The greatest snare drum tuning trick EVER! 

I have been using this method for the past 3+ years playing different Gigs every night and I really Love it. Its a very easy way to Quick change the tune of your Drum in a drop of a Stick... Thanks for sharing and God Bless...

dude, this is the greatest snare drum trick I have ever heard. and I am a freakin keyboard player!

Thanks Serj Tankian

My husband, Howie Gilbert, has been playing professionally for 70 years! Jazz, Opera, Ballet, Symphony, Greek Weddings, Country Western, German Bands, Recordings, the works. I showed him your video about tuning the snare drum and he loved it! Your method is great for creating different types of sounds on the snare for different gigs. The methodical approach you developed gives the drummer quick control over the snare drum sound and allows you to manipulate that sound with intention. Nice work!

God bless this beautiful Serj Tankian Borat drummer 🙌

This completely goes against what I have been told previously. And it works. Nice trick :)

Gettin' a little too fancy for AC/DC there.

This guy has saved me in many many situations. This is hands down the easiest method or live performance drumming.

I watched this video awhile ago and tried your method at a gig. It worked GREAT. I've watched many videos on tuning a snare but none of them were useful in helping me realize how to do it. This method is easy and actually helped me conceptualize this problem better. I've been tuning my snare since I was a kid, many hours of frustration spent in my room. Thank you! I had to come back to tell you that this really is the best way to tune a snare.

The part when he says "Einstineish" is still hands down the best part of this video.

Thank you Serj Tankian for that weird Technique. Works tho.

I sincerely want to extend my deepest and most sincere gratitude to you for this. This has literally solved hours upon hours of frustration from my snare. It recently got so bad that I had to step away from the drums entirely, simply because I couldn't get any sort of decent snare sound/tone. You have brought new life into drumming through me. Again, thank you so incredibly much!

This is the greatest snare drum trick ever, and I'm a culinary student!

Been using this method on my TAMA StarClassic 14x6.5 with REMO Ambassador X & Emperor X in recording session & LIVE shows almost 2years now... It really works. Try understand the method & mixed it with your needs (Head/Snare), DON'T OVER DO IT. Million thanks man..

I was very skeptical at first but staying patient and watching the whole thing proved to be worth it. Thank you!

You are a drum wizard! I have been trying to get this snare to stop ringing/singing for a long time and that muffled it better than ANY product I have ever put on a head. Thank you!!!

This is nuts! Love it....

This is how I tuned my snare when I was 12 years old and still do it the same way now at 37

I put some new heads on and been trying to tune my piccolo snare to get a decent sound for ages. This method is brilliant! No more ringing or buzzing to death from the drum. It sounds fantastic and so versatile with the quick tuning for changes to Latin rock styles. Thank you so much for sharing this 😎

WOW! I tried this on the snare I play at Church. Made it sound so good, that now I tune this way on my own 2 snares. Thank you for this tip, I love it!

IT WORKED AMAZINGLY! Billie Jean's snare revealed!!!

That is fantastic! I just tuned my snare and playing hell’s bells. Sounds great. Thanks

I was a professional drummer for over 35 years. Why have I never seen this before? BRILLIANT! Mind officially blown.

The tricks indeed can help a lot. For almost 5 months, I have been waiting for this kind of hooking sound in a drum set especially on a snare because I know that playing drums is not just banging every cymbals or popping every snares or tom-toms but to play it with conviction and with enjoyment.

I don't even own a kit and still watched this video

I'm actually so glad I watched the video before I ruined my snare drum and heads!

Tried this my DW 8x14 steel snare drum, and yes, it worked. Thank you!

Loved this method. Got a fairly basic snare - Maple Decade - and with 8 lugs - but I just improvised and went 1 turn up and the 2 top lugs and about 1.5 down on the 2 bottom lugs, and loving the sound - exactly what I was looking for!

From your thumbnail, I thought you were Serj Tankian for a sec 😜

since when does serj from SOAD make drum lesson video's???

I've watched all sorts of tuning videos... reso tuned higher v lower, raw sound v mic'd, tape/gel v no tuning assist. THIS is the method I have stuck with since discovering it 8 years ago. Especially recently when changing the heads on my gigging kit. It's quick, easy, versatile and always sounds great.

