DrumDial quickly and precisely tunes all drums by accurately measuring drumhead tension NOT tension rod torque. Tension rod torque can be used to tell you when you are over tightening a bolt to prevent thread damage, but is not accurate for drum tuning. DrumDial lets you precisely tune your drums faster and easier than ever before. DrumDial has been designed and manufactured to the highest quality standards with all the key features you would expect from the best drum tuner available. Get the tuner that really works, get a DrumDial and make it possible for your drums to consistently sound great!
Salve.ho acquistato DRUMDIAL e nelle istruzioni viene indicata la frequenza per il TOM da 13"x11".... io ho una Ludwig classic maple con il TOM 13"x9".....in questo caso ,la frequenza di Accordatura, cambia? Dove posso trovare le frequenze per ogni " MISURA " dei TAMBURI "...???....GRAZIE.
Andy, the lowest possible tuning would be 68 top batter and 66 bottom resonant (would sound like hitting loose paper). For the lowest (decent sound) we do not recommend tuning that low. A better low tuning would be 84 top batter and 78 bottom resonant.
I bought the drum dial 20 years ago before youtube was popular and never really had this type of tutorial. I always tuned by toms around 70 but i always tuned the drum to the pitch of the shell so that the drums REALLY SING in live conditions. I use my stick to make the sound of the shell without heads on it. then keep that sound in mind when i tune my heads. My set sings!!!
Hi Drum Dial could you please recommend setting for a set of Yamaha Stage Custom Birch Fusion Kit. 10x7 and 12x8 rack toms, 14x13 floor and a 20x 17 bass drum. Also, recommended settings for a Mapex Black Panther 14x5 Razor snare and a Yamaha Stage Custom steel 14x7 snare. My toms have Remo Emporer Clear on top and Remo ambassadors clear on the bottom. I absolutely love your product by the way....my snares have remo stock heads on the bottom and Remo controlled sound heads coated on top
@@DrumDial Thank you so much for taking the time to answer. I love your product and am excited to try these settings to see if I can take my kit to the next level.
There is a range from 74 to 76 for toms for the mid-range. We have a tuning chart on our website for suggested tunings. www.drumdial.com/how-to-use/tuning-chart/
Steve, I defer to you on all things drums but on the snare side head I must ask, have you ever come across a player who really cranks up the snare side head resulting in a sound you like? All my favorite snare sounds come from players who tighten the snare reso to the limit even though very technical drum channel always say "You'll *choke the snare side if you tighten too much" but this is one case where I disagree. If you want a sweet crack with a short but high pitched sound you absolutely must crank the snare side head I've found, and if you go for a more moderate tension, as you suggest, I find that the snare note is longer and will never produce the "crack" of many of the best snares.
The snare side head is very thin and starts to stretch after about 85 on the DrumDial. 82-84 is very tight and will give a very good snare sound. We usually suggest 80-82 for the bottom snare side head and around 85 to 89 for the top batter (much thicker head) .
My drum dial live in my gig case. Wonderful thing when setting up in a loud venue to make sure my sound is consistent from gig to gig. I have both my heads the same pitch by the way.
For the most sustain, tune to the same pitch. A very good starting point. We usually tune the thinner batter head to the same tension as the thicker batter head for medium sustain with more attack.
Whenever I loosen a lug(s) - I have always pushed in the center of the head to make sure the head goes a loose as the lug. Is that not required? thanks for the video.
It can help to push the center of the batter head to help with seating. We usually do not press on the bottom resonant head, as it is not played on and is not as critical.
You are the first person I have heard say to adjust the others rather than attack the one. I have been chasing my tail for a few months and couldn't figure out why I sucked at tuning. I figured this out on my own recently and am glad I discovered the correct path but damn this could have saved me some time lol. Thanks for validating my inexperienced technique.
I am a guitar player and novice drummer and audio engineer. I have always tuned drums for any drummers I play with. They have all said, how does a guitar player know how to tune drums? lololol It's about presenting the best possible sound for every instrument especially before recording. I learned even more watching this video. Thanks so much!
