dkerwood
Silver Member
I know that the answer will probably be, "Get new heads," but yeah...
I just got a new kit with 10, 12, 16 toms. I've never dealt with a 10" tom before, and I'm having a hard time getting it to work with the 12 and 16 toms. I bought all new single ply coated heads and got to work.
For the 16, I did what I always do with a 16: finger tighten both sides and then barely tighten the lugs, just enough for a good tone. Then, I adjusted from there (I ended up having to tighten the reso head a bit more than usual, but that's just getting used to a new kit).
Usually, I tune the high and low toms to sound great, and then put the middle tom somewhere in the middle, but I was having issues getting the 10 to sing, so I started working on the 12. I was surprised at how high of a fundamental it had. Barely any tension at all, and it was up to the tone I was used to from my old set. Problem is; it's hard to get consistent tuning at such low tension. I tuned the 12" just a little higher and let it be.
Now, it comes to the 10". Low tension gets me almost to the fat sound I've come to enjoy, but it still won't quite get me there. So I've decided to experiment, and really get this tom to sing out. I put it back on the kit, and after tweaking the 12 up a bit, it's really sounding good...
...but then I add in the low tom. It's now tuned a full octave below the 12, not to mention how high the 10 is. I absolutely LOVE the roar of a LOW low tom, and I'm not sure that I want to give it up... but the other two will not come down to match it.
I'm also having an extremely hard time keeping my snare tuned higher than the 10" tom- it's a 14x7 brass snare, and it has a very low fundamental... I've cranked it about as tight as I dare, and it still sounds pretty good, but it's still about a half step lower than the 10"...
Any thoughts on how to bring the other two toms "down" without deadening them? Or thoughts on how to bring the snare and low tom "up" without breaking heads (snare) or losing that fat BOOM of the low tom?
I just got a new kit with 10, 12, 16 toms. I've never dealt with a 10" tom before, and I'm having a hard time getting it to work with the 12 and 16 toms. I bought all new single ply coated heads and got to work.
For the 16, I did what I always do with a 16: finger tighten both sides and then barely tighten the lugs, just enough for a good tone. Then, I adjusted from there (I ended up having to tighten the reso head a bit more than usual, but that's just getting used to a new kit).
Usually, I tune the high and low toms to sound great, and then put the middle tom somewhere in the middle, but I was having issues getting the 10 to sing, so I started working on the 12. I was surprised at how high of a fundamental it had. Barely any tension at all, and it was up to the tone I was used to from my old set. Problem is; it's hard to get consistent tuning at such low tension. I tuned the 12" just a little higher and let it be.
Now, it comes to the 10". Low tension gets me almost to the fat sound I've come to enjoy, but it still won't quite get me there. So I've decided to experiment, and really get this tom to sing out. I put it back on the kit, and after tweaking the 12 up a bit, it's really sounding good...
...but then I add in the low tom. It's now tuned a full octave below the 12, not to mention how high the 10 is. I absolutely LOVE the roar of a LOW low tom, and I'm not sure that I want to give it up... but the other two will not come down to match it.
I'm also having an extremely hard time keeping my snare tuned higher than the 10" tom- it's a 14x7 brass snare, and it has a very low fundamental... I've cranked it about as tight as I dare, and it still sounds pretty good, but it's still about a half step lower than the 10"...
Any thoughts on how to bring the other two toms "down" without deadening them? Or thoughts on how to bring the snare and low tom "up" without breaking heads (snare) or losing that fat BOOM of the low tom?