4 piece toms tuning

opentune

Platinum Member
Curious of all you 4 piece users out there...... What note or interval are the hi tom and floor tom tuned to?
I tune a 12 inch tom to A sharp and 16 floor tom to C (fifth off)...pretty low but do you guys tune the floor to only a 3rd off (i.e. an F) ? thanks
 
I use a couple of different configurations; 12/14/18 and 13/16/22. In both setups, I tune the toms a perfect fourth apart. I usually tune the 13/16 to B/E, C/F or D/G and the 12/14 to Gb/B or G/C.
 
I use a couple of different configurations; 12/14/18 and 13/16/22. In both setups, I tune the toms a perfect fourth apart. I usually tune the 13/16 to B/E, C/F or D/G and the 12/14 to Gb/B or G/C.

thanks..., what then is your bass - a 4th off the floor tom or a full octave below it? I guess its all personal taste, but would like to explore what others use.
 
I tune the high and low toms so I can play the "George of the Jungle" drum thing. When I have used three toms, I tune them so that I can play "Three Blind Mice." Peace and goodwill.
 
I just try to make each drum sound good by itself, and then maybe tweak them a little to make them sound nice together. Sometimes I'll tune the 14 very low, and the 12 up in jazz register- in that case I'm not worried about the interval.
 
thanks..., what then is your bass - a 4th off the floor tom or a full octave below it? I guess its all personal taste, but would like to explore what others use.

Good question. I really haven't ever tried to create an interval with the bass drum. I treat it more like the snare in that I'm trying to find a pitch that works for it. With the 18, I like to pitch it up a bit and leave it resonant. One of these days, I'm going to mess around with getting it to a fixed interval, but I haven't tried it yet. For the 22, I really go for JAW tuning and leave it at that. But there are drummers who tune even their rock bass drums to notes. It's all worth trying, I say, but I haven't yet.

Although, I have tuned my snare to a C and with snares off and floor tom at D and rack tom at G, I can play a I-IV-V blues progression in the key of G. Yes, I'm a dork. :)

By the way, with all the above, I think getting the drum tuned to its "zone," where it really sings, is the most important thing. Both of my toms are in their zone at the pitches I listed. If they weren't, I would probably try a different interval, but finding notes that work with each tom and also create the happy perfect fourth is my ideal.
 
The best answer I can come up with is...cross train on a secondary melodic instrument.

I started on drums and had a hard time grasping that pitch varies...I think it was due to the powerful staccato(sp?) nature of drums.

Once you get an intuitive feel that your instrument pitch varies...and is not neccessarily static like a drum, you will find that other peoples opinion about how you are tuning does not matter nearly as much as your own.

...and then the experimentation starts...record...change slightly...compare....


...wow...im an obsesive compulsive hippie!...lol
 
I tune the drum shells to themselves. Just knock on the middle of the shell and start emulating the tone using the reso side first, then the batter. Tuning a drum to itself is the beginning then you can listen for raising or lowering them to have a balance and coordination in pitches from tom to tom. This is the correct way to tune an acoustic drum and again use suttle chances to ehhance the kit. If your looking to get crazy you can go orchestral and tune to Concert C but I prefer using the individual drums properties to get the best that the drum can produce. Been doing it this way for a long time and my drums always sound great, and the folks always comment on that too. Doc
 
I have a good friend who plays 8,10,12,14 Sonorlites - I couldn't tell you exactly what the intervals are between his tunings, but I know he uses the tune of the First Call fanfare as a guide.
 
I tune the drum shells to themselves. Just knock on the middle of the shell and start emulating the tone using the reso side first, then the batter. Tuning a drum to itself is the beginning then you can listen for raising or lowering them to have a balance and coordination in pitches from tom to tom. This is the correct way to tune an acoustic drum and again use suttle chances to ehhance the kit. If your looking to get crazy you can go orchestral and tune to Concert C but I prefer using the individual drums properties to get the best that the drum can produce. Been doing it this way for a long time and my drums always sound great, and the folks always comment on that too. Doc

i have been trying to do that for quite some time but i just cant make a mental adjustment between the knock on the shell and the sound of teh head. i really have no idea what pitch should i be looking for after i knock on the shell of a drum. how should i try to emulate it on the head?
 
The cool thing about drums is that you can tune to what you want.
I kind of do what Caddy said. I tune until I like the sound. It often depends on the room. I will set up my kit at home and fine tune after set up in the venue.
I have checked the tuning with a piano after I have tuned by ear and I was in the area of thirds. I didn't really care though because they sounded good to me.
I basically tension between med and tight for Jazz and I tune medium for Rock.
I cheat and I use a Drum Dial to get close before I tune by ear.
Sometimes I simply use the set the pitch and turn the tension rods about one half turn method. Then fine tune.
It all depends on my mood and the amount of time that I have to mess around.

I just go with it man!

Sometimes, the next day when I play my kit with the tuning from the night before I say to myself, "What was I thinking!"
Then I say, "Well, They sounded good last night!"

I like to use different resos on my four piece toms. I use an Evans Genera Resonant on the high tom and an Evans EC1 Resonant on the floor tom.
I use Coated G1's for tom batters on my 4 piece.
 
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