In this video we'll cover how to tune ANY drum to PERFECTION. If you agree, or found anything at all in the video usefu, please subscribe, like the video, and give it a share (: Thanks for everything!
@@xbt34 I always like to think/say that sound engineers are the only people that might love the drums just as much/more than a drummer. The reason I say that is because of how much their work with live sound and the recorded arts has benefited the sound and overall experience of the drums in the modern world.
@@TripleDeluxeDrums mixing drums is truly an art, placement, tuning, type of mic, reverb or not compress hard or not. Even taste between the Eng and drummer can shape the sound, now a year later with my own acoustic drum set I have my own sound to it.
Yes, it’s the basic method that Rob Brown advocates. But so what? Someone who has never seen a Rob Brown video will have this show up in their feed and it could be helpful. This is how I start with mine, then I fine tune to pitch using the iDrumTunePro app. But after starting out with this method, the fine tuning doesn’t take much. Kudos on the Ultramarine Armory kit. Looks & sounds great!
I’ve been playing drums for well over 20 years. I love how you explained finger tight, because not many people do that. In my preparation, there are more steps but we all have a process. Generally, the ideas are there and my only maybe critique. There’s more than one way to tune a Tom.
I watched your video and have to tell you that we change and tune surprisingly similar. One thing you could have added is the advantage of when pushing on the center of the head while putting on the new/different heads, also makes sure the head is seated properly on the shell.
There really is no right or wrong way to tune drums The main thing is not to have any wonky ring That’s why I laugh when all the RU-vid drummers say tune it my way Tune them till they sound right for you
We were all beginners once. When I was a beginner, I screwed up my snare drum tuning so badly that I didn't play again (in any real capacity) until I bought another snare drum. I thought it was a terrible drum and didn't touch it again until I had a friend teach me how to tune a snare... EIGHT YEARS later. If I'd have had someone say, "Try this way," instead of "Tune randomly until it sounds good," then I might have got it playable again before I was in college.
There definitely are wrong ways to tune drums. You should always aim for even lateral tension. Once that's achieved then you can bring the drum up or down to the desired range.
@@RockerBug17 Yes and you can loosen or tighten the head for the sound you want for the song but I was saying as long as there isn’t a awful wonky ring tuning a drum is up to the ears of the drummer
Good thoughts, thanks. As others mentioned, I also think it's good to follow this up with pitch tuning at the edges using a tuner. Can't say enough good about DrumDial as an amazing tool for getting even tension on the heads.
I do this for years, i also tried the way i learned it from Thomas Lang, just press down the hoops firmly with the palm of your hand and finger tighten them and ready to go, maybe a little fine tuning thats all. Cool vid
The only thing I would add, is the final step for me is to lightly touch the head exactly in the centre with just one fingertip. Tap lightly with a stick around the perimeter at each lug. This is a drummer’s version of using harmonics, just like tuning a guitar, and gives the ear just a bit more information. Then you simply fine adjust until the “wows” are gone.
I do basically the same thing. I do the wrinkle trick followed by tapping around the drums to even out the lug tone. It took me years to figure out drum tuning. Watching all these drum videos online, I couldn’t ever duplicate it. I finally realized I won’t get that sound without the processing and mixing that they do as well. I play 1 up and 1 down so I try to get the tone of the floor Tom to be a 5th in a chord pattern, if that makes sense.
Yes totally! I'm happy to know I'm not alone in that! Mixing definitely plays a huge part for sure too! It 100% makes sense what you're saying! Thank you so much for your insight! 😃
@@timmorrisdrums I think the mixed sound is more of a proximity thing. Meaning, if you put your ear up close to the head or the drum it will sound more like what a mic picks up by being that close to the drum. If you forget to close mic the toms you are not going to get that richness of tone that close micing picks up by being right up on the batter head (close).
Snare wire vid!!! Drives me crazy lol. I've only been drumming 6 months and tuning was of course difficult in the beginning because I don't have a mentor/coach/teacher. I have never even had another drummer come help me set them up. Which is probably partly why my kit is setup like most people have never seen lol. I do this basic method to get started now as well. I play a PDP maple kit, and DW has a sample kit on their website with all the sounds.You just click each part and it plays it one at a time. I also use DW heads so it's perfect. That's my last check. I listen to the 10, 12, 14, 16 and then hit mine and fine tune. I check them every day before I start playing to find tune. I searched long and hard on YT for "what does a 10" tom sound like in tune" kind of searches. There isn't as much out there as you might think. Thanks for the content bro. You have a new subscriber.
I like the autistic way of tuning drums. I fingertighten it, then turn every screw on a shell for the exakt same amount in a starpattern. Works out very well for me
I rub vasoline on my heads where they meet the bearing edge so they stretch over them better. Also tightening and loosening going around the drum small increments not big half turns. Nice Mapex kit they sound and look great.
