Another Drum dial thread

**CycleDude** · 03-06-2009, 08:45 PM

Hey gang, I just bought one of these at a local GC, and I gotta say, it really is a handy little device. My tuning skills aren't that bad, but this little bugger helped me dial in (pun intended) the sound that I wanted without spending hours to do it.

Could I have done it without the dial? Maybe. Probably in fact, but there would be much stress and foul language to get there.

IMHO, if you are on the fence about getting one, just do it. At almost $60, it aint cheap, but like any good tool, it's worth it. YMMV.

**Lesizmor** · 03-06-2009, 08:59 PM

Been there had one..sold it..I rely on my ears. It can be a great way to get you in the ball park, but so many folks use this things as a crutch. -Les

**Redeye** · 03-06-2009, 11:18 PM

The trick is to use it as a tool. You absolutely have to be able to tune drums by ear first and foremost. If you have that under control, the drum dial is really valuable. I generally use it after every 3 or 4 gigs to dial in everything perfectly at home. When I set up at a gig, I can make adjustments knowing that the drum is in tune with itself before I start. A quarter turn here or there to fine tune it is really easy. I don't take it out on gigs with me or I might become obsessive.

**CycleDude** · 03-06-2009, 11:24 PM

That's just it. It's a tool and not a be-all and end-all kinda thing.

It's instructions (yes, I read them...) recommended a "tension" of 74 for reso and 75 for batter. This to me sounded too tight when I struck the drum. So i kicked it down to 70 each and it sung like a bird. A little tweak here and there and holy smokes, the kit sounds great. The snare was 75 reso and cranked up to 85 on the batter and has a beautiful crack with a lovely resonance, and the kick is dialed down to about 68 or so on both sides and sounds like a dinosaur heartbeat... buh-boom, buh-boom!

**pastor_bob** · 03-06-2009, 11:43 PM

Originally Posted by CycleDude

and the kick is dialed down to about 68 or so on both sides and sounds like a dinosaur heartbeat... buh-boom, buh-boom!

Man, you got a new set of drums, and you've suddenly gotten more colorful! I love it - "a dinosaur heartbeat... buh-boom, buh-boom!" Inspired Kevin!

**CharlyG** · 03-07-2009, 12:48 AM

I like it as a tool too. I would have terrible sounding drums without it as new as I am. Being a bass player I think helps me a bit to fine tune after the dial.. I had a little pitch bend (although I need help from you guys to know for sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing!) with the 16 tom and hydraulics after the drum dial. Another 1/4 turn on the reso and 1/2 turn on the batter and......... Voila!

**Lesizmor** · 03-07-2009, 07:03 AM

Eh.. I guess I agree that if used as a tool to get you close it's prolly okay.
But I can get my drums in tune with themselves just as fast or faster on my own, than by using a DD. That's just my take. -Les

**kay-gee** · 03-07-2009, 07:13 AM

Tuning a drum isn't magic. I marvel at how many drummers on the board express difficulty with it. It is not exacting and unforgiving as say tuning a piano or a guitar. It is really a case of (as Les says) just using your ears to create a drum sound that is pleasing to you. I use a dial sometimes when putting on a new head just to get some kind of equality of tension between the lugs, but after that just tweaking up or down by ear. I am still confused by the numbers. On mine for example, 10 would make a snare so tight the sticks would bounce back in your eyes. LOL

all the best...

**ratmycue** · 03-07-2009, 07:18 AM

Originally Posted by CycleDude

the kick is dialed down to about 68 or so on both sides and sounds like a dinosaur heartbeat... buh-boom, buh-boom!

Well, do we have a point of reference as to the audible quality of the kick , I think not!!
unless,.............. maybe frank could give us some insight into the actual sound produced by these beats during the triassic period!!!

No wait even Frank wasnt around then, oh well we will just have to imagine.

hehehe all in good humour Frank and cycle , have a great one and enjoy em.

If the dial works for ya then thats great. quick and easy has gotta be worth something. $60.00?

**=^-..-^=** · 03-07-2009, 08:55 AM

I'm pretty good at tuning by ear, but I highly recommend the DrumDial as well. Pressure on the tension lugs can be totally misleading as to the tension levels near the lugs on the head itself. THe DD will show you that. I also found that Evans heads are a little harder to dial in than Remo heads, but sound better once you do; and the DD helps speed that process up as well.

I had a TAMA 10" tom that mocked me for years when trying to tune it. I used the DD on it, and made that b*tch my singing nancy.

**kaosotis** · 03-07-2009, 09:40 AM

Originally Posted by CycleDude

That's just it. It's a tool and not a be-all and end-all kinda thing.

