Tunning a Drum Kit

8/10/2019 Tunning a Drum Kit

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Drum TuningAn Introduction

Basics and Objectives of Drum TuningTuning a drumset is a mechanical exercise with the aim of ensuring that the

tensions across a head are as equal as possible; this is the drum in tune withitself. Additionally, there are tuning relationships between the heads on the same

drum and also with the other elements of your kit.Tuning is a purely mechanical exercise and therefore there are many varied ways of

delivering an appropriate tone from a drum. The choice of tones, timbres and relativetensioning is a separate issue and discussedhere.The method that I advocate here is one that works for me, however I recommend you

experiment and take other advice. Once you understand the principles the methodsbecome apparent.

The materials

Drum heads are generally made from Mylar which is a plastic.Over a period of use, particularly with batter or top heads,that plastic will heat and stretch or be forced out of shape by

force as it absorbs the impact of a playersstrokes. When a

drum head gets to the point that you either cannot tune to /

maintain a single pure tone, or you physically disfigure thehead, it is time to replace the heads.

Regardless of what type of head you are using or thequality of your kit, there is no point in trying to tune adrum kit that has old heads that have passed their best.Doing so is affectionately known as turd polishing

Resonant bottom heads dontlose their tone as quickly, butthey are still under tension and should be checked and replaced regularly, A reasonable ruleof thumb might be to change resonant heads with every third or fourth change of batter

heads.

To get the best out of your drums therefore you should use fresh heads. To reallyunderstand the tuning process and be able to hear the nuances of the skin telling you what

it needs, you should work with single ply heads initially, Imnot suggesting that you usethem for your playing, although many professionals do, but they are the best medium withwhich to illustrate the tuning process and to let you hear the voices of the drum as we movethrough that process.

The same fundamental tuning principles are applied to all drums in a drum kit; whetherkick, snare or toms. Over & above that, bass drums & snare drums involve otherconsiderations which we will address after looking at basic batter & resonant head tuning on

toms.

The process takes much longer to read than it does to carry out, your first attempts may take a while

but as you do it more & more it becomes easier and quicker. The results are instant. If you have any

comments or questions please feel free toe-mail me
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Checking a Drumshell

Checking the integrity and condition of the drumshell.Irrespective of the type of drum you are working with, it is always good practise to take the

opportunity whilst having the heads off a drum, to give it a health check. Basic checks willlook at bearing edges and shell condition as outlined below, however it is also a good idea

to look at any hardware mounted to the drum, plus to look at the condition of the wood inthe drum and the hoops.

For the purposes of this exercise, we will look at two of those factors which most affect thetunability and sound of the drum, i.e. the bearing edges and the shell.Bearing edge

Strip the old heads and hoops off the drum to reveal both

ends of the shell. The bearingedgesare the sharpened lips at the top & bottom of the

shell over which the head is stretched. This edge normally has a 40-50 degree main angleand is offset toward the outer side of the shell so there is a long diagonal cuttowards the

centre of the drum and a similar but much shorter cut on the outside. Some drum makershave cut a double 45 degree bearing edge with the peakin the centre of the shellswidth

they say this is for improved accuracy in tuning and purity of tone. The bearing edge is

critical to a drumssound as it is the only place on the drum that the head is in direct

contact with the shell It forms the boundary of the vibrating membrane and thereforedefines the soundof that drum to a significant degree.It should go without saying therefore that any untreated flat

spots, cuts, nicks or other damage to the edge will becomeapparent in the tuning process and may be evident through

overtones, harmonics, rings, buzzes or general difficulty in

obtaining a single pure tone.

