A more universal snare tuning?

I don't think anyone is suggesting dismissing a well-established body of knowledge, shunning all adherence to discipline, or reinventing the wheel. It's more about acknowledging that the wheel doesn't spin in just one direction or at a fixed speed. Between Point A and Point B are various routes, and just because one player takes the first path doesn't mean the second player needs to follow. There's as much personality in drumming as there is mathematics. Remove the first variable, and only bland metrics remain.
Right, there's value in both learning from experience and learning from instruction and neither should be neglected. I tend to be hands on and experimental but I also like to apply found knowledge when possible and when appropriate. To me it makes sense not to get bogged down in trial & error when figuring out stuff that's mostly rule based and already pretty well understood -- like tuning drums. And I will add that often the benefit of applying found knowledge isn't that it lets you bypass trial & error but that it makes it more fruitful. Some degree of trial & error is unavoidable but it can be more productive if you're not doing it blindly.
 
It's a different landscape from the one I grew up in. When I was young, there was no one to ask about drums. So I did the best I could to try and figure out drums for myself. Asking wasn't even an option.

Now, the whole world is willing to respond. I just never had that and in a way, I'm glad. I like being self reliant, but these days, it's a different, info laden world. I just know that I learn something more completely when I take the time, and put in the effort, to learn something on my own...as opposed to having someone show it to me. I tend to hold others to that standard but I won't do that anymore because it's not fair in light of the internet.
Yeah, it's a slippery slope these days. With more information and the ability to comment on it comes opinion stated as ordinance, and distinguishing between the two spawns confusion for newcomers. I'm fortunate to have studied with the same instructor for five years, long before the Internet was a commodity. I either turned to his guidance or figured things out for myself through trial and error. The world has changed dramatically, and resources for learning have followed suite. It's overwhelming to me at times, but kids think it's perfectly normal. I try to keep that distinction in perspective.
 
Amen. If one can allow oneself to operate under that premise that is. It seems to me like this is more of an issue than in the past

I get the feeling too many younger players think there's all theses rules that MUST be followed. I hope I'm wrong about that.
So I shouldn't have bought Drumtune Pro last night? :D
 
I learned a long time ago - tune what you think sounds best for the room and the music - and don't listen to armchair drummers. I played in a big band once and the leader liked a medium soft mushy snare.. I was more in the medium high crisp and punchy camp. So I tried his suggestion - and it sounded like MUSH.. it took away the definition of the rythmn sound in front of the stage. So I recorded it and then cranked it back up and recorded it and played it for him.. like which do you prefer? Needless to say he didn't pick the MUSH..!

In terms of pitch I generally find a snare sound that I really like.. and tune to match it. It's a good starting point and will get you in the ballpark of where you want to be. At one point I even recorded some example snares on my phone for reference.. but I generally have the pitch and head intervals stuck in my brain.. I use the brain-bot method.

The 'drum tuning bible' posted here on the site here is a masterpiece.. with that and years of practice.. I can change heads and tune any drum to perfection in about 5 minutes.
 
So I shouldn't have bought Drumtune Pro last night? :D
Feeling guilty? Hm? Hm? Hm?

I was mainly referring to the attitude of "I just want to be shown stuff, I don't want to figure anything out for myself"

It's probably my problem. I just think that it's better to at least try and tackle the issue before tapping out.
 
I learned a long time ago - tune what you think sounds best for the room and the music - and don't listen to armchair drummers. I played in a big band once and the leader liked a medium soft mushy snare.. I was more in the medium high crisp and punchy camp. So I tried his suggestion - and it sounded like MUSH.. it took away the definition of the rythmn sound in front of the stage. So I recorded it and then cranked it back up and recorded it and played it for him.. like which do you prefer? Needless to say he didn't pick the MUSH..!

In terms of pitch I generally find a snare sound that I really like.. and tune to match it. It's a good starting point and will get you in the ballpark of where you want to be. At one point I even recorded some example snares on my phone for reference.. but I generally have the pitch and head intervals stuck in my brain.. I use the brain-bot method.

