PROOF That You CAN Make a Cheap Drumset Sound Good.
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- čas přidán 9. 11. 2017
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How to make a cheap drum set sound good….and what NOT TO DO to a drum set. This video is really a double-lesson! #1: Here’s how you can take an old, beat-up kit and get it sounding pretty decent without even switching heads. #2: Learn from the past mistakes made on this kit. Be sure to avoid the problems that contributed to this perfectly good kit’s downfall. Today we take a neglected drum set, and we work with what we’ve got to improve its quality of sound. The truth is, it can be done. Our result may not belong on a Nashville record, but it’s certainly suitable for quick gigs, rehearsals, practicing, etc. Be sure not to stereotype YOUR cheap kit too quickly. You’d be surprised at how well our “Zebra Kit” can sound. So sit back, relax, and enjoy watching my two-and-a-half hour tuning process shortened into a nice, nine-minute video for you!
If you like what you’ve seen, I hope you’ll SUBSCRIBE! This channel is all about helping YOU become a better drummer, one week at a time, so you can impact your audience and the musicians you play with.
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I have a set dpd encore and was wondering if you could tune them
I can make a good drum kit sound bad just by playing it.
Yeah same here. Also without much effort.
Jackie Planck funny ha ha
lol
To funny. I encourage you to practice and have confidence in your ability. Be yourself behind your kits. I enjoyed the laugh though.
I can make it sound bad by turning it
The saddest part is before he changed anything, the zebra kit still sounded better then my kit -_-
Two soulz Doubt it, drums just sound better when recorded than in a live setting, especially with bad acoustics.
dont be surprised. for sure sounded better than mine.
Lol same dude
Kyle Hazel for real, but he actually knows how to tune
I feel you mate
Man. Am I crazy for thinking it didn't sound *that* bad before the adjustments? I've heard far worse.
No, you're not. While it wasn't great, it •did• have a certain character about it.
Only really bad part was floor Tom, it was god awful
No i did as well. Lol
it sounds better than my first kit brand new lol
probably his recording that made it sound good
You never did talk about those rusted screws like you said you would later on in the video though
Throw em in synthetic motor oil or atf for a week , they'll never rust again.
$0 budget. *Throws $1000 worth of cymbals on for good measure*
Ok you got me :P I was truthful in saying that I worked with "what I've got" though...didn't buy anything I didn't already have :)
Stephen Clark I’m only playing :) Nice vid - keep up the good work!
Haha thanks David! I know you're just messing around.
Probably not a bad rule of thumb. But new heads will exceed the value of a kit like this. Actually they can exceed the value of any mid range used kit.
David Chapman lol
I'm a seasoned musician who picked up drums over the pandemic. This channel has been a consistent reliable companion on that journey. Recently picked up a beater kit for my rehearsal space and now I know what needs doing and what I can very well leave alone
You should do a collab with rdavidr!
Please no, he has great things to say but he talks so boringly...
Maybe a Beard-Off
haha i came here from an rdavidr video!
YES!! That would be awesome! I just discovered this channel, but both channels seem to focus on some of the same ideas. I will now be waiting for that to happen.
Haha nice suggestions guys! Apparently a lot of people agree, seeing as how this is the top comment. :) My favorite rdavidr video along these lines is the one where he buys the Ludwig Acrolyte at Goodwill for $20 and fixes it up. Such a great snare buy! When it comes down to the true DIY stuff, rdavidr is so much more the expert on that than myself....which really could make for some interesting collab possibilities.
As a southern AZ drumsmith, I bought a pallet of “shit kits” at an estate sale. Literally an entire wrapped pallet of shells, hoops and hardware.
Took it all home and went to work much like you did.
I had very little money for improvements and other than my woodworking tools and experience, it was all me.
Sold or donated 98% of the haul to people and schools and kept a few gems for myself.
All in all a great experience and it helped me learn how little things (like the cloth over the bearing edge) can affect sound and performance.
Great video as always.
Thank you. 30 years of drumming, I’ve always said that you CAN make a cheap kit sound good with the proper heads and tuning and making sure your bearing edge is clean etc.
