Tuning.....do re mi fa....?

veggo32 · #1 02-02-2009, 03:51 PM

Just curious from the drummers who tune their drums to notes, what settings have you found to work best for you. I know that sizes (diam.an depth) play a huge factor so it would be good to mention the size of the drum as well.
Right now I have my 10X9 tuned to G# batter, high C reso.
12X10 F# batter, G reso
14X12 D batter, Eflat reso.
14X6.5 snare B batter high A reso.
22X18 tune by ear. reso higher than batter.

Are these intervals ok in your opinions? I'm not familiar too much with fifths and the like. So, this is just going what sounds good to me but again I'ld like to hear about your settings, I would like to experiment a bit more just in case there is room for improvement.
thanks
Frank

timmdrum · #2 02-02-2009, 07:58 PM

I just try to tune to the intervals of "Mary Had A Little Lamb", and with each of my 3 toms ringing about the same length of time. (don't mind if my 14" "hanging" floor rings longer) I sing it when I go around the toms and adjust accordingly.

larryace · #3 02-02-2009, 09:10 PM

Tuning is personal. Depends on the style of music you mainly play too. I like the drum dial, mainly because of (relatively easy) repeatable tunings. I agree with the resos tighter than the batters (sounds tubby to me looser) and as far as the note spacing, I generally do 4ths between the racks, (think "here comes the bride") the toms naturally want to go there assuming a 2" difference between tom sizes. Then for a 3 tom setup, I would tune the floor to an octave of the 10" tom. (That's how I like them, not that it would necessarily fit into your situation) For a 3 tom setup, I like the intervals of the 10, 12, 16 sizes. The 14" doesn't go deep enough for me. I don't really tune to notes per say, I go by the drum dial tensions. I go about 75 on the batter and 83 on the reso for the racks, a little less on the floors, then fine tune to ear

caddywumpus · #4 02-02-2009, 11:29 PM

Tuning is a personal thing. It's also good to tune within the sweet spot of your drums' tuning ranges. I don't even know the notes I tune to on my '70s Ludwig kit, but I find the sweetest ringing spot on the 12" and 14" toms, which is somewhere between a fourth and fifth. As for snares, I tune them how I want them to sound, either tight and cracking or loose and fat-sounding. I could tune for a note, but I like a sound between "tuned for dry" and "tuned for resonance". With my DW kit and its 16/14/12/10 toms, I typically tune them roughly around (low to high): do/mi/sol/ti -or- sol/do/mi/sol. They have such a wide sweet spot that I could tune them in lots of ways, but I choose to stay within these intervals because I like the colors they create.

Birdman · #5 02-02-2009, 11:44 PM

This post might be helpful...

http://forum.tama.com/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=10012

caddywumpus · #6 02-02-2009, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Birdman

This post might be helpful...

http://forum.tama.com/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=10012

I find the "shell note" thing to be of no use. Once you put all of the hardware on a drum, it doesn't sing at that note. I've found all of the note stamps inside my DW kit to be pretty close to the note with all of the hardware off, but way off of the pitch the drum creates when the hardware is on. Maybe if you had a "free-floating" tom with no hardware on it, this might work...

If you're looking for a "shell note" that will have anything to do with how you tune the drum, you should find the pitch the shell resonates at with all of the hardware still on...

timmdrum · #7 02-04-2009, 09:33 AM

I have often pondered exactly that- they won't have the same pitch with the hardware on! Freakin' DW goofballs.

#8 02-04-2009, 05:34 PM

Would a guitar tuner with a mic work for checking notes on heads?

veggo32 · #9 02-04-2009, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Birdman

This post might be helpful...

http://forum.tama.com/Default.aspx?g=posts&t=10012

Birdman, just tuned my snare to e flat batter and f sharp reso. slightly above for the batter and reso than what you recommended (I believe D and G) and it really sounds great. Drum is open it has the crack and batter head is resposive just the way I like it.
D and G sounded great too. I just like a slightly higher pitch. But really, there's not a big difference b/w d and Eflat. Toms sound great too! thanks again.

Frank

Birdman · #10 02-05-2009, 02:08 AM

Ahh, great, good news.

drumtechdad · #11 02-05-2009, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mystic

Would a guitar tuner with a mic work for checking notes on heads?

I've tried chromatic tuners and they're too much trouble. Even when a drum puts out a strong fundamental, the overtones are so prominet that the tuner is often fooled into reading them instead of the pitch you want. You have to hold it over the center of the head, then you have to set it down to pick up your drum key. PITA.

I just use a pitch pipe. If a head is low, I just check lug-to-lug and raise the lower ones; if it's high I lower the high ones. That way I'm improving the lug-to-lug tuning at the same time as I'm zeroing in on the pitch.

cdrums21 · #12 02-11-2009, 03:32 AM

I use a pitch pipe as well. For a detailed explaination of my method, go to the tom tuning thread starting around post #69. I find where the sweet spot is on each drum, then depending on the difference in shell diameter, I go with an interval that is pleasing, if they fall within the sweet spots of the drums...say a third or a fourth. I always tune my resonant side up higher, about a minor third (3 notes) to round out the sound and cut down on overtones. Works great for me and I never use a stitch of muffling on anything except the kick drum (PS 3 with a very small pad just touching both heads), miked up or in the studio. I like an open sound and if you know how to tune, you can control that sound and make it work. Just my 2 cents......