How to Make Your Drums Sound Great: Turbocharged Toms 

What’s in your dream drum kit? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to head over to Sweetwater for all things drums, percussion, and more! 👉 sweetwater.sjv.io/Drums-Percussion

Nick's hair is entering Mike Mangini territory.

Nick you have been an educator for me many years. Thank you 🙏🏻

Bro. You are using some sort of witchcraft here.

I always start with the lowest drum first (floors) and work your way up. Nothing worse than starting too low on the first high tom and then when you get to the floor you can't get it low enough and have to start over.

I have to say, I've heard some of the great drummers by people standards. But Nick D. Has one of the best chop combos I've ever CONSISTENTLY HEARD. He always plays stuff that makes me go- what we that he just did. So many of the greats out there, play the same stuff over and over. But Mr. D. Sounds great every darn time! Heck, it was nicks drum demos on Sweetwater that dazzled me into buying my first set. GREAT JOB, SIR.

Thank you Nick for the tuning tip. I’m definitely going to try it out on my kit.

Nick is the man. So simple. I've been obsessing for years over getting my drums just right. This is like a no brainier. Can't wait to give it a shot at my gig this weekend!

Nick is just TOO cool....LOVE Sweetwater.....rock on...

Dream kit is a tie between a Gretsch renown and a Tama star classic birch!

Make the title “Get rid of wrinkles in minutes; nothing to purchase.” And you will have million hits in hours.

I would add visually checking the rim height against the corresponding head surface at each tension rod after you remove all the wrinkles. This verifies that the tension is relatively uniform around the entire head before the final adjustment of the tom.

I love Nick doesn’t get to into his head or all “sciency” about tuning. Tried this on my floor Tom’s which I’ve always had trouble with. Made life so much easier. That’s Nick

Always great to heard your videos Nick !! Incredible sound tons this situation!! Congrats 🎉🍾🥁 🔔

Desintegrou as peles do casco, as partes se tornaram distintas e assim não se fundiram num só objeto sonoro. Qualquer tentativa de se equiparar as frequências terá resultados aleatórios. Na soma, os tambores se desarmonizam entre sí e a perfeição não acontece.

Very, very good method! It works and it's, at least to me, the most honest suggestion about tuning I've ever seen. 👏👏👏👏👏

I've always found tuning drums to be a complete mystery. Of course he makes it look like nothing.

The drums sound great for rock. Good job tuning, good explanations! I tune a bit differently, as I have a Yamaha Stage Custom set that’s designed for rock but I’m playing jazz. I take all heads off entirely at first. I then put the Diplomat resonant (bottom) head on, using your general process… then I tune it such that the head resonance is in concert with the shell resonance. No odd pitches or harmonics, just a single clear sound. From there I install the top head. (Using coated Ambassadors now, will be switching to Fiberskyn Diplomats in the near future.) That top head again gets the basic treatment…. then gets tuned and tweaked so that again we have a drum in concert with itself. The batter heads end up higher in pitch than the resonant heads. I just did my set this afternoon. They sound open and clear and musical. So much so that they register clean notes on a guitar tuner. I don’t use dampening or muffling. No need when they sound this good.

CottenBalls Who Knew????!!!!!

This guy always reminds me of those Impractical Joker guys

I think it’s Nick’s hair that’s the secret…

My tack toms keep wrinkles. They are tuned too high without the wrinkles

Nick always keeping up with his chops groove and talent!

Nick I’m so very thankful for great people and musicians like you. Thanks so much for your knowledge in drums and caring for all of us. We need more people like you in this world. Forever grateful 🎶

I recieved this kit for Christmas and bot Tom’s we’re out of level I had to sand them down using a piece of granite with sandpaper taped down to the granite and patiently spun them till they were flat on both sides

Thanks Nick; great video per usual :). I've learned alot from you over the last few years. But - if I may submit .... the un-mic'd drum at 4:58 and the mic'd drum at 5:38 sound markedly different to me. For an apples to apples comparison, I would have used room mics for both (instead of the closed-in mic on the kit?). The engineered sound at 5:38 sounds light years better. Just a thought.

harder to do with coated. wrinkles aren't as visible

I definitely prefer the two drum key method in tuning the drums. Also, I've been using RIMS style mounts for roughly 20 years, but I've gotten to the point that I don't like them. It's not that they don't work, but they're bulky, and they're not pleasing to look at on rack toms plus they do get in the way of tuning, especially when you're changing heads. Being that you're using the Ludwig, I'd replace the vibrabrands with Ludwig Atlas mounts or the INDē BR3 tom brackets. As for a dream kit, if money is no object, maybe an A&F copper kit.

Nick's drumming is tighter than ever. Does he practice more?

Nick does a great job demoing this fantastic drum kit. I love the finish...the drum sizes are perfect and the sweet K Zildjian set is fabulous. All topped off with sturdy and stylistic Gibralter hardware. I want this kit!

Id like to know what kind of sticks is Nick using ..nice sounding kit by the way

Dream drum kit, hmmm I’d say a Sonor SQ2 10 & 13 medium birch racks, 16 and 18 thin maple floors, 24-16 medium maple kick all in fiery red gloss and gold hardware, Gretsch 6.5x14 bell brass snare. A man can dream can’t he??

Dream kit is Ludwig Green Sparkle Legacy Maple. 10, 12, 14 ft, 16 ft, 22 bd, 18 bd, with a 14x6.5 Black Beauty and 14x6.5 Supraphonic.

Great Hands Nick!!! Thanks and Blessings!

Love this Tutorial very well Delivered 🥁🔥🥁

Thank you for your expertise!!!!!

