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Drums & Tuning

Nagrom

Nagrom

Mar 21, 2004
606
32
Western Canada
#1
Last night our drummer was doing his usual tuning routine, which the rest of us quietly endure. He commented that he tuned to 'Twinkle Twinkle.., sometimes to "Row Your Boat". Ok, 4ths, 5ths, octaves around the kit...

Later in the set I noticed some conflicting sounds at times, that made me re-check my tuning, which was fine.

Between sets, while the drummer was 'tuning' again, I snapped my clip-on tuner onto one of his toms and found it read about half way between E & E-flat.

I think this may be the cause of the dissonance I am hearing on occasion.

If the drummer tunes to random intervals, do you think that it should be a note that is in tune with the band?

Thanks for sharing
 
#6
Sounds like he may have done a poor job tuning them, or that they are too resonant and thus you can hear a specific tone clearly, or one (or both) of the heads are out of tune, etc.

If he's not all that skilled at tuning, bring the drums to someone who knows better. If he's experienced in this field, he'll have to experiment a bit. If you strike them and they have a very long sustain, loosen the resonant skin until it is at an equal pitch to the top skin. And be sure that top skin is fully in-tune.
 
#7
Is tuning so often a regular part of most drummers gig? Why do they go out of "tune"? Maybe he needs a tuner as well if there's dissonance involved with the rest of the band. I guess he doesn't have perfect pitch like he thinks he does.
 
#10
I don't think I've ever heard of a drummer tuning their drums to a certain note. I don't think he should be going for any note, he should just go for whatever tuning makes the drums sounds good. If you're hearing dissonance when he hits his toms then they could be not tuned very well, making them ring out and and have a weird dissonant kind of sound.
 
#11
Stumbo said:
Is tuning so often a regular part of most drummers gig?
Click to expand...

...is tuning your bass a regular part of your gig? :D

Seriously though, absolutely it's important.

Realize that when we talk about tuning drums however, it's a far different beast than simply trying to get a note right. In drums, there are no rules for notes, only tonal qualities. Depending on what type of skin you use (coated, clear, pinstripe, etc.) you can COMPLETELY change the way a drum kit sounds, even with the exact same tuning.

As a rule, it's all about trying to get the drums to sound good within the mix, and within each other. Rarely (with few exceptions) will you see a drummer tune their kit note for note. Rather, they go by what they want the lowest and highest intervals to be, and everything in between. Resonance is a key part of tuning drums as well. This is how the bottom skin is tuned.
 
#12
It's well known that tympani are very resonant drums. They don't produce the fundamental, they instead rely on overtones to suggest the fundamentals.

There's a problem can occur with resonant drums that suggest the fundamental and thus a pitch. Two fixes - one as mentioned above is damp some of the overtones, another is to disturb the overtones by purposely detuning a lug or two so the harmonics don't align are the harmonics of a note. So it just sounds like a low, mid, or high sound and not a pitch. Take a listen to some old Bill Cobham drums, resonant yet not pitchy. It can be done.
 
#13
Some drummers like a very tonal pitch-centered sound, and if that is the case, it is wise to tune them to a note so that they don't fall slightly sharp or flat of what everyone else is playing. I think that for some styles of music it fits really well, and a drummer with a kit like that who knows what they are doing can be much more melodic in their phrasing, since their kit carries more of a sense of melody. If your drummer's kit sounds very tonal and doesn't fit in with the band, well, that's when it is time to add some dampening material, or talk to him about tuning his drums a bit differently.
 
#14
I don't know that I've ever played music that was determined/affected by the pitch of the drums. Not saying it doesn't exist, I just haven't run into it.

My last drummer had a new set of DW's and they had the recommended note listed inside the shell for maximum resonance.
 
#15
1. He's a good drummer, full timer, many studio sessions under his belt.
2. Constant drum fiddler, tuning wise, at the start of every gig/practice and most sets.
3. Confessed on Sat. that he tunes to a simple song.
4. Metronome addict.
5. Pitch is in between concert notes, multiples of Eb & 1/2.
6. Made my high C# sound all wrong in one song, to the point I'm rechecking my tuning & EQ to see what's up.

The main question is 'Is this a normal problem/situation'.

I've never thought of rock drums as being tuned to a specific pitch before, just to sound good. The rest of us just roll our eyes as he goes through his tuning regime. I don't really want to critique him too much but if we are making a fundamental error...
 
#16
Nagrom said:
1. He's a good drummer, full timer, many studio sessions under his belt.
2. Constant drum fiddler, tuning wise, at the start of every gig/practice and most sets.
3. Confessed on Sat. that he tunes to a simple song.
4. Metronome addict.
5. Pitch is in between concert notes, multiples of Eb & 1/2.
6. Made my high C# sound all wrong in one song, to the point I'm rechecking my tuning & EQ to see what's up.

The main question is 'Is this a normal problem/situation'.

I've never thought of rock drums as being tuned to a specific pitch before, just to sound good. The rest of us just roll our eyes as he goes through his tuning regime. I don't really want to critique him too much but if we are making a fundamental error...
Click to expand...

I usually set up on the tom side of the kit and on rare occaission have had a floor tom resonate in sympathy with a note I played. I've asked the drummer to change it and no problems.

I had the opportunity to drum tech for Kenny Washington, great guy and completely anal-retentive about tuning the drums, every head on the kit effects the resonance of the entire kit.
 
#17
You dont (usually) to tune drums to specific notes. You tune them so they sound balanced in relation to the other drums in the kit. The drummer I work with will tweak the heads every few rehearsals. Not to any specific note but so that the rolls from snare all the way around to bass drum makes sense and to get rid of any overtones. .
 
#18
You might want to check out one of these.
drumdialfoto1.jpg



My drummer uses this almost religiously. He has to tune his drums maybe once a month depending on how much we practice/play shows. It basically measures the tension of the head about 3 inches in from the rim. It also has a tension guide to tell what to tune each head to depending on the sound you want and diameter of the head. Not to sound like a salesman, but you can find more information here http://mikedrums.com/drumdial.html
 

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