Originally Posted by
66musicmaster
I've been working on my tom tuning. Got the floor tom to ring and sustain with a nice deep ring to it. No damping of any sort. Ludwig Accent cheapies. The attack still has some slight overtones, but I think I'm as close as I'll get for what I want. And where you hit on the head makes a difference in the tone also. At this point I can't imagine damping them. Get good sustain and it makes a big difference.
Like someone said, the drums will sound completely different recorded with the rest of the band. I think my original problem was thinking the heads had to be close to wrinkle to get a nice low sound. The Pstripes can go on up. At Wrinkle is fine playing alone or practicing, but recorded is just blat blat blat. No "tone" to speak of. I might have them too high for most folks, but I am getting better recorded sound. And the whole drum is resonating.
This tuning thing is very mysterious at first. I am finding that by just tightening and loosening and experimenting, it is becoming less mysterious. Short of tightening to breakage, I don't know that it can hurt other than stretching the heads if I decide to go lower. And it's a learning experience.
I think I have the wrong heads for my ultimate tone, but am working with what I got. I set my kit up at a jam session for everyone to play, so I need tough heads, 'cause who knows who's gonna be banging away next. I'll know more after next week's recorded jam.
Good luck to everyone trying to achieve perfect tone.
Randy