The 'drum tuning bible' posted here on the site here is a masterpiece.. with that and years of practice.. I can change heads and tune any drum to perfection in about 5 minutes.
Will have to check it...sounds like a great resource.

Feeling guilty? Hm? Hm? Hm?

I was mainly referring to the attitude of "I just want to be shown stuff, I don't want to figure anything out for myself"

It's probably my problem. I just think that it's better to at least try and tackle the issue before tapping out.
Yeah, I agree. I held off for quite a while, but while I do fine at getting jazzy tones out of the toms, not so much with more attacky rock tones, and I figured I'd learn something from Drumtune Pro. Darn sure did, too! Still, I shall read the Drum Tuning Bible on here and learn how to get different tones the hard way.
 
Amen. If one can allow oneself to operate under that premise that is. It seems to me like this is more of an issue than in the past

I get the feeling too many younger players think there's all theses rules that MUST be followed. I hope I'm wrong about that.
Agreed and I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the abundance of videos, social media posts, tutorials and opinions that bludgeon new musicians with information. I remember just being in my room with the door closed for hours with a crappy drum set trying to learn to play, learn to tune and keep the thing from falling apart on me while doing it. Good times and a great learning experience.
 
Agreed and I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the abundance of videos, social media posts, tutorials and opinions that bludgeon new musicians with information. I remember just being in my room with the door closed for hours with a crappy drum set trying to learn to play, learn to tune and keep the thing from falling apart on me while doing it. Good times and a great learning experience.
Yessir. I feel bad in a way that this generation doesn't have to do it like we did it. But again, that's my problem. It's easy to criticize the youth of today but that's not fair either. It's a completely different world now. Two different standards. If I grew up in this world, the old me would criticize the new me, I'm sure of it. A "me" problem. I'll even add this, directed at myself....

OK Boomer
 
Pretty sure I've got coated Ambassadors and Hazy Diplomats on all of them now.
Ah, another Diplomat Hazy Snare Side user. I made the switch about six months ago and have been happy thus far. What makes the Diplomat Hazy your head of choice? Just curious to get perspectives. There aren't too many of us around.
 
Agreed and I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the abundance of videos, social media posts, tutorials and opinions that bludgeon new musicians with information. I remember just being in my room with the door closed for hours with a crappy drum set trying to learn to play, learn to tune and keep the thing from falling apart on me while doing it. Good times and a great learning experience.
Yeah, our drums used to fall off and roll away from us while our cymbal stands fell and broke the lamp, and we liked it!
 
I've always liked a nice, medium snare tuning. Plus it doesn't feel too hard or taut. And then I dampen it, sometimes quite liberally, to suit the song and the acoustic space.
What I do like, though, is sort of a late Phil Collins sound - piccolo (or monster deep, depending on his mood) N&C snare, cranked quite high, followed by a huge burst of gated reverb and room reflections for a 'firecracker' noise. Though it's probably that stone-walled studio that's the key to that sound...
 
I was mainly referring to the attitude of "I just want to be shown stuff, I don't want to figure anything out for myself"
But who has this attitude? Even the newbies around here aren't really wet behind the ears newbies. I'm GenX and have done the lock yourself in your room and struggle to learn your instrument (guitar) in an information vacuum thing. I remember doing major work on my car with nothing but a Chilton manual to help (anybody remember those?). Then all that changed in my later college years and early career days as the internet started to become a serious source of info. Suddenly it was like you had the clues and could skip the blind trial & error and get straight to the meat of whatever it is you're trying to do.

I could be wrong but I have a feeling that most folks who visit here aren't exactly part of the tik tok generation. Most have already had the experience of independently working through problems and know how to do that successfully, and don't need to relearn how to do that. It's more productive to just cut to the chase. That's where a forum like this can be really valuable if people are willing to share their knowledge.
 
I might have over rotated on the DTB a bit .. maybe it's not a masterpiece - as some of the comments I read found some inaccuracies and typos in it. But it is a great resource in general.
 
I might have over rotated on the DTB a bit .. maybe it's not a masterpiece - as some of the comments I read found some inaccuracies and typos in it. But it is a great resource in general.
I've enjoyed it and got something out of it despite all that.
 
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