Tuning Toms??

Defender

Silver Member
Hey all, when I bought my acoustic kit, I tuned the tops and bottoms to the same pitch. I've since been checking out some videos and reading some stuff and so wanted to try tuning the reso heads a bit higher (I have been seeing and reading that it allows for a bit less resonating). Well, I did it. The rack toms sound pretty good, but when I hit the 14 and 16 floor toms, all hell breaks loose and after the very quick initial low thud, they ring in a whole different, and higher pitch. And honestly sounds absolutely horrible to my ears.

I know I should tune to what suits me. I'm just wondering if anyone else has ran into this problem and how most of you tune your tops vs bottoms.

All the advice in the world is welcomed.

Thanks, Defender
 
I tune my 16" tom batter to a D note and the reso to an E note. Seems to work well for me. If I am in a room with too much ring on the drum I will add one moon gel. Does the trick.
 
I've heard of a bunch of people that tune their batter lower than the resos but I've never liked it that way. I either tune them to match or the batter a bit higher than the reso , but that's just my personal preference. Don't be scared to experiment, but also remember that sometimes the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
 
Sometimes different tunings suit different drums, on my Premier Genista kit the floor toms sound great if I tune the reso heads slightly higher than the batters, but on my Pearl Masters Maple they sound best if the reso heads are tuned slightly lower than the batter heads.

The best way to find out what works for you is to experiment and go with the sound that you like.

Mark
 
I tend to tune "low" with my toms, especially with the floor toms.

So I start with the reso and tune it by small increments from the point the lugs are finger tight ( say 1/4 of a turn per lug)

Basically I tighten till the wrinkles on the head have been "removed" and then just a "tad" more so you get a low "thud" from the head.

I then do the same with the batter head, and keep tightening by 1/8 turns until I get the sound I like. Then if theres any overtones or sympathetic resonence with other toms I gradually tighten the RESO head until any overtones have gone and in particular the batter and reso heads are in sympathy with each other.

I find once the heads are tightened just past wrinkle point they are pretty sympathetic between batter and reso, and with other toms tuned the same way...so its important to tighten the lugs by very small increments.

If you get that slightly "off" sound or a kind of wahwahwah effect between the reso and batter head I would check the tuning of each lug in relation to each other for each head and that should fix it (ie usually one lug is slightly out).

If the sound is out with other toms (that you have already tuned to your satisfaction) then try tinkering with the reso head first.

For mine I like the batter head to produce the "sound" I like and then tune the Reso to be sympathetic to it, be it higher or lower in tension than the batter.So in effect you are looking for that sympathetic vibration between heads to get a nice clean sound.

If you like a higher pitch then tune your batter to the sound you like and then bring the reso up till you find the sweet spot.

I find tuning that way less of a drag and at the end of the day if you get the sound you like who cares which head is tighter according to Joe Schmoes opinion...

cheers
wombat_small.gif
 
So, I went back and re-tuned tops and bottoms to match. The kit sounds amazing once again. Thanks for all the help. I just cant understand how someone could like the sound of a tom, especially a floor tom, sounding like that after you hit it. I'd much rather hear the note of the thump afterwards instead of the god awful sound that tuning the bottom head a little tighter was giving me.

Peace, Defender
 
If you ask 100 drummers how to tune drums you will get 100 different answers.

Most of us are using a clear 10 mil bottom head and a thicker batter head on our floor toms.
If you tune this head combo with all of the tension rods adjusted to the same tension, the bottom head will be higher in pitch than the top head. You can use different bottom heads on the floor toms to obtain different sounds. Example; I use coated single ply heads on some of my floor toms to create a warmer sound. This allows the bottom head to sound more like the top head when is is tensioned the same as the top. You can also use control heads like the Evans EC Reso to take the overtones out. I suggest that you also experiment with heads as well as tuning.
There is no rule that says that you have to use a clear 10 mil reso head on all of your drums.
On one of my kits I am currently using Evans J1 Etched heads as bottom heads on both the high and low toms. I am using a coated G12 batter on the high tom and a coated G14 batter on the low tom.
 
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If you ask 100 drummers how to tune drums you will get 100 different answers.
Yeah - absolutely. The biggest problem is that experimenting with different heads is expensive. I think the comments in this topic offer some great options.

I use Ambassador Clear for all toms reso and same for my 10" & 12" toms' batter, however I find the Emperors work better as batters on my 14" and 16" toms. I have the added luxury of owning a 90's Premier Genista which has the classic Premier undersized shells - tuning is a dream on these drums.

I think it is important to know what sound you want - personally I love open tone - no tape, bedding, mufflers etc… my sound engineer hates me ;-)

This is all very personal stuff and in the ears of the beholder but be prepared to experiment (patience!!).

All the best with your tuning

Pete :)
 
i've gone through hell trying to tune my toms to a good sound that i like.
i've made countless adjustments over the past two weeks and i just can't get it.
really annoying.
 
I have to agree. I have reference toms--12x8, 13x10, 16x14, and 18x16F. I have all clear ambassadors and they are really open and resonant. The best tuning: Resos all about 72, Batters around 76~78. I can tell when i found 'the spot' because the toms will resonate a deep, low bass tone, and there isn't much ring. Especially that 18x16 floor tom, that sucker has a resonant tone that shakes walls. LOL
 
There will be those that disagree, but I will offer some further input that has been very useful for me.

I would say it is important to understand the resonant tone of the shell for the drum being tuned. When the heads are struck, there is an impulse that excites the drum shell and that shell will impart it's vibration to the equation. Maybe that is not where you want the drum to sit, but that shell will provide it's tone at that resonant set of frequencies....matching the heads to that frequency will provide a more pure tone because now there is 3 inputs at the same frequency...top, bottom and shell.

Then when the kit is miced, there will be those unfriendly sympathetic resonances between drums and they do cloud up the overall tone of the kit. So, and I work on this daily since my kit is all miced and I practice along to tracks like this....the tweaks that are made to reduce those sympathetic vibrations around each drums tonal center really clean up the overall mix and make the kit sound clear and concise....I can't recommend this enough.
 
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