The only exception to that rule is by design and is the resonantunderside of a snare drum. Snare drums have a snarebedcut

into the bearing edge, this is a shallow flattened area of the

bearing edge indented so that the cable or strip ties can hold thesnares tight against the head. Because the snares muffle the

head to an extent anyway, overtones are not such a

consideration, the snaresresonant bearing edge is stillimportant but not critical. These bedsare compensated for inthe tuning process and will be discussed in the section onsnare

tuning.See Ronn Dunnettsexcellent piece on drumdojo.comregarding thesnare bed.The edge should be very definite and sometimes can be felt to be sharp,

sharpness will have an obvious fragility. To check for damage, look

closely at the edge. run your finger round the edge (try with your eyesclosed, it helps), is it smooth & even? If not, then you have a potential tuning problem.
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Mark the damaged area lightly with chalk or some

other non-permanent method and continue checking

around the drumRepairs to bearing edges are either straightforward or

not, tiny areas of damage may be ignored,alternatively you could carefully fill & sand the

damaged areas. If the edges are more severelydamaged you will need to have them re-cut by a

master woodworker or a suitably equipped andexperienced technician.

If the bearing edges are in acceptable condition,

proceed with checking the shell for torsion beforeembarking on the re-heading process.

Torsion.

When you have checked the bearing edges, place the drum on a surface that you knowislevel. Plate Glass or polished granite are good. Look all around the drum at the bottomedge where it touches the surface. A truedrum will touch the surface at all points and you

should not be able to see any light coming through. it is surprising how many drums are

out of true.

In my experience, this is usually due to the cumulative effects of stress / exposure to heat /

moisture, or just a poor quality instrument. Snare drums particularly or any drum where

the shell depth is much narrower than the width are particularly prone to this. Torsion is a

significant problem to deal with. Re-cutting the top and bottom of the drum and associatedre-cutting of bearing edges is a drastic measure that should be

avoided unless you are absolutely convinced it is necessary. Forthe most part torsion can and probably should be left alone.With the twist across the whole drum you may notice shorter

resonance in comparison with the rest of your drums, or a strong

harmonic. This can be adapted to in part by the use offlangedhoopswhich are much more forgiving of shellinconsistencies than die-cast hoops. Sometimes the torsion has

no audible effect, either way, consider your options carefullybefore embarking on an expensive and destructive course ofwork. Sometimes there are things you just have to live with!

Seating a Drum Head

Applying and seating the drumhead
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Preparation and initial positioning

Assuming that you are content with the shape

and condition of the shell from the previoussection, place the batter head over the shell.

Give it a spin and check that it moves freelyaround the drum. Orient the head so that it

lies centrally on the drum and that the collarextends evenly beyond the bearing edge on all

sides.Purely as a matter of habit and to give

consistent reference point, I orient the drum

shell in the position I would see when Implaying the kit, I position the logo on the

heads at 12 oclockwhich will normally

match either the position of themanufacturerslogo or the tom holder. Not

only is this aesthetically pleasing but it also gives a marker for when you move around

the drum during the tuning process.

Place the hoop over the head and lower the tension

rods into the lugs. Check that each lug allows itstension rod to turn freely, sticky lugs can be a real

pain, use some lug lube or graphite oil to loosen stickylugs. Give the drum a small shake to ensure thateverything is sitting freely and naturally. Grip the

threaded part of each rod and tighten clockwise until

the washer just touches the hoop and no more, do notstart to tighten the hoop down on top of the head yet,we are just making sure that everything is starting

from an even position at this point. Re-check around thedrum to ensure that everything is centralised and stable.Give it another shake.

Starting the seating process

The order in which you tighten the lugs is important, similar to tightening the wheels of a

car, you must equalise the tension across the drum at all times, so you should work in small

increments, back & forward across the drum. Depending on the number of lugs on thedrum, you will normally have up to 6 pairs (12 lugs) to deal with; from a tuning perspective,

the more tuning points the better.

The main reason for locating the logo at 12.00 is that

if you always start pair 1 (see two keys method) orlugs 1 & 2 (one key) for example with the tension rod

1immediately to the right of the logo, that meansin the event that you lose track of the next move,

you can track back to where you are in the procedure


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and continue the process. Eventually you will become familiar with the pattern for your

drums and you will instinctively move in that pattern.

Following the appropriate tensioning pattern for yourdrum, hand tighten both opposite lugs of pair one

simultaneously until you feel a slight resistance orbite, move to pair two and subsequent pairs and turn

them until you feel the same resistance. Return topair one again and tighten again to a point of greater

resistance, do this for the other tuning pairs insequence 3 or 4 times around the instrument.

