Unwanted snare vibration

ShutUpAndDrum

Junior Member
I've got a Tama steel snare (not hammered), 13 x 6.5", with an Emperor X head (just changed from a G1) and a Hazy reso head. I don't muffle the heads at all as I like the resonance of the drum. However what I don't like is the fact that the snare wires vibrate and buzz for about half a second after a reasonably hard hit of the drum.

Now whilst playing the kit as a whole, especially in a band, you just don't notice this, but ultimately what would be ideal would be to have the resonance without the buzz. I have tried loosening or tightening the snare wires but this doesn't eliminate the problem. I've also tried tuning the heads differently to see how this affects it, but the buzz remains.

Has anyone else had this issue, and is there anything I can do to eliminate the buzzing without dampening the head? Or is this just a characteristic of my snare drum that I have to live with?

Chris
 
Maybe the snare wires are stuffed.
 
Four possibilities:

a) Before attaching the wires, loosen the strainer completely to change the angle of the straps when the wires are tensioned.
b) Try different snare wires. Your wires might be worn out or just the wrong choice. I found a very interesting model, the puresound 16 strand concert wires. Very responsive, absolutely clear and precise at high tension, sensitive and warm at lower tension.
Sometimes you have to try a variety of models before you get the "right" sound.
c) Try to figure out if a tomtom's sustain causes the annoying buzz by dampening the other drums and listen carefully what happens. If so, retune the toms or change pitches moderately..
d) Calm down! As long as your snares don't oscillate, rattle etc, snare buzz makes the sound lively. Most of the buzz you can hear from your position clearly blends with other "signals" well from a certain distance.
 
a simple trick i used to do to get rid of this or at least minamilize the vibrating..

take a spare cymbal felt .. pull it in half so it shreds and gets cottony..

*lightly* tape it to the bottom resonator head. adjust accordingly to ur ear.. careful though.. taped to tight will dead the sound - but u their is a sweet spot where it wont effect the overall tone and ring-out of ur snare.. but it will help u with the wire buzzing. hope this helps!
 
I got to thinking about this, as I have the same problem. I've tried all the adjustments, dampening, and so on. My toms really sing, but that snare really makes some noise like it's jealous I'm hitting another drum or something. Lol. I think what he's getting at, is that it's no big deal if you're playing anything of any substance. You don't really hear it, but if you whack that tom, especially one close to the snare, and you have a lot of space in your music, or you are practicing and going through the drums one at a time, it is noticeable, and I'm sure he, like me, is looking for a way to stop the sympathy rattle, in such a way that you wouldn't have to retune your toms and adjust the hell out of everything. You get a sound you like, you don't want to change it. So far I just take the tension off the snare if I'm going to be doing something with the toms and bass only. I guess it is more annoying than anything, especially if you have some really nice sounding toms. You really want to hear that thing doing it's job.
 
I thought I was the only one with a hyperactive snare. You definitely will remove the excess buzzing if you dampen the batter, I myself did not want to do that either. I have a 14x5 Stewart Copeland COB Tama. Sweet sounding drum...NOW - finally.

Couple things:
-Make sure your wires are positioned exactly in the center of the snare head when it is tightened. One end of my wires was right over a bearing edge.
-Make sure the wires are aligned straight and not crooked into the fasteners of the throwoff.
-Have the batter and snare head at the same pitch.

Now I still get a very slight buzz, but only if I hit about 3 inches off center. Many drums do that anyways off center. I was just playing a Tama Starclassic BB at GC today and hit it off center...I didn't like the buzz.
 
-Have the batter and snare head at the same pitch.


every snare I have ever know has sounded much better with the batter a lot tighter than the reso

the exact opposite of my toms

all snares buzz to an extent

but heavily undesirable snare buzz is a direct result of either 1 of 2 things... possibly both consecutively

1. either the tone of the 2 heads are not sympathizing and causing an odd vibration....... remedied with proper tuning
2. or the wires are either not seated properly or too loose
 
Big D, I did notice today, that with proper hearing protection (I use 33 db foamies), I don't hardly hear it. The drums sound closer to processed that way too. Cymbals don't seem to resonate as much. It really helps with the perceived decay. If you don't use hearing protection or use moderate protection, try it, or try a higher rating. See if that helps.
 
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