Flip Your Tuning Upside Down | Season Three, Episode 41 

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Works surprisingly well in an extreme metal context. It's also an especially cool tuning for heavier shelled drums, to my ears at least.

Love that cheeky little giggle after saying “we’re just gonna flip the drum over” 😂😂

This is my absolute favorite way to tune toms. Thanks for going in depth on it.

Cody, great vid as usual. You got me thinkin' about few things here's some food for thought: When I was much younger I learned from Rock guys to tune the reso side a little higher on everything and never gave it a second thought but I experimented years ago and it seemed like when I tune the batter side a little higher the drum seem to just sound better to me and give me better articulation especially when I listen to somebody else play my drums from across the room and I had an in-depth conversation with Steve Maxwell at his shop several times about this subject and is a true drum Guru in our drum community as you well know. Steve advise to me was that the big band era drummers always tuned their batter sides a little higher because he explained that the drum breathes and resonates better and projects better across the room or theater if the reso head is tuned lower which in general about a third is what he recommended just like you did and that in the studio it's a little different with close miking that the opposite might be more useful and it might sound better to do the opposite when you are right on top of the kit but when you go across the room the drums will sound better with the batter side being tighter... especially if you are just using 1-3 room mics for your drums. If you close mike them it changes this a lot but back in the day or just in a acoustic sense I agree with Steve's approach and tried this myself and had great results. The only issue is most drummers tighen the hell out of their snare side because they just think that is what everybody does because that is mostly what everybody has told them but I have done the opposite with good results as well as long as you have really good snare wires and your shell is nice with no issues with the bearing edges. The snare drum is usually tightened higher than the rest anyway so the reso snare side is usually up there really tight anyway regardless of the top heads tuning but obviously you can't go too low with the snare side or the snare wires would sound awful. It would be great if you could put this long debated theory to the test and do a part 2 and just use a room mic to test this theory out and make sure to tune the floor tom the same and the snare drum as well and this would really go far to prove this one way or another then maybe do a second round with close miking and see the two differences and even if there is any difference...? If/when you do this please use an old vintage 3-ply kit and standard coated Ambassador Remo heads as that was what they were all using back in the day (and still do heads anyway) up until the late 70s actually for most drums. That would be a truly awesome demo although I know that is a lot of work but I think it would be worth it nobody has ever done that yet to my knowledge. If you used a 3-ply early 70s or 60s Bonham style kit even if it was just 13/16 26, 24 or even 22 Bass that would bring a lot of attention because this is a huge ongoing conversation in the Bonham community and vintage Rock drumming community for many years. Regarding the tunebot thing...I agree with you just to sdd a few things; all I do is use my little tiny Casio keyboard and when I want a certain note or a third I just tune it listening to the keyboard to get that note and you just match it to the head as you are tightening or loosening it you don't need a tune bot or anything like that because your ear will hear a note as long as you have some sort of device that you can get a reference note from even on RU-vid there are dedicated videos with notes you can listen to in real time so the tune bot thing it's just over the top. But sometimes I just like to tune the batter side to the sweet spot of that particular shell and see how that sounds regardless of what note it is and then just tune the reso side about a third lower so it all comes out even in the end anyway. I also think a lot of people think they need a tune bot because there are different spots on the head sometimes that give you a different pitch and they claim the tunebot can help even that out better than your own ear but I disagree; if you have that kind of problem with your drum where you are getting different notes all over the head that's saying something about your drum shell and it probably has low spots and/or the bearing edges are goofed up or maybe it's out of round or it could just be a bad drum head that is not seated correctly in its frame... if any of those things are an issue at all then neither your ear or a tune bot can fix it you have to go back to the drawing board and find the source of the problem to begin with or you will never be happy with your drum and you will end up just having to have it tuned too high to compensate for all the problems and is a real bummer. We all have encountered drum kits where virtually every drum shell has issues like that and when you see tape all over the drums that is usually an indication of that sort of trainwreck and is very common with (American made) drum shells from the 70s as quality control went down the tubes with most U.S. drums at that time sadly. I think that's why controlled sound and pinstripe heads were probably invented to s imply compensate for bad drum shells and bearing edges and even many of the heads from this era were really bad so the seventies were a train wreck in this country for quality control across the board with a few exceptions and once in awhile they got it right lol. I talked about a lot of things but hopefully you can use some of this for a possible part 2 because this is a really important topic you have opened up and deserves a lot more in depth discussion and you guys really have this down to a science which is inspiring and very helpful. What I like most about your channel is you don't just talk about these things you actually demonstrate them in a real conscientious and fastidious way which us anal retentive and neurotic drummers really crave and sppreciate! Peace, Bob

I just think yall are absolutely awesome

I've found that an inverted tuning works really well for me! I like a lot of tone from my toms, but I like a dead sound too so I use Evans Hydraulics on both batter and reso sides with an inverted tuning and it sounds really good to me. Gives me the attack I want and the rebound I like for faster playing.

