Drum tuning

[contrajedi8]

I was fortunate enough to get enough money through grants and from my school board to purchase a completely new drumline for this coming fall. Not a moment too soon. The old equipment looks like Fred Flintstone played on it.

I am a horn player. I want to make sure the drums get tuned properly. I need a little help on specific tuning techniques for snare, tenors, and bass drums.

Specific questions:

What pitch do I tune snares too? How high is too high?

I have the 6,8,10,12,13 config. on my tenors. What pitches do I use?

I have 18,20,22,24,26 inch bass drums. What pitches do I use?

My group has about 60-70 kids total in any given year. Any specific techniques for tuning the percussion section for a smaller-medium sized group?

Any other helpful tips on percussion tuning would be greatly appreciated!

I am also looking for good recommendations on sticks, tenor mallets, bass drum mallets, and drum heads.

BTW, all of the stuff is Yamaha if that makes a difference.

Thanks in advance!

[JDWEX1117]

There's always going to be people that disagree, but this is my personal preference. We use it in my drumline with all Championship series Pearl equipment and we love it.

Snares:

I would suggest getting rid of the heads that came with it, and purchasing Remo Whitemaxx (or blackmaxx if thats what you're into) and Falams II snare side heads. Don't be so afraid to break the batter heads when you tighten them, they probably won't break unless they're duds (which doesnt happen often). The snare side should be signifcantly less tight than the top head, but it still should be relatively tight. As for the gut snares, they should be tensioned not so high that they choke the drum and snap, but not so low that they rattle too much.

Tenors:

I like Remo Pinstripe Crimplocks or Coated Emperor.

The spock head should be tightened high, but its very easy to make it too tight and it could snap. Be careful. The sound of [all of] the drums should be loud and projecting far, and the way to do this is to tighten them tight, but not at a ridiculous tension level. The sound of the drums should be relative to the sound, meaning the spock should be the highest pitch, and the 13 should be the lowest. It should be easy to tell which drums need to be tightened, because it'll sound like there is some kind of "gap" in the sound.

Bass:

Remo PowerMax

The bass drums need to project. I like the bass drums to resonate a little bit, avoiding a dead kind of "thump" with no reverberation, if you will. Bass drums are hard to tune. Dont tune them too tight, but somewhere around medium-high tensioning and make sure BOTH heads are tuned to the same tension. The pitch should be relative to the size, much like tenors but on a much larger scale.

Sticks Mallets:

I use different snare sticks depending on my mood. I like

Vic Firth Scott Johnsons, Colin McNutts for snare.

MT1A-S, Scott Johnson Vegas for tenors (I recently tried the brand new Tom Aungst tenor mallet/stick hybrids and they're really good too)

And of course, the Vic Firth Corpsmaster Bass Mallets.

Tips:

-If all of your drums are Yamaha, check out a video of some famous drumlines who use Yamaha drums (Cadets, Cavaliers, etc.etc.) for reference.

-Hire a professional to help you.

-Dont use a standard, garden variety drum key. You're going to need one that can endure high tension.

[kusankusho]

A great article on muffling and tuning bass by Jim Cassella here --> http://www.pearldrum.com/03_nuupdts/edu/ar...es/casella.html

[Sayre Kulp]

I like Evans heads on the bass drums. The internal muffling system is great because there is no glue. No fuss, no muss, and it's practically impossible to screw it up. Beyond that, determine the pitch you like for the top drum (whatever it may be) and tune the next drums down in minor thirds. I personally like my top 4 drums tuned minor thirds apart, but I generally like to give bass 5 a little bit of space, since it's not playing many of the running parts. This will help give it a little more depth or "meat" if you will.

I agree with JDWEX1117 about the choice of heads and tuning on the snares.

The tenors, I tune alot like the bass drums. Except go the other way. Start with the bottom drum and get it to sound good. Tune up from there. Then you can crank the spock drum down pretty good and get that nice "pop!"

[Kyle]

As far as the actual tuning process of the drums go:

High-tension snare drums:

Apply a thin layer of vaseline to the bearing edge of the drum (where the head will rest before putting the rim on). Put the head on (place the logo where you desire). It helps to apply some lubricant to the lugs of the drum as well to ease tightening at high tensions. Put the rim on, and tighten all of the lugs finger tight. Get a wrench and tighten each lug to the same tension. You can check tension by tapping lightly approximately one inch into the head in front of each lug. Tighten very very incrementally. Don't just crank the lug around; this causes uneven tension and could result in a blown head. For high tension, Yamaha and Pearl recommend the "clock" method: Start at one lug and work clockwise around the rim.

When you start to feel firmness in tightening, check by tapping a stick on the head to reach desired tightness. Lots of people like to have snare drums with a Formica feel... I don't. But that's all personal preference.

I prefer a mylar batter side head rather than a kevlar. I'd recommend a clear 1-ply Remo Ambassador. Just tighten it so that it sounds even and has resonance. Don't tighten it too much, as it's very easily blown.

Tenors:

Follow the same steps as far as lubrication goes. When you tighten the heads, go very incrementally and MAKE SURE EACH LUG IS EQUAL IN PITCH TO THE NEXT. Tighten in a "star" method: Star at one lug, and go across to the opposite side. Don't tighten too tight, as it will choke off the resonance of the head. Don't go too lose, however, as it will get the "Boingy" sound that's all too common with poor drumlines: the drumset rack tom sound. I prefer to tune the top head first, as it is the one with the limit. Start there, and work your way down in major and minor thirds. I prefer a minor interval between drums one and two, a major interval between 2 and 3, and another minor between 3 and 4. That's just the way my small block Pearls sound the best. The spock drum should just have a fairly "poppy" sound to it. It's very small and won't really have much of a pitch.

Bass Drums:

Follow the Jim Casella method posted above.

[CrunchyTenor]

The above article and more are available at Pearl Resources for Music Educators

Garry in Vegas

[K-Swiss]

For the bass drums, If you have a key in the horn music that occurs frequently, you can tune the drums to a chord in that key.

Also, invest in a lot of stick tape. Taping the sticks and mallets properly can really prolong their life. adding extra tape near the heads of tenor and bass mallets will help with rolls as well.

[jonnyboy]

Some good posts so far but I'll add my 2 cents:

As far as heads go, just use whatever the drums come with. Since you obviously don't have a drum tech the differences in heads are just preference, so save a few bucks and leave them.

I would recomend getting someone to show you how to tune. There are many tricks to muffling, getting pitches, bringing heads up evenly. It is really hard to say "tune the bass 1 head to A#". You have to do it right, and maintain it. Heads stretch and need to be retuned. Would a novice horn player learn best by being shown how to play or by reading about it? Same with drums.

I really think you could find a local drummer to help you out, maybe your yamaha dealer could locate a qualified person. Heck, why spend thousands on new drums and not set them up right?

While you are at it, get some drum covers. There is no reason your equipment shouldn't last many seasons. Finally, regardless of condition sell your old stuff on eBay. Someone will want it, even for parts. Put the money towards drum covers or cases.

[kusankusho]

Some good posts so far but I'll add my 2 cents:

As far as heads go, just use whatever the drums come with. Since you obviously don't have a drum tech the differences in heads are just preference, so save a few bucks and leave them.

Depends, some of the factory supplied heads are crap. We changed them immediately and just kept the supplied heads for last-ditch backup. If it's a new line where there's less worry about the sound or durability, I'd agree with saving the cash.