@@timmorrisdrums You know, I was taught to focus on the final pitch of the drum more so than the natural good-sounding tension of the head, which caused me plenty of mistakes along the way. I would tune thicker heads too tight, and thinner heads too low. But with your “wrinkle-elimination” method, you basically find the tension that’s right for the head. Very nice!
i just re started drumming after a 10 year gap (the joys of growing up and working nights ect) and i could never tune properly, my kit now needs a few replacement rims and a new set pf skins and i can't wait to try this!!! i could never tune either... to be completely honest i always got my brother in law (fellow premier lover) to help me out/do it for me hahaha
This is such a relatable comment!! I’m so happy to hear you’re able to get back to drumming again. Hopefully this method will keep you from needing your brother in law to tune anymore 😂
@@timmorrisdrums hopefully, gonna retune once the wife goes to work later will let you know how i do. i was pretty much pushed into gettin back to it by one of my best friends/guitarist haha, just need to refresh myself with fills ect, i'm really sloppy atm
Try switching your rims to triple flange 3 mm and the drums will sound incredible. I did this on my Armory and ain't looking back. On the rack and floor toms.
Nice and simple video but what happen when you want to tune with notes?Or if you want floor toms very low ,bassdrum too and snare medium high?This method didn't work and you must tune individually.
This technique works great if the bearing edge is level and decent. No chance on cheap poplar though! When I tune I don't go off numbers or tuning to a specific note. I've learnt you can actually just feel where the head feels good. I can now get any sound I want out of my drums with a few turns of one or two batter side tension rods. Meaning I can go from a Chili Peppers super high crack to a deep fat 80s snare sound in seconds. Super useful for cover band gigs!
Have you tried switching to snare cord? I’ve found them to be much easier to get the wires straight and square, and also more sensitive. Game changer. Ludwig makes good cord, and it’s cheap for a good size length that lasts a long while. Favorite wires are the German or phosphor bronze 16-strand from dFd. Nice snare btw! I have that one, love the SLP snares. Kenny Sharretts has a video where he tunes that snare a few ways, check it out if you haven’t.
Polyester straps are a safer bet. Cord can dig into the edge of a wood shell. I stick to the black poly strap except for my Starphonic snares which Tama includes for the factory and my Yamaha snares which also use a cord from the factory. 95% of my snares have Tama wires that mostly use the black straps so I stick with what works and is the easiest to set up.
@@Assimilator702 Have you ever seen a cord cut into a wood shell? I have heard this myth repeated here and there, but nobody has seen one in the wild. I definitely have not, and I’ve got cord on everything from maple, walnut, birch, cherry, bubinga, box elder, hickory, mahogany, and some I can’t recall. Thin plies, steambent, stave, sharp edges, roundover edges. I think this is a leftover urban legend from the days of metal wires going right to the throw/butt on mahogany field drums. The fact that high end wood drums typically come outfitted with cord is telling. There is no way that a nylon cord OVER a layer of Mylar is going to press through the head and into a bearing edge. You would have to use a ratchet strap to generate that much force, and I’m still not sure if you could cut through the drum head. Cord has several advantages - you have two points of manipulation to get the wires perfectly true and they self-align somewhat (straps may be ‘easier’ to install but they’re easier to get wrong); they pull from both corners of the plates instead of pulling from the middle; they’re extremely light/thin so they’re more sensitive and they don’t dampen the head; they don’t stretch or snap
@Dan G I think it is from the old days when drums were made of questionable woods. No emphasis was given to the types of wood used for drums. You just accepted what the drum maker used. My main issue with cord is that there are 2 points to pull when attempting to get the snared straight. Strap there is one. But you're e ighr one the points where the cord pull from provide a more broad even tension. I don't tighten my wires much so straps have never given me an issue. I do like the white cord that Yamaha uses. The very thin coated wires Tama uses....not so much.
@@Assimilator702 Exactly, thin soft wood + some metal wires and I can see an issue. But quality drums + nylon cord, no way. You wouldn’t see $1000 drums with cord if this were a problem. I used straps for a long time, and then I used grosgrain for a while too (which imo is the best type of strap - far superior to the stiff plastic, and better than the kinda thick Puresound straps). Both are fine, and as you say they are faster and simpler. But over the years I’ve had some drums that are VERY sensitive to the wires being absolutely perfectly square and even - if you’ve ever had a drum where there’s some twangy aftereffect, it’s typically the wires not being perfect. I’ve come to see the 2 strands of cord vs one strap as a benefit because now you can REALLY get them lined up/adjusted with precision. (A quick test to check for “true” - flip the drum and disengage the wires, now watch the end plates as you engage: they should pull straight out. If you see one or both plates kinda wiggle/twist while engaging- they’re not pulling straight) And then there are the ‘cord only’ systems like the old p-83 or the newer Dunnett beertap, both of which I kinda love. To each his own, there’s no wrong way of course. I would just encourage trying them, especially on a finicky drum or a drum whose snare response is not where you’d like it.