Tom beat after tuning reminds me of the intro to Foo Fighters There Goes My Hero. Also after tuning it sounding ripe for some bonham style action on it ;)
Haha been listening to the new Foo Fighters album lately. Maybe not that particular song...but some great music and great drumming nonetheless. :)
My Hero!!!
I LOVE your channel. I’m self taught and your channel is the ONLY place I come for advice. Thanks so much!!!
Snare was pretty good to start with. Don't know why you switched the basement kickdrum to a basement snare, but ow well. You did say it's subjective etc. meh. At least the first version had "something going". :)
I agree, i honestly didn't mind the snare originally
the snare sounded good both times
The truth is... You can get along cheap drums but hardly ever, cheap cymbals
Beatriz Totally true. I’ve even had decent cymbals that I disliked. I would dread hitting them & regretted it every time I did.
TheKillerAwokeBeforeDawn what kind were they?
I say just use a trash can lid and a sheet music stand lol
Great job making it sound better but imo I liked the snare before.
I think I saw that drum kit in the plains of Africa it was an odd shaped and sized zebra
That must be where my friend found it. Captured it and brought it home!
It probably was a zebreaatjeifjdojakfna'pejsdkgjsk'dfm
epnkfdsakpmgpksaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Ryder Grimes don’t judge ( literally )
Toto used to have this kit.
@@hansgrueber8169 We re not in Kansas anymore !
plot twist: it's actually a ludwig kit 😂
Hahaha!! Or it's a super legit Gretsch kit and it was literally hand made at their Ridgeland, SC workshop. But we'll never know...will we? Skinning that zebra takes a lot of effort.
The lugs look very Ludwig Accent kit to me..... I had a Ludwig kit with those exact lugs. It was a Ludwig Accent Custom.
I have a Ludwig and it sucks
@@spartandrew8672 You never had a chance to play Amati
@@markomarkovic5729 you never had a chance to play Riga!
You can make any cheap budget drum kit sound beautiful, but you just need some good heads and fine tuning at times.
Hey, just wanted to say I love the channel so far. You get the info across well, and have a likeable personality. Great job, keep it up!
I don't even have my drum kit in my house, but I still enjoy watching your videos. Keep up the good work! :D
Hey man! can we possibly get a future video where you tell us how you mix your kit and the effects that would suit a cheap drumset better. Thanks for such great videos :D
Pretty cool,simple & straightforward tips.Great vid
Kick improved greatly. Thanks for this.
Man, what a nice channel you got here, thanks for the tips! I'm subscribing right now!
1. Proper tuning
2. Post production
In that order. Helpful video!
Nice job brother I just recently restored an old CB sp series kit disassemble the entire kit we did all the lugs hoops tension rods installed new heads Remo reverse. Control sound on the snare and for the toms Powerstroke p3s coated on everything except for the Kik I put an Aquarian super kick 1 I kept all the old reso heads cleaned them reinstalled and tune them properly you would not believe how this kid sounds also I put a new paint job I wish I had some before and after is the show you anyway nice job and you are right you can bring an old kit back to life regardless of what kind and how cheap....
Thanx for the tips.
I've been a drummer a long time.
Or should I say I "drummed" long ago n had a long hiatus behind the kit.
Now I'm back n looking to but a cheap kit n make it sound big n punchy.
I kno cymbals will do a lot but your tips will work out AWESOME!
Thanx man!!
🤘
I really enjoyed this video! Fun and informative!
This was very useful. Thank you
Great video! Thanks for the info
“Zero dollar budget”
*completely replaces drum heads*
When I had my first drum kit, my parents bought it for me as a kid and eventually I saved up enough money to put evans heads on and a few years later a new snare and some zildjian cymbals... similar to this video, the difference was way better once I done it. On a Mapex Saturn kit these days though which is luckily better!
