There is NO SECRET to a Great Snare Sound.
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- čas přidán 8. 07. 2024
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There are no secrets to achieving a great snare sound. As a matter of fact, getting a basic, cheap snare to sound great is a pretty straightforward process. Today I’ll show you a few simple steps I take with my $150 snare to keep it sounding good. I think you’ll find these very applicable to ANY snare that you have as well. However, that’s not where the discussion ends. We’re also going to talk about a mindset shift that will help you think differently about finding the best snare sound. If there really are any secrets, this is is. If there is anything to be learned from today’s video, it’s that you can mimic a snare sound to a degree, but YOU have to find your own sounds to fit whatever it is that you’re playing. You can follow the basic steps to get any drum (however cheap) sounding decent, but from there the sky’s the limit in terms of your own creativity. Try copying other snare sounds you hear, but always remember that YOU’RE the musician. Use your ears and create something cool!
If you like what you’ve seen here on the NonGlamorousDrummer, I hope you’ll SUBSCRIBE! This channel is all about giving you the tips and skills you REALLY need to help YOU become a better drummer.
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stephen@thenonglamorousdrummer.com - Hudba
I figured this stuff out just last week after months of trying to that perfect snare sound I finally just said I’m going to find my sound and what sounds good to me and for my situation. Ur vids have been helpful keep it up
This is the only drum channel I can really understand. You keep it beginner friendly. God Bless
Absolutely would love to hear that! Most of my spare time in the past couple uears has been experimenting with snare drum manipulation for recording purposes. Total rabbit hole, but super fun!
I've been playing for years. But I quit for 40 or so years until now, so I'm still trying to find my grove. Excellent information. Thanks
Thanks for the reverb link Drummy!! You’re awesome!!! Namaste!!!
Great stuff on the top head. I'd like to see what you do with the bottom head and snares. Keep up the good work.
I'd love to see more videos on how to achieve the sounds you were talking about.
I always enjoy the information you provide, Stephen, thanks for taking the time to educate and inspire!
Great video! I've struggled with snare tuning for a long time, but a big breakthrough for me was understanding how the tuning of the resonant head can drastically affect the sound of a snare drum, or any drum for that matter as you've pointed out in some of your other videos. Another breakthrough for me was using a drum dial. I was so bad at tuning that I never really knew what an evenly pitched drum head sounded like until I started using one of those. Now at least I know what sound to go for so I can tune without it if I don't have it handy.
I’m all for the videos about each sound!
sooo good man thanks again
I am Logic user and drum beginner, I am coping with snare buzz today so I know your video from solution search. Already subscribe. You are great
I didn’t even have a drum set when I started playing 5 years ago, I played on pillows on my bed
How did you used to tune your pillow? Did you find feather or synthetic fibre better? Did you need to add some moon gel or tape to dampen it?
I played for a long time before I got a kit. It is a state of mind more than anything.
Tuning technique please hehe
Pencils for sticks and bowl for drum and tape for heads
Yo, do a tutorial on how to tune a pillow!
I am not a drummer. I am a hack guitarist and bass player with a home recording studio. I really appreciate videos like this as I am learning to manage a drum set. Thanks for the pearls of wisdom!
Lots of beneficial advice on how to create the sound you want from the snare. Nice to see you playing full volume rather than a practice/dampened kit. A gentle reminder that it’s a instrument not a piece of furniture i.e. you can move it’s sound around with the minimum of fuss and it’s not just how you got out of the box or as the store set it up. As you said the basic qualities of your demo snare introduce those high overtones; which seem to be the bane of most drummers. As you explain, the search for a phatter sound can be as much as physical tuning or, mixing/filtering out those unwanted tones
Thanks for the videos and good advice. You should also know that you are doing a great job with your vocal sound and processing. It’s loud and clear which compliments your voice. Good job.
Love your advice. Very practical. There's just no way to exactly copy a given snare sound on a specific recording. You can maybe get close, but there really are too many factors involved. Keep up the great work. And thanks for taking the time to help the rest of us.
