Tuning Drums
I have come across a lot of buddies in the business of drumming who seem to struggle to get a good sound from their drums. In most cases, it is not the quality of the drum, or even the heads being used. It is the approach to putting the heads on and subsequent tuning.
I always start with the bottom head since this is really what produces the first note that you hear when the drum is first struck. If you think about it, at the exact moment of impact, the top head is actually muted by the stick. I seat the head evenly by finger tightening all the tension rods. Then I do 1/2 turns on all going around the drum like a clock. I don’t generally do a criss-cross pattern except maybe after the drum is in the ballpark. I am just careful to allow the head to tension slowly and as evenly as I can. Once in the region of the pitch I am after, then I begin tapping at each lug about 1″ in from the edge to check that all tension rods are tuned to one another. I repeat the same process for the top head and then lower it by about 1/2 a step pitch-wise. I like a little “bend” in the pitch of the drum.
That’s what I do and so far it has worked. There are times, however, when I just seem to be having a bad day and can’t get the sound out of the drum I am after. Of course, now that I make drums, I work all those bugs out of them so they don’t have that problem. lol
The Artisan
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In my opinion, Artisan toms and kickdrums tune about as easily as they possibly could. Having a strong fundemental, (not to be confused with small tuning range)it’s easy to get the drums to sing without the usual boings and growls of coventional plied drums. That being said after a few tweeks with a drumkey, my drums supply depth and tone with a substancial amout of presence.
Some drums have a warm tone, then have no throw or “cut”. Likewise, most drums that are very heavy have great throw, but a tiny and weak tone with virtually no body.
In addition, I almost always use a two ply coated head. I also generally use a medium-tight tuning style. The drums seem to be happy in that range.
Good luck and God Bless!
I really enjoyed reading this article. I’m actually committing Sin #2 ‘Waiting too long to comment’! However, I felt compelled to express appreciation, since I think many of these you enumerate are unconscious mistakes that can easily be rectified.