SomeBadDrummer
Platinum Member
At work today listened to the entire album versions of the truth it is excellent.
Some good advice here, too, if you haven't seen it yet:Dear Mr Harrison,
I need help trying to be creative with drum parts. Because it’s mostly the guitarist who writes the drum parts, and I add on if I wish. What can I do?
I’ve already seen it, but I’m dealing with someone with differing music tasteSome good advice here, too, if you haven't seen it yet:
Also Gavin one more question, what are your thoughts on modern metal drummers like Tomas Haake and Matt Halpern?
and who would you prefer Bonham or Peart? if you don’t mind me asking.
Hello Gavin!
Your drum kit sounds perfect for most of us. How do you tune your resonant drum head against the batter side? I see your toms have e-a-c-e-a tuning. But what about snare and bass drum? Are there some secrets to tuning them?
Thanks for your reply.
Hello Gavin, my name is Samuel and I'm from France.
I'm currently struggling to tune my drums : they are pearl master custom mmx : 10", 12", 13", 16", 22".
I was aiming for a sound similar to yours : The reso heads are all old but since they're reso I haven't changed them (it's a second hand drumset).
On top of toms I use remo vintage emperor coated, and on the kick I use a remo powerstroke 3, with the sonor beater and an evans kickpad to protect the head.
What happens when you go bigger in size of toms ? I have noticed that the bigger I go, the less I like to crank the head. My 10" and 12" are tuned to fingertight +1/2 turn and my 13" and 16" are just fingertight. Is it something you do ?
Do you tune all your reso heads the same ? Or does it depend of the tom ? I enjoy the sound of my 10" and 12" but I just can't get the same feel out of the 13" and 16"...
Do you still muffle your bass drum just with a heavy pillow ? If yes, is it touching both heads ? Or even leaning on the reso head ? Any advice on bass drum muffling ?
Sorry if that's a lot of questions ^^'
Thanks in advance !
*goes back to eating cheese on a baguette*
Hey Gavin !Hi Samuel
can you give me a bit more info? What heads are on the reso sides of the toms? What are the depths of the drums?
Personally, I don't tune by 'finger tight +' method. It's a bit too random for me.
Certainly I tune the reso heads differently between the toms.
Regarding muffling of the bass drum. For the past few years I have been using KickPro Pillow https://kickpropillow.com/ plus a small pillow that lays behind it. That is because I use internal bass drum mics and you need to eliminate the 'standing wave' "ping" sound that you can get from an empty drum when the mic is inside. The second pillow sometimes touches the front head - or I use a device (currently being developed for manufacturing) to keep the pillow away from the front head - if I want the front head to ring.
enjoy your baguette !!!
cheers
Gavin
Hi SamuelHey Gavin !
I did some measurements :
Tom tom : 10"x8" (Top Remo vintage coated, Reso Remo clear ambassador)
Tom tom : 12"x9" (Top Remo vintage coated, Reso Remo clear ambassador)
Tom tom : 13"x10" (Top Remo vintage coated, Reso Remo clear ambassador)
Floor tom : 16"x14" (Top Remo vintage coated, Reso Remo Pinstripe clear)
Bass drum : 22"x18" (Top Remo Powerstroke 3 clear, Reso Remo Master head)
I plan on replacing the pinstripe with a clear ambassador, and to pierce the remo master head with a 5" hole.
I placed a heavy blanket inside the bass drum wich muffles it(it touches both heads). I'm getting close to you, but not quite there(I'm using white mist and sonor performance drum videos as my references). I don't know how to get closer.
It doesn't need more muffling clearly. How is your bass drum tuned ? I just did tuned it finger tight, do you actually crank it on the top or reso side ?
After cleaning the whole drumset, I put the heads back on and of course, it sounds terrible because every head is just put on finger tight.
For toms, do you tune the top head before putting the reso head on ? It would make a lot of sense, because I can't tune proprely the top one with the reso head on. I just tried and failed.
Thanks for yesterday, I couldn't answer quickly because I have no clue how to mesure depth in a drumset.
*stops eating baguette and cheese because of a diet, but clearly still loves them*
Hey Gavin !Hi Samuel
it looks like you have sensible drum sizes and good head choice (apart from the Pinstripe on the reso side of the floor tom).
I always tune the reso head first. Also make sure that you have completely muted the opposite head by placing the drum on your lap so you can only hear the head you are working on.
As far as getting them close to the tuning I use - you could match the 10" and 12" and just adapt the others as they bigger.
here are clear recordings of my isolated heads
in these recordings the drums were resting on a large towel so that the head on the other side of drum is not heard. I play each side and reference a pitch - in case you have a piano or something close to hand. The pitches that drums make are not easy to hear because of all the complex overtones. At the end of each recording I hit the drum with a stick. The mic is a vocal mic (Shure SM58) and quite a distance from the head - so you can hear that the lower drums sound pretty thin because of that.
also here's a video I made a few years ago about the Sonor Protean snare drum - but it does show my method of tuning with two keys...
Bass drum tuning is not easy to recognise but I certainly have the batter head on a lot tighter than 'finger tight'.
best of luck !
Gavin
Yes it works perfectly now !OK I think I've fixed the SoundCloud link in my previous post.
Happy Holidays Everyone !
Gavin