Cool tones for some, just not for me. Now I understand why it's smart for me to tune the batter head lower (I like the low-end fat). Oh so educational, thanks again!

Idk if you guys take requests but jazz snare drum tuning? I’m having trouble balancing tone and articulation and I can’t find anything on RU-vid that has helped very much. Great video as always!

That's how I used to tune growing up. I would always get compliments on how good my drums sounded. When I found out that most guys tune the bottom higher than the top, I was confuzzled. It seems to me like the benefits are obvious; easier to get the stick to rebound and that quasi-EQd sound is really nice, especially at the lower tensions. I would switch between clear pinstripes and coated emperor/G2s with the stock clear heads on the bottoms. The drums were Tama Rockstars

Questions and remarks Remarks first: Attended a Masterclass of Simon Phillips and he tuned batter and reso same and he uses Remo Ambassador clear. Simon is famous because of his sound. Also famous is John JR Robinson and i did see an interview/video where he says he tunes the reso lower than the batter and he like that bend down of the tone. Did get tuning tips of a good drum shop and he tuned the reso slighty higher than the batter (a quarter to a half tone) to prevent all kind of overtones and weird interactions between the drum heads. Tunebot does give tuning options and describes top and bottom head same as Maximum Resonance. I tune top and reso same. I use Tunebot. All lugs should have same Hz or diff indication. I tune the drum to its fundamental tone ...i dont use the lug frequencies as described by Tunebot. From 1992 until about 10 years ago i used a chromatic piano/guitar tuner to tune my drums. There are so many overtones that i had to use e-rings to being able to tune the drum. With Tunebot i get good and fast readings. Much better than with the chromatic tuner. Not always OK in first time but ...i also have ears and i know what it should be so readings that are crazy get full attention until i get readings that are within the range i expect. I used Remo Ambassador clear reso for pop with pinstripe or EC2 as batter. I use Remo Ambassador coated as reso withj Remo Ambassador coated as batter on my jazz kit. I now use EC2 reso and EC2 bateer on my pop kit. Questions: How do you measure the pitch? Why dont you use Tunebot? Can you make a video using tension based (Tama Tension meter) , your method and Tunebot and perhaps other methods like keyboard tones, Can you make a video with different reso heads: ambassador clear, Evans EC2 reso, Ambassador coated and other types that are suitable (Evans g1 clear or UV1) or give a certain effect (double layers heads? Fyberskin/Calftone?) How about damping on the reso head to reduce unwanted ring/ buzz, sustain, etc. Can you make a demo with the tunings i describe: bottom slightly lower, bottom same and bottom slightly higher (slightly is less than or equal to 0.5 of a tone) Can you give recommendations how to reduce unwanted snare buzz: snare drum top/bottom tuning, snare tension, snare type/number of snares/material of snares, tuning of toms (pitch, pitch difference, muffling, heads) Of course: how do snares affect the sound and buzz of a snare drum( number of snares, material of snares, thickness/weight of snares, brand/type of snares, trension of snares, snare mechanisms, snare throw off, snare tightening/fastening/locking systems, the classical snare mechanisms with complete blocks that are moving up and down, snares with 2 snare strainers, ........ How to reduce unwanted ring from a snare during recording (drumheads, drumtuning, muffling, muffling of shell, muffling of room, mic distance or mic placement, or after recording using subtractive eq, and other methods Can you make a video about the influence of hoops to sound and tuning /behaviour of drums. Flange hoops, die cast hoops, super hoops, wood hoops, straight hoops, not straight hoops, did see a drum with a strange hoop Seemed just a metal/bronze ring ...no flange and no die cast ...seems you ruin your sticks also and ...yes that did give strange ring tone www.anfdrumco.com/collections/wood-snares/products/1901-limited-edition-antique-white-steam-bent-maple Can you make video about the influence of suspension systems (Pearl has 3 types) suspension system on stands tnrproducts.com/snare-drum-tom-tom-isolation-mounts/ i have a Pearl stand with rubber tips which i use as suspension pressing to the hoop. Did see tuning systems whwere you just loosen 1 tension rod to get rid of all kind of overtones etc. ...That was on toms. On snares i did see a trick by loosening or tightening the tension rods near the wire. There is the famous crazy acacadabra tuning system ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ht2JgVdHQdw.html Of course videos about materials for drums/snares External damping methods Snare head with holes? Genera HDD, All kind of stuff you can put on snares for different sounds Damping of bass drum: no damping, filt, pillow, Pearl small and big dampers inside. External dampers on kit, drumheads with muffling, muffling ring inside, etc., etc., etc. I put my bass drum on wash machine rubbers to eliminate vibrations to floor and also to enlarge the drum sound. Also have rubber under my pedals. The Pearl rubber feet for suspension and also can use the waschmachine rubbers for vibration isolation. Etc. Etc.