I am glad to hear your advice about looking for the right snare sound for the track. This is so much more important that having a particular sound that you are after......even though most drummers will end up with a "signature" snare sound for the most part. I play in two bands that are very different genres. One is a blues-oriented band that a high snare with some pretty serious overtones sounds best. The other is a Prog rock band where a low, fat sound with tight snares fits the best. It took a lot of experimenting and a bunch of scratch recordings.........along with asking the other band members for their opinions to nail this down.
Ironically, I am surprised with what I ended up with. In both cases, I would have chosen almost the opposite snare sounds had somebody just told me to guess. As a side bonus, I am in two bands where the other members are aware of, and appreciate my efforts in complimenting the music to the best of my ability.
For my type of music style, Metal and Rock, I use a 1981 Slingerland Snare. I tag team the drum with Evans snare side 500 & Remo Emperor X along with the Remo Muffl'r for the Perfect Combination of snare sound. The heads and muffler result in superb tightness, crack, control and loudness.
Together, Evans and Remo are working in harmony to get the best possible snare sound with the early 80's Slingerland.
The resinance bottom head is 5mil and tightened 10 half turns. The top batter head tighten about 3 half turns.
The bottom resinance head is what gives the drum the snare sound. Cranking it up also give the tone for the drum as well.
The top batter head is just to hit and some tone. Hypothetically, it could be totally loose and the snare sound will sound good if the bottom head was cranked as previously mentioned.
The Remo muffler ring is key with this drum. Without it this snare, being metal, has a horrible ringing overtone making it undesirable, unprofessional & unusable in a recording studio or band setting.
If anyone has a metal snare, or wood, that's has an uncontrolled ring/overtone, use the Remo muffler. It's incredibly easy to install and transforms any snare drum with very positive results.
I have used the Remo mufflers in all of my snares drums for almost 2 decade and always receive compliments. I'm often asked how I achieve this awesome snare sound, it's not a secret any more.
Gotta say, your kit sound gorgeous. Your snare sounds awesome with a low throaty tuning man. also a big fan of the jingle, sounds like an 80s record with a tambourine recorded over the snare
love the video! usually i crank my snares but this i'll have to try
I like the background beat and the "Non so Glamorous drummer" name, thanks for the vid.
Great vid! Helped a lot
I like how you did this video, cuz it has really helped me to be creative with my snare drum!. Thanks man! Oh, and I would love to see more videos like this one!.
I tune my snare pretty high, and I like it to ring. I also like my snares pretty tight. So, you didn't really address that sort of tuning at all, and you didn't mention how you had your reso head tuned, either, which I think is important to any snare's sound. I did give the video a "Like" because I like your videos generally, and you did give a spot-on demonstration of how to tune a snare to have that particular sound.
I love to see your channel growing:)Also, nice video, again.
i once remarked to my teacher that the snare they had at a church he invited me to play at sounded terrible and needed to be tuned. he said that from the throne he agreed, but in the room it sounded great. that's when he also told me never to chase a sound i heard on a record, because i'd go nuts trying. there's just too many variables involved. 10 snares later, he was totally right, but i'm still trying. keep the gear videos coming man! i could talk gear all day!
Thanks bro great job
definitely would like the more snare sound vid ....good work
Great video. Thanks, man. I agree with those asking what you do with your bottom head. I'm sure there's people who'd benefit from logic tutorials, but I prefer your more practical videos like this one. Keep up the good work :)
My favorite snare is a Ludwig supraphonic thank you for the video
5:48 hell yeah, man! I wish I could play like that.
I know it's three and a half years behind the conversation, but I'd love to see an up-close short video of the "jingly thing" you damp the snare ring with, unless I've missed it in another video by now...reason being that I am experimenting with some wooden beads in a string from the local craft store, but my next foray into this is to try out some gray or silver hematite polished stone beads in 10mm diameter, strung together bracelet-style, in kind of the same fashion as the jingle thing looks. Hematite beads are going to be roughly 3X heavier than their wooden counterparts, give or take, and the extra weight might just be a perfect damping effect on the head. But I'd like to see your version in more detail - it looks multi-layered. Thanks!
