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Thread: Drum Tuning

  1. #1

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    Lets discuss Drum Tuning: I personally find the SNARE DRUM to be the most difficult to tune.

  2. #2

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    Thats wierd. I useally find it the easiest. I guess it just depends on what size snare you have. Im guessing you have a 14"x6" or something similar?

  3. #3

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    i find the bass drum to be the hardest to tune myself...it's hard to turn that one screw by the floor

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by Drumvistator
    Thats wierd. I useally find it the easiest. I guess it just depends on what size snare you have. Im guessing you have a 14"x6" or something similar?
    Yea, it's easier nowadays since I have a few tried and tested methods but it still can sound quite different from room to room.

  5. #5

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    i was playing a show with another band and i absolutely LOVED the sound he got out of his snare...it sounded like a drum machine's snare, and i asked him how he got that sound and he just said he tightened the crap out of his snares and his head.... a proven method?
    When drummers are away from their instruments, which is quite often, they often resort to air drumming. Although often distracting to others, playing air drums provides drummers with a mental practice session that can help a great deal.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Baw_Drummer
    i was playing a show with another band and i absolutely LOVED the sound he got out of his snare...it sounded like a drum machine's snare, and i asked him how he got that sound and he just said he tightened the crap out of his snares and his head.... a proven method?
    The bottom head, yes. When I learned this, getting a good snare sound got a whole lot easier. Now it's consistency from room to room that I struggle with.

  7. #7

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    i never tune my drums. i figure if they sound like ****, then it separates me from everybody else. you know, it makes me unique.
    max

  8. #8

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    hahah good poiint. thats why my toms are all messed up
    When drummers are away from their instruments, which is quite often, they often resort to air drumming. Although often distracting to others, playing air drums provides drummers with a mental practice session that can help a great deal.

  9. #9

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    yeah i've only been drumming for like 3 months now so i have no clue how to tune them... well i do i just dont know what they are supposed to sound like... can anyone tell me
    |M|o|u|n|t|a|i|n| |D|e|w| My Anti-Drug

  10. #10

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    believe it or not, there are actual notes that a drum must play (im not sure what they are, i tune by ear) but its best to take the head off and then back on with the drum key in a crazy pattern, tighting the lug across from the previous one, to make sure all the lugs are even. If you tighnten with the same tourqe on all the lugs, tuning isnt too hard. i suggest looking up the notes for the sake of sound quality.
    When drummers are away from their instruments, which is quite often, they often resort to air drumming. Although often distracting to others, playing air drums provides drummers with a mental practice session that can help a great deal.

  11. #11

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    yeah.....i tune all my heads to specific pitches that go the best with the songs i play

  12. #12

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    i just make sure my toms are tuned in a way that is distinguishable.
    hi tom, low tom, floor tom. im set for life!
    When drummers are away from their instruments, which is quite often, they often resort to air drumming. Although often distracting to others, playing air drums provides drummers with a mental practice session that can help a great deal.

  13. #13

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    another popular way to tune ur heads is in 3rds, 4ths or 5ths....5ths work well for anything with alot of power chords...4ths are good for music that's in a lot of wierd diff keys and 3rds are good for pop stuff or like barbershop stuff which doesnt usually have drums in it...but anyway.....that's one idea...but mostly if ur not quite that musical just make sure that the low tom is lower than the high tom and the bass drum is the lowest

  14. #14

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    Tuning the bottom heads makes a huge difference in the sound of the drum. I know some guys that take the bottom heads off...what a mistake!!!

  15. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Boo
    Tuning the bottom heads makes a huge difference in the sound of the drum. I know some guys that take the bottom heads off...what a mistake!!!
    I would never take the bottom heads off. All the air escapes and the drum will have no resonance.
    Limpy
    *Drum yourself to death

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by LIMPy
    I would never take the bottom heads off. All the air escapes and the drum will have no resonance.
    Thank you !!! I believe the same applies to the front bass head.
    BOOOOOO!!!

  17. #17

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    ...tu chea...

  18. #18

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    No I wouldn't take it off the bass drum either.
    Limpy
    *Drum yourself to death

  19. #19

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    I'm new here, but I want to put my 2 cents in here.

    You want to just want to keep the head spongy feeling, not hard as wood though.
    You don't have to go across the drum to tune it, you can go clockwise.
    Your bottom head should be tighter than the top.
    you want all of the tension points on the outer edge of the drum to sound about the same.
    If that doesn't work, take it to a local music store and have them tune it, and mimic what they do...that is, if they let you watch.


    Thanks.

  20. #20

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    well....everyone is diff and every drum is diff so the best thing to do is just spend some quality time with ur set...change everything u possibly can and find out what changes the sound and how and then find the combination that works best for u

  21. #21

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    on a 10 lug snare
    go around in a clockwise direction and number the lugs 1,8,3,10,5,2,7,4,9,6
    and thats the order they should be tuned half a turn at a time

  22. #22

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    apparantly ur supposed to tune the snare to an A

  23. #23

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    Unless you have a Quality high buck set, You might not get the notes your suggesting. The high end sets are usually tuned matched from the factory. But I would suggest tuning the toms three notes in the same scale from one another. But this is sometimes different too because of the size of drums you use. Fusion sets are different from standard sets. You could try using your bass players guitar to help with the octive settings.
    Last edited by Dave; 06-13-2006 at 07:33 PM.

  24. #24

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    if you ask me,tuning my tom r so difficult for me.i just start playing in december.any tips people??????????????????????
    lunchable-drummer

  25. #25

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    There are a lot of different ways to tune a drum. Even pressure on the ring is very important. Start at the 12 o'clock lug and place the tip of your finger in the middle of head. Tap the head about 1" from the rim with a pencil ( eraser end, duh!) and tighten or loosen until you get a pitch you like. Now go to 6 o'clock and do the same thing until it matches the first one you did. Repeat for all the rest of the lugs until they all sound the same. Now tune down 1/4 turn on all. Use the same process for the bottom head. It should be an EXACT match to your top head. This is what I do when I replace my heads. It takes some time, but it is well worth it!

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