomental.....

  3. #3

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    The videos are great also because you can hear how the Tom or the snare or the kick is supposed to sound in relationship to how yours sounds. it is a very good tuning aid.
    Kevin
    DW Performance series - Gun Metal Metallic Lacquer
    24/12/16 6.5x14
    Sabian AA/AAX hi-hats & crashes
    Sabian HHX Evolution ride

    Drummers can be very tempomental.....

  4. #4

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    Generally the heads on your snare should be tightened considerably more than your toms - the snare wires are PROBABLY buzzing due to sympathetic resonance because the heads on your snare are tensioned to a similar amount to your toms.

    Before doing anything. Watch a few youTube snare tuning vids as others have recommended. I find it helps to watch and listen to a few snares being tuned instead of just relying on written instruction.

  5. #5

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    you don't want my advice on snares... I'm a super tight crank it kind of guy. I love a sharp crack.

    But it also depends on the snare drum. Some of my snares are tuned lower cause they sound better. Also depends on the heads being used.

  6. #6

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    Hey tjeffery, how'd it come out?
    Kevin
    DW Performance series - Gun Metal Metallic Lacquer
    24/12/16 6.5x14
    Sabian AA/AAX hi-hats & crashes
    Sabian HHX Evolution ride

    Drummers can be very tempomental.....

  7. #7

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    Just so you don't make the mistakes i did.. i tried the whole cranking the snare side as high as possible stuff that you read everywhere.. and after a year of hating snares i switched to a lower reso side tuning and have been sooo much happier...

    Tuning takes a long time to learn.. i have been doing it for 14 months and still suck

  8. #8

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    I use a very simple method to tune my drums---tunadrum.com---this will get your drums sounding good right away---you can tweak the tuning as your skills improve, and as you seem to have noticed---your snare is the most difficult drum to tune

  9. #9

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    I should have just copied and pasted this as I have written it several times.


    It's great to have a set that sounds exactly like you want them to sound. The problem is that as soon as you move them to a larger (or smaller) room, the sound is going to change.

    The enemy of drums is not the possibility that you have what might be considered the "wrong" heads on your drums, it's the fact that drums, more than any other instrument, are at the mercy of the acoustics of where you have them.

    The good tuners are the drummers that can get a consistent sound from venue to venue. So I wouldn't go nuts trying to get the "perfect" sound as it will change to some degree as soon as you move them. As for Gatzen and Goode, if they have a drum key in their hands, they don't get within 50 miles of my drums.

  10. #10

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    This

  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by rickthedrummer View Post
    As for Gatzen and Goode, if they have a drum key in their hands, they don't get within 50 miles of my drums.
    Rick, Why do you not like Gatzen & Goode?
    I realize there's as many ways to tune drums as there are ways to skin a cat, but I'm curious because most people seem to be happy with their methods.
    Kevin
    DW Performance series - Gun Metal Metallic Lacquer
    24/12/16 6.5x14
    Sabian AA/AAX hi-hats & crashes
    Sabian HHX Evolution ride

    Drummers can be very tempomental.....

  12. #12

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    Thanks to all the help and advice! I am getting ready to sit down and watch some of the videos, etc. and figure out if I can get this snare tuned better and will let everyone know how it turns out! Fingers crossed it works out....I'm going to give it my best shot!

    ....Stay tuned!!

  13. #13

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    Alright...I watched videos and tweaked it but something still feels off. I think maybe my smallest tom is too close to the same pitch. Not gonna lie, I am pretty frustrated. I feel like now I have no clue what pitch the snare is at our how to really start from 'scratch' essentially to start all over again.

    It might help to say that the snare drum was already put together when I bought it but I still went through the tuning steps. In other words, I didn't have to attach the head or the snares, they were already on there.

    Any other more words of advice or encouragement? I feel like if I knew for certain they were in tune I could stop worrying about it and start rockin' and not be concerned with the sounds. Either way, I am learning the fundamentals, I am just kinda OCD about stuff like this

  14. #14

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    Refer to the video I linked Before. I think it's easiest for beginners at tuning to try to get a nice clean tone on one side of the tom-Tom. By clean, I mean that it should have one singular tone, not a bunch of overtones all ringing out at once. When you get a good clean, single note, then, flip the Tom over and match it on the other side. Repeat for all the toms.


    The snare is different. The snare side should not match the batter side. It should be either tighter or looser than the batter side. This part is up to you & your ears and what sound you like.
    Kevin
    DW Performance series - Gun Metal Metallic Lacquer
    24/12/16 6.5x14
    Sabian AA/AAX hi-hats & crashes
    Sabian HHX Evolution ride

    Drummers can be very tempomental.....

  15. #15

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    Thanks cycledude- I will keep that in mind with the snare and tons and try again. Thanks so much!

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by CycleDude View Post
    Rick, Why do you not like Gatzen & Goode?
    I realize there's as many ways to tune drums as there are ways to skin a cat, but I'm curious because most people seem to be happy with their methods.


    Where Gatzen starts is fine, it's where he ends up that just sucks.

    Being that the sound of a given drum set is personal preference, what 1 guy thinks is great sounding drums is someone else's trash can lids.