That's a great little trick. I have been studio engineer for 20 yrs and used similar trick where after "tuning" the snare I would loosen 1 lug completely to eliminate overtones and deaden snare....thank you Mr. Funk drummer. Your trick is quicker and does what you say. I will change my method to yours, I like what I hear on my snare drum here. Thank you!

This is the greatest snare drum tuning trick, and I'm a guitar player!

It is a useful trick & i would have loved to know it 25 years & 5 snare drums ago.

Genius. I meticulously maintained a drum set in my home studio for several years - ready to play at any moment. I wish I would have known this system back then.

Everything I have learned about tuning a snare just went out the window with this video! Nicely done. It just goes to show that you don't have to conform to the norm!

I just wanted to thank you for putting this video on...Genius idea....I just tuned my snare according to the video and it sounds FANTASTIC...This saved me so much time, now going to a new venue, my time in tuning my snare is nill....Thanks again, Stephen I've been playing over forty years, with this tuning method I could have saved myself so much time and frustration....WOW.

You look like if Serj Tankien played drums 😄 great job man. You made my snare sound so much better

mind.blown. I've been tuning/thinking about snare tuning all wrong for YEARS...such a good method.

used this technique on a friend's snare a few weeks ago, was tuning his whole kit. it sounded fucking phenomenal! this is genius!

At first I was thinking yeah yeah right... and by the end of the video I was amazed at how well this works lol!

Wow, I thought you were crazy when you loosened those lugs, but it actually looks like it's a great idea. Thanks, I'm gonna give it a try.

I have never ever heard of this in all my years of playing. This is the coolest trick ever.!! Man...this is great!

Thank you for taking the time to share this technique. Snare drum tuning can be tough and really comes down to personal feel, sound and the gig you're on. I do wish, however that us drummers could support ideas instead of all the critical comments, which are not feed back nor helpful at all. Thanks Again.

Works perfectly. Grab a spare snare to have set up this way. Who wouldn't want VERY DIFFERENT snare sounds from song to song? No overtones for the sound man to have to gate and compress the hell out of. Everybody of any worth carries 2 snares to the gig.....why not take one that is proven to work for MANY PEOPLE over many years without warpage of the hoops nor the shell? Most drummers that insist on live and open drums end up with your kit simply being triggered out front to get great sounds in 2 seconds. SOMEONE has to do it.

Nicely done! Bravo, sir!

You're my hero! I've been looking for a good snare drum tuning for a long time! Finally found it!

This is great ! Congrats for sharing this fantastic method which will give much more options for our playing

Well my snare is still ringing like hell, need to use dampers but still using this technique it's very easy to quickly get various tones... Nice one!

Thank you Serj Tankian. I thought you were full time vocalist for System of a Down

Thanks for increasing my knowledge, the way you can tune for both high and dry and low tones. My Ludwig 402 has never sounded so good. Thanks.

I was very skeptical at first but amazed at the end. Great way to tune your snare !

Thanks Serj!

Awesome video. I am always looking to improve my tuning abilities. A few questions. 1) Will this tuning hold over an entire gig or session, or do you recommend going over the lugs between every song? 2) I am also concerned about hoop or shell warping with this method. Is this save over the long term? 3) You don't find a need to fine tune either the bottom or top? I noticed you did go around the bottom head once (and it sounded pretty damn even), but is there ever a time when you would modify them beyond all one (or two) turns past just gripping on the bottom? 4) I would also love to see a video for how you tune a kick, rack, and floor toms. Thanks for posting this!!!

so nice,this will make every drummer in the world quickly prepared before a song start in gig or concert.THUMBS UP!😃👍

Fantastic approach to tuning and modifying to desired tones. Well done and thank you!

I tried this twice and kept it setup this way for a few gigs and one recording session. Verdict? It's a very creative and cool way to control the tone and pitch of your snare drum very quick and easily. HOWEVER... If you play hard rock music and you severely abuse your snare with power like I do "a la Dave Grohl", then this setup is not for you. That bottom lug is just going to keep loosening every time you hit your snare, which is already a problem I have with normal tuning, it just happens even more so and much faster using this method. I can imagine this tuning would work great for a softer player or a style of music, like jazz or funk, but for Rock I hate to say that this just doesn't last. Not unless you plan on having some sort of tuning lock/mechanism of some kind. Also... This "Tuning Trick" puts a lot of uneven and unnecessary stress on the head, warping it in different directions with drastically different tensions. Don't expect it to last very long if you do this to it. Want a dryer sound? Just buy the proper head for your style of play and genre of music. I love a dry/cracky Nirvana/STP type snare so I use an Evans Genera Dry with vents that kill overtones, and then I tighten it to shit everywhere and voila. The perfect snare sound.

