You made the statement that tuning sucks. Most people believe things suck because they don't have the mental fortitude or skill sets to really learn how to do them. I always thought algebra and calculus sucked until I learned the basics. You can learn just about anything if you put forward just a little initiative. Drum maintenance and particularly their tuning, deserves the same mind set as actually playing the drums. Just too many want things handed to them on a silver platter without actually putting the time in to hone the craft.
"no gear that can replace skill".
audiotech;965634? said:
Technology is a good thing in most cases, but I have yet to see technology that is better at achieving the goal of tuning a drum that's better or more accurate than the human ear, unless the individual is too lax to try to learn the craft, then I guess anything would sound better than a flat sounding kit. Who ever said that by using some kind of tuning device that it is more efficient? I'll tell you, it's the person that can't tune their kit without some sort of a crutch. It's only more efficient of the individual has no other alternative. It's not a chore if you know what you're doing. In your case it seems as if chore is synonymous with "sucks". I can just picture the individual frantically running around their house looking for their tuning machine which was inadvertently misplaced, broken or has an expired battery, this won't happen with my ears, lol.
Not to be argumentative, but these are the same things people said when the mylar drum head was introduced to replace calf skin;
Why go to plastic?
because calf skin is too inconsistent
No, just learn to tune out the inconsistencies
Because plastic isn't affected by moisture the way calf is
just learn to deal with moisture control and tuning like we've been doing for years
Why not embrace something that will improve the sound?
Because it's not natural!
But using a plastic head is more efficent
It's only more efficient of the individual has no other alternative.
I mean, if you take the mind set this is getting around the craft, then why use plastic heads? Why not go back to tucking your own calf skin heads?
Don't want gear that hands you good sounds to you on a silver platter? Why even buy a drum set? Why not get your own log and hollow it out the way people used to do it?
Because buying a drum set is more efficient than hollowing out our own logs.
It's only more efficient of the individual who don't want to make their own logs.
And please, don't use a pass drum pedal, because that is a modern invention designed to make a single drummer's job easier! It's only more efficient of the individual has no other alternative of a 2nd drummer to play the bass drum part along with them.
. ....tuning, deserves the same mind set as actually playing the drums.
Again, not to be argumentative, but on a philosophical level, why?
As Soup said, tuning is only a means to end, it's not the task it self. Once a drum is tuned, does it matter how it got there?
If two drummers are equal, one the same kit, but drummer a tuned the drums himself, and drummer b had his roadie do it, would anyone be able to tell the difference? No. Would anyone care? No.
So how is the mind set the same as playing?
How many name pros spend much time tuning? Most touring drummers have roadies on the road that do all of the majority it for them. The name studio guys have cartage companies that set up and tune for them. Companies like "The Drum Doctor" exist solely to provide good sounding drums. Which isn't to say pros don't know how to tune, but a lot of them just don't bother to do it themselves.
But back it up, to the 70's: Look at how many legendary drummers made recordings with taped up concert toms, used hydraulic heads, or otherwise had dead/bad sounding drums. Was the tuning the same mind set as the tuning? No, the tuning was horrible, but the playing was great.
Or back up to the 60's when Ringo was using tape and towels and made some of the most popular recordings of all time. Where was the mind set on proper tuning?
Or go to today's over production, where it doesn't matter how well the drums sound, the producer goes back over everything with sound replacement software and quantizes stuff to death. Is the tuning the same mind set as the drumming? Not really.
To say some sort of drum tuner only more efficient of the individual has no other alternative is a rather arbitrary line the sand compared to all the modern products we all use to achieve a better drum sound.
Right before I moved to the next head, I tested around the lugs and all nice in tune. What it's doing for me already is giving me more of an awareness in the tones for each head, and each drum. Which is teaching me lots.
