What is the tone of a drum?

[Drumms]

It's all in the title...

For a self-taught like me (and what more is a non-English-speaking one), it's sometimes hard to understand what precisely a term means.

[Algo]

the drums doesnt have a tone

[mofle]

It is the ''note'' of the drum when it is tuned. If it has a bright tone, it would be the ''same'' as a high not on the piano or the guitar.

That is how I would use the word tone when talking about drums.

By the way, last guy who answerd: Every drum has an ''ideal'' tone.


-Mofle

[GRUNTERSDAD]

A tone is the note or pitch of anything producing sound. Small drums have higher tones than
large drums, just as flutes have higher tones than sousaphones.

[Drumms]

So when someone says that a drum lacks tone, what does this mean?

[ermghoti]

I was going to post earlier, haven't had time.

What the guys are talking about above is pitch. However, it is common to interchange the words tone and pitch, and not too long ago, the use of the word tone to mean pitch was accepted, hence the terms "semitone" "tritone" et al.

Currently, "tone" is usually taken to mean the harmonic content of a sound, that is, the characteristics that sum to produce the pitch. For example, you could tune a 12" tom, and 16" floor tom, and a 22" kick to the same pitch, but you'd never say they had the same tone. The 12" would be tuned dead slack, and sound dry and flat, the 16" would probably be ringing right in the zone, with a full and projecting tone, while the kick would likely be overtightened, sounding thin, possibly choked.

To a lesser degree, identically built drums with differing depth will have a different tone at the same pitch, as will drums of different materials, heads, etc ad infinitum.

EDIT: "Lacks tone" is an idiom that actually means "has poor tone," as tone is not objectively quantifiable.It can mean no sustain, a deficiency in midrange or bass frequencies, or anything else that contributes to a bad drum sound.

[jonescrusher]

EDIT: "Lacks tone" is an idiom that actually means "has poor tone," as tone is not objectively quantifiable.It can mean no sustain, a deficiency in midrange or bass frequencies, or anything else that contributes to a bad drum sound.


Yes, some people will use the word 'tone' as a qualitative description of the overall sound of someone's playing, ie. 'that guy gets a good tone out of the drums', or 'he's got bad tone'. That doesn't specifically relate to the way he's tuned each drum, but might relate to the consistency of his strokes, dynamic ability, musicality etc.

[GRUNTERSDAD]

From Dictionary.com

tone-

1. any sound considered with reference to its quality, pitch, strength, source, etc.: shrill tones.
2. quality or character of sound.

pitch--

30. Music. the particular tonal standard with which given tones may be compared in respect to their relative level.
31. Acoustics. the apparent predominant

The terms are almost interchangeable, but in our sense it seems to be that pitch is the note, and tone is how well that note sounds. Still confused...?

[ermghoti]

Exactly. Note that the first defintion of "tone" includes the word "pitch," but only as one of many factors. I'd accept that.