Tap the centre of the drum, do you hear a tone? If

you do hear a tone then you are at the low end ofthe tuning range for that drum, it might be a bit Boingybut it is a note and the lowest

pitched note that the drum will support (useful tuning for theIndian Subsonic kickeffect).

Using your fingertip, a drum stick or the end of your key, tap the head about 1in from therim at each lug point. You should have the same low, flat tone at each node. If there areany variances, finger tighten the appropriate rods to achieve a single tone. You should also

notice that:

opposite lugs of a pair will deliver roughly the same tone as each other and you

should adjust each lug of a pair evenly to maintain even tension.

Place your drum key on each tension rod of pair one and rotate them through 180 degrees

(a half turn), move around the drum following the pattern you have been using. When youhave finished the last pair, check again for evenness of tone. This time you will notice amuch more resonant tone. If the drum is in good condition, the tension rods move freely

and you have been accurate in your tightening of the tension rods, you should have the

same note at all the points around the drum but with a different timbre in the centre of thedrum.When one tuning point on the head is at a different pitch to those adjacent to it, you will

also find that the situation is pretty closelymirrored at the opposite tension rod of thepair. If one pair is at a lower or higher pitch

than all the others then you need to adjustthe tuning at those lugs to bring them intoline, at this point, very small turns at eachlug should easily be enough; remember to

move each lug of the pair by the sameamount. If more than one pair are out ofsync, i.e. the drum produces 3 or more

tones, I advise tuning them all to match

the pair that has the purest note of themall. You will find that in doing his you raisethe overall pitch of the drum, or that other

adjustments become apparent. Keep goinguntil you have consistent tone, werenot

concerned about pitch at this point.When tuning, you should tighten lugs

instead of loosening, as looseningrelies on the head slipping fractionally

back over the bearing edge which is not

always reliable. If you do need toloosen a tuning rod, loosen to belowthe required note and tighten up to the

desired pitch.
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With the head evenly tuned, start at pair 1 again and give each rod a further turn using

the key, after working your way around the drum again, check again for pitch in the centre

and at each of the lug points and adjust as necessary. Repeat this procedure twice morewith turns or until the head is tuned wellabove where you would normally tune that

size of drum.. The glue in the head will probably be heard cracking on the way, this is itsettlingand is perfectly natural and expected.This will give you a highly pitched drum for

your normal application, the idea of this is to place tension through the head which isgreater than the normal playing tensions, this sets up the drum for seating.

Seating

Seating for a drummer is similar to a guitar player stretchingnew strings to ensure that

they dontde-tune drastically under playing conditions. It takes up slack across the drum

head but in particular it shapes the drum head to the bearing edge of the drum. There aretwo common ways of seating the head, weight and heat. Weight is by far the most

common.

Place both hands (as if you were giving CPR heart massage) in the centre of the drum andgently increase the weight on the head until it starts to take your full bodyweight, bouncegently 2-3 times. (NB if you are a more substantial guy or gal, kneeling in front and leaning

forward will suffice). The glue will very noticeably be heard to crack at this point if it has

not done so already, this is normal. When demonstrating the seating procedure to students

or at a clinic I make sure that the drum is on a carpet or other slightly cushioned surfaceand I stand on the drum head. Make sure you have a sound drumhead first!

The second method is to use a hair drier and heat the edges. Heat is Mylarsworst enemyand causes it to deform, however given the tension under which you have placed the head,heat will allow the Mylar to conform to the shape of the edgesand give you a definite point

of contact between the bearing edge and head. To do this simply direct the hairdryer at the

edge of the head and move around the drum, it should take 10-20 seconds to complete thecircuit of the drum. This process should take maximum 2 minutes, do not overdo it!!The act of seating the head fulfils 2 critical functions.

It stretches the head so it doesntneed constant re-tuning; and

It shapes the head to the bearing edge, thereby ensuring accurate and much easiermacro tunability.

If you tap the head now you will find that the pitch will have lowered markedly from thepre-stretch tuning. Tune the head once more at the current pitch and re-apply yourweight. This time it will have stretched less and should probably remain very close to beingin tune.

