otb
Member
Hello!
I would like to post my thoughts about snare drum tuning. I've played lots of rock and fusion for a long time time back in the day and I've always tuned my snare drums very high in order to obtain some cut and very aggressive rimshots. I wasn't into experimenting with snare drum tuning outside of a certain range I felt comfortable with.
About 2 years ago I started getting into more groovy stuff, and during some studio sessions lately I've found that low tuning with some more muffling works wonders for some snare drums. I've experimented with some ideas that were previously unfamiliar to me, like extreme muffling (like taping 2 wallets to the snare drum), putting 8 sheets of paper on the snare drum, tuning it so low that the rods were only finger-tight etc.
The main problem was how to achieve a good, fat sound and get rid of boxy over- and undertones, while still maintaining a powerful rimshot sound with lots of body. While some ideas didn't give good results, some were outstanding (the paper worked wonders, for instance) and will be included on the upcoming album I recorded with my band, The Cookies.
Check out this fresh video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjLBI55_c_k
I'm using a Black Panther Blaster 13"x7" snare drum with a worn out Remo Fiberskyn and 2 pieces of moongel. The head was tuned very low (a bit above finger tight) and the snare drum sounds really great in my opinion - the sound engineer was also impressed by how it recorded.
Do you have some experiences like this? Maybe some other ideas for achieving interesting snare sounds?
Best regards guys and girls!
I would like to post my thoughts about snare drum tuning. I've played lots of rock and fusion for a long time time back in the day and I've always tuned my snare drums very high in order to obtain some cut and very aggressive rimshots. I wasn't into experimenting with snare drum tuning outside of a certain range I felt comfortable with.
About 2 years ago I started getting into more groovy stuff, and during some studio sessions lately I've found that low tuning with some more muffling works wonders for some snare drums. I've experimented with some ideas that were previously unfamiliar to me, like extreme muffling (like taping 2 wallets to the snare drum), putting 8 sheets of paper on the snare drum, tuning it so low that the rods were only finger-tight etc.
The main problem was how to achieve a good, fat sound and get rid of boxy over- and undertones, while still maintaining a powerful rimshot sound with lots of body. While some ideas didn't give good results, some were outstanding (the paper worked wonders, for instance) and will be included on the upcoming album I recorded with my band, The Cookies.
Check out this fresh video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjLBI55_c_k
I'm using a Black Panther Blaster 13"x7" snare drum with a worn out Remo Fiberskyn and 2 pieces of moongel. The head was tuned very low (a bit above finger tight) and the snare drum sounds really great in my opinion - the sound engineer was also impressed by how it recorded.
Do you have some experiences like this? Maybe some other ideas for achieving interesting snare sounds?
Best regards guys and girls!