I hear gating and or compression on those drums

THANKS!! Love all that you do and how musical you play and how you present music and gear and how you share your joy with it since my first Spock's Beard concert in 1999 in the Hafenbahn, Offenbach am Main, Germany! 💜🙏 ...that was a pretty long sentence but it's also nearly 25 years :D

Bro flexed on us before the tutorial😂

Excellent Presentation ✝️👍🤙✌️

I have a beautiful 6 piece silver sparkle element evolution. Sounds and looks beautiful! Those shells that nick is playing is 100% poplar wood in case anyone says poplar sounds low end.😏

If only my wrinkles are that easy to get rid off.

The 10" rack Tom's mic out of phase or input level is not equal w the rest of the Toms.

I have my dream kit Pearl masters birch ...10.12.16 14 with 22x18 kick in emerald green to black fade ...the colour is the nicest ive ever seeen and everyone always compliments it and trys to buy it from me :)

The FBT (Federal Bureau of Tuning) think that you should tune your drums one way and one way only. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I love your videos . Your an excellent drummer. Liked and subscribed

Thank you for tuning correctly and not perpetuating the myth of tuning drums to A, B, C# notes, which is a lie to sell tunebots.

The mic processing is nice but changes everything. THAT'S what I need to understand better. The bench sound and the mic'd sound totally different before any dampening

What's in the dream kit? I would love to buy some blank cherry shells from Nordic Shells, stained with a groovy color, lacquered for a good shine, and throw on an eclectic array of Byzance cymbals. Give it a little latin flair with Meinl bongos and Meinl Marathon Timbales...

I love Nick. He's a great communicator and drummer as well. Goals. I do believe however that when it comes to tuning, people normally don't get too much into getting actual notes out from the drum. They talk about what sounds right and that of course comes with a lot of experience. But in my mind I see the drums as a conjecture of instruments that have pitches and you can manipulate that pitch. If you are getting an A out of a 12 inch Tom what tuning is right for the reso side? A perfect fifth? How do you get that perfect reso going?

Jon Lovitz- I was playin’ the …. DRUMS… yeah that’s the ticket. 😂

What Ludwig kit is this?

I have a Ludwig Element kit. My shells are poplar, is this kit poplar or the maple version?

And I do this, sounds great off the kit, put it back on kit, major snare buzz. Frustrating

This drums sounds good! But if you cut new edges, then will going to another level of instrument.

I love that detuned sound! ❤️‍🔥😃 it's just fun, everytime u strike it it make me smile 😃

I’ve looked up several tom tuning videos and it all didn’t make much sense, this was so much better what a great explanation thank you!

The trick that I can’t find is to get that mic’d up sound without the mics. I’m a hobby drummer and don’t have all the mics and it is hard to get rid of all those overtones without destroying the sound.

Thanks Nick, great video as always. Something I dont hear talked about re tuning is pitch bending - when you strike it, towards the end of the note it may bend up or down or stay the same. What are we looking for when we tune? Also, what are we looking for re the waves after we strike, are we trying to eliminate them or are waves good?

buy trigger download sample.

Is it important to have a resonating head on the toms ?? When I bought mine, used, there was none. I can never get the toms sounding like I want, so am wondering if I really need those heads.

Hi, I’m new to drumming, but on the first drum while he was tuning it it has almost a resonance, but when played in the kit it was a nice “thud” sound - what happened to make that happen?

Thanks! Would have been cool to hear the cotton ball method as a comparison. Curious what that’s like.

Nick is such a great drummer... I want some of his music in my mp3 player.. like yesterday :D

Those are nice sounding drums! Also it’s nice to hear from you how you tune!

Talks the Talk like a legend....and plays like one too. Ambassador of drums.

Thank you Nick and Sweetwater. Continued success and Happy Drumming!

Nick, Do you tune the drums to sprecific musical notes? or is it totally by ear?

Hey Nick. See at The Cutting Edge Conference this year?

What's up Bill

The answer to that question is miking the drums stop making none pros think their kits will sound like this

I have been using this method for years and it's just simply the best and easiest ways to tune your cans

He can match it with any of today’s top drummers..

Great demo!

Great video. Us old geezers with hearing damage have a hard time tuning. My dream kit would be a set up just like Danny Carey has with Tool Minus the weird symbols on his heads. Lol

Love the way you explain things Nick, cheers!

My buddy bought this kit. It was tons of fun to setup. Great kit

Cool

Nick, THX for the video. One contention I have is the Overtone ringing is minimal when the drums are Miked... Different story when you played the Tomaway from being Miked. I use Evans E-Rings on all by Toms except the 8" rack tom. I personally like the Doooo, Dooooo sound that Jared describes on a Drumeo video. The E-Rings get me there without Miking. Using different size and wood type sticks (oak vs. maple) influence the sound as well.

Wow! Nice tuning tips Thanks

Thats the best sounding set Nick has played so far.

Amazing drummer and teacher😅😅😅

That ride sounded nice,,what was that ?? 🤔

Ron Jeremy plays drums?

Nice note balance in the set. Right on man, nice jam

This dude is auditioning for a Rush thing.

already love this, please make one for the snare too, with medium and high tuning

This is a great beginner video.

Thanks for making this so easy

Which ride is he using? It sounds fantastic.

What ride cymbal are you using? It's the best sounding one I have heard.

Thank you great explanation

"damping" :)

I love this presentation

What a great video!!!

GREAT ON NICK

Boys a beast!

Thanks Nick! I'm glad you mentioned Aquarian heads-they are my favorite🤘

Damping, isn't it? Dampening implies you're using a spray bottle to get the drums wet (which might create an interesting sound but I don't recommend it).