TOM TUNING

[dunchykong]

i have a pacific fxr kit. it says it has true pitch tunning. the 22x18 virgin bass drum has A stamped inside the shell under the date. the 16x14 floor has an A aswell. the 12x9 doesnt say anything under the date, nor does my 14x6 snare, mabee they forgot to stamp them??? anyways, how can i achive these notes with my drums? i tried actually using a guitar tunner but that didnt work well. any suggestions?i love my new kit but tunning is a little off and i know they would sound sweeeet if they were tuned up a bit better.

[Signals]

Originally Posted by dunchykong

i have a pacific fxr kit. it says it has true pitch tunning. the 22x18 virgin bass drum has A stamped inside the shell under the date. the 16x14 floor has an A aswell. the 12x9 doesnt say anything under the date, nor does my 14x6 snare, mabee they forgot to stamp them??? anyways, how can i achive these notes with my drums? i tried actually using a guitar tunner but that didnt work well. any suggestions?i love my new kit but tunning is a little off and i know they would sound sweeeet if they were tuned up a bit better.

I'm not 100% certain about this, but I believe the true pitch means that the lugs have more threads to them, thus more precise tuning can be achieved.

I do not believe they are timber matched like DW's shells.

Perhaps someone else can offer clearer information.

Ed

[rodie]

about the only thing i can recommend would be to have a guitar or bass player play drone notes, and try to pitch-match by ear...normally, with a 5 pc kit, its fairly useless. if you did the terry bozzio thing, or had octobans, you could tune for a true octave, if you're playing a keyboard or guitar duet line. pick a key, tune per note in that key, and play "flight of the bumblebee" along with them.

pitch tuning a standard drum set won't translate as well, since you have large gaps all over the spectrum. trying to fill a 7 note ascending run from 22", 16", 13", and 12" drums won't translate the scale well at all. IMO it's more useful to tune in a general vicinity, simply to compliment the more exact notes of the kb/guitar. let them worry about the specifics...:)

[wooltonboy]

I've noticed that when I'm tuning my 10" tom, I hardly have to put any tension on the rods to get the sound that i like.
I don't tune it particularly high in pitch, but when I get it to my liking, I notice that the tension rods are really quite loose. Is this normal with smaller toms? Like I stated, I don't have it tuned low at all, in fact it's probably a little higher than most people would have it, but I'm amazed at how little tension are on the rods. Also, how do you get rid of that sympathetic snare buzz from this tom?
Any advice?
Cheers
Phil

a 10" tom (maple) is the easiest to tune. My birch works well with a variety of heads.

Single ply coated or clear for higher pitch

Pinstripe, powerstroke 3 or g2 for a fatter, wetter sound.

If it's close to the snare, yes I have had it cause buzz, but cut down on that by detuning, replacing the snares with puresound and getting a hazy 300 for the bottom of the snare.

Getting either a high-ish pitch from the 10" or a fatter sounds is easy on that size drum. I use either resonant glass or evans thin black resos.

I have always found the smaller toms easier to get into the sound range I want than the middle toms.

[wooltonboy]

Any advice for 14" tom tuning?
Since I got my new kit, with sizes of 8,10,12,14,16 I seem to be having a bit of a hard time as to where the 14" floor fits in.
Do I try to tune it low like the floor tom it is, or because I have the 16"floor, do I get it into the "rack tom" range?
I know it's a hard question to answer, because everyone's tuning is different, but of all the toms, this one seems to give me the most grief.
Thanks
Phil

[finnhiggins]

Originally Posted by wooltonboy

Any advice for 14" tom tuning?
Since I got my new kit, with sizes of 8,10,12,14,16 I seem to be having a bit of a hard time as to where the 14" floor fits in.
Do I try to tune it low like the floor tom it is, or because I have the 16"floor, do I get it into the "rack tom" range?
I know it's a hard question to answer, because everyone's tuning is different, but of all the toms, this one seems to give me the most grief.
Thanks
Phil

Go low. My advice would be to just tune each drum to its natural "sweet spot" - bring the tension up until you clear wrinkling and start to get a nice solid tone. If you do that with both the 14" and 16" toms you should get a nice interval between them, while still giving you "floor tom" tone on each of them. Two floors is nice, you can do great Bonham triplet type fills.

IMO a 14" tom should sound like it has a pair. I can't stand it when someone tunes up a 14" and it goes "ding," that's what smaller toms are for. I grew into the world of drumming when a 14" was a formidable sounding tom size...not a lightweight.

