Tom Tuning Critique

I would ask those of you that have time to listen to this little bit of rambling and tell me what your opinion of my tom tuning is. Too high, too low, whatever. Thanks. The drums are my 10, 12, 14 Renown and my 16 Catalina Maple.

Failed. Will try again.

How did you do that Grunt?
4 mins of no sound at all.
I have never had that happen before.

Try the second one. I forgot to move it once I edited it in Garage band. I think the last 30 seconds has sound.

It seems kind of muffled but it might just be the mics

Huston, We have sound! Good sounds! Only 30 secs of it, but good sound.

I think my Zoom H4 was too close. It was 7 minutes long but I just pulled a bit from it.

Hey Johnny, sounds pretty good to me. Maybe a little on the high side for my taste, but not by much. The 12" doesn't sound quite as full as the 10 and 14" to my ear - there seems to be slightly less fundamental, if that makes sense. And I can hear a difference in the 16" also - it is not quite as focused and so it's hard to tell if it is tuned to the interval you were shooting for.

But really, I'm splitting hairs. They sound better than 95% of the drums I hear! It sounds like the top and bottom heads are tuned to the same note, correct?

I don't like the 10 either and keep tuning. The top and bottom are supposed to be the same yes.

GRUNTERSDAD said:

I don't like the 10 either and keep tuning. The top and bottom are supposed to be the same yes.

Click to expand...

What heads are you using? Slightly lacking attack for my taste, but well tuned. I think you got the pitches about right. Although I prefer to have both batter & reso at the same pitch, it doesn't always work out best for all drums. Very much depends on the bearing edges. I thought the 16" lacked a bit of bottom end sustain. It might be worth slackening the batter head a touch, & raising the reso head to compensate. Most drums have at least 2 sweet spots. I always shoot for the biggest fundamental with both heads at the same pitch, but sometimes search out the second sweet spot if I'm after a different response.

I thought your toms sounded pretty sweet overall, & as ID said, better than 95% of stuff I hear, both on this forum & in the real drumming world. Love to know what the head choice was on this recording. The other caveat is the placement of the Zoom. Their frequency pickup is ultra room sensitive.

Here's my tuning for reference, recorded on a Zoom Q3 (same mics) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyWG-eCo2uc

P.S. I like your 10" tom!!!!

The first one the toms had a real peaceful mellow sound.. almost as if they weren't even there...but I prefer the second (yes this is an attempt at humor on my part)..... really I think they sound good a little on the high side but good....man would I love to get a set of those renown '57's

So what head combo you using?

The 10 sounded a little high and the 12 and 16 sounded like they are missing a little bit of low end to me.

As for tuning some drums sound great with both heads tuned the same others sound better with the reso a little higher than the batter. I know my kit the reso is just a touch higher than the batter to get them to sound good.

So what head combo you using?

The 10 sounded a little high and the 12 and 14 sounded like they are missing a little bit of low end to me.

As for tuning every kit is different. My kit sounds better with the reso a touch higher than the batter. I use clear emperors over clear ambassadors.

the other question is when you play are you mic'd going through a PA? If so then those tunings may be pretty close for going through a pa by the time they hit the board then through the speakers it's usually a lower tone coming out.

The heads are coated Evans g2 with clear G1 resos except for the 16 which was a Fibreskyn batter with clear G1 reso. The 16 G2 bit the dust with a bottle of windex.
Thanks for the replies. I tried three settings on the Zoom and I thnk the middle setting on the gain is best. The room itself is small with carpet and acoutical tile ceiling sot eh sound doesn't go far. I also took my two overheads and put them at floor level about 4 feet away and ran them thru the zoom to get a different "view" if you will.

I'm a single ply head guy, and I can hear it when someone uses 2 ply heads. I like more attack. But hey they're not my drums and you did ask. Otherwise the tuning is nice, not too low, not too high. I opt for medium high tunings, but this aint about me. As much as I prefer the single ply sound, I use 2 ply batters at gigs because the 1 ply dent too easy. But they (2 ply heads) make the drums sound less lively from the audience.
Didn't dent heads in my blues band but my rock band I do. Sad face.
I've tried most brands of heads, and I alway go back to simple basic 10 mil single ply heads.
Simplicity. But yeah the tuning is pleasant sounding.
Fiberskyn heads make me puke though, sorry, just being honest.

I really like the sound of your toms man - especially the 10"!

they sound just right to me - but the 16" sounded a little weak (volume) but I imagine that is the proximity of the mic.

I had been taught to keep the reso at a slightly higher pitch to the batter as well. As suggested slacken off the batter in each tom and see if you prefer the tone?

Davo