I bought a 6pc pearl ex ...reheaded it and painted the inside of the shells for a warmer sound ...bottom heads were all ebony ..both kicks had power stroke 3 with built in falams and added an extra with wooden beaters made a great sound ...top batter heads were single pinstripe for good resenence...all for less than 500
Honestly, overall sound aside, there is a lot of enjoyment to be found in taking old junk drums, refinishing their appearance in various ways (NO DAMN ZEBRA PRINT) and using some of these tricks to improve the sound to make them decent. I have a "main kit" in my Pearl Forums that I use for shows and such, but overall have about 8 or 9 total sets at this point. Some matching shells. Some total Frankenstein deals. Some I honestly couldn't even tell ya. Most pricey one has about $35 in it: I spent that in buying a metallic vinyl wrap. Best part: you can really try some creative things in building these one-offs because if you destroy it all, you're out almost nothing and almost any part of a drum can be brought back to life somehow...or at the very least salvaged for hardware and parts. May just be me, but I find an enjoyment in it that is separate from playing altogether...and regardless of overall "quality sound" spoken of by drum purists, for most situations not involving bigger stage set-ups or recording, "decent sound" is more than enough to suffice, and custom gear just looks badass to most. Just knowing basic sound qualities, acoutics, and what affects them will give the insight to avoid screwing up the "drum" part of the drum you're working on.
And sometimes, you hit gold. My second-best kit (sometimes best, in fact) is a 4-piece set-up I play with my jazz group. All natural wood-grain finish. Got lucky and found four different shells that had similar-looking wood under their wraps. Bass drum from an abandoned house. Rack and floor toms from someone's pile of junk to be thrown out, and the jewel...a 1963 Slingerland wood snare from a yard sale for $1. Affectionately named the "Dollar-Menu Drumkit", she looks and sounds frickin' beautiful.
Great video, your videos helps me a lot.
Best drummer I ever heard when it comes to not only playing but in tuning his kit and selecting cymbals was Joe Morello. 4 piece kit with hi hat and two cymbals and he was amazing.
i usually repair the drumkit of my friend's or even in my school before an activity or sumsht. All i can say that the things that were mentioned are pretty usefull in times of last minute adjustments. i have some tips too
1. If there is no moongel (or those sticky toys) i use electrical tape (tissues are optional)
2. Always tap the head near the rods for better tone
3. Keep that sht clean
4. For floors, in case you have a dead floor and you dont have a drumkey, use any cloth and lay it over the drumhead. may not be the best fix but it will do for that time being.
5. In order not to scrape your bassdrum due to the pedals, use plastic cover( kinda clean imo)
6. Going for a cheap kit is not bad, but dont ever go cheap on those cymbals.
7. In some cases, a dent on your toms or even in your snare will appear when you play hard. one way to fix it without removing the heads is using heat (lighter, heatgun etc) dont go too close, just enough so that the dent will go back to its place
well done vid mate, i like your no bullshit approach. keep up the good work! :)
actually I hunted down a cheap $100.00 set online for a coworkers son thats interested but doesn't know if he's gonna stick with it. Stripped it down and gave it a good clean and just about to put all the heads back on and tune it up. Looks like new now, amazing what some fine steel wool and metal polish can do.
That's awesome! Most old kits will clean up nicely when you get rid of the beat-up wrap. That's what I did with my kit a year or so ago. It used to have a burgundy, shiny wrap on it. I tore it off and added a light lacquer on the outside of the shells, so now it at least has a more "professional" wood look.
I too have done this. A pearl forum series that will see me for a few years of gigs at least. It sounds pretty nice to my ears. Trying to get people together but man!!! Roll on gig town!!!
Great video. I have an old pearl sound check. It sounded great bc I changed all the heads, batter and resonant both, and cleaned it all up. Now it’s sounds like ass, but I don’t have any money for new heads now. This video has inspired me to talked them all off, clean it up, and put them back on and tune. Here’s hoping 🤞...
Personally I felt lile it sounded halfway decent at the beginning. Drum sound is (I forget the word) opinionated?
I agree. The beginning sound really wasn't terrible, and I was pleasantly surprised when I first sat down to play it. A decent sound right off the bat was encouraging, so I knew I could tweak things just a little to further improve the overall sound. I think the kick may have been the biggest quality difference before and after, in my opinion.
