Who tunes higher on reso?

[RUSTE]

I was just wondering who tunes higher on the reso on toms & or snare?

Ive always tuned my reso's slightly higher on my toms & bassdrums (untill recently im now tuning the reso on the bassdrum lower but still playing around with this).
& fair bit higher on the snare.

I just got some new aquarian super 2's with black classic clears that i have yet to put on my toms but the super 2's come with tuning guidlines & say you should tune slightly higher on the reso's

Its just recently ive heard a lot of people saying they tune lower or the same on the reso's. Thought i would start a thread to see who tunes what way & why?

The only reason ive started tuning lower on the reso on my bassdrum is because ive just started using superkick 2's. I was using emads on old kit. I found i had to tune them higher to get a tone then if i tuned the reso head higher it was very clicky sounding & not nice. So tuning the reso lower & resting a small towel on it sounded alot better. Ive just got aquarian regulators ive yet to try as well so this will change the sound again.

[Ironcobra]

personally im all over the place, the resos on my toms are lower, but they are higher on my snare and bass, i find that if you make them lower on the toms, they have more of a subwoofer effect, especially if you are wearing headphones. and with the bass, i have to keep the reso really tight otherwise it makes a bad wobbling sound, but it still sounds deep even when its tight.

[somedrummer]

I generally tune my reso heads considerably higher than the batter heads. I'm not sure exactly how or where I learned this, but it's worked well for me thus far, so I haven't really bothered trying out other tunings, probably an error on my part. But hey, I like what I get, and it's easy for me to tune that way, so I think that's what I'll continue doing.

[Legacyrik]

My first kit (the one I've had forever) had square size toms and I always tuned the bottom heads a little higher. Well I just purchase a new kit and the hanging tom is more shallow on this kit and I found, to this point, I need to tune both head about the same to get the sound I prefer. I just got the kit and I don't have it all tuned up yet, especiall the floor toms that are square sizes and resonate way too much if they are tuned the same. At least for me that is.

[Wavelength]

I use Clear Diplomats as resonants and Coated Ambassadors as batters on my tom toms. I generally tune my tom resos a perfect fourth or a major third higher than the batter heads. So long as the resonant head is tuned high enough to produce a clean, even sound, this interval gives the drum a natural, full and round resonance. Of course, different drums and different head combinations will work better with different tunings; if I were to use clear Ambassadors on the resonant side, I probably would tune the heads more or less to an identical pitch.

I have come up with certain guidelines which facilitate tuning the toms to specific sounds or timbres, or even specific pitches. These "rules" work every time on my drums (http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27523), but feel free to give different opinions based on your experiences on different kits and head combinations.

1) First of all, I've noticed that if you use the aforementioned perfect fourth or major third intervals, the resonant head will pretty much always define the drum's pitch.
2) Tuning the resonant head to its lowest clean and resonant pitch and tuning the batter a perfect fourth lower will give you a deep rock sound with a hint of pitch bend. This works very well in a rock setting, but don't expect them to be very sensitive to a soft touch.
3) Tuning the batter head to its lowest clean and resonant pitch and tuning the resonant a perfect fourth higher will give you a full, open, natural and resonant sound. It's great for pretty much anything, and is the ideal choice for those "Top40" gigs. Plus, the sound will cut through pretty well even if you don't mic your kit.
4) Tuning the heads a bit higher than that will give you a high-pitched bop sound for those suh-weet jazz moments.
5) Remember, there's a lot of tuning options between the rock/pop/jazz tunings, so feel free to experiment and tweak to your heart's content!

[CraigG]

I tune the reso's higher because I the sound I get from doing it. I saw Dave Weckle at a clinic, he does the same.