I already know I'm going to like this one. I tune the batter slightly higher than the reso. To me it sounds good! To further that I use an Evans EC2 on the top and either a G1 or G2 on the bottom, fairly fat sounding It's all personal preference 😊 love these episodes that do a deep dive!!

Best drum channel ever..

This was great, thanks! Right at the level I am with my tuning knowledge. Love these classic SLAD topics, keep it up!

Nice job, bty a major 6th is usually the max for head interval with res higher. And lower tuning is more forgiving to bottom head higher, not the same with high tuning, it,'s a major/minor 3rd or less. Like you said though, there is no bad sound

Steve Maxwell talks about this in his tuning approach. Having the bottom head lower reduces the sustain for his jazz tuning without the need of external or internal muffling.

Great topic! I tried this a few years back and since then i’m always tuning my batter head slighty higher than the reso. I really enjoy the definition and the feeling of it.

Interesting! I really enjoyed the a And D flipped! Smoking for some jazz grooves! Cheers… Keith

I'm interested to hear what a bottom mic would sound like on this? I usually tune higher when recording rock than playing live, so I might try this.

Awesome video! i played with this idea about a year ago and came to the same conclusions.

Ând what kind of sound if batter and resonnant are tuned at the same note ? (with the same head and why not with different heads)

I often do this tuning method with my bass drum. I like to play fast double pedal grooves so that way the head will throw the beater back to me and I will be able to play fast but not strain my body.

Great one, love the way your exploring the instrument 😎👍 This is making me reconsider where my 10 inch tom is sitting right now. Maybe taking it a bit higher, expanding the range a bit 🤔 its time to explore this I feel...!

Great job! as usual. Thanks a lot for your precious activity

I really love your videos. Very educational!!!

I enjoyed this video so much

I'm cheap and lazy when it comes to reso heads lol. Have a better reso head seems to make a big difference. I'll have to invest. Great video!

Interesting! But I´d prefer tuning number 1 for most situations, but the second tuning fits in many situations as well.

This makes me consider 2 resonant heads for a "different" drum sound !

Great lesson! I love getting into the science of drums! What do you think if we tried the tight batter / loose reso with a 2 ply batter head? Especially something muffled like the Attack Tone Ridge 2 you recently demoed? I bet it would awesome to hear one of those, tuned tight, over a thin reso like a Diplomat that was tuned a little lower. Tight and slappy maybe? Or wild overtones? It could be a new experiment! Which also reminds me, I would LOVE to see an episode about extreme differences in head weight. Very thick batters with very thin resos, like the Aquarian Force Ten & Hi Frequency.

Interesting. I get really nice results tuning with a 4th interval in either direction, but I didn't hear what I expected. I think maybe the reso needs to stay in the absolute sweet spot of resonance and the batter either just above slack or just before choking. I quite enjoy having a rack tom with a high batter for cutting rim shots and a floor with a really slack batter like a quasi kick. Sounds weird playing fills, but fills are overrated 😂

Do you ever use a tension meter? Drum Dial/ Tama Drum Watch, etc... I swear by it. My findings have been consistent with the information in your videos

This was a very cool video! Interesting to see the difference in character and feel between the two configurations. I kinda got excited about clear heads again as well!! 🤣 Thank you all for posting. Also, what sticks are you using? I'm in search of a new pair with a round tip and those seem to be what I'm looking for.

G2 coated over the EC reso. That's what's up.

hellz yeah!! thats how I do!

Hi Cody, can you please tell me the tension of the floor tom? Great Video again!

Tune both Tom heads the same and it sounds better than both. 🤪

0:25 What was the tuning on the intro?! It sounds amazing!!!

So if the top is b and the bottom a g or vice versa you’ve got drums playing chords! Haha

Is there a video on the procedure you go through to tuning the toms? Specifically at the 3rd intervals?

Great Video! Could you tell me the name of the tuning app? Is it in the Apple App Store?

Not so much Latin on high tuning on batter... listen to some old jazz guys Like Krupa or Cozy They tuned their rack and ft quite high

Do you have any advice for acrylic drums??

Why do so many drummers refer to their shell sizes' depth 1st? So, this is a 9"x12" tom...? It's counterintuitive and also, about half of drummers use standard terminology, referring to the diameter 1st.

Honestly, I didn’t care for any of the tunings 😬

10:24 "predominately a rock guy..." You know, women play drums, too. I find it interesting and yes a bit disappointing that you think only men watch your videos.