Stephen Clark definatley, a ringy kick throws everything off
Danny M. Subjective.
Danny M. Yeah I think the word you meant was 'subjective'
My opinion is that you ment to say subjective or a matter of taste .
Good video, I really like the "no bs" approach. There are so many "how to make x $ drums sound good" where they throw in new heads worth 500$, cymbals worth 3000$ and recording equipement worth 10000$ ..., yeah. Granted you threw in K customs too, but it was the only thing and you said "with what I have", so it counts xD. And yeah, it proves you can make cheap drums sound good with some tuning and decent cymbals.
actually a big difference ! I wanted to ask if it is possible that you do a video on how to record, mix and master drums ? Pardon if that topic is already covered in another video, I'm new to the channel.
That would make for a great video series! Haven't done it yet, but that's definitely something to consider for future video ideas. Thanks for the request!
I bought a pallet of drums at an estate sale for $100. Had about 3 complete kits of various brands in various states of repair on it.
From that I drumsmithed 2 complete kits on a budget of about $50. The process of doing this was very therapeutic and I sold both of them for $300.
I had fun doing the work, and I made some coin helping one get their first kit, and another with a beater kit for his bar gigs.
Win-win-win. 🤘🏻🤘🏻🔥🔥
you channel is one of my favorites with drumeo and rdavidr
This is truly educational
Dude you have a phenomenal touch........im sure a guy like u will sound great on any kit
Even buckets
I actually prefer the sound of the snare before the adjustment. But that's just my opinion.
REally done a good job!
A great tune job makes all the difference. Finding the right drumheads for a particular kit can help also.
I recently turned up a neighbors cheap kit - He was amazed by how much better it sounded. Just takes some time and a little know how😉👍
Very useful and interesting - my brother bought my young son a cheap kit for his birthday and it doesn't sound great. The cymbals are awful (might as well be using hubcabs) so I'm going to get him some (slightly) better ones for Christmas, but these are some good tips for drums themselves too. I should probably spend a few hours learning how to tune drums (I'm a guitarist, so if it lacks strings, I haven't a clue)
Much better!.sounds like an ok practice kit.good job bud
Took this beat up Gammon 5 piece, took off the yellow wrap and spray painted it with a neon blue design on a white background. Cleaned up the chrome and other metal parts. Then got some new Sabian XS20 crashes. Fun project and I'm using it for my capstone. Sounds great with new heads.
$150 for the original set, $200 for cymbals, paint, WD40, etc
hey good lessons man :)
another awesome vid. goes to show that same as with cheap guitars, it's all about the setup and tuning. cheers!
Appreciate your videos.
Any recommendation for making an old, warped shell circle again? Is there a quick n' dirty method? Thanks!
Dope passion T-Shirt! Got one just like it.
Smooth player. Good chops.
Great work. To change a kick drum sound can you stuff it with towels? How do you get them in there if there's no hole? Do you unlug one side and take the skin off then pile them in?
Crazy. I once rewrapped an old Pacific drum set in zebra print for a youth group in town. You didn’t happen to pick those up in Washington State, did you? Pretty sure I did a better job of keeping the fabric off of the bearing edges, though.
sounded pretty good to start what brand and type shells
Hey dude, what do U recommend getting for a small office/home as in the Equipment For Recording?
Like, a basic barebones office Studio. Mixer? Eq?Recorder?Basic Synthesizer? Mics?
I've got drums and all other instruments and laptops. Gonna do a little mash ups, originals and other electronic music as welk as all and integrated percussion and strings.
Thank you Stephen. Q, How do I make some very old top hat Zildjan cymbals a crispy sound? Phil
I play mostly early beatles and cover my heads with fabric for more of a studio sound too...
Sounds great !!
professional tuning.
Only miss a little biy extra : recording the cymbals and hihat with some AKG's. Rest sounds amazing !
Well done.... !
Hi, man. I'm one of ur subscribers and i really like ur vids.
One question..
