How to tune drums?

I know this is a nooby think to ask, but hopefully you guys can be mature about it and help me out. We were all beginners once, ya know

I played electric drums for the longest time, and a few months ago I bought an acoustic kit off a good friend of mine. The kit is nice, but the bass drum & toms are bugging me. I've heard of putting a pillow in the bass drum, but how does one get inside? And can you stuff the toms too or is it better just to tune them? I want that really dry sound, cause it's better for the type of music I play..

So how do I go about this? Is there some type of tool I need? Thanks in advance..
 
Welcome to the forums.

DO NOT stuff your toms with anything. That's just not right. You can put a pillow or blanket in your bass drum, you will need a drum key to take the head off. Most people think they need to kill the tone of their drums when in reality they don't. What you hear behind the kit is totally different than what's heard 10-15 ft away, Sound drops off quickly

The search feature here is pretty good

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/search.php?searchid=10068996

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl9wgXSfxew&list=FL_D_lWB_lBGj_wcqD8opZBA&index=14
 
Do check out tuning videos and the Drum Tuning Bible. But you have to consider that you might have to re-train your ears for acoustic drums. You're used to hearing nice clean processed electronic samples/sounds. It's not always realistic to expect real drums to sound like that. Not saying you do but it's something to think about. It might be a good idea to get together with another drummer who has more experience tuning drums and see his process.

There's also some trial and error involved. Learning to tune takes some time but it's not as hard as some people think. Also depends on the drums themselves and their condition. What is your kit?
 
There's a ton of ways to go about it, but take a look at this guy's video - it's the fastest, most straight-forward way I've seen, and it works. Check-out his snare and bass tuning videos as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISdMNKb-hjc

I think his method is complete bogus. And it's quite evident when he hits the poor drum, it isn't tuned. And that guy is weird, when I wrote a comment on his video criticizing his method, in a quite friendly manner, just stating my opinion and experience, he didn't approve of my message so it was never posted. Then I wrote a short message on his discussion page, asking why he wouldn't allow any discussion in the comments section, but he removed that message as well. Censoring opposing views, that's pretty damn disgusting.


OP, you're gonna have a long and painful process learning how to tune the drums, but! It will get easier and easier, the more you actually practice how to tune your drums. There are shortcuts, but the end result will suffer. My best tuning advice would be to get two drums keys, so you can go around the drum evenly, always increasing tension on both sides of the drum

Snare tuning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxm3QunDjUs
Tom tuning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ9Unab1OzU

I personally don't think Bob Gatzen's video for bass drum tuning is as good as the tom and snare video, but there are tons of other bass drum tuning videos on youtube.
 
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I know this is a nooby think to ask, but hopefully you guys can be mature about it and help me out. We were all beginners once, ya know

I played electric drums for the longest time, and a few months ago I bought an acoustic kit off a good friend of mine. The kit is nice, but the bass drum & toms are bugging me. I've heard of putting a pillow in the bass drum, but how does one get inside? And can you stuff the toms too or is it better just to tune them? I want that really dry sound, cause it's better for the type of music I play..

So how do I go about this? Is there some type of tool I need? Thanks in advance..

One thing you'll have to understand right from the get go is that, LIVE acoustic drums,will NOT sound anything like recorded or E drums.

There are numerous vids on youtube about tuning,some are very good,some are a horror show.

Bob Gatzen's vids are very good,and give you a fundamental understanding about the instrument,drum heads and tuning methods,and finding a drums sweet spot.

If you don't know how to get inside the drums,you have a long way to go.Buy a couple of tuning keys and just watch a few vids.There's also a stickey thread here on drum tuning.

Steve B
 
Personally I think many drummers fail to learn how to tune correctly, so they use damping to compensate, and reduce ringing, which is a symptom of ill tuned drums, sometimes worse a bad bearing surface or head. One of the most difficult things to grasp, is that tuning a drum is kind of like tuning a guitar, it sounds worst when you are close but not on, so many beginners make the mistake of completely detuning some of the lugs, because it starts to sound worse as it comes into to tune you get all kinds of warbles and beats(the other kind) as you get close. I listen for the warbles and beats, then I try to make the warbles and beats slow down until they disappear, and I get one big thump.
 
I spent a lot of years using the "whack and fiddle" approach and every now and then got lucky and made at least one of my drums sound good at a time.

Over the years I got better through experimentation and asking what other people did but that didn't always lead to a better approach, just a different one. When I was growing up I was limited to people I could talk to in person and after a certain point it almost becomes a taboo subject because you're just expected to know how to tune even if you never learned how.

In the internet age there's a wealth of information out there now, but I've never seen a tuning method that works as well, as quickly, and is as musically sound as what Bob Gatzen teaches.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bob+gatzen+drum+tuning&sm=3

I like his calm step-by-step approach and that he isn't trying to sell snake oil OR talk down to anyone.
 
I use a combination of methods to make my own tuning, and it works really well for me.

First you take all the tension off both heads. Flip the drum over and start with the reso side. Tighten it up just to the point that the rods start to bite down. Place two fingers in the center of the head, and go around the drum tightening each lug until all those wrinkles are gone. I reccomend putting the head you aren't tuning on a pillow so you don't get any feed back from it. You repeat this with the batter head.

This creates a great staring point, and for some people, you'll be pleased enough with this to leave the drum as it is. But if you want less sustain, flip the drum over once more, resting the batter head on the pillow. Go around the reso head, tighening each lug evenly (tap the head next to the tension rod with your drum key to make sure they're close to even.) Tension the head up like this in small intervals and then tap the drum. The tighter the reso head gets, the less sustain the drum will have. Tune it this way until you're content with the sound.

EDIT / NOTE: In my opinion this is the best way to get a good bounce out of your drum. By just tensioning the batter head with the finger / wrinkle method, the head gets even tension all the way around, and the head isn't too tight or too loose. When you strike the head with your stick, you'll feel the head toss the stick back to you. The drum is also very responsive this way.
 
I had a pillow in my bass drum too because rumor had it it was the right thing to do. Then I bought an EMAD2 batter head, took the pillow out and never looked back. The other day, the drummer of one of the better known bands in the region dropped by to have a go on my kit and he said he loved the bass drum sound.

As far as the toms are concerned, you definitely don't want to put anything in them. Tune them every way you can imagine and see if you like the sound. If you still don't, check out the Heads section to see what heads may fit your taste better. If you like the dead sound, check out EC or Pinstripe heads. But keep in mind they may sound OK on the throne, they don't have much "throat" when you're in the audience.

Last tip is listen to Sjogras. :)
 
I don't have a drum key but will be getting one soon. Once I do I'll try these things out, but as for the bass drum I still plan on using a pillow and an impact pad. Even if I can deaden it by tuning, I wanna kill it more

The videos are nice btw
 
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