snare overtones >:(

ShaysRebellion

Senior Member
i just replaced my snare head with a Remo Emporer coated, and its giving some pretty annoying overtone. i thought i tuned it right, but i'm boggled. Do you guys have any solutions for killng these overtones?

Also, my toms (12" 16") are giving some overtone also, they have brand new Pinstripes.

Thanks guys.
 
The real question should be are you hearing those overtones 15-20 ft away where most people are going to hear your drums from??

Overtones can be corrected with tuning usually unless there is something wierd going on with your shells like them being out of round or your bearing edges being bad.
 
Snare drums ring. It's a beautiful thing.

It's also what let's your snare drum sound loud and lively from the audience. Muffled snares sound soft and dead from the audience.

Poorly-tuned snares have an obnoxious ring. Well-tuned snares have a nice ring.

Tune well, and if the ringing is too much for you in your practice space throw a studio ring on it. Just take it off for gigs.
 
i just replaced my snare head with a Remo Emporer coated, and its giving some pretty annoying overtone. i thought i tuned it right, but i'm boggled. Do you guys have any solutions for killng these overtones?

Also, my toms (12" 16") are giving some overtone also, they have brand new Pinstripes.

Thanks guys.

What heads were you using before? Any tape or other muffling on them?
 
Remo Coated Emperor are pretty thick heads and don't ring much anyway. Chances are you don't have it in tune with it self, or are exaggerating the overtone level. Your snare should go either "daa" or "da"(thick head) but never "d" as it does when it's muffled. Muffled snares are fine for playing pianissimo articulated pieces of snare drum literature under a close mic or in a well acoustically designed room (like Carnegie Hall or something) but certainly not for drum set playing. The sounds get lost in the music anyway. Also, what do you have as a resonant head? Something like an Ambassador Snare Side head will work great. A Diplomat Snare Side will have even less resonance but still sound fine.
 
Try Dampening rings and or moongel. It should do the trick. You may want to tighten the snare wires or the head.
 
1) Bottom heads are tuned correctly? (If they're stock heads, you may want to replace them, they're very important!)
2) Are the drums tuned evenly? (Place your finger on the middle of the head, muffle the other head, and tap lightly at the edge of the head near the lugs, and see if they're all at the same tension)
3) If the aforementioned things don't apply, then use moongel. It is a wonderful thing.
 
Remo Coated Emperor are pretty thick heads and don't ring much anyway.

I have coated Emperors on a couple of my acrolites and they ring pretty good. Wasnt much different than the coated Ambassadors I was using previously.
 
I love a snare sound without many overtones, and when I got my superstar snare, it was overtone OVERKILL.

I put Evans Genera Dry over Hazy 300 on the snare and put a remo-O dampening ring on it. It put that to rest and gave me the really beefy snare I wanted. yeah those heads killed the overtone...it killed 'em dead...dead I say!
 
If you were pleased with the sound of the genera dry, scrap the emperor and go buy a genera dry and tuner up! You'll be out $15 and that's it. Keep the emperor fo a back up.
You never know you may want something different some day.
 
Don't forget that how you strike the drum is way important. I have my snare unmuffled, so naturally it rings, but if I play it dead center without hitting any rim, where's the ring? A lot of the tone is the way you strike the drum.
 
Don't forget that how you strike the drum is way important. I have my snare unmuffled, so naturally it rings, but if I play it dead center without hitting any rim, where's the ring? A lot of the tone is the way you strike the drum.


Trying to get people to listen to this point is nigh on impossible. The idea that the way a drum sounds is down to the way it is played is a step too far for many.
 
But we must not let up on the fight for trying to spread the truth
 
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