Toms with specific pitch - is this a problem

lowdowner

Senior Member
I'm loving my new Mapex Saturn, but I've got a question.

My toms have really clear pitch - each tom has a note that is quite recognisable, which is great. But, to my ear, these pitches sometimes create a disharmony with the music I'm accompanying.

it's not something I've really come across or thought about before but I wondered if this is just something I can hear, or can the crowd of fans in the stadium hear this too? Is this usual or is something 'wrong' going on here?
 
Pitch will change with tuning. Some drums have a "sweet spot" where they sound best, but if you're looking for a different sound, you don't have to be within that specific range.
 
What kind of music are you playing ?

With soft music the toms may be an issue.
With louder music I don't think it would be an issue.

Tuned toms sound get for fills and solos.

.
 
it's not something I've really come across or thought about before but I wondered if this is just something I can hear, or can the crowd of fans in the stadium hear this too? Is this usual or is something 'wrong' going on here?

I only recently considered this. There are notes you could tune to and have a better chance of always fitting in. Remember, most notes fit in harmony with others that are two full steps away.

You will never have to worry about an audience hearing it. You will probably never have to worry about anyone hearing it.

Remember, even on keys or guitars, sometimes an A is played along with an B and it sounds proper. Other times, not so much :) Listening to the A and B alone together sounds like a sick cat but with the other notes of the chord added in, it fits.

Again, it depends on the music. Learn what notes you are tuned to and learn what notes the band is playing and make adjustments. If the bridge goes to an note that is obviously out of whack, limit your tom playing in that part.
 
you may spend all day trying to tune to specific notes. I would find the spot where both drums sound good and then maybe adjust one so that some harmony exists
 
If you want to take the time and learn something, sit down at a keyboard and look up some chords. http://www.8notes.com/piano_chord_chart/



My guitar player recently explained to me that all major chords are just 3 notes.

Whatever key of note the other instruments are playing (C), your toms will fit perfectly if they are tuned to a whole note that is not right next to the note being played (E,F,G,A) The same thing applies to most of the sharp/ flat half notes also.

You could make a note of the keys you are generally playing in, do some math and tune to cover the most area. Or, you could just remember that they are drums and just hit them harder :)

If you are consistently playing songs in D, you wouldn't want your toms tuned to C and E. I think it is bound to have some effect on the over all sound of the music
 
There is a pitch that can be discerned from a well tuned drum. I use this to tune my toms to intervals of 3rds and 4ths so they sound sweeter when played together.

That said, the attack of the hit will be much more prominent in the audible sound than the sustain and in the mix with instruments that are true harminc instruments the actual pitch of the toms will be a non issue.
 
What intervals do you between your kick, toms and snare?
How are you tuning your resonant heads relative to your batters?

If you're not thinking of your tuning in these terms, you're likely at a disadvantage.

Everybody has their own "system" on this stuff. For me, I find the sweet spot for my bass drum, and tune it to the lower end of that range. I tune the reso higher than the batter until I get a nice pleasing full tone that makes me grin. Then I tune the rest of the kit harmonically from this "anchor" tone. Each piece stays within it's own sweet spot without any science, tunebotting, voodoo, or beer sacrifices.

Experiment, and you and your kit will overcome.
 
I'm loving my new Mapex Saturn, but I've got a question.

My toms have I'd beteally clear pitch - each tom has a note that is quite recognisable, which is great. But, to my ear, these pitches sometimes create a disharmony with the music I'm accompanying.

it's not something I've really come across or thought about before but I wondered if this is just something I can hear, or can the crowd of fans in the stadium hear this too? Is this usual or is something 'wrong' going on here?

Ive read before where drummers or engineers tuned drums to be in the same key as the song, but I bet that's uncommon. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, because nobody else will notice. ;)
 
Ive read before where drummers or engineers tuned drums to be in the same key as the song, but I bet that's uncommon. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, because nobody else will notice. ;)

this sounds like good advice...

I'm an ex flute and bass player so I'm more than OK with the theory of harmony, it was just that I wasn't expecting the pitch to be so clear and was a bit surprised that sometimes it was not in the same key as the melody when I've never heard this issue before :)

So much to learn, so little time...
 
Having your drums tuned to be in-key with a song is of far less importance than having your drums 'not' tuned to a conflicting key. In-key tuning is rare, but not unheard of. Wrong-key tunings are recognizable by their uncanny sounding nature, and are pretty easy to fix.

If I played in a band that had an entire catalog in the same key (Like a G-C-D folk group), I might invest the time into tuning to a complimentary key. I can see doing it if I were in a Drop-D grunge band. Once the band changes keys, it totally negates all the effort.

That said... There's no harm in doing it for the experience, and if it makes you 'think' you sound better, you'll feel better, and play better, and sound better in the same holistic sense that new gear makes you sound better.
 
you may spend all day trying to tune to specific notes.

Not any more, with Tune Bot and (not to be mentioned) smartphone apps. Most important, though, is the interval between toms, so that they will sound good when struck together. Imagine, using a simple C-chord example (C, E, G), that your rack tom is tuned to G, but the floor tom is tuned to some weird semitone between C# and D. It's probably NOT going to sound very good struck together. In extreme cases, you could even end up with cancellation, making the resultant sound out front much quieter than it should (or was meant) to be.
 
Good advice given on the theoretical parts but in general, nobody hears the actual pitch of the tom because attack and tone are more dominant. This is why drums are referred to as being instruments of indefinite pitch. There's not enough harmonic info like you would get with a set of tympani. So I would just tune the drum where it sounds good by itself and go with it.
 
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