philrudd
Senior Member
Do y'all have any particular rules about tuning for an outdoor gig? I'm talking the pure instrument sound, not including PA of any kind (I just did an outdoor gig yesterday and there was no mic'ing of any kind - no singer in this band).
I haven't figured it out yet, but it's clear to me that playing outdoors, the drums seem to require a little different tweaking than when playing indoors. For example:
- I find the snare ring is more pronounced in an outdoor setting, so I tend to loosen the snare's batter head. It seems to have more 'thwack' that way, though inside, I tend to tighten the snare pretty tight.
- Toms are opposite: I find myself tuning higher on toms; when the top heads are too loose, they don't seem to project as easily as they do in an indoor venue.
- Bass drum seems to require the least amount of tweaking. The biggest problem I've had is when playing a small kit in an outdoor setting - it's difficult to get the 'boom' out of a small bass drum when there are no walls/ceiling to provide reverb.
I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this, especially with things starting to open back up again and gigs becoming available. I've played several outdoor gigs in the past couple of months, and while I'm not disappointed at the way my kit sounds in these settings, I feel I can do better.
I haven't figured it out yet, but it's clear to me that playing outdoors, the drums seem to require a little different tweaking than when playing indoors. For example:
- I find the snare ring is more pronounced in an outdoor setting, so I tend to loosen the snare's batter head. It seems to have more 'thwack' that way, though inside, I tend to tighten the snare pretty tight.
- Toms are opposite: I find myself tuning higher on toms; when the top heads are too loose, they don't seem to project as easily as they do in an indoor venue.
- Bass drum seems to require the least amount of tweaking. The biggest problem I've had is when playing a small kit in an outdoor setting - it's difficult to get the 'boom' out of a small bass drum when there are no walls/ceiling to provide reverb.
I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on this, especially with things starting to open back up again and gigs becoming available. I've played several outdoor gigs in the past couple of months, and while I'm not disappointed at the way my kit sounds in these settings, I feel I can do better.