Snare Heads and Tuning

crickbutcher

Junior Member
Hi, I've been spending the past month or so really trying to learn how to tune and find the right heads for my drums but it is really hard. My snare drum is a 14x6.5 maple and right now I have an Evans ST Dry on it and a hazy as the resonant.

I am trying to look for the perfect snare sound that has a nice crack/attack to it that is not muffled/dead or has annoying high overtones. I have my batter head tuned really tight and my reso just a little bit lower in tone that the batter. I have a pretty good sound in my snare, but its just not there yet.

Also any advice on snare wires?
 
I've mentioned this before in a couple threads but it applies here too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdA8xASkj10

In this video the guy removed the inner muffling ring on a Genera Dry, sounded pretty good to me. I gave it a shot, it's a great balance for the brass piccolo it's on. I tune pretty much the same, maybe not quite as tight but it's hard to say because we're using arbitrary terms...
 
I've recently found my snare sound, I've been too close to this sound for years, but it was always close but never perfect. I like to tune my snare high, but I've always wanted more shell sound and less snare sound, so too achieve this I removed half of the Strands of my 20 strand snare wire, and that was it!!! Now my snare sound like it has been equalized, and I love it!!!
 
I've recently found my snare sound, I've been too close to this sound for years, but it was always close but never perfect. I like to tune my snare high, but I've always wanted more shell sound and less snare sound, so too achieve this I removed half of the Strands of my 20 strand snare wire, and that was it!!! Now my snare sound like it has been equalized, and I love it!!!

You should upload a youtube video of how it sounds. I really wanna hear what it sounds like!
 
Try reverse your tuning of the two heads. i.e. Reso really tight and the batter a little lower, then adjust your wires accordingly. Should give you more crack

Jackson

Ok, my batter is as tight as it can go pretty much and my reso is really tight to. Using the drum dial my reso is 10 notches under the batter
 
I have not heard your snare but most of the ones I have heard on here and in many Youtube vids the snares are too tight and choked. This is just my opinion but my snares are tightened just above rattle. When they are just starting to touch the reso head, maybe one little 1/4 turn if that to the tension knob. Try it, you can always turn it more
 
Hi, I've been spending the past month or so really trying to learn how to tune and find the right heads for my drums but it is really hard. My snare drum is a 14x6.5 maple and right now I have an Evans ST Dry on it and a hazy as the resonant.

I am trying to look for the perfect snare sound that has a nice crack/attack to it that is not muffled/dead or has annoying high overtones. I have my batter head tuned really tight and my reso just a little bit lower in tone that the batter. I have a pretty good sound in my snare, but its just not there yet.

Also any advice on snare wires?

You have a deeper maple snare drum and you have a 2-ply "dry" head on it. That's going to emphasize a darker, woodier tone than a crack, no matter how high you tune.

I use a coated G-Plus right now, and the thicker single ply tends to weed out a bit of the overtones while preserving the sensitivity and crack. If you want to dry it out a little more, use an O-ring or a spot of Moongel. The previous poster suggested tuning your snare-side head tighter; I agree, but ultimately I think that the beauty of each snare drum is the unique bit of tinkering you need to do to get that sound, feel, and response you like.

I use a simple normal 20-strand Pearl snare wire set. I don't clip wires and I don't do anything interesting like taping the snare-side head under the snares.

Keep in mind, however, that the overtones help the snare project without really being audible to the audience when the snare is unmiked. If the snare IS miked, a little judicious equalizing can resolve overtones. I play a 5.5x14" steel snare, and that thing has the potential to ring for days. But in recordings I have never heard it, nor have I heard it in the audience when I let someone else play my drums. It sounds like a very snappy, cracky, cutting snare.
 
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