I understand that resonant heads play important role in tuning. I'm just wondering why some drummers prefer to have it removed.
Is there a good reason behind?
Thanks , man.
*I love the zebra patterns. You made a good tuning and prove that you can buy a cheap set with good sound. Most beginner drummers are thinking like that: If I will pay a lot of money for the set I wont have any problems with it. My tip: practise, practise, practise. Nice video* !
Hey it is a unique, attention-grabbing kit, for sure! You're absolutely right. Put good heads on just about any kit, and it's very possible to get a good sound. And yes...practicing is also a very good thing:) Thanks!
makes me want to get back into drumming. i remember being like 14 and had my parents buy me a cheap ass set that i could just not get tuned right. back in the 2000s it was harder to find info online than it is today and had i actually had money i would of bought one of those drum dials. man that set used to sound like so much ass and it caused me an immense amount of frustration that i just couldnt get it to sound right no matter what i did, and i tried hard.
Hey I was about to give my kit a fresh new face by adding a layer of vinyl on the toms, snare and bass drumm, so you don't recommend it? I measured the pieces and the stickers will be like gloves accurate, do you reckon it will affect very badly to the kit? It's a yamaha stage custom. Great video btw, thanks for the work!!
This guy never blinks his eyes!
Nice video! I personally would leave the moon-gel off of the snare but the toms and kick definitely had better resonance and tone in the after comparison. I was wondering what mic clamps you are using?
Thanks! Yeah the moongel ends up being a personal preference most of the time. Sometimes I'll use one...or not use one depending on the room and how everything feels. Those clamps are just the Shure ones that come with the set of 3 sm57's and a beta 52. Here's a link to the set I have...
www.amazon.com/Shure-DMK57-52-Drum-Microphone-Kit/dp/B0002E51C6
I play in a school band. The drum kits we have are all out of tune, and I'm definitely gonna look into it after seeing you do it.
depends on how the player's hand create THE sound and how is it tuned
I have a 1965 Penncrest and 1965 Pearl mixed together and have the original skins and changed nothing but the hi hat and a few cymbals and the kick pedal. No tom has a resonant head and the snare has a subtle snap to it. It’s got assloads of tape on the sheepskin heads to muffle but as crappy as it looks it’s taken 20 straight years of me beating the hell out of it and still sounds amazing. You don’t need this or that it’s matter of taste and not fucking your kit up. I’d love a new kit but this was my grandpa and uncles kits from their childhood and it was passed on to me. For a 50 something year old kit it’s really reliable.
I'm a guitarist. Why am I here?
Drannon who knows
Same
maybe you need a drummer?
same
Same. I don't understand anything but I can't click away! Super interesting
Awesome channel dude! I was wondering if you could just give a quick list of the mics and preamps you’re using, I can only see a SM57, and any rooms?
Thanks, man! I had SM57s on snare and toms, and a beta52 on the kick. I was using an old Tascam handheld recorder as the room mic (it has a built-in stereo condenser, which makes it a very natural room mic). Wasn't running any actual overheads here - just the room mic sitting a few feet from the kit. No real preamps either, since everything's just running into a Tascam US1800 usb interface I was using. It's got built in pre's, but definitely nothing special. So my recording rig here may have been as cheap as the drum set haha!
Stephen Clark wow, you got a really nice sound from that setup either way. Thanks for the speedy reply! Cheers!
6:40 sounds like the groove to Elvis Costello's "This Year's Girl"
Didn’t sound bad at first. But hell yeah! Nice job and I love the wrap in them
Cool video!
I have one constructive criticism:
The head of your sm57 on the floor tom is rattling. putting it on a separate mic stand instead of clipping it to the drum usually can fix that problem. There are also ways people have secured it, but using tape can mess up its cardioid pattern.
