Sympathetic snare buzz, any real cures?

Jasta 11

Jasta 11

Well-known Member
So we play a lot of tight spaces and my guitar player likes to lean his amd against my hi hat leg. It almost under my snare. This creates a lot of buzz during guitar intros etc. Sometimes i turn off the snares and back on again right as i start but i can still hear a lot of buzz during the songs. I switched to those pure sound snares with the middle section missing which is supposed to almost elminate the buzz but i found it to be a waste of money. goo snares but didnt do te trick.

Aside from asking him not to put his amp there, not an option, does anyone have practicle solution for eliminating the buzz? Its not a slight buzz but very loud..

my snare is an LM402 supra if that matters.
 
its such a small "stage" area, in next to the popcorn machine, the old large wagon style machine and have to squeeze in and out of my spot during break. his amp would be in the way if it were moved , the wheel of the stupid popcorm machine is sort of even with my set up and he would have no where to stand, its just not an ideal spot the way we set up, i wont even get into the fact that we have to move the upright piano out of the way in order to set up. The worst buzz is at this venue, but it is audable when his amp is further away too.
 
Yeah, there's no real "cure" for that other than moving his amp. The wires have to react at some sympathetic frequency or they wouldn't really do what they are supposed to do.

Time to get your creative brains on about amp placement or maybe even the voices you use with the kit.

Or take jda's advice above. 😁
 
I know a lot of people will disagree, because it's happened before, but I can only speak from my personal experience: cut out 4-6 of the middle strands of wires from your snare set, crank the reso just shy of choking the drum, and adjust the wire tension a bit to make up for the now tighter wires.

The above method has not completely eliminated all sympathetic buzz but it has reduced it by easily 90% in every snare drum I have ever owned regardless of depth, diameter, shell composition, head selection, and tuning.
 
roncadillac said:
I know a lot of people will disagree, because it's happened before, but I can only speak from my personal experience: cut out 4-6 of the middle strands of wires from your snare set, crank the reso just shy of choking the drum, and adjust the wire tension a bit to make up for the now tighter wires.

The above method has not completely eliminated all sympathetic buzz but it has reduced it by easily 90% in every snare drum I have ever owned regardless of depth, diameter, shell composition, head selection, and tuning.
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He's using the Puresound version of the wires you're describing. It doesn't seem to do enough in his situation.

May still tinker with tuning, but the snares have to be able to vibrate to work, and at some frequencies and volume, outside sound sources might activate them.
 
I’ve done like Noncadillac cutting snare wires but I loosened reso instead of choking it. I’ve also stuck those two inch felt chair circles for leg cushions to reso to help dampen. What I discovered is if I eliminate all snare buzz it doesn’t sound like a snare. That’s why people demonstrate a kit with snare wires on and off- cause you always have some buzz. That’s the buzz I’ve heard lol
 
I’ve experimented with tight and loose heads and wires, and cutting the middle wires, and I got much better results by adjusting the four lugs at the ends of the wires. Tighter or looser depending on the snare bed shape and reso tuning.

Also, learning to love and accept a moderate amount of sympathetic buzz. You “can” choke a snare to where there’s little buzz, but it will sound like crap when you’re playing.
 
Take a few moments with the guitar player and determine which notes are causing the worst buzzing. Ideally there's just one real culprit. Have them play/hold that note while you tune your snare a little bit to reduce the buzz. It shouldn't significantly change the sound of the snare. Then go through all of the notes again to make sure you haven't crossed over into another problem frequency.
 
bongoman said:
Also, learning to love and accept a moderate amount of sympathetic buzz. You “can” choke a snare to where there’s little buzz, but it will sound like crap when you’re playing.
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Yep, a little snare buzz is part of the kit's sound. Sometimes it's very subtle, but it's noticeable.

To demonstrate, try this: release the wires, then go around the toms and kick and see how they sound. :)
 
bermuda said:
Take a few moments with the guitar player and determine which notes are causing the worst buzzing. Ideally there's just one real culprit. Have them play/hold that note while you tune your snare a little bit to reduce the buzz. It shouldn't significantly change the sound of the snare. Then go through all of the notes again to make sure you haven't crossed over into another problem frequency.
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there are certain tones that he plays that create this loud cresendo from the snare wires and i can feel the top head, which is tight, vibrate as well. Ill have to ask him next time and try this, thanks Bermuda!
 
Al Strange said:
The snare isn’t the problem here. Take that electric twanger to one side and calmly say, “Hey man, I don’t mean to be a “buzzkill” but could you move your amp away from my snare or TURN IT DOWN!!” Don’t say please, it’ll only antagonise him… :D (y)
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jda said:
not only that- why doesn't he put his amp in front of your drums
His amp that close to your ears is a lawsuit 😁
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its such a wird set up, im facing the singer sort of along the wall, its a corner but i cant fit sideways so im sort of tucked in there and the amp head and monitor are in front of me so no room for his amp there. then the singers guitar amp, bass amp then a door! our bass player stands in front of the door while playing, its nuts!
 
I found an older pic of our setup there. The floor to the right is more of a walkway, there are tables just out of frame and people fill this space dancing. His amp is on my stand and there is no room in front of the kit, the monitor is very close as well as the PA head. that STUPID popcorn machine is the bane of our existance, he has to stand right in front of his amp because people come up to the glass door which is out of frame and get popcorn during songs. His pedal board is under the machine too. One time it burned up during one of our gigs, some wiring and they took it away to get fixed, we spread out and it was awesome...until it came back! Also it butts up against a fireplace so it cant move either. The bottom left of the pic is a wooden box that covers the piano caster wheels, that door runner is in front of the door. We love this place though!!!!
the gris.jpg
 
Jasta 11 said:
I found an older pic of our setup there. The floor to the right is more of a walkway, there are tables just out of frame and people fill this space dancing. His amp is on my stand and there is no room in front of the kit, the monitor is very close as well as the PA head. that STUPID popcorn machine is the bane of our existance, he has to stand right in front of his amp because people come up to the glass door which is out of frame and get popcorn during songs. His pedal board is under the machine too. One time it burned up during one of our gigs, some wiring and they took it away to get fixed, we spread out and it was awesome...until it came back! Also it butts up against a fireplace so it cant move either. The bottom left of the pic is a wooden box that covers the piano caster wheels, that door runner is in front of the door. We love this place though!!!!
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Nice kit!
 
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