I was asked to put together a guide to drum tuning. Why me? I dunno. I have 18 years experience and the time to write this guide. Good enough. While veteran drummers may not find many new tips in this file, newer drummers or drummers that don't have access to other drummers may find this article interesting.
Most of the information contained within this guide is pretty much common knowledge in the drum world. LOTS of drummers will argue certain points that they don't agree with. It's all a matter of taste and preference. No two drummers do the same thing exactly the same way.
This article is broken down into the basic areas of drum sound tweaking. Because of the vast amount of information that would be introduced by including studio drum tuning tips, I've decided to focus only on live drums with or without mics.
There are a few charts included. I found this the easiest way to communicate certain types of information. If I mention a brand name, it's just to give an example and NOT an endorsement. Some names are clearly a product of my imagination.
Key to terms used in text
Choosing the right head for you is as personal as choosing the right stick or what kind of underwear to buy. It depends on which drum it will be used on, whether or not you use mics, what kind of music you play, environments the heads will be used in (small clubs, stadiums), and on and on. Don't go out and buy a full set of Basher SheetMetal-Dot heads just because your favorite drummer Rimshot Rackett uses or endorses them.
If you play only metal and use DC-10's, you'll need a 2-ply head or one with a thick dot. If you play big band and use brushes often, a coated medium or thin head will be needed.
Mics not only amplify a drum, but also change its tone and duration. If you do NOT use mics on toms and snares and you like a wide open sound, you'll need a "plain" head that will NOT muffle it too much. A "plain" head will give your drums more life. Using a "studio" head without mics in a high- volume situation is asking for your drums to get lost in a wall of guitars.
If you DO use mics, a "studio" head will make your soundman happy. A "plain" head may introduce strange overtones in the sound system that love to feed back into your mics. But of course, a good soundman can work with a live, resonant drum and have it come out sounding like it should without worrying about feedback.
Bass drums don't demand much from a head other than durability. While each type of head will sound slightly different on a bass, it's unlikely that your listeners will notice your new eighty-dollar ThunderWhack batter head.
Toms and snares ARE picky when it comes to heads. You snare may love a Silver Dot -- your toms may hate them. An average drummer may hit his/her snare thirty times to every hit on a tom. If you find your snare head is filled with pits after only one night's use but your toms are smooth, you need a different type of head on your snare for your style of playing.
If you still can't figure out which type of head is right for your sound, try listening to other drummers play their sets. Listen to the overall sound of their drums as well as the sound of the heads. If you like it, see what they're using.
Some drummers swear by one head on their toms or basses. Most drummers use double-headed toms. It's all a matter of the kind of sound you're looking for. Single-headed toms tend to be a little thinner than a double-headed drum. (For a good recorded example of single vs. double, listen to some Rush albums before Neil started using two heads on his 6", 8", and 10" toms, then listen to _Presto_. His newer double-headed small toms have a bit more sweetness.)
Double-headed toms are not that much harder to tune than single-headed toms. It just takes a bit more time. Some drummers say to tune the bottom head slightly different from the top. This will deaden the drum's overall sound while, at the same time, broadening its tone. Two medics carrying a stretcher will do a much better job if both are moving at the same speed. Medics? Let me explain.
Let's say you have the bottom head tuned higher than the top head. You hit the drum, which causes the top head to push the air down, which in turn moves the bottom head downward. So, both heads are vibrating. But, on some of the oscillations, the top head is pushing the air down while the bottom head is pushing it up, hence, lessening the distance each head will travel. While this technique isn't wrong, it does have an effect on the sound. If you find your toms "way too ringy," by all means, try this technique.
Bass drums also sound different depending on the presence of a front head. Single-headed bass drums will be somewhat quicker, but with less low end. I don't advise using a bass drum without a mic unless your conditions don't require or demand one. Seventy-five percent of the time, people dancing to a live rock band are subconsciously feeling the pulse of the bass drum. If your bass drum doesn't create a worthwhile vibration, the dancers won't have much fun. Oops, I'm drifting.
The only way to be a good tuner is to tune -- a lot! First off, you have to decide what kind of sound you are trying to achieve. If you want a gigantic, full-bodied, booming tom sound, but your largest tom is a 14" Roto-Tom and you don't use mics, you won't get it. If you want an attention- getting big band sound, but you're using hydraulic heads on huge power toms, you won't get it.
I'll start this section by explaining how to tune a drum, step by step, from the ground up. First, an ugly ASCII illustration describing the order in which tension rods should be tightened or loosened:
(Tension rods are marked by "*".)
Six lugs Eight lugs
1 3 1 7
*_____* *_____*
/ \ / \
/ \ 6 */ \* 3
6 *| |* 5 | |
\ / 4 *\ /* 5
\_____/ \_____/
* * * *
4 2 8 2
Ten lugs Twelve lugs
1 8 1 5
*___* *___*
6 */ \* 3 12 */ \* 9
/ \ 8 */ \* 3
9 *| |*10 | |
\ / 4 *\ /* 7
4 *\_____/* 5 10 *\_____/* 11
* * * *
7 2 6 2
The idea is to keep the tension as even as possible around the head, much like tightening the lug nuts when changing a wheel on a car.
Getting the bottom head of a tom to match the top head takes a little extra work. The easiest way to hear the pitch of each head at a time is to muffle one head while tapping softly on the other, then switch.
Snare drums are a bit different. Basically, the more tension you give the snare-side head, the better snare response you'll get. Tuning snare drums takes a lot of experimentation for each drummer.
For the most part, proper tuning techniques can eliminate the need for muffling. Before you plaster your heads with duct tape, towels, or Dead Ringers, try these tried-and-true techniques. Using loose, floppy heads with tons of muffling will leave you with an expensive set of cardboard boxes. (Refer to early Billy Joel or Eagles albums for examples of really gross drum sounds.) Bass guitars love to drown out a fat, dead snare.
If these tips don't help your drum or you don't like the results, you probably need to muffle it somehow. Use muffling VERY sparingly. Remember, what sounds good to you while you're playing may sound like crap at the other end of the room. Have someone beat on your drums along with the band so you can hear how they actually sound.
I do NOT recommend the following types of muffling for toms and snares:
While bass drums should be heavily muffled, it can be overdone. Filling the drum half full is too much.
This section is included only to give examples of the results of the various techniques described above, not so you can magically sound like some multi-platinum drummer who has LOTS of expensive equipment and hires people to polish the Jack Daniels off of his hardware. Also, these are not quotes, but learned observations.
Any corrections/gripes or further questions should be directed to muff@winternet.com. While most the of the information included in this article is fact, only some is personal opinion.
Happy drumming! :)