Having seated the head, de-tune each pair of lugs in sequence by intervals of a turn untilit starts to get towards the low tuning range again. When you get there, ensure that thehead is in tune again and you are ready to progress to tuning.

Batter Head Tuning


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Tuning a drums main batter headBatter tuning is the act of accurately tuning the head to its playing pitch. See the section

later in the article ontuning intervals and drum fundamentalsto decide how you are going

to pitch the drums individually and as a unit.Batter tuning is similar to the process that you used to ensure even pitch across the head

whenseating. It is an accurate form of tuning and knowing how to tune properly isnecessary when you needyour drums to have their best possible sound,this usually in the studio or some other arena where your tuning will be subject to potential

microscopic examination. YMMV of course.

Using the lug pairings as previously defined for seating, use turns all around the drumthen turns, then smaller turns of the key until you reach your desired pitch withthe tensions pretty even across the drum. Tap the drum in the centre and listen for how

many tones you can hear. You are striving to achieve one

single pure note, it is most unlikely that you will hear it at this point and you will probablyhear one dominant low tone (fundamental)

plus a number of other tones called overtones which are caused by slightly differenttensions across the head at different points.Keep checking that you are working with the fundamental,overtones can be

deceptive.

Tap at each tuning point, 1in from the rim and listen for the overtone mix. Some points

may have one single clear note, others will be a mish-mash of tones. Listen carefully formodulations in the tone called beatfrequencies,you will be able to hear the waveforms
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interacting (beating) and this should sound like wah-wahoscillations or moving variations

in the pitch.

Compare the pitch at this lug to the overall fundamental or to the pure-toned lugs and usingvery small increments either loosen or tighten the lug.

As you loosen or tighten, tap the tuning point on the head andlisten to how the beatingof the waveforms changes, if they get faster / closer together then you are going

the wrong way, if they slow down or flatten out then you are going the correctway. Be sure to change each lug of the pair by equal amounts.You

may find that the waves get flatter and then start to become more active again, this isbecause you have one or more further pairs out of tune, just ensure that each pair has the

flattest possible waveform and continue working around the drum. This takes practise and

the development of your ear,the more you do this, the better you will hear the beatfrequencies and the better you will be able to tune the drum.

Depending on how even you have the base tuning of the drum,

it may take you to work at several of the lugs to get a single pure wave, the best teacher is

experience and you will likely need to tweak the original pure-toned lugs as they will havechanged because of your working with the surrounding tensions.

You know that the drum is in tune when no matter where you hit the head you get

one single solid resonant note that sustains.

Ok so now you have tuned the batter head on your drum, next on the agenda is to repeat

the process on theresonant head.
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Resonant Heads

Resonant headsThe resonant head is appropriately named according to its

function. Although not a head that is struck, it is critical tohow your drums soundand the tuning of the resonant

head affects pitch, duration & movement or pitch bend of thesound.

Rest the drum with the existing head surface (in this case thebatter head you have just fitted) face down on a small clothor tissue when seating & tuning the resonant head, this stops

the heads freely resonating together when you are workingsolely with one of them. Dontpush the pre-existing head toomuch into the drum with this damping either, it should still be

almost flat. Pushing the head into the drum will affect the

internal volume of the drum and therefore the overall pitchand fundamental because of changes in volume and air

resonance.

The resonant head is fitted in exactly the same manner as the batter head and all the steps

outlined above inseatingshould be followed. The real decisions come when you have todecide upon the relationship between the two heads which will defines the movement and

duration of your drumssound and decay.

Relative head tensionsBoth heads can be tuned to identical notes, this means thatthe vibrations moving through the column of air inside thecylinder are reflected back off the resonant head at the samefrequency as they are generated at the batter head.

Tuning both heads the same gives you the maximumsustain and resonance, however for many drummersthis may be considered too resonant without some

form of treatment,it is however perfect for playing live

and unamplified as your drums will sing and cutthrough the music. The other instrumentsprovide all

the muffling you need.