Small toms are much better at higher pitches, let them do thier job. The 14" should fit midway between 12 and 16 with no problem.

[wooltonboy]

Originally Posted by Thinshells

IMO a 14" tom should sound like it has a pair. I can't stand it when someone tunes up a 14" and it goes "ding," that's what smaller toms are for. I grew into the world of drumming when a 14" was a formidable sounding tom size...not a lightweight.

Small toms are much better at higher pitches, let them do thier job. The 14" should fit midway between 12 and 16 with no problem.

I think my problem has been where to "fit" the 14" in the mix.
If I do a decending tom roll from 8" to 16", I'm trying to get that "melodic" flow to all the toms.
I'd actually like to get the rack toms up a little higher in pitch, but then should the 14" follow suit, or tune it deeper like a floor tom, therefore having a "drop" from the 12" to the 14"? Surely with a 14x14, I should be able to get somewhat of a deep sound from it?
Maybe it's my tuning of the bootom head. I'm never sure on floor toms how tight the reso should be. There seems to be an equal amount of people who have the reso tighter, as there is looser. The batter on the floor toms always seems to go deeper and more solid sounding when the reso is quite a bit tighter. Anyone else find this?

[sir_wagner]

well I like my reso heads just (very!) slightly looser than the batter...at least i have it that way on my premier kit...can't get my yamaha to sound right anyways ;-)

however the way i like to tune my toms 10;12;14;16 is like the trumpets go...you know like the english hunting theme or whatever...it goes like this: dum dom dim dididim dom dododom dum dom dum boom...well, that helps...doesn't it...you guys must think i'm completely crazy...

complements on that name of yours too...

so long

phil(thy)

[NickB]

I use 4 toms on my set-10", 13", 14", and 16" floor. I want to tume them by pitch so they (for lack of better term), harmonize or, blend in pitch. In the past, I've experimented by loosenening or tightening the TOP heads.. What about the bottom? What purpose does the bottom serve in tuning?

[NUTHA JASON]

please read this website. it really is the required reading of any serious drummer.

THE TUNING BIBLE
http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/

j

[Garvin]

Nice link! Thanks Nutha.

What a great site! An excellent resource!

[wooltonboy]

Just a (maybe silly) question.
What's the average "turn" on the drum key that you folks use when tuning reso's?
I find that on the batter heads, I only need maybe 1/4 to 1/2 a turn on the key (from finger tight), but I find I'm using much more tension on the reso's to get the same pitch.
Should the reso's be at least a full turn on the key?
Phil

Atleast. I don't know how many turns mine have, but my reso's are pretty tight now (atleast I think so)

[wooltonboy]

Originally Posted by fourstringdrums

Atleast. I don't know how many turns mine have, but my reso's are pretty tight now (atleast I think so)

That's what I figured, thanks.
It's just that I've noticed that if I apply even 1 full turn from finger tight, my reso's sound like a tympany, very tight sounding...strange?

Originally Posted by wooltonboy

That's what I figured, thanks.
It's just that I've noticed that if I apply even 1 full turn from finger tight, my reso's sound like a tympany, very tight sounding...strange?

Yea, it's been hard for me to figure out the whole reso tuning thing. It you muffle one head, the other will sound higher, so try holding the drum and hitting the reso without the drum being on the floor, then you'll hear the actual pitch.

[zildjian_dude101]

i like to tune my batter heads a little tighter, like maybe 2 1/2 turns, then i tune my reso heads a little lower, like 2 turns to give it a high to low sound if u know wat i mean

[wooltonboy]

Originally Posted by zildjian_dude101

i like to tune my batter heads a little tighter, like maybe 2 1/2 turns, then i tune my reso heads a little lower, like 2 turns to give it a high to low sound if u know wat i mean

Wow, to me that sounds really tight. I wonder if I'm mistaken on what the term "turn" means?
If the end of one side of the "T" is say pointing "North", one turn to me would mean rotating the key 360 degrees until it's back where you started. Is that what we're all doing?
Because, again, if I used 2 full turns on any of my toms, they surely would sound very very high in pitch. For example, on my rack toms, i use about 1/2 a turn (180 degrees) maximum from just where the tension rod bites into the hoop.
Maybe i have to re-think this tuning thing!...lol Maybe my toms are all way too low in pitch.