I'm a year late, but that string of bells he has is called a ghungroo which is used in Indian dance. I like the sound and am researching them now. He settles on a looser wrapped set in later videos. Which I'm sure you've seen 😂
Future video on you getting different tones from your snare? Yes please! :) :)
Good and helpful video with practical tips. The different sounds in logic, i guess mixing plays a bit part in those?
Before putting on tape or gels, I like to find the position, where to place them, by touching the head lightly with one finger and hitting the snare. By moving the finger around, I will find the spot, which creates the most fitting sound.
wow. you like medium to low tuning.cool. i do like the different ranges.so its always changing for me.
I tune mine medium tight and use a bfsd to make it phat and I have pretty loose snares
hey Steve cool video mate. Really enjoying your channel
Nice video.. it would be nice if you also talked about tuning the snare side and snare wire tension...
I like my snare tuned very high with the heads really tight and the snares kinda loose.
Haha, same. kinda feels good under the stick, not lazy at all. Or ill go for the low end disco snare with sloshy hats.
Same. Very responsive fat sound
I like my snare tuned high. Like aaron comess from the spin doctors. Very bright, articulate, and cutting. I know there's a bunch of different snare sounds out there. But high and right works best for me.
@@frankspikes4867 heck yeah dude. Or like Chris Thatcher from Streetlight Manifesto. Some of my favorite sounding snares.
BuckNasty same
Good used snares hold their value well. Over time I've collected 8 and it hasn't been that difficult to get close to a particular sound. Just takes time and experimentation to see what each one can do. After cymbals, perhaps snares are second most important instrument..just MUO.
Try doing rimshots with your pointer finger. It really helps you hit it in the same place while tuning.
I use my snare wires very tight with a thin cardboard card between the wires and the reso head. Nothing more, thats my perfection.
My snare is a Maple one, a Pearl Masters Complete 14" x 5.5"
One thing I've noticed is drummers seem to constantly be surprised by how good you can get cheap drums to sound. I've reached the conclusion that just like electric guitars and the tonewood billshut, the shells make very little difference to how a drum sounds and its all about quality heads and tuning, what sticks you use as well as drumming experience level. Ha I'm glad I realised this when I did, I am the proud owner of a startone kit for life baby.
Stephen can you make a video explaining how star and develop the pedal on bassdrum??
I want to learn double pedal..
That's why I stick with the Evans HD Dry head, gets rid of the ring without having to put dampening on.
Hey Stephen! I have two questions for you. 1. What is the "little jingly thing" you put on the the snare, and 2. Are you playing in the tracks throughout the video?
So what is the wee jingle thing you slap on then? Cheers, great vids 👍🏻
My pdp snare rings too. I should try some tape.
Stephen nice video and lesson. My favorite snare sound over the years was Bobby Columby's (so?) sound. He played for Blood, Sweat and Tears. I referred to it as the "potato chip" sound. Dry, crisp and hardly any ringing sound. Can't reproduce it.
Bobby Columby is a great drummer.
The sounds of our favorite drummers pass through one or more mics, cable, processing, tape, processing then back out through a sound system. You can't duplicate that with a head and tuning key.
The real sound of their drums is bad, just like your own.
Many years ago I was at a Maynard Ferguson concert. The drummer came out to do a sound check. His drums sounded TERRIBLE. I mean really bad. I thought "how is this going to work? They sound horrible." At that very second the sound man hit the on button and they INSTANTLY sounded magnificent. Glorious. Live drums just don't sound good. You need distance from them in order to know how they sound.
The same is true for acoustic pianos. I once played a Yamaha grands that sounded terrible. I got up and someone else played it while I listened from 10 feet away. It sounded fantastic.
You need distance in order to correctly hear an acoustic instrument.
Cool thanks. But I think the bottom head tension and snare wires are more important
I have heard that seating the head when you first use it is pointless with plastic heads. Also, no need for a star pattern while tightening tension rods. I have been doing both for years.
I'm twenty first(never been that early, gotta make a statement), nice vid bro!..I'd love to see more stuff of what you mentioned too...
I dunno if you do, but when I change my heads, I always use a little white lithium grease on the tension rods. It just helps the metal on metal.
