interval

[peggerk]

Hi
I'm new. I have been playing drums for about 4 years. I purchased my son a set and became interested myself. I've had a couple lessons, but I mostly just learn form him or his books and find helpful info on the internet.
I have been on a quest to learn how to tune since the beginning. We have a beginner quality set. 12,13,16. What intervals would you say would work for these unevenly sized drums? I don't think they have a much of a tuning range(phil magh/basswood interior). Could the top two easily do a minor 3rd?
I use single ply coated on top and single ply clear on bottom. Tuned the same. Easiest for me!
Thanks

[pastor_bob]

Welcome to Drum Chat Peggerk, and congratulations on being bitten by the drumming bug! You and your son will be able to share a cool adventure together.

As to tuning, if you go to the navagation bar (the black bar at the top of the page) you will see "Drum Links" on the right side. Click on that and you will see a drop down box that will have a link to Drum Lessons." These are Drum Bum's free lessons. Look for the lessons on "Tuning" and you will find this a great resource.

As to the intervals, there should be no problem tuning your toms in 3rds. I have 10", 12", 14" and 16" toms, and I tuning in thirds. Another common interval is 5ths.

Hope this helps, and again, welcome!

[Russ]

youtube bob gatzen

[Tazmania]

Russ Ditto very good vids. Drum Bum as well good stuff.

Welcome peggerk great site here and friendly members, enjoy and see you on the boards.

[Russ]

what it is peggark

[holycow77]

I tune mine roughly a third apart.

I have very limited music theory knowledge so "a third" to me means you can play the start of tequila on them and it sounds good or the first 2 notes of HERE COMES the bride.

Cool stuff.

[peggerk]

Hi
Hope this does not come up twice, I posted once before.
Anyway, it's a 2004 tama rockstar.
I got this idea yesterday to place a drum dial on the center of the top heads of the 12, 13 toms. When the numbers are the same, I have a two note difference between the drums when I strike them. Not sure what it means but ...a bigger difference would be more pleasing to the ear.

I usually tune all lugs on both heads on a drum to the same pitch, note or tone. Although, I was reading on the remo tuning concepts site and they said tune a minor2nd above or below the batter. Anyone do this?

Others like to have the reso a minor third higher. I have tried this but I wonder if this exceeds the tuning range of the drum.

I just keep tuning!
thanks for the replies
peg

[holycow77]

I tune mine roughly a third apart.

I have very limited music theory knowledge so "a third" to me means you can play the start of tequila on them and it sounds good or the first 2 notes of HERE COMES the bride.

Cool stuff.

woops.. my wife tells me that a 4th. Works for me.

[fiacovaz]

I usually tune all lugs on both heads on a drum to the same pitch, note or tone. Although, I was reading on the remo tuning concepts site and they said tune a minor2nd above or below the batter. Anyone do this?
******************************

There are as many ways to tune a drum as there are "Ears: to listen with. In other words, you tune a drum to a sound that you like. No need to get caught up with tuning ranges. Intervals of Thirds and fourths are basic and will give you a degree of tonal separation that can be pleasing. Now, don't get me wrong but, Phillipine Mahagony and Basswood are not the best woods for drum shells. They are soft and easy to work with but they do not focus on Tone. These are okay for entry level drum kits, look good and give with a sound. The shells will not be strong enough to sustain pressures exerted to explore tuning ranges. These drums will use fewer plies which will sound big but will not produce the tone you might be wanting. That's the difference in what we pay for. As both you and your son continue with drumming, you will learn to appreciate the differences that exist. BTW, a big WELCOME to the Forum.

[kay-gee]

I tune mine roughly a third apart.

I have very limited music theory knowledge so "a third" to me means you can play the start of tequila on them and it sounds good or the first 2 notes of HERE COMES the bride.

Cool stuff.

Ist two notes of Here comes the bride is a 4th

all the best...

[peggerk]

What type of head would you suggest for these shells? A muffled like pinstripes? Now I have ambassadors, when these wear out I was thinking of Emps. We are not really looking for a certain sound, just to get the most out of the shells for what they are.

Thanks for the Welcome!
Peg

[fiacovaz]

Drum heads have a direct relation to the sound you will get. The difference is not to be considered as one head lasting longer because it's thicker. The Ambassadors are a 10 mil, single ply head and allow the drum to "Sing." The Pinstripe is double ply head with an internal muffle ring that dampens the overtone of the drum. Also, clear heads will have more tone while it's coated counterpart will have a warmer sound. The combination of batter heads and resonant heads will further delineate the sound. For the drummer wanting attack and punch with less resonance...heavy metal etc...the clear Pin stripe is a good choice with pinstripe reso head. In my case, I play big band jazz. I changed out the Pinstripes with coated Ambassador batter and clear Diplomat (7.5 mil) reso heads. I can tune them higher for Jazz and not stifle the musical quality of the drum. Now, I'm sure that this can all seem quite confusing. As a practical suggestion, coated single-ply heads are an all-purpose head suitable for many styles of playing. Anyone of the major brands...Remo, Evans, Aquarian...will be fine.

BTW, where in Iowa are you from?

[peggerk]

fiacovaz,
yeah, I understand what you mean about making the sound thats good to your ear. I have been tuning one drum a lot lately to get to know what it can do and what I like. It's all about experimenting and not being afraid to mess the tuning up.
I like the ambassadors, we used to have clear powerstroke4 heads.
Thanks for the info. Oh, I'm from west union!
peg

[peggerk]

holycow, kaygee
thanks for the tip on the 4th (here comes the bride). I will try it when I get one drum tuned. Right now I'm just working on the 13".
peg

[fumbled time]

Welcome to D/C. I have a low end kit,I meen LOW end! so tuning has been both a task and adventure. I have stock resos and evans hydraulics for batters, Tuning was driving me nutz with all these intervals and what not. I use to use a tension key and liked it for a while. The results that I was looking for ended up being by ear and more importantly response to a strike of the stick. I found for myself that I was usually tune to tight! so what I look for is good response and it seems that tight dies fast with little response and loose sound to dead, so after I get a little tension on all the lugs(no wrinkles) I strike the center of the head and tighten and loosen a single lug till I get that sweet spot then I move on to the next, being sure to tighten and loosen each lug multiple times to hear the diff. and then settle them in the middle. A little different but the results for me are exactly what I desire. All the best on your quest.
F/T

[fumbled time]

I have also found that tuning on the stand produces a better result the tuning will holding the drum, It always sound good to me until I put it back on the stand and then I don't like it. So I always tune on the stand now. IMFO.

[concrete Building]

TUNE UR DRUMS TO DA WAY IT SOUNDZ DA MOST PLEASING!

[gonefishin]

Set the drum on a flat level surface and use your drum dial on each lug and tune them to 70-75 and this should give you a descent start to where you can fine-tune them to your liking .

Good luck, and welcome to the board .

[peggerk]

Thanks for the tips. I'll try it this weekend!