Tune Bot - Worthwhile or Not?

not so sure of the utility for a simple reason: I always feel that drum tuning/tension varies a lot with the stage/room I play my drums on. A more resonating tom may have to be corrected in a roomy stage, and a lot of times a single bolt slightly tuned is enough.

So having a "mathematic" formula/scheme to tune will result almost effortless.
 
I just made an impulse purchase of a Resotune machine because when I trotted past the website he is selling some machines with "cosmetic flaws" for $99 US/delivered.

Since I've always thunk them tuning machines were a bunch o' hooey, I might just end up being one of those people like CompactDrums or Les, expounding on the virtues of this silly contraption.

Stay tuned.
(literally?)
 
I vote tunebot.. If it is making it harder to tune your using it wrong. It saves me a ton of time and gets it very close to where I want it.

Then I may tweak it a tad by ear.

also, when you change your heads you grab the lug pitch of the reso and batter, swap it, tune it back to the exact same pitch and save all the time.


Just learn how to use it properly. Also experiment with higher and lower reso, low and high tunings, and find out what heads at what tuning make your drums sound the best.
 
Over the years I've used a few different tuners to help my tuning. I have an old book from the late 80's on tuning and it's hysterically bad to read now.

Most of the arguments against the tunebot seem to completely ignore the tuning calculator they have on their website which will give you lots of different settings to experiment with, which pretty much shoots down all the arguments that it stifles experimentation. I've tried lots of different settings and then when I found a set that I liked for a particular kit, I wrote them down and now I have them every time. Also, If I tried out a friends kit and like his tuning, 2 taps, and I know what it is and can try it at home.

Torque Wrenches. Every time I change my heads I inspect and grease my lugs and I've never had an overly sticky lug. If I did, I'd give it a pass with a tap or die and sort that out. Maybe being a long time motorcycle guy, I enjoy doing routine maintenance I guess.

I have a little Rhythm Tech: Protorq Drum Key - that I'm not really a fan of, but it's ok if you play with it. it came free when I bought some gear so I have it around, but it seems a bit cheap to me.

I also have a Regal Tip Drum Torque, that I used for years gigging. I used to store my gig kit in the garage all winter and the drums would be pretty out of tune when I brought them into a bar. I had the ideal torque for me written in sharpie on every head. I'd pull the drum out of the case, give each lug a quick check, and then put it on my stand. Probably added 5 minutes to my setup time and everything always was in tune. It took a while to get the settings I liked but again, I'm all about repeat-ability. I don't really use it now that I have my tune bot, but I also don't gig as much, and my drums live inside now, so I tune them up the night before a gig.
 
I've been playing since 1972 and have never used such a device to help me tune a set of drums. However, now that I have a fair amount of disposable income, I'm debating dropping $100 to try it out. I figure all the positive reviews can't all be from people who've learned how to tune, so I'm intrigued to try it.

I suppose I can return it if I find it doesn't help me any. But I'll reserve judgment until I try it out. If spending $100 is tough for you now, maybe hold off and work with what you have for now.
 
I just made an impulse purchase of a Resotune machine because when I trotted past the website he is selling some machines with "cosmetic flaws" for $99 US/delivered.

Since I've always thunk them tuning machines were a bunch o' hooey, I might just end up being one of those people like CompactDrums or Les, expounding on the virtues of this silly contraption.

Stay tuned.
(literally?)

I've been very interested in the Resotune since that long post a while back by Compact drums, and I saw that scratch and dent special. I'm curious how well it works. keep us posted.
 
I'm debating dropping $100 to try it out. I figure all the positive reviews can't all be from people who've learned how to tune, so I'm intrigued to try it.

I suppose I can return it if I find it doesn't help me any. But I'll reserve judgment until I try it out. If spending $100 is tough for you now, maybe hold off and work with what you have for now.

If someone doesn't need to store their settings on the device, maybe the Tune Bot Gig would be the smarter buy at $59? I picked mine up just to try out and ended up keeping it. It performs all the basic functions nicely and clearly laid out.
 
I was cheap and bought IDrumTune for the i phone. It worked ok until I plugged in a lapel mic that I suspend over the drum while tuning. It worked really good after that, I later compared it to a tune bot and it was about the same maybe a bit better at catching the fundamental tone if the mike is out over the middle of the drum. (I made a little arm out of wire that I clamp to the rim). Cheap I know. $6.99 for app and $14 for the mic.

I also think it has enables me to train my ear better and saving your favorite tuning is the best.
 
Resotune update:

I got the thing with the extremely complicated instructions, but it's fairly simple.

It works well but it's big and cumbersome.
If the drum isn't level you have to hold it in place, however it's also easy to use. Super easy.

Using "find both" tells you what the tuning of the drum is set at.
Using "tune drum" tells the fundamental lowest note on the drum.
Using "tune lug" is like the tunebot. It tells the lug note the drum is at.

You pick a note +/- 25, 50, or 75 cents and tune the drum until that setting lights up, then you "clear" the head with the fine tuning setting.

Clearing the head feature is very odd but seems to really work. It's just an extremely fine tuning, but that little bit makes the drums very lively.

There are lug settings for extra sensitivity if you hold down the "tune lug" button for a second and there is also an extra sensitive "clear" function of you hold down the "clear" button for a second. This extra sensitivity is good for snare drums.

Overall, for someone like me who never cared for using a tuning machine and really couldn't give a hoot if the drum is "perfect", it's pretty good!
It will save a lot of time and there's no tapping on the head. It shoots sound into the drum and uses phase matching for the tuning.

It's automatic and also has a save setting feature. I would probably just write the tuning on the head and not bother with saving the settings, but I'm lazy.

Very accurate. More accurate than ears if that really matters.