DrumDial works very well on all mesh heads ( Evans dB One's, Silent stroke, DDrums, V-drums / mesh heads, any ply thickness). Very good starting points are: snare set to 75-80, toms set to 65-70, and Bass set to 70. The diameter does not matter. We shoot for consistent rebound for the tom heads.
I have not received a reply from DW yet. Regarding removal of hardware, I think you are correct because when you tap on the shell it sounds different every place you tap it. I would say an acrylic drum shell has no natural note.
Good video but how do we determine the ideal tone for each individual drum to aim at ('0' as my drum shop guy calls it)? You chose 75 but wont that differ from drum to drum and with different head types? Also, that same guy explains it as a chord: reso - drum - batter in that order where reso is the highest pitch and batter the lowest but I never hear anyone else explain it that way. What are your thoughts?
Thank you! Excellent question. The midrange for all toms is 74-to 76 (large to small toms). For medium sustain, we set the resonant head to a higher pitch than the top batter. Keep in mind that a thicker batter head set to the same tension as a thinner resonant head will naturally have a lower pitch. If we set a 12 inch tom with a two ply batter and a single ply resonant to 75 for both, the bottom head will have a higher pitch. If using a single ply batter over a single ply resonant, set the top batter to 75 and the bottom resonant to 76 or 77 for the same effect for medium sustain.
I'm opposite, I tune the reso to the lower end of where the drum "sings" then I tune the batter head to a higher pitch that feels good under the stick. I think the keys, in this order, are 1) getting the reso at the pitch you want, 2) getting both heads tuned to themselves, i.e. even around the drum so there aren't weird harmonics, and 3) getting the top head at a comfortable tension that activates the rest of the system and feels good to play on. But it's mostly preference at the end of the day!
Now a curve ball! I’ve just purchased a set of Low Volume heads (Remo silent stroke and an Evan’s DbOne snare) any tips for tuning. I’m reckoning that tuning the reso head will be more important to get the note right due to the mesh surface of the batter?
use these settings for the top batter mesh heads and bottom resonant heads: Snare 77 top batter 80 bottom snare side toms 67 top batter 75 bottom resonant bass drum 70 kick batter 74 front resonant
Wonderful video! I agree with everything you do. I personally prefer the B - higher pitched reso tuning for my style of light jazz playing. Many years ago, I learned that rubbing the drawer runners in furniture with candle wax was a fantastic wood lube that was better than bar soap or any kind of petroleum base lube. I've used this on my drum bearing edges lightly when replacing heads. Also, I use a teflon base lube on the lug screws so there is no friction with steel-on-steel. This makes the initial finger tightening so much easier with maximum feedback and knowing that the head tension is actually what I feel instead of the friction of the bearing edge or lug screws.
Most toms are tuned around 75 on the DrumDial at the edge of the drum head. The midrange of the drum. This will naturally give a nice downward sound progression with good note spacing between the toms. DrumDial measures drumhead tension not frequency. Tap the center of the drum and use a chromatic tuner to know the exact pitch.
Hello great DrumDial. Pls can you tell me tension for low, mid and high tun? I have DW Design Toms 10x8 and 12x9 Stand tom 16x14 Bas 22x18 Using a Remo Powerstroke 3 Thnk you.
The software is our own. You can get a similar program called "Audacity" . We use a spectrum analyzer and spectrum analysis to build the filters. Audacity is a free software and is an excellent starting point for what you are after. You can use a standard chromatic / guitar tuner if you muffle the edge.
