Why do drummers care what their drums sound like?

mmulcahy1

Platinum Member
Seriously, is there anybody else in the world who cares except us? If a guitar is out of tune, people notice. If a piano/keyboard is out of tune, people notice. Nobody, even other musicians, cares if the drums are out of tune so why do we bother? As long as the drums have enough separation in sound (pitch) shouldn't that be good enough?

This is strictly for discussion purposes because I know WE all care. But with the exception of other drummers, nobody else would even notice - not even other band members.

Drums go BOOM, Cymbals go Pssshh
 
For the same reason drums are mic'ed. We all say that the drummers job is to keep the band together. If this were the case the only people who would need to hear them would be the other musicians. we are part of the band so we need to sound good.`
 
I have a sound in my head that I want my drums and cymbals to sound like. When my instruments match that sound I'm happy and I play better when I'm happy. Does it bother me that no one else might notice or care? No, but I do appreciate it when I hear someone tell that they DO like my sound.

I don't think "nobody" else cares about how drums sound besides ourselves. I'm more likely to agree that some people (both musician and non musician alike) care about instrument tone and some do not, and there are degrees of how much they care, and perhaps some instruments more than others.

Most of my friends that are musicians, both drummers and non-drummers, have an opinion about different instruments' sounds or tone, drums included, and can explain why they think one sound might be more pleasing over another. Maybe that's a "you either have it or you don't" kind of a thing...
 
I think anyone who's played music for while have an idea of what they like. In certain musical situations the tone of the drums take a lot of the space in the music.

When I played at the local church, just a switch from light brushes to a slightly heavier pair makes a huge difference.
 
Well it takes me back to 2003 when first got my drums that was going to be my kit once I could set it all up.

I set it up shortly as a 5 pcs. with borrowed stuff from my then drummer. I was a guitarist getting into drums and getting into it.

I knew that it did not sound to good due to my skills and tuning but tension screws were new to me. I can still recall my bass player coming by and saying you got to get them in tune and I agreed. It was not very inspiring at all not practice nor how it sounded.

I got the hardware and a Tama tension watch.

Spend some 30 minutes on all drums and wrote the numbers down. I noticed the difference right away and so did the other musicians comming by. Kind of wow that kit sounds awesome and for the people trying they enjoyed it as well. I also demonstrated the tension watch on my drummers 72 Ludwig 16*16 floor tom. Comparing it to my Granstar it sounded close.

I also recall rehearsing the trio playing guitar and the drummer on my kit being in front. If it sounds great it inspires and it did. The next day we played our final gig and the drummer just borrowed the kit that was there. Not to good as it was taped up and hardly saying anything at all.

If does not sound right it is not right and so you have to work with it.
 
I pretty much just tune my drums good for my enjoyment and satisfaction only. No one else that I'm around really can seem to tell the difference between well-tuned drums and poorly-tuned drums.

It's a real de-motivator to me when drums that I'm playing don't sound at least decent.
 
Seriously, is there anybody else in the world who cares except us? with the exception of other drummers, nobody else would even notice - not even other band members.

Many times you are correct that no one seems to care.
I have been to many open mic jams where the drum set sounds hideous and dreadful. I play and most of the time I get complimented on my playing. Which I guess proves the point. And it also proves that it is more about how you play the drums rather than how they sound as individual pieces.

I often get complimented on how good my drum set sounds. But this almost always comes from other drummers.

As someone here has said, being happy with the sound of your drums helps you play better. And this is a very important point.


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Why? My take is because drums can sound so bad, and do, most of the time. (talking live drums), that anyone who's serious about drumming, probably wants to improve the tone for their own satisfaction mainly. Plus drums are a lump of clay, there's no standard at all. It's still the Wild West when it comes to tone.

There's not many instruments that you have to acquire some pretty involved mechanical skills....just to get a pure sound out of it.

A well tuned kit doesn't happen by itself. No one except drummers and the like could possibly appreciate what goes into it.

It's an unforgiving instrument. You have to impart every last thing to the drum, right down to the very tone itself.

It's not anything like a Fender where you can strum a great chord out of a nice amp and instantly sound like a pro (not necessarily play like one)

You really can't compare them to anything else, drums are in a class by themselves in regards to the tone you get from them. All stringed, and wind instruments are basically tuned the same within each family. You can't really say that about drums. Each drum can be tuned high medium or low, with a pure fundamental or unfocused and full of o-tones, resonant or dead, etc.

Lump o' clay. Which is actually pretty cool because without even trying, for better or worse, a drummers tone is like a snowflake, unique.

That said, the way the drummer plays can TOTALLY compensate for even the worst sounding kit imaginable, and in fact should be able to make musical magic as readily with a dismal sounding kit as with a great sounding kit. Indian not arrow again.
 