    IMHO, he winds up with the trash can lids.

  17. #17

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    Don't lose sleep over snare buzz when you hit a tom. That issue has been since the beginning of drum sets, and likely always be. Contrary to popular opinion, it has little to do with head tensions. I can make snares buzz just by singing a certain note and also notes from other instruments such as the bass can make them buzz as well. It's simple science really. Metal wires resting against a tight membrane and sound waves= some buzzing. You can reduce the effect by tightening the snares a lot but be careful that you don't choke the drum to the point where it begins to sound like a cardboard box!

    all the best...

  18. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by kay-gee View Post
    Don't lose sleep over snare buzz when you hit a tom. That issue has been since the beginning of drum sets, and likely always be. Contrary to popular opinion, it has little to do with head tensions. I can make snares buzz just by singing a certain note and also notes from other instruments such as the bass can make them buzz as well. It's simple science really. Metal wires resting against a tight membrane and sound waves= some buzzing. You can reduce the effect by tightening the snares a lot but be careful that you don't choke the drum to the point where it begins to sound like a cardboard box!
    ^this!
    FYI when the band begins to tune up I turn off my snares to avoid the buzz- don't want the rest of the band to think they've got amp problems!
    SONOR 6 pc Special Edition 3007's red maple, old Pearl Brass 14x6 FF snare, Yamaha Tour Custom maple 8 pc., Tama 4 pc., honey amber B/B, Ludwig Supralite chrome 14x6.5 steel snare, Paiste, Saluda & Zildjian
    Loaned out Slingerland upgraded 4 pc 1963 black, wrapped maple + 14" Pearl birch FT
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  19. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by kay-gee View Post
    Don't lose sleep over snare buzz when you hit a tom. That issue has been since the beginning of drum sets, and likely always be. Contrary to popular opinion, it has little to do with head tensions. I can make snares buzz just by singing a certain note and also notes from other instruments such as the bass can make them buzz as well. It's simple science really. Metal wires resting against a tight membrane and sound waves= some buzzing. You can reduce the effect by tightening the snares a lot but be careful that you don't choke the drum to the point where it begins to sound like a cardboard box!

    all the best...
    Slinglander beat me to it, but THIS! Tuning the snare has always been the bug in the drummer's . . . uh . . . posterior. Snare drums ring, vibrate, buzz, and make all kinds of interesting noises when you are right next to them vs hearing them on a recording or in an audience. I've been playing for over fifty years, and just this year I stumbled (that's the right word, too!) upon the exact snare sound that I've been looking for all this time. My advice, get it as close as you can and just play the darn thing. Over time your OCD will lead you closer and closer to the ideal. All the experimentation is one of the great fun adventures in playing drums. Imagine how boring it would be if drums were like guitars - there's only one way to tune them! (And to all you guitar players who are about to pipe in about alternate tunings - shut up! You get my point.)

    GeeDeeEmm

  20. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by rickthedrummer View Post
    Where Gatzen starts is fine, it's where he ends up that just sucks.

    Being that the sound of a given drum set is personal preference, what 1 guy thinks is great sounding drums is someone else's trash can lids.
    Yes, this is very true. I think that his videos do a good job of teaching the "how to" and if you decide on a different sound in the process then that's great too.

    Another thing to consider is how much EQ and post-production is done on recorded music. You can never get it to sound like that in your basement.
    Kevin
    DW Performance series - Gun Metal Metallic Lacquer
    24/12/16 6.5x14
    Sabian AA/AAX hi-hats & crashes
    Sabian HHX Evolution ride

    Drummers can be very tempomental.....

  21. #21

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    Congrats on the new drum set! Tuning drums can take many years to master. With some practice you should be able to get those tubs sounding great!
    MAPEX - SABIAN - PEARL - VIC FIRTH

  22. #22

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    "Either way, I am learning the fundamentals, I am just kinda OCD about stuff like this".


    Lose the OCD as it pertains to the sound of drums or you will wind up in the bin with people who talk to people who aren't there.

    Tune you drums the best you can in the room that you have them, then de-tune them, loosen all the tension rods batter and reso. Loosen them unevenly and take them to any room in your house that is a different size and bring them back to the same tune. Then take them to another room, anyplace that is different from the 1st 2 places. Bring them up to the same tune again.

    When you can do that, the same sound in 3 different places, it will not make you a master tuner, but it will give you a start.

  23. #23

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    ^^^^^ excellent advice Rick. .....


    Jim
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  24. #24

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    There's also some advice that I received from a very wise drummer on this forum(rickthedrummer) who told me to tune the drums on the stands and wait over night and check again.
    Stolen from EddieV:
    Boom, ching, boom boom ching, fuggadugga fuggadugga fuggadugga crash. Rinse, Repeat ad-nauseum.

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  25. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by Markadiddle View Post
    There's also some advice that I received from a very wise drummer on this forum(rickthedrummer) who told me to tune the drums on the stands and wait over night and check again.
    Yep, that gives the drum fairy time to come down the chimney and do the final tweeking while you sleep. And, if you've been a really good boy, the fairy will leave a shiny new drum key under your pillow. Bad boys get their beater shafts bent!

    GeeDeeEmm

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