Would love to know how you achieved the dead snare sound.
7:58 how do you achieve that tom sound?? it's super cool!
Do you need to change the head everytime whenever you're retuning it?
What’s the jingle thing you use on the snare? I use the meinl foot jingle on the snare & it works great. Nate Smith uses something like that too
I got a Pearl Session Studio Classic - 14''x6.5'' with the stock heads and has little use. Still can't get it to sound ''satisfying'' even when trying the most simple tuning ways like here you showed.
I'm not sure if I just have a bad ear or just have little experience with snare sounds in general as this is first and only good snare I've ever owned
Try using a o'ring, and use different tensions between the top head and the bottom head
amazing
For me i tune my snare of a 3:2.5 ratio but my snare side more tight then the batter side.
Hmmm no information about the bottom head, kinda important lol
bottom head IS important....same difference though....its all in how you tune them..bottom heads are typically tuned higher but then again thats also subjective...depends on the snare too..
tim sears agree.. I was just surprised that there was no mention. Not everyone has played drums for a long enough time understand that.
not everybody fully understands it either...it was just for clarification is all...
snare sounds are subjective Robert Hadrt , and besides I do not think this was the point of the video...its about getting the snare sound that YOU want , not whether you liked it or not...
maybe that's for a hole different video
Does the jingly thing on your snare have a name? How would I find one?
I like a high tuned snare with quite a lot of tape and the snares high. I hate any sort of snare ringing... I like a tight, short sound.
What's the 'jingle thing'?
Reverb get a good amount of K Constas used?
Hello Stephen i have a question ;p i want a acoustic hi hat , snare and cajon maybe can you reccoment something with a very low volume i will play with brush i think because is more quiet .. please help
Nice! Have you ever tried dropping a credit card or driver's license on the snare drum for muffling ring? It sits at 6 o'clock on the snare drum, and when you hit the snare hard, it jumps up just a bit and lets the snare ring. The rest of the time it sits flat.
Stephen, I’d love to know more about that "jingly thing" because I’d be interested in getting something like it. Not sure if it’s worth a whole video, but do you have any idea what it’s called? I haven’t been able to find anything totally like it.
Please someone send me in the right direction regarding that jingly thing or hard object on the snare. I have no idea where to look for that stuff ;-) any links are appreciated 😁
good video
yes i got 6 sets of drums trying to find the 60/70s sound and didnt .. when you hear that some songs had cardboard boxes used in the song .. looking for wood sounds but some bands used plastic or wood fibreglass drums ... so its problebly up to the mixer lol
I don’t use anything on my snare I like it the way it is. I do have dampening rings on my toms, probably bc I’m in my room and they are so loud.
What is the "little jingly thing" you put on the the snare? Help!
Do you use a Drum Dial on the toms and bass? I do, and I find that the piccolo snare I use is off in it's own orbit as far as tuning goes. The guy who leads the band I'm in plays guitar and he likes the ping of rim shots on a piccolo snare. He bought one for me ($400!!!!) so, I use that... I really don't care because I just like to play and if that's the band's sound, I'm good with it. I'm not a fan of tuning drums by ear because I (apparently) stink at it. I was doing that for 30 years and then I got an analog Drum Dial and found that my kit was severely out of tune with itself. After tuning it with the device, it was like I was behind a brand new kit! I love your videos and I thank you for getting the vids up and out there really quickly after you moved to a new location a while back. *cheers!*
Eureka moment for me some years ago when playing live... What you hear sat right above the snare is not what is heard 10 get away, or 50 feet away. Let it ring and the snare sounds 'bigger' out front
At 3:56 that is Hossanna from Hillsong, isn't it? :D
I prefer a tighter snare bottom....I want it to pop...I ALSO USE A 14" Plastic ring to keep it cleaner
The key to a great snare sound, is a great snare, good heads, tuned, correct height for you, and they way ya hit it.
If ya got all those in check, and use a Ludwig Supraphonic 6 1/2 x 14 (LM 402), Odds are your snare will sound amazing! Idk how Ludwig did it, but dam that snare is amazing!!
