Snare Drum Tuning Lesson - Basics
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- čas přidán 21. 04. 2022
- We've been asked more than a few times to demonstrate how we tune our snare drums, so here is our response. While we believe there are no set in stone rules to how you tune drums, there are some basics that will help you on your way to better sounds.
We also believe that tuning is 100% subjective and to always find your own path to great sounding drums. Experimentation is how you learn for yourself, and it doesn't need to be a big, scary undertaking.
So, with that said let's jump into a few answers to some potential "questions from the future." Yes, the snare drum at the end of this video is a fairly high pitched sound. In no way are we suggesting your particular snare has to sound like that. In fact, recorded drums can reveal all kinds of things that you don't hear in person. So, adjust accordingly to your recording or performing needs. Tuning for the room is definitely a thing too.
We're well aware that a well known, highly respected drum related CZcams channel prefers loose resnant heads for snare drums. That is 100% a valid opinion, and works well in many situations. However, here at West Coast Drum Shop we prefer much tighter reso heads for increased projection, and snappier snare response. So take that for what it is. Keep in mind we've tuned thousands of drums and recorded with dozens.
We did not go over how to set up snares in this video, as it would have become long-winded. We may decide to cover that in future videos if requested.
"One size fits all" tuning rules should be abolished. The subjective nature of drum sound, microphones, rooms, recording/mixing/live sound engineers and audience all have different opinions. Another thing to add is mods (gel, tape, tampering with snares etc.) are suggested to be used after the drum sounds great.
"Blatty" is not a real word. It's an onomatopoeia that sometimes gets tossed around by instrument repair technicians to describe the attack of the instrument, so don't @ us
TuneBots and Drum Dials work to help guide you to get even tension around drum heads if you can't do it with your ears, and they're perfectly OK to use. What's also great about them is they provide a numeric value the tension at a particular point in the drum head. These values can be recorded and then utilized as needed to allow for consistent tuning at any time, for example having the same tone take to take in the studio. Tuning drums to actual pitches is a mostly futile and confusing mess unless you absolutely have to, which usually never if you're a drum set player. Tuning devices do not replace tuning knowledge and experimentation. Understanding how drum tuning works without them will benefit your experience with them.
Feel free to post any additional questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer. We hope this helps and thanks for checking it out.
wcdrumshop.com
this is def the best tutorial for snare tuning out there
Thank you!
Will, I'm a relative beginner at drum Tuning. I'm a 71 YO, retired Guy, who resurrected playing Drums after 50 YEARS [1969]. I play for recreation / hobby about 1 hour a day to My Music. Since recommencing in 2019 after my wife of 44 years at that time (now 48 years) gifted me a cheapo Kit for Xmasa in 2018. I since upgraded that kit to a PDP Concept Maple 6 Drum kit and also Purchased a DW Design series Nickel over Brass 14 X 6.5 Snare (the PDP snare is 14 X 5.5). Back in my old days, I knew nothing of Drum heads and Drum Tuning. I am learning now. This is one of the best Videos, showing step by step adjustments of snare drum tuning. When the drum is lying on the table, it sounds like crap to my ear, improving as you tuned it High (on both heads). When you lift it, it sounds so much better? I'm using HD Dry Batter heads, on both snares. The DW snare was purchased Used and came with the Hd dry batter head. It played fantastically out of the delivery box! The previous owner had it tuned perfectly to my liking. I replaced that batter head and I just can't get there? And here's a weird thing to run past you : When I placed the DW snare on top of my 16 inch Floor tom to get it out of the way in a playing session, I hit it doing a fill. Bingo - it was the perfect Sound - like a Ludwig Supraphonic , like a John Bonham sound. Take it off the Tom and it's Not the Same? Any ideas? One poster on a Drum Forum said jokingly that I may have invented a new Snare Stand! THX so Much for your feedback.
