It's all subjective. For every high-pitched snare with ring, you'll also find lower pitched snares with little ring.
Do whatever makes you happy and/or what the band or engineers want from you.
Oh and welcome to our forum!
Hey,
So I haven't been playing long at all. I'm a guitarist primarily, so I don't play drums as much, at all.
I've just tried tuning my snare, which went badly. I think the stock heads need replacing, but it could be me being bad. Anyway, on all the videos and the Drum Bible, everyone seems to want a good ring and for it to be high pitched.
I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong here, because I prefere barely any sustain and deep sounding drums.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIqa27Ml3jI"]2005 Cream Reunion Toad - YouTube[/ame] Around 6:40 is the sounds I like. Deep, rich, with no real ring to them. Even Ginger's snare seems to be quite tame.
Am I alright thinking this, or am I a crazy guitarist who needs to learn stuff?
It's all subjective. For every high-pitched snare with ring, you'll also find lower pitched snares with little ring.
Do whatever makes you happy and/or what the band or engineers want from you.
Oh and welcome to our forum!
You will probably find that the more time you play, the more the ring starts to sound good to you. Most people start off dampening their drums pretty heavily, then slowly doing less and less over the years as their tuning skills improve. I still use a bit of moongel on my toms after 24 years. I have a dampening ring on my snare during practice and rehearsals, but remove it at gigs.
Oh - welcome to the forum.
REmember to tune your drums to where they sound good OUT IN FRONT WITH MUSIC PLAYING. If you get the drums sounding great just alone, you've probably tuned out all the ring and overtones you need when music is playing, then your drums will sound like cardboard boxes live.
And the trees are all kept equal by hatchet, axe, and saw. . .
Yes, I left out the room. Each room, as you probably know, has its own acoustics so some venues beg for more overtone. Of course it also depends on your mic'ing situation, how loud the band is, how many people there are in the venue and so on.
Thanks for all the replies guys.
I'm just playing at home, with no intention of getting in a band, at least not anytime soon. I understand what you guys are saying, I may try recording my snare with a 57 sometime and see if that opens up my mind.
I may also try replacing my heads, at least on the snare and then the others if they're a lot better. The head is pretty beat up, so I'm wondering if replacing them might help me get a nice ring, rather than an average/poor ring.
DS, some snares just lend themselves to a fatter, drier sound. Others just naturally want to be open and ringy. There are plenty of ways to get the sound you want by getting the right heads, and by tuning the heads to the tone that you want. The most important thing, to get the good overtones, rather than the bad ones, is to make sure each head is in tune with itself - equal tension of the head at each tension rod.
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Ah, alright.
I try my best when tuning to keep the equal, but I'm barely a novice. I think I'll upgrade both heads on my snare, because the coating's fully gone and the batter has dents and whatnot. If I can tune that up nicely, hopefully I'll be able to get the others going too!
Thanks for the help guys!
Welcome DS to the forum. I think replacing the heads would do you a favor. If the coating is gone then this opens the drum to more over tones. You also mention dents on the batter head this indicates that the head is not tight enough because it would not dent if it was realy tight. Try the new heads and see what happens. Good luck
DS, keep in mind that the snare on the video was mic'ed, so the sound engineer is able to shape the sound that you are hearing. I will say that when I want a fatter sound, I choose a 14X6 maple snare, and I go for an Evans Genera HD Dry batter head. The extra depth on the snare, and 14" diameter is better able to get to the fatter sound, and the HD Dry head will limit overtones.
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Thanks again guys.
I've got a Mapex QR, with a 14"x5.5" snare. I've looked at the Evans Genera HD Dry before, so I think I'll try it out. I've needed to change my heads for a while, but haven't had the cash to do so, so finally I get to play around a little!
Thanks again, really appriciate the input!
DS, I'm glad we've been able to help. Feel free to challenge us again, any time!
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its all part of the process, i spent countless dollars on different heads trying to get "the sound" and it came down to learning how to tune. i had moongel all over my kit on every tom and 4 full pieces on my snare.
today i have 1 and a half pieces on each of my snares all in the same spots. i finally learned how to tune, though i did stuff a sock in my cowbell.
ive got the perfect amount of ring in the room i play in, i dont hear the ring anymore, ive become a better drummer.
it took me months every night, sometimes on lunchbreak learning how to tune. its not easy. i played guitar for years and tuning a six string is a piece of cake compared to drums.
Last edited by kyle102565; 09-14-2011 at 10:13 PM.
Let those babies ring!
I'm going to have to agree with Shane to some extent. You do learn to appreciate the ring more, the longer you play. What sounds ringy behind the kit, may sound fat and punchy to the audience.
However, if you're just jamming by yourself and want a more controlled sound, muffle away. I should say, muffle away but don't ignore learning how to tune. A well tuned muffled drum still sounds better than a poorly tuned muffled drum.
+1 on the HD dry snare head. I think it would suit your needs nicely. I use one on my deep maple snare, but I'd never dream of using it on a my 5" aluminum.
Mmm... Saturns.
Can you describe the unwanted after-ring? Do the drums seem too resonant, or is there some sort of nasty overtone? If it's the latter, my money would be on a tuning issue. Tuning issues can be a result of worn out heads or inconsistant tension around the head. Good luck.
Mmm... Saturns.
It's hard to describe. Almost like there's the natural ring to the drum, and then there's another (I suppose overtone) that I don't want. I've dampened it for now, but now there's hardly any ring.
I think I'm in need of new heads anyway, as these are dented, no texture, and starting to see the clean underneath. So I'll get new heads, tune them up, and if they're still the same I'll go back and watch some more videos.
I want good technique, but I don't want to spend forever trying to tune bad heads!
The second ring: is it more of a growl? If so it's you're res head that needs more tuning, don't need new heads, etc.
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 & Zildjianhttp://www.facebook.com/DerailedRockers/
Loaned out Slingerland upgraded 4 pc 1963 black, wrapped maple + 14" Pearl birch FT
Sorry to bump this, just thought some may be interested..
I ended up searching the net for the cheapest place to find the heads, and at the same time watching lots of tuning videos (Mainly Bob Gatzen), and tuning my drums little by little.
Short story: I don't need to buy new heads!
I've dampened my snare a little, just to cut out the ring that seemed impossible to get rid of. Sounds dry, short sustain. Right for me.
My toms sound deep and, thunderous, shortish sustain, again right for me.
My kick is so so, but good enough.
Ideally I'd love to re-skin all the heads, but it's not a priority right now. I'm just playing for me, and it sounds good.
Thanks for all the help again guys!
Dammit man, don't tempt me!
I'll look into maybe getting the snare heads, they're really bad. When I started off, I thought drumming like an ape man was perfect technique... But I'll let them ring, and see if I like it first...
Again, thanks to everyone. Means a lot to me!
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