Seriously, is there anybody else in the world who cares except us? If a guitar is out of tune, people notice. If a piano/keyboard is out of tune, people notice. Nobody, even other musicians, cares if the drums are out of tune so why do we bother? As long as the drums have enough separation in sound (pitch) shouldn't that be good enough

When I played in a big band at uni, the director said "The drums have to play perfectly in time, everyone else has to play perfectly in tune. That's just the way it is."

Based on that advice, the answer would be no - no-one cares what the drums sound like.
 
I somewhat concur with the OP but, although people don't seem to know what the drums sound like, they will at least subconsciously like better sounding music.

I could go out every night of the week and hear out of tune drums and a bad mix. Given the choice, I'd rather hear bad drums than a bad mix.



being happy with the sound of your drums helps you play better.
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Absolutely.
 
I think that the term "tuning" is slightly wrong for drums.

Perhaps the term 'toning' might be better. Tuned instruments tune for a note. Guitarists get their guitars in tune in a matter of minutes, and then spend their lifetimes looking for the combination of instrument, strings, guitar setup, pedals amp and speakers to give them the tone that they want.

Drummers spend their lives striving for the right sound. A mix of attack, sustain and fundamental note. Most people don't hear it because it is analogous to the guitar's tone, and most people won't hear the difference between a single coil pickup and humbucker either.
 
I care. But there is a differentiation between 'tuning' and 'tensioning'. If you subscribe to the theory that a drum cannot be tuned to a specific note, then all you can do is tension the heads to get a nice tone out of the drum. And usually I think this is all that matters. When I put new heads on a kit, I'm not going for specific notes, I'm going for a nice ringing tone and a good feel so I'm not defeating myself by having to work too hard to make the drum sound. So in this case, I'm making the drums sound good. Kinda' like how a piano always sounds like a piano (but the piano has the added value of being 'in tune'). You know what a piano sounds like when the tuning goes out, and drums seem to suffer the same in the tone department when their tensioning goes out of whack. So that's what I care about, and I really feel other people notice, because of all the other intangibles that result because of it, like a happy drummer, a happy band, the groove, whether or not the listener is tapping their feet, etc.,.....
 
I've heard folks say, "You can TUNE drums?....Really?", quite a few times, from both musicians and non-musicians, after explaining about tuning them. Most people have no idea that they can, or need, to be tuned.

That said, I would be willing to bet that a good drum sound improves the audience's listeni g experience whether they realise it or not. Much like a good, tight drumming performance will make an audience think a band sounds good, even though they may not be all that aware of the drums at all.

Same with a good or bad sound man. Chances are if the sound is good then most beer drinking show-goers will think the band is pretty good. If the sound is terrible then they will think the band stinks.
 
I think that the term "tuning" is slightly wrong for drums.

Perhaps the term 'toning' might be better. Tuned instruments tune for a note. Guitarists get their guitars in tune in a matter of minutes, and then spend their lifetimes looking for the combination of instrument, strings, guitar setup, pedals amp and speakers to give them the tone that they want.

Drummers spend their lives striving for the right sound. A mix of attack, sustain and fundamental note. Most people don't hear it because it is analogous to the guitar's tone, and most people won't hear the difference between a single coil pickup and humbucker either.

This is a fair statement, and I think is a more accurate analogy. Its like...does your typical audience member care if its a Marshall or Mesa amp?

Same idea.
 
I tend to tune my drums after I get the desired tension evened out. I just set a nearby pitch and do increments. The only reason to change the key of the drum would be if the song is at odds with the kit . As a former guitarist, EADG come to my ear naturally, and anything else is just counting increments off a reference note. Tuning to pitch is really a 2-minute touch up on an even tensioned kit.

I agree that it's all a mater of personal preference, but since I intuitively memorize chains of notes as a melody, it really helps me relate to the instrument.
 
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That said, I would be willing to bet that a good drum sound improves the audience's listeni g experience whether they realise it or not.
This is a key statement here. Many in the audience may not appreciate why they like or dislike a drum sound, or even if the drums are the responsible / contributing element, but they sure have an internal like / dislike switch, & drum sound is definitely a part of that to a greater or lesser degree. Drums that are clear voiced & produce satisfying lows - when played well - appeal to the guttural side of an audience's primeval response.

Additionally, of course, other musicians you're working with notice big time. If they don't, I question their status as a musician (as opposed to a -----ist who's only interest is promoting themselves / their own instrument). Musicians make music, & the "quality" of that music is the responsibility of everyone involved in making it. I expect players I'm working with to notice my sound, just as I would notice a guitar or keyboard sound as being satisfying or not.

Finally, yes, we notice / care, & that has a profound affect on our playing, both in terms of personal pleasure, and the ability to really work dynamics / tonal nuance.
 
I'm still very much at the beginning of my journey towards being a drummer but I certainly care how my drums sound. I've spent hours tuning them to get them to a sound that I like.

I do accept the point about others perhaps not caring how they sound. My wife doesn't really care, that much I do know.

I'd like to hear Tom Sawyer played with Neil's kit way out of tune to see the affect it would have on the track. Anyone have his number such that I can ask him to give it a go for us?

:)
 
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