A second option is to tune the resonant head to a higher pitchthan the batter, this will give a slight pitch bend as the sounddecays. This bend is caused by the vibrations being reflected

off the resonant head at an accelerated rate.However it is not particularly discernible especially with toms12& smaller. One of the features of tuning away from the

same pitch as the batter head is a decrease in resonance.

The higher or lower you take the bottom head the lessresonant the overall sound becomes. A third option is to tune

the resonant head lower than the batter head. This alsogives a pitch bend. This bend is more noticeable and is veryclear on larger toms. Again, the pitching down of theresonant head serves to reduce the amount of resonance or

duration of the tone.

I use the same single ply heads (Remo clear ambassadors) asboth batter & resonant heads, however putting a double ply

head such as a pinstripe or one of the hydraulic heads on the

batter side will give a lesser amount of initial resonance
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thereby damping the sound of the drum somewhat. A resonant head should always be a

single ply unless you want very dullsounding drums.

Really, the best way to find out what works best for youtuning wise and finding the optimum relationship between the

batter & resonant sides for your applications is byexperimentation. Try different situations with & without

musicians or with different musicians, see how each tuningfits your playing styles. One kit can have a hundred voices if

you have a drum key and a stock of heads.

Snare Drum TuningSnare tuning

The snare batter and resonant heads areseatedandtunedaccording to the method outlined in the

previous sections. The pitching of the snare batter head under normal conditions can be anywhere

depending on the players choice. As a rule of thumb, I look for a pitch which is not an octave or harmonic

of one of the toms so as to avoid unnecessarysympathetic resonance.

The batter tuning procedure is the same as theseating andtuningprocedure advocated above.

Resonant (bottom) Head

The resonant head of a snare drum is muchthinner than a batter side head do not mix them up! This

thin-ness is the key to a good snare sound. Because of the [usually] higher pitched nature of the drum

and also with the addition of the snare cables there is a degree of choking inherent in a s nare. Choking

occurs where conditions where the drum is tuned so tightly that it resonates inefficiently, this is

acceptable and desirable in a resonant head of a snare drum.

If a snare resonant head were to be allowed to resonate freely, the snare wires would be constantly

buzzing. I recommend that you tighten the snare side head high, or as one of the regulars on the RMMP

drumming newsgroup said until its screaming for its lawyer.
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To compensate for the dip in the bearing edge on the snare side to accommodate the snare bed, slacken

off each of the tension rods on either side of the snare wires a further turn, this helps the snares sit

lower against the drum skin and will help alleviate buzz. I have heard arguments to loosen also so the

best advice is to adjust it until you get a sound that suits you.

Basically thats it for the tonal tuning of the snare drum, however there is the small matter of adjusting

those wires to (A) make them sound great and (B) minimise their rattling caused by other drums or

instruments

Adjusting snares

Put the snare throwoff in the off position and turn the strainer adjustment to about 75% loosened. Fix the

snare wires to the throwoff & butt using cables or strips as supplied with the drum. Ensure that the snares

hang cleanly away from the resonant head.

Engage the throwoff and adjust the tension so that the snares sound mushy. Keep tapping the centre of

the drum and adjust the strainer by tiny increments until you hear it snapping cleanly against the head.

Stop! This should still be just above mushy. The largest killer of snare drum sounds is over

tightening the snare strainer to try and offset unwanted vibrations.

Lets take a second to think about this. We have an instrument that works [in part] using the principles of

resonance. We then go and put a really thin, ultra-sensitive drum head on this particular drum, ostensibly

to help it become more sensitive, we then add some curly wires designed to vibrate against the ultra-sensitive head and then we complain when they start to do exactly what they are intended to do LOL

Sympathetic resonance

The final consideration is that of sympathetic resonance. This occurs when the fundamental tuned tone

of one drum shares pitch with the fundamental or harmonic of another drum, another instrument or other

sound.

This is not normally a difficulty with rack toms unless you are in the studio, however with your snare drum

its a different beast.