Throwing a tea towel over the snare has a similar effect.

I find that any information someone gives you to improve your sound it is always worth the try. It may work for you or it may not, however I did play around with this method and i did find out that when I loosened the bottom 2 lugs that I could control the overtones much better. Thanks for the post!!

I try it yet on my Pearl Masters Birch and the sounds amazing. Three screws controlled your overtones! Thanks a lot man!

This method may work. But I can guarantee it is NOT good for your shell and hoops. You will twist your hoops and eventually warp your shell. Follow this guy at your own risk...

One two tree forrrrr

Danke Udo Masshoff! Zum ersten Mal habe ich genau den Snaresound, den ich will!

i ve been looking at a few different ways and surprised on how many but i really like the control of this one and no muffle required

thanks for the tricky

bloody genius.

Totalmente agradecido! I tunning my snare everytime I play. but with this, it will be so easy. Thanks! Ya quiero probar y afinar la caja de mi batería... Saludos desde Chile!

Worked for me on a pearl export snare and coated drumhead. This tip is amazing! Will recommend! For snares with only 8 lugs, just use the two lateral ones for tone instead of the four he said.

Will you teach me to football? Lol, good shit man. I'm so glad I stumbled upon ur video.

This is totally insane

Never seen this before, excited to go try it out on my kit. Thanks!

I run two snares on my kit, Tried this with 42 strand and it sounds awesome. really like that fat sound...Thanks

Oh man those hi-hats are massive.

This is awesome

This actually WORKED!!!! My snare was ringing like crazy and now it's PHAT!

We are really thankful to you because this incredible trick! It's sounds really great on our drums record with a couple of Shure sm57. This is a real useable trick!

I'm not even a drummer and I'm watching this :D Great thing to know

I love this, but I’m also concerned about the fact that people might try this on not so premium drums and they might bend their ring, is that an actual issue here? 😮

Very interesting. I will try this tonight. Thanks for the video and ideas

Am I the only one who loved the way it sounded at 3:56?

Does it matter how the wires are positioned in relation to the top head?

I do this by tuning my snare how I like and I tweak one tension rod

My favorite damping control so far, thank you very many. My old funky daddyo used a similar technique for a slightly other purpose; to make a tom into three different pitches. Could be interesting for further experimentation

This is great content! Thanks for sharing! Can't wait to try this.

what kind of sorcery is this???? is amazing!!!!!!!

Can you make a video on tuning your Tom-Toms and Bass Drum?

I tuned my Tom's like this with less tension! and it worked bravo man good stuff..

This is so brilliant, I had to get another cup of coffee and watch it again! Thank you, Sir, I can't wait to try this trick out :-)

dang he’s like super stoked

How could I use this technique with an 8-lug snare?

My snare sounded like crap at first until I came across this video,thank you for showing that trick.now if I need help with my snare I can come back to this video

Definitely going to try it on my snare. Worth it! 🙌🏼🙌🏼

Wow, great ingenuity! probably the single most effective tuning tip I have found to date. Fucking great indeed!

I actually have 42 snares as well, and table-tight bottom didn't work for me. Snares resonated too much. But what helper, was loosing four screws around snares on the bottom! Top scheme works great though!

Danke dir für dein Trick. Habe es von meinem Gitarristen mäx. Habs gleich ausprobiert. funktioniert tadellos. Danke dir nochmal und guten rutsch ins neue Jahr 2019.

This tutorial is awesome! Gonna use this during gigs for sure

"Let's do one turn" +Does 3, 4 or 5 turns randomly

How does this affect the wear and tear of the heads? Seems like they would have significantly worse durability with uneven tuning like that. Definitely sounds good though.

48 in 6 days. I am done with air drums. Going to get a snare today. First video I watched and I don’t know who this fine very interesting and intelligent man is, but I am very elated to get my snare. I hope he he is well in this world! Thank you kind man. 🧝🏼‍♀️✌🏼

Waoh, what a great lesson. You guys really motivated me more. More power to your elbow