The HD Dry batter comes pre-muffled with a dampening ring on the bottom, and the pinholes help to dry the snare out even more. I'm guessing the head you replaced the HD Dry with was something different. If it's a head without muffling, you'll be dealing with a lot more overtone and ring, and it wont give you the sound you're expecting to hear. I personally like open, ringy drums tuned well as opposed to pre-dampened heads for most situations.
I place the drum flat on a surface to isolate the individual drum head so I can hear if it's in tune with itself as I tap around the drum. Get the head sounding good by itself first, then listen to it in context by putting the drum back on a stand or lifting it up briefly.
@@westcoastdrumshop Will, update to my previous post about 6 months ago. I've tried many batter heads : UV1 & UV2, PowerCenter and Remo Powerstroke 77s on my DW Nickel over Brass Snare 14 X 6.5. My "experiment" has shown that the Drum plays better atop of the Floor Tom than in the snare stand?? And if I play it on top of a 16 X 14 Tom vs a 16 X 16 Tom , it is even better. This "hack" eliminates all Rack Tom Snare Buzzes too. So for now I'm gravitating to the HD Dry batter head. I do appreixate your valuable advice and definitely your measures applied in this Video are very helpful. Cranking that Reso head to Table Top Tight helps a lot!
Excellent video! Totally explained the "strategy" behind snare drum tuning
Great turorial. Going around the drum using the rod tension definetly cleaned up the sound, but I think the resonant head work and snare wire tension was the biggest key to getting the right sound overall. Nice work!
What a great 👍 no nonsense practical tuning video. Well explained and properly struck to extract the sound ‘out’ of the drum.
Good stuff 😎
Thank you 🙏🙏🙏
You helped me save 2 snare drums!!!! Thanks so much for clarifying what needs to be done!
Woohoo! Thanks for the feedback!
Thanks for posting. Great job Will.
Skill unlocked! Thanks for the lesson!
Always learning, I like the picking up a little snare wire sensitivity on the edge that builds in the middle, thank you.
This was awesome. Thanks.
Dude, that's awesome, sounds great!
Great video, thanks 👍🏽
Finally a good tuning video. Awesome.
Thank you!
Nice video! Got my snare sounding good again!
Glad to hear it!!
Well done. No pretentious bullski, just right to the meat and potatoes. Helped me out, I'mma retune my snare... Thanks dude!
Glad it helped!!
Just from listening to you I would bet anything that you are an awesome drummer in your own right. Anyway thank you very much sir.
Cool video, tnx!!
Nice explanation! Good job! 👌
Hope it helped!
Thanks man. It was helpful.
Glad you found it helpful!
thank you
Thank You
Very cool informative video.. just got myself my ever dream snare.. unfortunately tuning isn't my strenght unfortunately but this video will definitely help me a lot. Might take longer but if i follow every step of the way,what bad can happen? Thank you very much.🎉😊
Thank you so much for your helpful tutorial. 😊🙏🏼
I can play drums a bit and I have a kind of hybrid drum set : real snare, hi-hat, crash cymbal and an electric drum pad with bass drum trigger.
I had bought those components mentioned above one by one and for the snare drum, I haven't tuned it because I don't know how to do. 🤣
The sound of this snare drum is very too treble and some kind of resonated sound that not pleased for me, I tried to put a snare muffler on the batter head but it doesn't help.
I will try to tune this snare drum as your recommendations, this will help me getting the sound I want for sure. 😊👍🏼
Nice work. I'll look forward to the next videos.
What would you like to see next?
@@westcoastdrumshop Your approach to tuning the bass drum. Thanks
@@jamescox8402 Sounds fun!
@@westcoastdrumshop Cool
Snare wires tension, comes into the equation as well..
Indeed! We have a multi paragraph description for this video where it states "We did not go over how to set up snares in this video, as it would have become long-winded. We may decide to cover that in future videos if requested."
Exactly. They need to be tightened for my ear
Se mostrar um vídeo harmonizando dois ou mais tambores eu vou considerar que você é diferente de todo mundo.