I was able to tune my 10” and 12” toms to a tension of 76 and 75 respectively as recommended by drum dial. I then checked the pitch and I was able to make very fine small adjustments (as they were very very close to my desired key pitch) doing so evenly with two drum keys on opposite lugs simultaneously to get it to a perfect “A”for the 12 inch Tom and a perfect “D” for the 10 inch Tom - (using a tuner app on my iphone) this being a one-fourth pitch apart - great- love the full sweet even tonal sound this achieved - all of which was my goal and feel proud of this accomplishment and deeper understanding of my drum’s sound and how to tune them right - no when I strike them with the stick they make that beautiful “OM” pleasant in tune sound that I wanted. Now I’m going to tune my 14 inch floor Tom and 20” Bass drum both to tension of 74 on the drum dial tensionometer, and then do any fine tune and tweaks, using both keys at the same time on each opposite lug. At first, as I was learning, I was chasing the pitch around each lug as one did affect the other, but then learned how to do it, and then used two keys at once to even everything up and and get it right. This all works well as each drum is 2 inches apart and width, respectively to each other. Thanks Drum Dial team for all your help. - Laurence
I meant to say - compare the 10, 12 and 14 inch drums in a one-fourth pitch apart from each other. Of course the bass drum being 20” is different much lower pitch but will still get tuned to attention of 74.
Any advice for a tama pancake kit? 18"x4" Bass Drum (Evans G2 coated on the side of the player and kit head at the back) 10"x3.5" Tom (remo emperor coated) 13"x3.5" Floor Tom (remo emperor coated) 12"x4" Snare Drum (Evans G2 coated and kit head at the bottom)
We don't recommend shea butter or waxes. Chapstick, for example is made from lanolin and like waxes, will deaden the sound of the drum. The product is DrumDial bearing edge conditioner. Here is a link for full details: www.drumdial.com/products/bearing-edge-conditioner/
what is the name of that product (and where can I purchase it from ) that looked like the Chapstick tube that you put around the baron edge of the toms?
DrumDial bearing edge conditioner. Available from our website or directly from your favorite drum shop or this link to Sweetwater's on line store here: www.sweetwater.com/c1196--Drum_Care_Cleaning?highlight=DDBEC&mrkgadid=&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=gpla&mrkgbflag=1&mrkgcat=drums&percussion&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=&lid=58700008497342101&dsproductgroupid=&product_id=DDBEC&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=c&network=x&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=9030231&creative=&targetid=&campaignid=20412085403&awsearchcpc=&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA-vOsBhAAEiwAIWR0TbyV068eqVMxd6nYusU952J3FM8a6U-dIUSraqfJ4ieGAriWIABjTBoCdgsQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Thank you, this was very helpful to me, and how to tune the toms. I’m thinking about buying one of the drum dial tensionometer’s. I prefer to have the top and bottom heads be equal in pitch as close as possible agreeing with the two ply for the battle ahead on the one ply for the resonant head. Q: - part A My question is in regard to the pitch. you had mentioned that each drum should be a fourth pitch apart when the Tom’s are 2 inches consecutively from each other, going up in size size - which which mine are I have a 10 12, and 14 with a 20 inch bass drum So, what is the tuning pitch that they should typically be and is it better to tune from the smallest drum first or the floor, Tom first? so for hypothetical sense let’s say the the 12 inch second time is in the pitch key of “C” - does that mean the number 110 inch Tom would be in the pitch o “ G” as an example. Q: part B once you get all the Tom’s in tune, do you then go back and check pitch and slowly adjust each leg until you get each time to be in the correct pitch. Thanks a lot. Laurence
Hi Lawrence! Excellent questions. Set the tension on each drum and it will naturally be about a fourth apart for a nice downward sound progression with good stick response. A good starting point for your drums is: 10 76 top batter 76 bottom resonant 12 75 top batter 75 bottom resonant 14 74 top batter 74 bottom resonant 20 bass drum 74 kick batter and 74 front resonant Yes, you are correct, the 12" tom would be about a fourth lower than the 10" tom and the same between the 12 and 14. Once your drums are in tune with themselves, it is OK to tune up or down for a higher or lower pitch. If you tighten or loosen a drum by one or two tic marks on the dial, be sure to do the same for the other drums.
