Can someone define overtone (of a tom)?

So in laymen's terms what does overtones of a tom mean?
Thanks so much!

I use that word to describe extra noise be it hum or buzz that doesn't belong inthe tone you're searching for in a tom or snare drum. I find them mostly in snare drums and bigger floor toms that need to be "tamed" with moongel or a ring or something. Tone is nice, but ugly extra tone is overtone. I may be wrong but that's how I understand it.
 
Its the noise you don't want to hear. Like Midnite said you have to tame it with rings and moongel and all that crap. The heads Evans Ec2 SSTs and Remo Pinstripe are made to naturally control overtones without putting stuff on the head
 
Its the noise you don't want to hear.

Not necessarily. All drums and cymbals produce overtones, not all of them are bad.

An overtone is simply the extra harmonics heard above and beyond the fundamental note. When you strike a drum, the fundamental note is produced with the attack (when the stick first hits the head). The overtones are the resulting harmonics heard after that. Sometimes they are truely horrible (which is what is being focused on in the previous posts). But a well tuned drum still produces overtones. It's just that they that add to the overall tone and projection of the drum by working far more harmonically in support of that fundamental note.
 
All drums and cymbals produce overtones, not all of them are bad.

An overtone is simply the extra harmonics heard above and beyond the fundamental note. When you strike a drum, the fundamental note is produced with the attack (when the stick first hits the head). The overtones are the resulting harmonics heard after that. Sometimes they are truely horrible (which is what is being focused on in the previous posts). But a well tuned drum still produces overtones. It's just that they that add to the overall tone and projection of the drum by working far more harmonically in support of that fundamental note.

Bingo. That's how I think about overtones too.

Also you will get a different amount of overtones out of a drum depending on how you hit it. In the centre = less overtones. Off centre = more overtones. I usually hit my snare a little off centre because I like the way it sounds like that.
 
Bingo. That's how I think about overtones too.

Also you will get a different amount of overtones out of a drum depending on how you hit it. In the centre = less overtones. Off centre = more overtones. I usually hit my snare a little off centre because I like the way it sounds like that.

I think you may be confusing ring with overtones. Pocket's description is correct, overtones are part of any instrument's sound, and all instruments produce overtones. They're an integral part of an instrument's sound.
 
Back
Top