The "tuning line" method

Larry

Larry

"Uncle Larry"
I've never had an original thought in my life, however, I did come up with a method of tuning that I really like. I call it the "tuning line" method. It addresses the problem of getting the head parallel in all 360 degrees.

Assuming the rods are well lubed and turn silky smooth what I do is...

I rest a finger dead center of the head and tap the lugs that are 180 degrees apart. This makes a harmonic tone by virtue of the finger.

I select the best sounding "tuning line" by resting a finger at the center of the head and tapping at opposite lugs.

If lug A is 180 degrees opposite of lug B...I tap at lug A. Then I tap at lug B. I want them to sonically match perfectly. I use my ear. I adjust them if necessary by bringing up the lower pitch. When they match sonically, one tuning line is "done". This helps to ensure an evenly seated head all the way around.

To clarify, when I rest my fingertip on the center of the head and tap near the lugs, I am comparing harmonic notes (the reason for the finger in the center) I can do this with the bottom head muffled or not.

I then repeat it on the next "tuning line". A 6 lug drum has 3 tuning lines, an 8 lug drum has 4 tuning lines, a 10 lug drum has 5 tuning lines


Once they all match, then I decide if the drum is tuned too high or too low and adjust from there

I'm not getting in to the reso head aspect except to say that the reso head harmonic on my drums is a full octave higher than the batter side harmonic. My preference, it's not part of the tuning line method. You can tune the reso a 3rd, 4th, 5th or an octave higher (or lower if that's your jam) than the batter. I find that these intervals make the best tones from a drum.

I don't use this method on my snare side. I just crank it to a certain note I have memorized. I've been doing it like this for the last 15 years

This concludes the original post :)
 
larryace said:
I've never had an original thought in my life, however, I did come up with a method of tuning that I really like. I call it the "tuning line" method. It addresses the problem of getting the head parallel in all 360 degrees.

Assuming the rods are well lubed and turn silky smooth what I do is...

I rest a finger dead center of the head and tap the lugs that are 180 degrees apart. This makes a harmonic tone by virtue of the finger.

I select the best sounding "tuning line" by resting a finger at the center of the head and tapping at opposite lugs.

If lug A is 180 degrees opposite of lug B...I tap at lug A. Then I tap at lug B. I want them to sonically match perfectly. I use my ear. I adjust them if necessary by bringing up the lower pitch. When they match sonically, one tuning line is "done". This helps to ensure an evenly seated head all the way around.

To clarify, when I rest my fingertip on the center of the head and tap near the lugs, I am comparing harmonic notes (the reason for the finger in the center) I can do this with the bottom head muffled or not.

I then repeat it on the next "tuning line". A 6 lug drum has 3 tuning lines, an 8 lug drum has 4 tuning lines, a 10 lug drum has 5 tuning lines


Once they all match, then I decide if the drum is tuned too high or too low and adjust from there

I'm not getting in to the reso head aspect except to say that the reso head harmonic on my drums is a full octave higher than the batter side harmonic. My preference, it's not part of the tuning line method. You can tune the reso a 3rd, 4th, 5th or an octave higher (or lower if that's your jam) than the batter. I find that these intervals make the best tones from a drum.

I don't use this method on my snare side. I just crank it to a certain note I have memorized. I've been doing it like this for the last 15 years

This concludes the original post :)
Click to expand...
I don’t wanna read this, Larry. Make a video and show me this amazing technique.

Show Me GIF by Shania Twain
 
That's actually kinda brilliant. I tune opposite lugs together as if they were a string across the head that must stay even, but never thought to test them that way. More original thoughts, please!
 
I've never tried muffling the head with my finger in the middle. I don't know what a 3rd 5th or octave is but after playing for 50 years I feel like I can tune my drums pretty good. I'll have to try the finger thing in the middle of the head, sounds like it makes good sense.
 
I do the middle finger, too, and it definitely helps you focus more on the lug pitch and not the overtones. But my drums lately have been giving me the middle finger back.

I don’t know if I think too much about it or what, but I have been trying to get more used to higher tunings and nothing I do seems to work out because the overtones drive me mental.
 
I usually put the drum on my lap to muffle the bottom head and get an undistorted sound to tune with (no overtones or effects from the other head). Then I flip the drum on my lap to do the other head. Are you saying the finger press does the same thing?
Or are you just pressing it down in the center to make sure it's seated evenly?

You mentioned one thing that I always do.. like tuning a guitar.. I always tune 'up' .. like a tuning peg, it will hold better if you loosen the lug and tune up to the right pitch.. especially on looser tom heads.
 
moxman said:
I usually put the drum on my lap to muffle the bottom head and get an undistorted sound to tune with (no overtones or effects from the other head). Then I flip the drum on my lap to do the other head. Are you saying the finger press does the same thing?
Or are you just pressing it down in the center to make sure it's seated evenly?

You mentioned one thing that I always do.. like tuning a guitar.. I always tune 'up' .. like a tuning peg, it will hold better if you loosen the lug and tune up to the right pitch.. especially on looser tom heads.
Click to expand...
The finger doesn't do the same thing as the drum on your lap or the carpet. When I do mute the opposite head I'm working on, I still use the finger. It seems to give me an easier tone to discern. It's not necessary, but I find it helps me a little, you know since I do this by ear only.
cbphoto said:
I don’t wanna read this, Larry. Make a video and show me this amazing technique.

Show Me GIF by Shania Twain
Click to expand...
Hey man I'll try. I'm usually not a video person, and I still want to do an expose of my Origin drums, but I'll get to it sometime this year lol.
 
moxman said:
I usually put the drum on my lap to muffle the bottom head and get an undistorted sound to tune with (no overtones or effects from the other head). Then I flip the drum on my lap to do the other head. Are you saying the finger press does the same thing?
Or are you just pressing it down in the center to make sure it's seated evenly?

You mentioned one thing that I always do.. like tuning a guitar.. I always tune 'up' .. like a tuning peg, it will hold better if you loosen the lug and tune up to the right pitch.. especially on looser tom heads.
Click to expand...
He’s gently pressing in the middle to cut down on the many stray overtones. Not even pressing…just laying a finger down gently. You can get a similar effect with a gel in the middle, too.
 
Intriguing method. It's probably similar to what the tune-bot is doing though the head seating phase in entirely the responsibility of the person doing the tuning.

I have, on occasion, put a small piece of moongel or cloth in the center of the head (drum resting on carpet or drum throne) to mute some of the overtones, then I clear the head using the tune-bot. I find the lug that sounds best to me then flip the tune-bot into "difference" mode and bring the others up or down accordingly, usually in a star pattern.

With regards to intervals between heads, I find that a Perfect 5th gives a nice open sound with a good amount of sustain. On more resonant drums such as Gretsch Renowns, a Perfect 4th between heads will shorten the sustain a wee bit and cut down on the amount of damping required.

As identified by Larry, the important things are to 1) seat the head properly and 2) clear the heads in order to create nice rich tones free of unpleasant overtones.
 
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This is funny.. for decades I’ve said I used a 3rd as an interval between heads .. and even toms.. using ‘twinkle twinkle’ as my reference. Good thing I checked before posting today - as ‘twinkle twinkle is a 5th!
I must have mixed it up ages ago and just stuck with it Lol.. at the end of the day no biggie.. but maybe now Ill remember it!
 
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