Over-tightening the snare wires willhelp to reduce resonances sympathetic to other sources but after a

point it starts to make the drum lifeless and may give difficulty for snare rolls. On the other hand, under-

tightening the snares will give you a drum with annoying buzzes from itself and from the drums and

instruments around it -clearly the whole question that you should be considering is one of balance.The BAD news is that this resonance is impossible to get rid of totallyso dont go worrying about trying to

eliminate it totally or you will be in for a whole lot of headache for no potential gain.

The GOOD news is that it is normally masked at playing volume by the sounds of the other drums in your

set and the sound of the other musicians who surround you. Think about it, apart from practise, how often

do you really proparly hear your drums on their own?

If you do find that a particular drum in your set is triggering the snare buzz, then that issomething that you

can do tweak, however you should try to eliminate it by changing the pitch of the snare and not the toms.

Toms generally aretuned to relative pitcheswith matched sustains, you dont want to adjust each tom.

Re-adjusting the tension on the snare wires also works within the parameters discussed above, but if you

have set the snare up independently, this is drastic and you should re-tune the pitch of the snare batter

head away from the offending frequency or harmonic that is causing the problem.

Often 1/8 turn at each lug is sufficient, if you do tighten the snare side head, you will have to tighten the

snare strainer to achieve the same degree of crispness as before.

Experiment!
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Tuning a Kick Drum

kick drum tuningThe kick drum is at the heart of a kit, it does not get even a fraction of the attention it deserves when it

comes to tuning, pitching and treatment (muffling), yet it is the main pulse-giver that the rest of the music

and your audience rely on.The kick drum is tuned similarly to toms. Because the tension on a kick drum head is very low, it is not

strictly necessary toseatit although I do seat them as a matter of habit.

Tuning the batter

Hand-tighten the batter head and ensure even tension. Tighten in pairs until all the wrinkles have

disappeared from the head and then give each tension rod a further turn or more to taste. You can tune

somewhat higher which will give a tom-like sound. Jazz players may tension their kick drum heads to a

higher pitch than is found in a kit tuned for general usage in other styles of music.

Kick Resonant (front) head

The resonant head operates in exactly the same manner as the resonant heads on your toms, thinking of

a kick drum as a big tom will give a much greater understanding of how you set it up.

Up until a few years ago, it was common for kits to be sold with huge holes in the front heads, theunfortunate effect of this was the loss of all resonance and warmth and we had lots of clicky kick

drums on the circuits. Contemporary thinking has, thankfully, made the shift to considering kick drums as

toms with the result that we now see the majority of heads with an offset circular 5-6 hole or heads with

no hole at all. A small offset hole preserves a lot of the resonance of the drum when compared to a large

hole, bur not as much as an intact head. The main benefot of the hole is to allow an engineer to insert a

microphone and it allows you to adjust your muffling, if you use any.

Kick Reso tuning

Tuning is similar to the batter head, just past wrinkles but I then give each tension rod turn instead of

again YMMV. That extra turn gives extra tone to the drum which keeps the strokes musical, again

experiment and find out what suits you best.

In the next section well discusscontrolling the soundof your drumsthrough treatment and muffling
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Muffling / Drum Treatment

Muffling / Drum treatmentOk so weve all stuck tape, beermats and whatever over our drums because we didnt know how

to tune them. Now that you can tune your drums, lets see how we can maximise the quality of the

sound and break old and very very nasty habits!Rack Toms

Dont!!is the general rule for toms, but as ever, the advice is not totally rigid across the board. Most

amateur drummers apply their muffling when they are listening to their drums without other instruments

playing. How often do we hear drums on their own? Drum solos, an intro or maybe or a break for a few

bars, maybe. But even then do we hear each drum on its own, not really. The majority of the time those

sustained tones and resonances that youre trying to remove with bits of beermatsare the realsound of

your kit, the sound defined by the type of material and construction method, defined by your tuning, head

selection and resonant=specific adjustments sich as reso heads on all drums.

Those overtones are part of the sound of a drumset, any drumset, your drumset!! It is a large part of that

which gives a drum kit the bite, warmth and colour that you should be seeking and it is more than likely a

significant part of your favourite drummers sounds.

