HOW TO TUNE DRUMS

Let's face it; if your drums don't sound good, you are not going to sound good. You can have all the chops in the world but we as drummers are hired by, not just our licks, but by other factors such as how we get along with others, how musical we are, how we groove, and yes... how good our drums sound (determined by how well they are tuned).

This article won't serve to instruct the exact method of tuning drums as much as it will to address a few key issues with regard to tuning your drums or drumset.

For tuning most drums, it involves a simple process that can be honed as a skill the more we work with it. Tuning drums is an inexact science but like anything, the more you do it, the better you'll get at it.

The most important thing to know is that you'll tune the drums so that the pitches near each lug are as close to the adjacent lug as you can possibly get it. The end goal is to get the drum in tune to itself, which means we will try to have the pitch near all of the lugs sound the same on the head your working on. They can differ from top to bottom and in fact, that's how you'll obtain your pitch.

For snare drums, aim to tune with respect to what kind of snare sound you wish to achieve. If you want a marching band type of snare, you'll want to really crank the heads good and tight. If you want a deep sound, you'll need to tune the heads looser, and so on. If you want the snare to have a washy snare effect or a "wet" sound, you'll need to leave the snares on the bottom of the drum a bit looser so they can buzz more. Similarly, if you want a tight crisp sound, you'll want to have the snares tensioned tighter. Just be sure that you don't tighten too much or the snare drum will sound choked.

With toms, or tom toms, whether or not you start with tuning the top head or the bottom head matters not so much as being sure that you again, tune the drum to be in tune with itself. Some drummers try to pull the pitch of the tom drum out of the bottom head and others will try to pull it from the top. You'll need to experiment to determine your own preference. There is really no right or wrong way.

With regard to the bass drum, some drummers like a deep, low, thud sound and others like more of an opening resonating sound. If you want the traditional punchy, thud sound, you'll need a pillow or some substantial muffling on the inside of the drum. If you lay the pillow so that it slightly touches the front head, you'll acheive even better results. For more of a resonating bass drum sound, go with less muffling and maybe even do without any kind of air hole in the front head.

Tuning Tips:

• Head selection is an extremely part of the drum tuning process. There are drumheads of all shapes and sizes. Experiment with different types of heads to see how they will affect each drum's tone and response.
• Don't worry if you can't get a slight wrinkle out of the drum. If the drum sounds good, that's all that matters.
• Don't overtighten drum heads. Although they can withstand quite a bit of stretching, they do have a breaking point.
• Drumheads get brittle in cold weather and are more likely to crack. If the drum is extremely cold, let it warm up a bit before cranking on those heads.
• The higher quality the drum, the better the drum will sound when it is tuned properly.
• Experiment around with different types of hole sizes in your bass drum and where you postion the hole.

*Learn how to tune drums at Drum Bum's free drum lessons database.