Tuning Epiphany

[areFish]

I've made some strides in my tuning capabilities and I wanted to pass along something I have found helpful. I might be late to the party in the technique I'm going to try to describe. I wish I would have figured this out a long time ago.

First off place the drum on a soft, firm, flat surface like the carpet, or couch cushion or doubled up towel on the counter top. The soft surface not only protects your hoops, but helps keep down the overtones of the head you are not working with.

As your facing your drum, square it up so one lug is at the 12 o'clock position, centered on your body so both ears are the same distance from that lug. Tap the drum head near the lug to your liking (1/2 to 3/4" from the bearing edge for me). Now (and here is where things started clicking for me) turn the drum clockwise or counter-clockwise so an adjacent lug is now in the 12 o'clock position. Tap and tune that lug and repeat to the next lug, turning the drum as you go. Instead of going around the drum to accomplish this, keep turning the drum and only tap adjacent a lug when that lug is in the same 12 o'clock position. If you are working on getting a perfect pitch between two lugs, tap and turn, tap and turn, always working with that 12 o'clock lug.

I have found when leaving the drum stationary and going around the drum there is variances in acoustics. This can cause the drum head at two lug points to sound slightly different in pitch, however turning the drum and listening to the tuning in the same room space (ie. 12 o'clock position) the tuning maybe spot on. In other words the pitch maybe perfect at two lug points, but sound off when listened to at the say 11 and 3 o'clock position.

By tuning my drums on an imaginary Lazy Susan rather than leaving the drum stationary my tuning is much faster and more accurate.

I hope I was able to explain this process without making it sound too confusing.

[trickg]

Dude - I had never considered that before. It makes a lot of sense. My only thought there is that sometimes tuning a lug will affect the intonation on the adjacent lug, but as long as the process is repeated until they are all correct, it sounds like it would be better than tapping around the drum.

[longgun]

Yep....think I am going to "re-utilize" my better half's lazy susan and modify it for my drums.

[2gsmackfans]

great idea and I am going to try it. but should you mark the first lug so you know which one you started with or does it really not matter ?

[Dad3353]

...does it really not matter ?

This; it makes no odds, as long as you've done at least once every lug. Normally one would go round several times.
Personally, I would maintain my 'star' pattern, testing almost opposite lugs, rather than neighbouring ones, but that's just me. The principle of rotating the drum is sound.

[Deedubs!]

Sounds like a more refined version of what I do. I'll do that next time! Or maybe tonight?

[Pearl MCX Man]

Thanks great info. Will try it next time. I have used the same method but not the rotation of the drum.

[Deedubs!]

Gat a 9" lazy Susan bearing base yesterday on eBay!

[Spiderjig]

I got you arefish, I'll try it next time around.

[kyle102565]

great idea and I am going to try it. but should you mark the first lug so you know which one you started with or does it really not matter ?

i use 2 keys, always start at the 3oclock lug and leave the key on it, so my burntout brain can remember where i started.

[wolvie56]

Kinda like how John Good/DW tunes their drums.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl9wgXSfxew"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl9wgXSfxew[/ame]

[Deedubs!]

i use 2 keys, always start at the 3oclock lug and leave the key on it, so my burntout brain can remember where i started.

Good idea!

[longgun]

i use 2 keys, always start at the 3oclock lug and leave the key on it, so my burntout brain can remember where i started.

On every drum, I start with the lug just to the right of the strainer (snare) or badge. That way I never forget which one I started with.

[akillerdrummer]

Loved the video from John Good/DW. Thanks for putting that up wolvie56!

[wolvie56]

Loved the video from John Good/DW. Thanks for putting that up wolvie56!

No prob. I think I like his method the best. I got good results doing it that way. Sorry about kinda hijacking your thread, arefish.

[SpatzST]

I have realized this before, but never cared to turn my drum every time I want to tune a lug

[imnotverygood9]

Awesome Idea. The only problem is that I don't care enough about my terrible set to spend my time tuning it.

[slinglander]

Imnotverygood9, tune the kit as good as you can. You'll still learn enough so when you upgrade your kit you'll be a tuning pro!

[3DCreation]

When I started tuning my kit, I watched several videos but the one that stuck out was the one with the guy from DW. He had the drum on a turntable and that just made sense to me. I don't use a turntable but I do rotate the drum whilst tuning each lug.