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Thread: A tuning adventure with terrible room acoustics

  1. #1

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    Default A tuning adventure with terrible room acoustics

    Had a victory tonight. Here is my story.

    I’ve had my kit upstairs in the spare bedroom for some time and I had become accustom to the acoustics. But, we’re “getting the band back together” so I moved my drums to the basement for practice – need both more room and the sonic separation from the rest of the house (although enough separation can never be achieved for everyone upstairs). Now, instead of being surrounded by carpet, drywall and curtains, my kit was in the corner of the basement with cinderblock walls, concrete floor and wood rafter ceiling where the tiniest of overtones exploded into an ear-twisting ring of competing tones caroming around the walls. No big surprise I suppose, but it sounded really really bad during practice. I had been using coated Ambassadors on my Gretsch Renown kit and they sang out beautifully with a nice round sound. Not anymore. Sounded like I don’t have a clue how to tune drums. Tuned them lower, tuned them higher. Nope, re-tuning didn’t help much. Tried a little moon gel. Still too much ring. More moon gel. No. Put on enough moon gel that it not only killed all overtones and ring from the kit, I think it went into the future and killed overtones & resonance that hadn’t even happened yet. We reached the Nirvana of splat. Slapped Pinstripes on the 10 and 12 for a test. They were controlled and tone came back. They actually sounded really good but had more attack than I wanted; I got “tooo” when I wanted “dooo”. (side note - I can’t figure out why Pins have such a bad rep. They sound good). Coated Emperors with a hint of moon gel. Yes! Now we’re back to what Renown toms should sound like – warm and round, very musical. Took me a couple weeks and now I have a few extra heads I probably won’t be using and enough moon gel to fill my kick drum. I guess that’s all part of playing this instrument. Persistence paid off. So ends my two week PITA tuning adventure.
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    Last edited by G-man; 11-03-2015 at 07:44 AM.

  2. #2

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    And after all that, when you have a gig in a different place and the other instruments get fired up you may find your tuning sucks! Drum tuning never stops....so many variables.
    We just played a party gig in a "warehouse"(cement floor, high, metal ceiling, metal,walls with draped decorations) and we thought we would have trouble keeping the sound controlled but with 100 people in the place the sound was just fine. My drums sounded great without gels. We only mic'd the kick, which needed retuning and I did crank up the snare.
    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 & Zildjian
    Loaned out Slingerland upgraded 4 pc 1963 black, wrapped maple + 14" Pearl birch FT
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  3. #3

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    Every room sounds different. I get disoriented at gigs sometimes because of the acoustics.

  4. #4

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    I read that story saying the same thing... don't adjust your drums for the room... adjust the room for your drums cause once you go play out that room will be different and you might not like it. But either way nice work making it work.

  5. #5

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    Yep, that kit will sound nothing like it does in your basement once you take it out of there. It's always fun experimenting though and seeing what works.

  6. #6

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    Have you tried overtone control rings for practice in your basement? (I've forgotten what they are actually called - but I mean the thin mylar rings that you place over the heads of your toms and snare) They kill off all overtones (and lots of resonance) so should work for the echo-y acoustics of your basement and can be easily removed so you can retain your preferred tuning and heads. If you have some old heads you can cut out a few rings to see if they will work for you.

  7. #7

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    ^you mean those E-Rings
    They do work pretty great.
    I used them in my studio

  8. #8

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    It's going to be a few months before I take them out of here so I wasn't gong for a temporary fix. Rem-Os/E-rings are great for the quick, short-term solution.

  9. #9

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    I've said this before...and I'll say it again, the biggest challenge I had when I began playing gigs was the mental adjustment to different acoustics. I'd become so comfortable hearing my drums inside small rooms that were "soft". Then suddenly I'm in venues with large open stages, or small boxy stages in a corner. Cheap wooden stages surrounded by brick walls, you name it. Every night was different and I thought it was my drum tuning. It was very difficult to overcome and get used to.

    I found that ear plugs helped quite considerably...others debate me on that, but it helped me tremendously.
    "The problem with information on the Internet is that you can not validate it's authenticity. " -Abraham Lincoln

    SILVERFOX DRUMSTICKS & SOULTONE CYMBALS Endorsing Artist.

  10. #10

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    lol sorry G for laughing but the way you wrote that all out was pretty funny. The way I feel about this is you go with YOUR sound, and stick with that no matter what room you are in. I know that might be disagreeable but that's the way it is for me anyway. It's kinda like trusting your mirrors when you drive down the freeway. Yes there is enough room for me to switch lanes.

    Like Spaz I also used the remO ring on the snare for the recordings we just did and the results were great. Never used them on toms before. Just outta curiosity do you have your whole kit set up on a rug in the basement and not just the kick? I think that is overlooked sometimes. The rugs seem to help soak up some nuances in sound weather good or bad. We practice in a sheetrocked room with tile floors except for me, I'm completely rugged and the sound more often than not sounds pretty good. We always say "wish we could take the room with us" before we go out.
    RDM/Damage Poets
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  11. #11

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    Whole kit is on a rug. I think the main issue was that it's in the corner and the sound blows out of there like a megaphone.

  12. #12

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    Nice kit! does the Kerope blend in well with the A's? looks like a nice balance of sizes you have. That was something I wanted to lean towards for the recordings. I brought a 16" in but never put it up. With the time constraints we were up against I just went with 18's and one 19 for crashes. I prefer a mixture of sizes but went with 14 hats, two 18's, one 19 and 21 ride.
    Last edited by slinky; 11-03-2015 at 03:46 PM.
    RDM/Damage Poets
    UFiP TAMAHA Zildjian
    REGAL TiP
    AQUARIAN

  13. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by G-man View Post
    More moon gel. No. Put on enough moon gel that it not only killed all overtones and ring from the kit, I think it went into the future and killed overtones & resonance that hadn’t even happened yet. We reached the Nirvana of splat.
    Thank you, sir. Was not expecting that. And it just made my night.

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by slinky View Post
    Nice kit! does the Kerope blend in well with the A's? looks like a nice balance of sizes you have. That was something I wanted to lean towards for the recordings. I brought a 16" in but never put it up. With the time constraints we were up against I just went with 18's and one 19 for crashes. I prefer a mixture of sizes but went with 14 hats, two 18's, one 19 and 21 ride.
    The 18" Kerope fits but it's a different sound than the A's. It has a very mellow, somewhat darker sound to it so I use it for more laid-back songs, more acoustic, and ballads. It's really a beautiful sound that's hard to describe. Not quite like K's - they have a touch of trash and the Kerope doesn't. Not at all bright like the A's or A Customs. Just a different animal - very mellow. If they made a 16 or 17 I'd pick one up tomorrow.

    The other ones - 16 & 18 A's, -found some lighter medium thins that sound super nice. Not a huge spread between the two. I had a 17 that was higher pitched than the 16. By the way, the newer A's are nothing like the older clankier version. They're soooo versatile. Sweet Ride is on the heavier side for that model so its not overly washy, blends nicely but still has definition. K-custom session hats have fantastic definition and still have a dark flavor to them. I use the A Custom EFX in place of a china - much less harsh. I'm very happy with my current herd of cymbals (but love trying new ones!)

  15. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by TheMarsh View Post
    Thank you, sir. Was not expecting that. And it just made my night.
    Just trying to be descriptive. The literary juices were flowing.

  16. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by G-man View Post
    I use the A Custom EFX in place of a china - much less harsh.
    I've been doing the same thing, but on the other side of the fence. I use a 16" Sabian O-Zone crash instead of a China, for the same reasons. I like it much better.
    Aut Viam Inveniam Aut Faciam
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