The muff l ing that profess iona l drumm ers use is usual ly the sound from the surroun ding drum s

and other instruments render ing the less desi rab le tones inaudib le. I t is po in t less going to the

trouble of tuning your kit and then undoing all your work by sticking stuff all over it when in fact

you are going to m uff le the ki t again wi th other players instruments when you start playing. Think

about i t ! .

The significant exception for this rule is in a close-miced environment, particularly in the recording studio.

The resonance from unmuffled toms may be viewed as a difficulty with some styles of music and you

may be obliged to use one of the treatments outlined below [in order of my preference]

use moongel (or Blu-tack) to reduce the sustain without taking all the song out of the drum,

use an O ring,

change to a double-ply or Powerstroke 3 batter head; or

as a last resort, use gaffer tape, cut into a 3 strip and folded so you have two 1 wings to stick to

the head and a high ridge to grip it to remove it afterwards

I have heard of drummers placing cotton wool balls or packing styrofoam inside the drum that lie against

the resonant head and absorb vibrations and the movement of the head, I dont recommend this as its

way too troublesome to undo and there is little control over them once they are inside.

Kick Drum

The kick drum is the drum that about 95% of drummers muffle. With the advent of Powerstroke 3

(PS3) or equivalent heads onto the market, you need no longer stick an assortment of

pillows/clothing/blankets into the drum. The PS3 has an integral O ring that removes a lot of the sustain

yet leaves the note, which is exactly what you want in a kick drum sound. The muffling on my own kick

drum consists of a PS3 on the kick drum batter side, a PS3 on the front and a small Protection

Racketpillow that lightly touches both heads, again this is not a recipe written in stone, a producer or

anyone else who is in a position to demand, may insist that you give him a particular sound, if this is the

case, do what you are told but dont kill the drum totally!

You need to consider also what happens when you strike the head with the beater, most commonly a

heel-up player will leave the beater in contact with the head (generally termed burying the beater), this

is a very effective mufflerand is controlled automatically by the player.

With an un-muffled kick drum you can also play it like a tom letting the beater rebound and with the PS3

you have a warm sound with a short sustain. Leaving the kick drum unmuffled gives you many new

timbres of sound to experiment with but its not everyones cup of tea.

Snare

Again no muffling is the recommendation.
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14/17

If you have a ringy snare (snares are particularly susceptible to torsion because of their shallow depth),

you might want to find out which of the lugs are causing the ring by lightly placing your finger at each

tuning point on the head until you find out which stops the ring. Placing a blob of moongel or blu-tack

there should remove the ring.

To treat your drum to bring out a more dry sound, a famous tool is to use your wallet. A less subtle way is

to apply an O ring, however this will practically kill all resonance in the drum.


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Drum Set Tuning intervals

Drum set tuning intervalsAs drummers, we have a habit of tuning our drums to particular intervals. This means that

the distance (the interval) between the tuned note of one drum and that of another is arecognisable one. This does not mean that we need to (or want to) tune to specific

chromatic notes but rather that no matter where we choose to start we can alwaysguarantee that the musical difference we choose between one drum and its neighbour is

constant at any tension.

There are as many tuning opinions as there are possible combinations of the musical scale,some are more musicalthan others. The majority will centre around the major scale which

is most usefully explained in terms of Solfaor as Julie Andrews would say do,re, mi, fa,so, la ti, do.

The relationship between do and mi is a third (count em)and do-so is a fifth. Playing those

two notes together gives harmony as does playing all three together. This is known as a

major triad. If you tune your drums to these intervals then rolls, flams on two toms etc andthe general tonality of your kit will be harmonious (assuming that this is what you want).

Drumdojohas a page ontuning intervalssetting out [mostly] common reference points toenable you to memorise the intervals.

Read this slowly & Sing the songs!To apply this, using the do-mi-so triad as an example, pick a tuned tom, any tom that has a

good sound for that drum, I generally start low but thatshabit rather than

recommendation.If drum Xspitch is taken as the tonicor solfa dothen you should tune the next highestto mi. To do this, sing the first two notes of have yourself a merry little Christmas

starting on the note (do) of the tuned tom for Haveand you find the renote at yourof

yourself.The next highest tom to is sowhich has the same interval of a third, so do the same

procedure it again but starting on the first-tuned tom for Have.When you have done this,

hit any two or the three drums together and you make a chord!If you have five drums that you can usefully tune, then perhaps pick apentatonicscale.