[jackothedrummer1]

Tuning is a matter of opinion. Sometimes music calls for higher pitched toms, in Heavy Metal and Funk usually a lower tom. It's just preference. Although, 2-1/2 sounds like a lot......But if sounds good, I'm all for it!

[bubulikan]

hi all...(sorry for my english)

I recently went to a Jack deJohnette Quartet concert and Jack played a Sonor Delite set ( if I' am right you own a Sonor Delite... ) and his toms were tuned VERY high and still sounded amazingly good.... if that is of any help to you

[A thunder of Coxy]

I cant see how its possible to get that great sound we talk of by tuning toms REALLY high. I have Evans EC2's on the batter and Pinstripes on resonant I do tune them quite higher than I used to around 1 and a quarter full turns on each lug, same for resonant but anything past that I get a horrid pingy sound yea prob know what I mean. I was thinking maybe its to do with clear heads, can ye only tune them that high and get great results with only coated heads? Tom sizes 12" rack tom and 14" floor. I tune both the heads on the snare high around 5 full turns on each lug but the snare tuning we know is completely different. Cheers........so a bit of help here? ha ha

[Capitaine Quebec]

Everything depens on which sound you want to get. If you want to get low sound, you will need to tune the reso head a bit more than the batter head. If you tune the batter higher than reso, you will have a more punchy sound. What i suggest, tune the batter head and the reso head the same (Example, 1 turn on both heads) get the sound you like. After adjust the reso head like you want, try to tune it more or less and see what kind of sound you get and what fits you best. Also, the size on the shell will matter in sound, deeper shell will normally sound lower

[♪créme]

i know how to tune toms, but i never can decide whitch pitches to tune them to (i mean BOTH sides) can anyone help me out?

[Mike Firth]

I do the warm sound, i just keep the reso low pitch, and the batter about a pitch higher than the resonant

[Stert]

what i like to do is tune the reso side a fair bit higher than the batter side. this way the sound bounces off the reso head a bit harder. personally this is the only way i will tune my toms.

i think bonham did this too, if i remember right. i think i saw it on a drummerworld video actualy.

my drum teacher showed me this a long time ago

[Danny]

i also tune my toms with the reso side extremely high, and the batter side a hair less high than the reso. It really opens up the sound. If you barely tap the drums, they all sound high pitched, but when you hit them you get a VERY loud, open, warm tone...for some reason it makes me feel like i'm really getting the sound that should be coming out of the drum when i tune them this way... It's the best way i've found so far to tune the toms. (that sounds good to me)

[Drummin_Dan]

It really depends on the tone you want. If you want lots of action, the reso head would be higher because of quicker responce. If you want more projection and a larger sound, you would tune the reso lower. I usually have my lower head a 1/2 step lower than the upper side. Also, I only have 3 toms, do I tune them a 5th apart to get a larger range. It's really a matter of taste.

[♪créme]

thanx guys, but what is the batter side/reso side? which is the upper/ lower

[THIEB]

the reso is the lower ( the one you don't hit) and the batter is the opposite( the upper one)

[the rich]

I'd say always keep the reso tighter than the batter. Even if just a little.

[Berberman]

i recomend this site: http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/
the drum turning bible. That says it all

happy tunning.

[PearlZildjian757]

hey guys, i was wondering how to get that nice "doo" sound out of the toms, or do i just have to experiment tuning. thanks

[rock_drummer91]

Just curious, what kind of head is on your tom(s)?

[PearlZildjian757]

um i think single ply pearl protone head

[Ashbash]

have a look at this site
http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/

[PearlZildjian757]

thanks and oh yea they're clear heads not coated incase you needed to know that

[RudimentalDrummer]

Originally Posted by PearlZildjian757

hey guys, i was wondering how to get that nice "doo" sound out of the toms, or do i just have to experiment tuning. thanks

Guess you have to loosen the Batter quite loosely, put e-ring on the toms, paste Tapes on it to get that doo.oo kinda sound. It's ok actually for now till you change New & Better Heads and by then you might not want the doo.oo kinda sound anymore

Your Batter is Pearl Protone ... what about your Resonant ... is it also Protone (a batter or a resonant)?.

Originally Posted by RudimentalDrummer

is it also Protone (a batter or a resonant)?.

The protone is a crappy stock pearl batter head. (UGH) rather than a "Doo" from his toms with that head, he'll just get doo-doo.

Invest in some Aquarians or other quality heads. The protones gotta go.