[cdrums21]

I currently tune my bottom heads a third (4 notes) higher than the top head. It gives the drums a "rounder" sound, which helps them to cut through the midrangey sounding area of the giutars and bass, plus it helps to reduce resonance, which really helps on the larger drums and floor toms. Some drummers who tune this way: John Bonham, Frankie Banali, Neil Peart, Kenny Aronoff, Anton Fig, Dave Weckl, Gavin Harrison...to name a few. I like tuning in specific intervals because I find that it cuts down on unwanted overtones. When I was researching how different drummers tune their kits, I really went crazy and tried to find any information at all that would tell me how they tuned. Most drummers I researched tuned the bottom heads higher, some the same pitch and very few with the bottom heads lower. I think you have to experiment to find the sound that you like though. Maybe you'll like a fuller, purer tone when the heads are both tuned to the same pitch, or maybe you will like the roundness and punch of the toms with the resonant side tuned higher. Check out the different tunings and see what sounds YOU like. Good luck!

[chazgrohl]

i always find when i buy new skins no matter how much i mess with the reso or the batter side i cant get the perfect pitch that i want, usually its just a bit of breaking em in, or thats what i think, i always tune by ear, just hitting as im turning the key to see what it sounds like

[drumbandit]

I do, just because that's what I got told when I was younger and haven't had a reason to change to anything else.

[NIMBY]

on my snare i tune my batter head higher than the resonant head because i like it being very high-pitched.

but on my toms i have the reso heads much, much tighter than the batters.

i don't know how i figured this but it works for me and now my kit is sounding the best it has ever sounded.

[Drummer Karl]

You can explain what happens with different tunings but in the end it depends much on the particular drums.

I used to tune my resonant head just one note higher than the batter on the toms. Although this is actually a disonant interval the whole sound is very nice! btw, I use a Superstar Custom...till now. =)
Now I tune the reso even higher: About a third interval for the 10" tom, a half note higher on my 12" toms and one note higher on my 14" tom. Makes the tone a bit higher and the sustain shorter, good "vintage" sound.
The Snare drum reso is tuned a half not lower than the batter, it would sound choked with a higher reso tuning.
But the bass drum head is tuned a few notes higher.

Karl

[ledzepjb]

Bonham would always tune his resos relatively higher than his batter heads. Especialy in huis snare and bass drum. He would do this because his drums were so big and he needed to move the air really fast. Check out Bohams page on dummerworld, in one of the lower clips it a guy should explain it all very clearly.

[golions]

I'm higher on reso, as well; less resonance and a pretty pure note.

[Cymbalrider]

I've tried just about everything over the years. Recently I got into that tune the res. side higher. It sort of makes the drums more lively. I just did this on my bass too. Great feeling here. Better pedal response, makes the bass sound bigger too. Snares, I'm still not sure on yet. I did this with a kit my old school had. The drums sounded dead until I tuned the res. sides up. Not necessarily higher, but just more. Smaller toms, though, it seems better to tune not quite as high or it chokes the sound.

[macmarkus]

in the case of the snares, yes. i tried lots of tuning ranges, but always came back to batter lower than bottom.

toms and bassdrum are rather similarly tuned ... anyhow they sound pretty well.

[fourstringdrums]

I usually tune my resos higher on all drums, except for sometimes I'll tune the snare reso alittle lower, or the floor tom reso lower, it depends on my mood. I'm terrible with tuning floor toms, so I'm always trying different things. I tend to overcompensate when raising or lowering the pitch on the bottom head and always wind up a nasty pitch bend when heard from from away or recorded that I don't care for. It's a constant battle :)

[ermghoti]

Higher (pitched, the tension tends to be lower) on toms, even higher on snare (the tension is in fact higher as well). The floors are tuned with the resos lower, provides a real kick to the bladder. The kick drum, even moreso. Thud galore, still plenty of resonance.

[tamadrummer132]

i have the reso's lower on my toms actually. I love a warm tone with long sustain, and thats exactly what i get when the reso's are low.

[jaeidn]

i do tune my main snare the reso much lower and the batter much higher to have that funky sound i love. i tune my toms the reso higher even the floor tom and my aux snare as well. i tune my bass the reso and the batter very low.

[fijjibo]

Its pretty much common practice now.

Its a good idea, as what your hear behind the kit is different to what the crowd hears.

Tuning the reso slightly higher aids projection and carries the pitch of the drum to the audience.