It's instructions (yes, I read them...) recommended a "tension" of 74 for reso and 75 for batter. This to me sounded too tight when I struck the drum. So i kicked it down to 70 each and it sung like a bird. A little tweak here and there and holy smokes, the kit sounds great. The snare was 75 reso and cranked up to 85 on the batter and has a beautiful crack with a lovely resonance, and the kick is dialed down to about 68 or so on both sides and sounds like a dinosaur heartbeat... buh-boom, buh-boom!

Wow 70 sounds low to me. I guess each drum is different. I'm at 76 on both sides for mine, although I might play with having a difference between the batter and reso.

Haven't used it on the new snare, just cranked the old head down. When the new head comes I'll retune.

I find it a good way to get close. My ear isn't fantastic, even after all these years, but it helps me most getting both sides in tune, and the drums in tune to each other.

Just ordered one online (been borrowing my bro's).

**CycleDude** · 03-10-2009, 01:48 PM

Originally Posted by ratmycue

Well, do we have a point of reference as to the audible quality of the kick , I think not!!
unless,.............. maybe frank could give us some insight into the actual sound produced by these beats during the triassic period!!!

No wait even Frank wasnt around then, oh well we will just have to imagine.

hehehe all in good humour Frank and cycle , have a great one and enjoy em.

If the dial works for ya then thats great. quick and easy has gotta be worth something. $60.00?

ROFL!!! You're somethin' else Rat.

**Norske** · 03-10-2009, 03:50 PM

I generally tune by ear, but if I'm having trouble getting a drum to sound like what I want to hear from it, I'll used the Drum Dial to zero in, and then tweak it from there. And I was fortunate enough to buy one during a big sale at my drum shop, so I didin't spend anywhere near $60 for mine.

**audiotech** · 03-10-2009, 04:05 PM

I bought a Drum Dial last year and owned it for almost a week. I was hoping for a better mouse trap but it just annoyed me. It took me three times longer than usual to replace heads. I gave it to my girlfriend to put new heads on a kit and she almost threw it at me.

For the people who made mutual acquaintances with their Drum Dials, all well and good. I only have a few dark hairs left on my head and I want to keep them.

Dennis

**CharlyG** · 03-10-2009, 04:09 PM

all I did was finger tight and then a few marks at a time up to the number stated in the chart

**fiacovaz** · 03-10-2009, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by CharlyG

I like it as a tool too. I would have terrible sounding drums without it as new as I am. Being a bass player I think helps me a bit to fine tune after the dial.. I had a little pitch bend (although I need help from you guys to know for sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing!) with the 16 tom and hydraulics after the drum dial. Another 1/4 turn on the reso and 1/2 turn on the batter and......... Voila!

*****************

For what it's worth, I'd rather have the ear of a Bassist than anything else. You folks are constantly tuning and you have got to havean "Ear" for that.

**fiacovaz** · 03-10-2009, 04:19 PM

Dinosaur? Me?

**rsshortstack22** · 03-22-2009, 08:15 PM

Is it okay, to use on a bass drum?

**kaosotis** · 03-22-2009, 09:47 PM

You probably shouldn't need it on a bass. Check some tuning videos online.

**rsshortstack22** · 03-23-2009, 05:01 PM

thanks Kaos!

**CycleDude** · 03-24-2009, 08:54 PM

Well, I just came home from my local GC and I returned my drum dial. After playing with it for almost 3 weeks, I found that I would get erroneous readings. It would tell me that all lugs were at a tension of 75, yet when I'd tap the head at each lug, they were way off from each other in pitch.

With the amount of dialing in I had to do, I was tuning the whole thing manually anyway.

So I bought a CAD USB U37 Condenser mic to record myself playing instead....

**fiacovaz** · 03-24-2009, 10:24 PM

Well, I have said, over and over, nothing will truly replace the "Ear" when it comes to tuning. Glad you were able to get you $$$ back. Tell me more about this Condenser mic.

**CycleDude** · 03-24-2009, 11:27 PM

I just bought it a few hours ago so I haven't tried it out yet. It's a condenser mic that gets it's power from the USB feed of your computer. No additional software required, besides your recording program of course, supposedly just plug n play.

I want to record my playing on the Gretsch and play it back for learning and making more videos with a better sound quality than I can achieve with a camcorder.

Guitar center has a pretty liberal return policy. 30 days satisfaction. I bought my dial on 3/06/09 and retuned it tonight. The guy asked why and I said that there's nothing wrong with it, but I just wasn't happy with it's performance. They guy said OK, did you want to replace it with something else or just a refund?

No problem, no fuss, no muss. I got the mic and left a happy camper.

**CharlyG** · 03-24-2009, 11:33 PM

Well........... Phhhtttt to all of youz!

**pastor_bob** · 03-24-2009, 11:38 PM

Looked up that mic online, and it looks like it will do well for you CycleDude. Can't wait to hear the first recording with it.

Menu

Thread: Another Drum dial thread

Thread Tools

Display

User Info Menu