The beauty of a pentatonic scale is that any combination of the 5 tones will be harmonious(like playing the black notes on a piano). The simplest to remember for me is

(chromatically) D E G A B, easy to remember because each is just to the right of a blacknote on a piano.

In Solfa it is DO RE mi FA SO LA - ti do -.

Do-Re is a second:, so you sing You Mustremember thisYou = Do (the note from your

tom) & Must = Re

Re-Fa is a third; Have YourselfHave = Re & Your = Fa

Fa-So and So-La are seconds again; You = Fa & Must = so; and thenYou = So and Must

= LaUseful Interval References

Major Second up Doe-a-deer

Hap-py Birth-day Major Second down

Ma-ryhad a little lamb

Whis-tlewhile you work

Minor second up

You mustremember this (AsTime Goes By) I leftmy heart in San Francisco

Theme from Jaws (repeating two-note pattern)

Minor Second down
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Shall wedance (from The King and I)

Ride apainted pony (SpinningWheel)

I knowa dark secluded place (HernandosHideaway) Major Third up

From thehalls of Montezuma

Have your-self a merry little Christmas-

Well Icome from Alabama (OhSusanna) Major Third down

Swing low, sweet chariot

Good night, ladies

Summertime and the livinis easy.

Minor Third up

Lul-la-by and good night(BrahmsLullaby)

A timefor us (LoveTheme From Romeo And Juliet)

To dreamthe impossible dream

Minor Third down Look atme (Misty)

Toot-TootTootsie, good-bye

Oh-osay you see (StarSpangled Banner)

Perfect Fourth up

Here comesthe bride

Day isdone (Tapsbugle call)

Perfect Fourth down Born free

My girl, talkinboutmy girl (Motown hit)

Tritone up

Ma-ri-a(from West Side Story) Bo-oy, boy, crazy boy (from flatted fifth or sharp fourth)

Coolin West Side Story)

Tritone down European police siren

Perfect Fifth up Hey there, Georgy Girl

Rain-dropson roses (MyFavorite Things,Sound of Music) Yo-ee-oh (War chant of the Wicked Witchsguardsmen in The Wizard of Oz)

Perfect Fifth down

Feel-ings, nothing more than feelings Major Sixth up

My Bonnielies over the ocean

Dash-ingthrough the snow (JingleBells);

N-B-C (network chime) Major Sixth down

No-bodyknows the trouble I seen Gonna laydown my sword and shield (DownBy The Riverside) 0-verthere

Minor Sixth up

CastYour Fate To The Windfirst two notes (Black Orpheus theme) For Papa, make him a scholar (from Matchmakerin Fiddler On The Roof)

Minor Sixth down

Where doI begin (ThemeFrom Love Story)

Major Seventh up Ba-li Haiwill find you (from South Pacific; first and third notes)

Minor Seventh up


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Theres aplace for us (from Somewherein West Side Story)

Theme from Star Trek (first two notes)

Minor Seventh down Theme from American In Paris (first two notes)

Octave up

Some-whereover the rainbow

Octave down Wil-lowweep for me

Intervals between notes

Minor Second One Half Tone A Half Tone

Major Second Two Half Tones One Full Tone

Minor Third Three Half Tones One Full Tone + a Half Tone

Major Third Four Half Tones Two Full Tones

Perfect or Major Fourth Five Half Tones Three Full Tones

Minor Fifth or Tritone Six Half Tones Three Full Tones + a Half Tone

Perfect or Major Fifth Seven Half Tones Four Full Tones Minor Sixth Eight Half Tones Four Full Tones +a Half Tone

Major Sixth Nine Half Tones Five Full Tones

Minor Seventh Ten Half Tones Five Full Tones +a Half Tone

Major Seventh Eleven Half Tones Six Full Tones

Octave Twelve Half Tones Seven Full Tones

Documents

Tunning a Drum Kit