Awesome vid and awesome hair man. I watched Rob Brown and now I’m just watching others for their style of tuning, I can say yall are pretty close in technique except that he uses two drum keys to speed up the process. Cheers.
Thanknyou
I find that I have to max out the snare wire tension to minimize snare buzz from my toms and bass player. Any suggestions to maintain the "sizzle" of my snare and reduce or eliminate the sympathetic snare buzz from my toms? Thanks in advance.
Great video!
Hey Mate I have new drum set can u tell me how to tuned this up
Greats stuff. The only thing I wish you had shown was the snare side squish after it was tensioned up all the way.
Good point! I can assure you that it was, in fast, less squishy 😁
@@westcoastdrumshop but not table top tight right?
@@westcoastdrumshop I’ve been playing since I was 13. I’m 40 now. I still struggle with snare tuning. You make your snares sound incredible in all your demos.
@@AmericanBarber82 right, close to, but not that tight
@@AmericanBarber82 I'm the guy in the video. just turned 40 myself! Hope this video helps. You can always give us a call if you have questions or drop by if you're in the area. 425-502-7029 -Will
I wish my snare sounds like this one at the beginning xD I want to get that flat sound (we hear actually in our fav songs) but my is sounding like from deep well no matter how I will tune it :/
I'm not new to drumming but new to tuning when you use the phrase tune up or down that just means tight or loose correct?
Yes! Think "tension" or "pitch" up or down.
Even tough you tightened the bottom drum head a bit, you didn't tune it (i think). Is that okay, or you should you tune it to match the sound of the top drum head? Thanks
Reso heads don't necessarily need to be perfectly in tune, and they do not need to match the batter. My reso is usually way tighter than my batter, on snare drums. This was a quick and dirty example, however, so feel free to use it as a guide, and tune your reso head to your heart's content.
So I forgot what there called but instead of 8 things where you tune them, I have only 4, does that change sound or anything?
send a pic of the drum to will@wcdrumshop.com so we can take a look
Bit of a weird one.. im trying to tune my snare.. its a mapex BP razor. When i soundcheck it, the snare rings out in a sort of "wiry" way.. do you have any hits or tips for me what to do? Thanks
What is your resonant side head on your BP? Are your wires fresh, or are they frayed when you flip the throwoff switch?
It has the original resonant on it. Its a newly bought BP. Unfortubately i cant remember it from top of my head..ill have to double check.
How do I know if my resonance head is too tight? Will that choke out the sound?
what snare drum do you own? I've found that when you go too tight, you start to get very high pitched overtones happening. My rule of thumb is go tighter than you think you need to
@@westcoastdrumshop Pearl Chad Smith sig.
I would disengage the wires!
Please tune a Steel snare to a reggae sound
DrumDial
What kind of a snare is this? Sounds incredible
I've used my method for 34 years. The second time I met Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden I asked him how he tuned his snare but I already knew he would agree with my method. "Tighten it until you can't, mate!". Tighten the batter head all the way tight. Resonate head almost the same, maybe a quarter turn less. For dampening I've used Remo Muffls for 30 years. I use one on my bass drum as well (nothing inside it). For floor toms I recommend cotton balls. It really works. One warning about this method: If you have a PoS snare it's going to be too high and sound too metallic. I also tighten my snare as tight as I can and then back off a quarter turn. I'd put my sound up against anyone.
Do you not just break your drum heads and create a dead sound?
@@Dan_Callaghan-MHH I've been playing heavy metal since 1983 and I've never ever broken a drum head. Ever.
Yeah I don't get what as tight as it goes means.. like what head are you using and what drum and size?. Better drums can tune higher than cheap ones that the hardware will break at this unknown tension.
I must be tone deaf I thought the drum sounded great at the start of the video ???
Like he says as well there might be people out there who might like the sound hence why he doesnt talk smack bout it.. 🙃
Im tired of metal bands that have snare drums that sound like the first part
😄
It's a good snare drum with die cast hoops... is the drum warped... or is the counter uneven? Will is very good.... excellent.