I bought myself a 7 piece (3 rack and two floor toms) Pacific Drums Kit. It was priced down from £995 to £595 because of a scratch on the bass drum. The money saved was then used to upgrade the hardware and skins. I switched out the metal lug washers with nylon ones by a company called hendrix drums, replaced the triple flanged hoops with "S-hoops" made by a company called Ahead (primarily known for their aluminium drumsticks) The "S hoops" are worth checking out the are a cross between die-cast and triple flanged. The kit sounds so much better with them. I also the replaced the poor quality wooden bass drum hoops with metal ones I bought from ebay. However the resonant bass drum hoop has begun to show signs of rust despited the bass drum being in a carrying case. QUESTION: what should I do to eliminate the rust and prevent further rusting on any other part of the kit?. Could you also give tips on how to store a drum kit when not in use? Is it OK to pile up two or three toms on top of the bass drums?. Thanks
And a great Road Gig Set!
Wondering how much of an effect the fabric has on the overall tone? Like assuming you keep it off the bearing edge and it's not interfering with the tuning, would it have a noticeable effect on the sound? If not, that opens up some nice aesthetic opportunities
I played a gig a couple months ago where I assumed I would just need my breakables, but no drummer was willing to share drums. I live in a suburb 20 minutes outside the city, and 30 minutes from the jam space/venue, so I couldn't go back and get my kit. There was a very shitty kit at our jam space that I could borrow, so I drove back and got it and the kick was alright, but the toms sounded awful, and thw floor tom had no resonant head. I completely detuned and retuned the rack tom several times before it sounded decent, but both heads were extremely wore out, and the floor tom I just tuned once as low as I could get it where it would ring. It still sounded fairly bad mic'd, the notes were sour on both toms, but I just used my toms where I had to, and stuck to snare rolls, and the gig went great.
That sounds like a scenario where you actually had to adjust your playing to the kit itself. That's a frustrating situation, where you're having to work around things that don't sound so great. At the same time, that's a great skill to have - especially if you play on a lot of house kits.
I did the same, bought a cheap peace drum kit, put evans ec2 heads on it and sounds better than now than before, it had cheap original skins on it
You should do a tutorial on whatever the heck that was at 7:56 I loved that!
Jimbo Turkey thank you!
my hihats sounds like a metal basin
Hey, I've been watching your videos for a while for the obvious reason that I'm a drummer...I have some problems at the moment, first I need new heads(tho I can probably hold off another month) my drum throan recently gave out on me, I need a new pair of double pedals because I lent my old ones to a friend to keep. I have a very limited budget and I know all three are important so in your opinion what should I get first?
Nice vid. Being an apartment dweller now, I can't have an acoustic kit anymore. I do have an electronic set though.
What size is that rack? They look huge? What cymbals do you have there? Nice job. I liked how the snare sounded originally as well
It all comes down to personal preference, but I liked the snare's original sound a lot, too.
You know, I actually had a feeling a lot of people would like the higher snare tuning. It really is so much personal preference... The rack is 13"x13" I believe. The usual 13" rack and 16" floor configuration, which I usually find to be my favorite. So maybe not huge...but bigger (and bigger sounding) than a 12" and 14" for sure. The cymbals were Zildjian K custom darks, which I really like. They're dark but have a nice shimmer, and they record well and sound great in small rooms.
The stripes make your rack look fat.
I have a Gretsch renown with Paiste signatures and HHX and an SP Cheep kit (250 bucks) with Paiste PST cymbals. I take the cheap stuff to shady bar gigs. Good heads and good tuning makes the SP kit sound great.
''Thankyou Stephen, Most informative & Well Explained. Great Tips and Stuff To Watch Out for. I look forward to more Videos.' Iain North UK.
Thanks! This really helped, my kit sounds alot better.
Well I have a older kit with no bass drum head for the front of the bass drum is that a bad thing ? My dad bought it from a church. The screws and bolts are rusted so what could I do to make it sound good ?
I've noticed some rattling on the floortom in the last example (tuned and processed)
how did that come to be?
So as a rule of thumb, to get a deep sound from a tom should the resonant head be a single ply or double ply?
I always do this when I play in churches old Kit's come back to life !!!
South Texas ✌️
so what did you do with the rusted screws inside holding on the lugs? anything?
Hi, master. A little question... poplar shells? Thank's