Oh, and the cosmetic flaw seems to be a couple of plastic bumps under the control panel, which could probably be fixed when it's time to change the batteries.
 
+1 I was never very good at tuning a drum, but now can not believe how good I can get them to sound.

Hear, hear!!

The Tune Bot was the best investment I ever made with regards to gear. I wouldn't ever want to be without one again.

I love the absolute consistency that the tuner allows me to attain, and my drums have never, ever sounded better. They sound professionally tuned, and like they cost quite a bit more than they did.

I also love being able to try other drummer's tunings and play with the intervals between my drums. It's so easy to switch tunings and turn back if I don't care for what I hear.

I can't say enough good things about my Tune Bot. My drums sound freaking amazing since getting one.
 
I finally got to use the Tune Bot today.

My kit is a Mapex Saturn V, and today I set about tuning the toms: 10, 12 and 16, with the Mapex-supplied Remo heads. Having looked at this tuning guide I decided that perfect fourths intervals of C-G-D would work for me.

The 10 and 12 toms were very close to these tunings already, and gratifyingly for my ego, all lugs were within a poofteenth of each other.

The 16 proved more challenging, particularly the reso head, until I figured out that with the drum resting upside down their were lots of weird overtones. By tilting the drum so that there was minimal contact between hoop and floor, I got better readings.

I've gone for same tuning top and bottom, in the interest of max sustain. The smaller toms haven't changed very much (although I may revisit that once I've played them as part of the kit), but the 16 FT now sounds like a timpano..timpanus...kettle drum.

Next I'll move onto the snare...and in the medium term I'll play around with different tunings. So far, what I do like is the ability to quickly get (back) to known points, as others have said.
 
JustJames I have not been completely happy with my Saturn V 16x16 using the tunebot or my ears. Both heads tuned the same still sound flat, reso higher not much different. Now the 14 sings for days no matter how you tune it. Is your 16 floor 14 or 16 inches deep. My Renown 16x14 floor always sounds great. Now the Saturn 16 doesnt record to bad but to my ears it's just dead. I had to put a EC2 on the 14 Saturn floor and it still resonates a bit to much. I wonder why there is such a tonal difference in my two Saturn floors.
 
Pretty sure it's a 16x16, but I'll have toc check.

On my kit, the batter head (not sure about the reso) is a different head to the smaller toms.
 
Also, If I tried out a friends kit and like his tuning, 2 taps, and I know what it is and can try it at home.

Wouldn't someone else's kit have to be the same shell material and ply thickness for his tunebot numbers to give the same tuning on your drums?
 
Wouldn't someone else's kit have to be the same shell material and ply thickness for his tunebot numbers to give the same tuning on your drums?

No - the Tune Bot works on notes, so how those notes are arrived at is irrelevant.

Your objection would be valid if it was a device which measures head tension.
 
The 16 proved more challenging, particularly the reso head, until I figured out that with the drum resting upside down their were lots of weird overtones. By tilting the drum so that there was minimal contact between hoop and floor, I got better readings.

two things here, you might have figured it out so I'm putting it out for everyone... you need the opposite head muted while tuning. I throw a pillow on the ground and sit my tom on top of it so I'm only hearing one head.

the filter button on the tunebot is your best friend. When you are close to the hz's you are looking for, you press the button and then the tunebot filters out the other overtones. I find it an absolute necessity to use.
 
No - the Tune Bot works on notes, so how those notes are arrived at is irrelevant.

Your objection would be valid if it was a device which measures head tension.


Ah fair enough, and that's pretty cool. I'm not objecting to Tune Bot. I've got an Evans Torque key which I use now and then, but I wouldn't mind owning a Tune Bot just to see what it's like, plus I should think it's fun to play around with.

But here's another point, and I'm probably talking out of my butt but just trying to educate myself here. Every shell has it's optimum resonance. Like when you tap it without any heads on, such as DW do where they mark a shell with a particular note.

So even though with Tune Bot you arrive at the same note, on a same sized tom as your friend's kit, that doesn't take into account if that note is going to sound as good if your shell thickness/bearing edges/wood type is different. I mean, it might sound choked, or not pitched high enough, no? Perhaps a lower or higher note would sound better/more resonant given your own shell's makeup?
 
Ah fair enough, and that's pretty cool. I'm not objecting to Tune Bot. I've got an Evans Torque key which I use now and then, but I wouldn't mind owning a Tune Bot just to see what it's like, plus I should think it's fun to play around with.

But here's another point, and I'm probably talking out of my butt but just trying to educate myself here. Every shell has it's optimum resonance. Like when you tap it without any heads on, such as DW do where they mark a shell with a particular note.

So even though with Tune Bot you arrive at the same note, on a same sized tom as your friend's kit, that doesn't take into account if that note is going to sound as good if your shell thickness/bearing edges/wood type is different. I mean, it might sound choked, or not pitched high enough, no? Perhaps a lower or higher note would sound better/more resonant given your own shell's makeup?

a couple things.
1 the shell note is affected by hardware and the heads, so measuring this note without them installed is probably not much of a factor in the end.

2. The tunebot calculator gives you a recommended note for each size drum, but there is a slider for moving the notes up and down, so there's lots of room for experimenting to find the best sound for your drums.

http://tune-bot.com/calculator.html
 
two things here, you might have figured it out so I'm putting it out for everyone... you need the opposite head muted while tuning. I throw a pillow on the ground and sit my tom on top of it so I'm only hearing one head.

the filter button on the tunebot is your best friend. When you are close to the hz's you are looking for, you press the button and then the tunebot filters out the other overtones. I find it an absolute necessity to use.

That is the biggest key to the tunebot giving accurate readings. That filter key is a great feature.
 
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