I’m a bit different I use a tension meter on each lug, I tend to have more tension on the batter head and less on the res head. And I tune each drum to a specific note using a korg tuner.
Definitely the Beatdown Brown method, which does work. However, I've noticed that tuning to a defined interval between the batter head and resonant head with a tunebot eliminates the weird ring in snare drums and the toms. Recently played around with a 12" tom using an interval and settled on an augmented 2nd which surprisingly worked out really well! To each their own though :)
In my experience; crank up the reso on the snare and then give the batter just one turn, slap a folded tea towel on the edge, and voila you got yourself a great sound
Here's the funny thing. I keep my resonant heads looser than my batter heads. I always get a killer tune. Also I can tune a bass drum without the need for muffling and a hole in the resonant head and achieve very little overring. It's all in how the heads react to each other. It takes years of developing an ear to what the heads sound like when they are correctly [subjective (tight snappy sound)]
@@timmorrisdrums I might post a video of the kit I just recently tuned using that method. It's also a cheap Tama imperial star kit so no high end kit and you'll see how great even a cheap kit can sound.
Question to this community. I brow a pearl drum set. But. The base has waves on part of the wood. When I tried to see my base side way, the paint had waves. i can feel those waves with my hands . Very strong. It is the wood bad. This guy stored this drum set in his garage, no ac.
Hey, thanks for reaching out! High temperatures cause the wood to warp, which leads to the deformation of the drumheads, which in turn has drastic impacts on the sound.
Great question! So, I’d say what it all comes down to is if you want bigger sounding toms on your kit and the genere of music you’re playing. My kit came with a 10,12,14,and 16 inch tom. I usually just use my 12in rack tom and 16in floor tom. If I want a smaller sound I’ll use the 10in and 14in tom. I hope this answer was helpful. 😁👍🏻
Hi Tim, do you have any tips for tuning so that the rack toms don't make the snare buzz so horribly?? I'm just having that problem repeatedly no matter what I do. Are use gel pads to stick to the resonant heads and the batter heads of both the snare and toms and I'm still getting it --it's really driving me crazy
Hi 😃 That is definitely something that happens that can be frustrating. I would recommend checking out my snare tuning video. Sometimes the resonant head on the snare drum not being tuned tight enough can affect the wires buzzing.
Tim you're the man. Went downstairs took my resonant Head to the extreme and tuned up the batter head as well. All the buzzing stopped immediately and it sounds better and performs infinitely better. I really am so grateful to you. God bless you brother.@@timmorrisdrums
Hey Ricky, definitely sounds like it is the stock heads and not having any dampening in the bass drum. Feel free to let me know how they sound afterwards 😁👍🏻
I tune on the note I want, then I put a towel on the drum and climb on it. It's very effective if you want your drums to hold the chord, and on a snare drum (not the reso of course), it suppresses some annoying harmonic. Simon Phillips jumps on his bass drum head ! Then you tighten again because you lost at least a half tone. Tuning on a chord means checking it daily. Nothing to do with the tones of the songs, you can't be in tune on all. There was this funny order in Whiplash "Tune the drums in Bb", like the conductor was talking about tympani ! But if you play in a jazz band you will encounter more b than in a rock band, so it's not that stupid.
I guess you need to figure out how much force you push into the head with. I have seen guys put weights on the head and they tune the wrinkles out that way.
For the newbies he used his phone or camera mic for the base tuning. The full tuning us being captured by the drum mics. I know there's some who are gonna be "whaaa my drums don't sound as clear and detailed as his"
There are tuning apps you can use on your phone, and you can also buy a Drum Dial to ensure all tuning lugs. I personally don’t worry about the key the drums are tuned to. I just go by what I’m hearing 😁👍🏻
Dampening the drums. If you see on my drums at the end with their final tuning. I have little blue squares on the drum heads. I’m using moon gel. You can also use duct tape if you don’t have the money for moon gel. I forgot to mention about the dampening of the drums in the video. Let me know if you have anymore questions.
100% inspired by him! 🙂 I had a section in the video where I mentioned this but felt like it didn’t fit well. Also, I guess you could argue that everyone “copies” a method.
All drums are different. There's no perfect way to do it. The only way to get proficient is to take all the heads off and put them back on over and over trying different tensions every time until you like what you hear. After a while you'll have muscle memory and know exactly how to tune YOUR drums the way you like them.
Good point! 😂 I actually forgot to film the part of me explaining how moon gel can also help dampen the sound. I put a lot of work into the video on the tuning aspect and forgot the part of the moon gel. Good ol mistakes, am I right? Haha. I hope you still found some enjoyment in the video. 😁👍🏻
If you don't know how to tune your drums 🥁🎶,, you are not a professional drummer. No engineer, or producer, will like your playing with untuned drums. Trust me I know from being a drummer for 40 years.
eww.... another person spreading terrible advice. Learn to tune the real way and you'll get so much more flexibility with the tunings you get, as well as just having your drums actually sound good in the first place.
