Do you all tune your snare reso heads tighter than the batter?

BigDinSD

BigDinSD

Gold Member
I'm finally getting "tuned" into the fine tuning of my snares now. On my DW 14 x 5.5 maple Collectors, I have the trusty Ambassador batter and Hazy 300 on the reso.

My research revealed that many drummers tune their snare reso's tighter than the batter. I'd done that with all my snares, but in particular my DW seemed to have a slightly wierd overtone. Then I let a little air out of the reso head and tuned it to the same pitch (I use keyboard/piano to tune) as the batter - "D", which is high, but my preference. Then magically, my overtones disappeared. I tried this on a Pacific ACE COB snare, and same results using an ST Batter.

Are there particular drums that just sing better with the reso tighter? Of course, I know it's all personal preference - but your opinions add to my learning.

Thanks!
 
I tune my snare reso head waay tight. I tune the reso heads on all my drums tighter than the batter. I think drums sound better that way, JMO. Slack tuned snare drums....hearing a crap tuned snare drum live is always a disappointment, I always want to crank it up more. Give me a poppy snare.
 
I have always cranked my snare resos,possibly too much. If I were to prick it with a pin the drum would explode. :)
 
Bull said:
I have always cranked my snare resos,possibly too much. If I were to prick it with a pin the drum would explode. :)
Click to expand...

LOL

Sometimes I tune it to the point where it won't get any tighter, instead it will just stretch out of the hoop, but lately it's been below that point.
 
Ok - at least I'm not alone on the overall tightness of the snares. I do like mine to "POP" with a clean crack - but not too long...

I do have all the reso's on my toms tighter than the batter. I was doing that for a shorter sustain, and they do sound nice that way.

...Oh - BTW, I don't have to use any moongel on the snare now.
 
I don't. I tune both heads absolutely as tight as they'll go. Since the Batter is a lot thicker and stronger, it can withstand more tension.
 
Sometimes I tune them higher, sometimes lower. Lately I've been tuning it just a bit lower, I like the results. Gives the drum a bit more fatness, more body, while the nice crack is still there. Try it, you might like it.
 
It depends on the drum and the sound I'm looking for. Right now I'm tuning the batter higher than the snare side on my 14x5 walnut snare, but with my 8" deep maple snare and Ludwig COB I almost always tune the snare side higher than the batter.
 
scarlit said:
Sometimes I tune them higher, sometimes lower. Lately I've been tuning it just a bit lower, I like the results. Gives the drum a bit more fatness, more body, while the nice crack is still there. Try it, you might like it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I discovered that personally with the DW Collectors. I dunno, it seems almost logical (at least to me) that when the batter and reso are the same pitch, your tone would be just right. However, on my Copeland COB, the reso is about a 1/4 turn tighter than batter - and it sounds sweet cranked pretty tight. But it's got that die cast batter hoop to probably dry things out a little?

Same thing on my TAMA Artwood 6.5 x 13 snare. Reso is 1/4 turn tighter than the tightly wound batter. I imagine the heads have a lot to do with it, as I have an Evans HD Dry. That one has a nice, tight, crack/pop to it!

I'm finding out that the differences in pitch between the batter and reso can add great flavor to the overall tone.
 
I do happen to tune my snare's bottom head tighter than the batter. I adjust the batter for the sound and feel that I want.

Dennis
 
Same here. I thought I was the only one doing this...on snare & toms. :)

Bull said:
I have always cranked my snare resos,possibly too much. If I were to prick it with a pin the drum would explode. :)
Click to expand...
 
nope, on both my maples and on my brass the reso is roughly 1.5 turns on each lug then fine tuned to the lowest sounding one and the batter is roughly 2.5 turns and tuned to the highest sounding lug. I find snares boingy and the wires buzz alot more when the reso is overly tight.
 
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I tune my resonant head alot tighter than the top head. I find that the snare response and "pop" isn't there if the snare side head is tuned lower. I have an ambassador snare side head tuned very tight and the top head is medium tight. That seems to work for me on all my snares. I have my batter head tuned to an "A" and the bottom head is a "G" above the "A". My snare just explodes and has a beautiful tone and pop with little ringing. I play it wide open mic'ed up and never have any problems. Both my 1976 6.5x14 supraphonic and my new Joyful Noise 6.5x14 maple are tuned this way. Both sound awesome.
 
I've always tuned with the resonant head tighter on the snare and bass drum. It was just recently that I started doing it with the toms. I love the effect with my new Ludwig CM's. I never tried it on my old Sonor Force 2000's. On those I always tuned top and bottom to the same pitch. I might try it when I get new heads for the Sonors, but I'm not sure how it will work with the deeper rack toms. I went from 10x12 and 11x13 on the Sonors to 8x12 and 9x13 on the Ludwigs.

Maybe someone here could speak to how tighter reso tuning works with deeper toms (if there is any difference). The attack is slower on deeper toms but the higher reso should make it faster.
 
I prefer my resonant snare heads to be tuned quite high because it increases the snare response and sensitivity on my drums, I find.
 
I crank my snare reso until it begins to stretch.
There is a point where a thin 3 mil head reaches its limit and the pitch stops changing as you tighten the lugs. that is when I stop tensioning.
I tighten the snare batter until I get the proper amount of bounce that I like.
I look for a feeling as I play rolls etc.
That always leaves my batter at a lower tension and Pitch than my reso.
 
Both heads tight, reso maybe a little tighter and then the snares tight to just above rattle so they aren't choked. Nothing worse than a nice snare with the snare wires so tight you can't hear them.
 
This is precisely one of the reasons why I like the drum dial. Everyone is giving a very vague account on how tight they are making their batter and reso. I can tell you exactly what my snares are set at, and some one on the other side of the world, could copy my settings and see what I have done. Want to know what my new Black Panther snare is set at. It sounds great.
 
The Drum Dial stops registering on the reso head at about 87. It reads lower than my batter but it's not, by a longshot.
 
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