I love your vids, and channel, but that snare doesn't sound good imo (too "wet"). Like you said at the end, ya sometimes want a horrible snare sound makes a tune great.
Maybe you can make a video on how to make a video?
Heard plenty of pros using Pearl Vision kits, it's all how they're tuned and the heads used.
I have heard two different ways about Seating the head, Do it and OMG don't do it! I've seen drummers on CZcams do it and not. The drummers at Guitar Center do not Seat the head. I've heard it lowers the life of the head and basically damages it. I have seated before and it feels like it gives it the worn into character but found myself replacing the head sooner. What do you guys think?
I have a 13 inch snare that I can't get a good mid or lower tuning out of with the ambassador. I can't seem to get rid of the annoying overtones without also killing the good ones. How tight is your bottom head?
DVNT Pinkie have you tried a Remo Controlled sound coated or a p77? those should help with what you described
@@EvilSewnit no, I tried the Evans that has the holes and the ring on the underside, the HD Dry I think. It was too muffled for my liking and didn't feel as responsive/sensitive
I always prefer to see tuning ...without ..tape or any muffling.
Hey I see you are using ducktape? But I hear a lot of different opinions about it. Since a head should resonate isnt the ducktape than damaging the head? Due to the fact that it wont resonate proparly? I would lofe to get some clearification about this xD
Have you tried out Snareweights before?
definately agree there is no special way to tune a snare OR to get a certain sound....and that goes for the whole kit...its up to the drummer what type of sound they want...tuning is a very personal preference....but there are certainly some rules to adhere to ...
What do you use for the bottom head? how do you tune that?
Gungardo I tune it same or bit lower than top for a good sustain... I wouldn't tune too tight
Tight, just tight (and in tune with itself obviously)
For me i tune it 3:2.5 ratio the snare side tighter than the batter.
Tuning resonants much higher ala' Rob Brown my snare drums came alive, lowered metal drum ringing especially 6.5's and really widened the tuning range. On playback works for my ears wide variety of styles.
@@davonwav Yes! Rob Brown
finally using Remo heads... like a real drummer
I tune my batter head tight bottom head looser and tightish snares
Tell me what is it that makes a cheap metal snare sound bad besides the heads?
What’s the song.
Kind of surprised by the lack of example with the top head really tight.there's a lot different.in fact,if you want to "erase" those harmonics just tune your top head tight and that harmonic becomes so high that is lost most of the time behind all other instruments.get one of those 80'/90' "low cost" metal snares from pearl tama or mapex.get some new heads,a 40 wire strands,tune real high and then tell me
"The perfect sound" is truly in the ears of the beholder, and that's the drummer themselves. If you're not happy with your sound, it's going to show in your playing. Find your sound, and you'll shine no matter what style you're asked to play in.
I don’t know man, have you ever heard ANY 1980s superstar bell brass?
Honestly, I've never heard a snare tuned Bonham-style sound bad in any recording or in any room.
Yussef Dayes has the best snare sound. PERIOD.
AJ i mean it’s a yahama absolute maple or recording custom maple so it’s going be sound great. I play a yahama kit and I love it but I don’t think they are they best. My personal favorite snare is Benny greb’s signature beach wood snare from Sonor.
Great vid!
Sounds like hitting a box of Bebe's. Tighten it slowly until the rim is almost level with the head. This will take out that annoying ring. But maybe you like that ring. I'm a 68 year old drummer.played hard in the 70s. A lot of un mic out doors and horn bands.
One simple rule for snare. You’ll always love your sound until you hear one you love more.
I NEED HELP!!!!! My snare sounds like a tom, even when the snare wires are on. I DO NOT have a drum key, and I'm sorta knew to all the terms for the parts of the snare.
PLEASE FOR GOD SAKE SOMEONE HELP ME!!!
I was having the same problem too. My stand was right under the snare wires, which was making it sound like a tom. I repositioned my stand to where it was not hitting the snare wires. It worked for me.
MaddenMobilePaul thank you SO MUCH!!!! I subscribed to you
@@slackattack3460 no problem, did it help?
No drum key, eh? I wonder what could be your solution? Hmmm...
Im 22 nd