cdrums21
Gold Member
This is a little perplexing to me as well.....so when I listen to the pitch in front of each tension rod when I’m tuning a drum, I don’t listen for a harmonic tone....just a clear pitch that I try to get to match all the way around. No harmonics involved. A harmonic frequency is related to the pitch, but not the actual pitch itself. I’ll flip the drum over and do the same to the resonant head. Currently, my resonant heads are close to a full step above the batter, maybe a little sharp or flat here and there.I put a finger on the center of the (cleared and tuned to the pitch I like) batter head while the drum is on the floor and tap near a tension rod to hear the harmonic tone
So, if Larry is doing the same thing that I do and maybe labeling the pitch he is hearing as a harmonic when it’s actually just the pitch at the tension rod, then his head would indeed be an octave higher in pitch.
Sorry to hijack the thread, just wanted to try to clarify if Larry’s reso tuning really is an octave higher than the batter.