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Best drum tuning


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I think for total percussion sound I'll take Bluecoats. The combination of their snares, tenors, and basses is amazingly good...especially live, and it really allows for their pit colors to come through as well. Cadets are fantastic, but I have never cared for their snare tuning. This year it feels too hard for me. It definitely works for them, especially when they have an aggressive show (a la 2000 during those percussive trade-offs).

Cavaliers bass drums are fantastic and they continue to be one of the few corps to utilize a really low, deep bass drum that truly resonates. Many corps have moved away from that. I can't comment on BD and SCV until I hear them. Video on FN is good but unfair for me to judge. Always love SCV. BD usually has super bright and high-pitched snares which they make work very well, but it usually doesn't sit as well with my ears. I think that's why I love BLOOO this year. Their snare sound just sits on top, like butter, smooth and perfectly balanced without attacking those super-high frequencies.

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Best tuning to my ears is SCV, top to bottom. Rennick knows the concept of resonance and finding a drum's sweet spot for projection...

Does Rennick tune them all himself? Does he tune any of them? Not questioning his knowledge, or challenging SCV's sound, or anything like Just wondering who among the 6 or 10 guys on their staff actually does the cranking.

Peace,

Fred O.

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Does Rennick tune them all himself? Does he tune any of them? Not questioning his knowledge, or challenging SCV's sound, or anything like Just wondering who among the 6 or 10 guys on their staff actually does the cranking.

Peace,

Fred O.

Probably being tuned to at his direction, tho. If he wants a certain pitch and tone out of a drum, that's where the other staff crank to.

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Re: Blue Knights tenor scoops - why would a corps or drumline choose to add these? It seems like overkill to have two sets of scoops (in your Raisin Bran).

Not sure what you mean by 'two sets of scoops'. Anyway, if you want a reason for scooping tenors, just pull up 1981 Phantom Regiment on FN. There's your answer. You could hear those tenors in the next county!

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Probably being tuned to at his direction, tho. If he wants a certain pitch and tone out of a drum, that's where the other staff crank to.

Yeah, I can agree with that conceptually - though with the disclaimer that tuning a drum is different than tuning a horn line. If Meehan, or Gino, or one of those guys tells his underlings to tune to A=442, they can dial it in on the tuner and use it as a standard for every player in the line. But a drum is, imo, much more subject to the touch and feel of the guy turning the key. As much as you have folks claiming they can lock it in because they have perfect pitch, or because they know the correct ratio of head tension to head diameter/shell depth, or because they've studied the theory of acoustical resonance in vibrating membranes, or whatever, it's really not an exact science. There's at least a bit (or maybe more) of black magic involved.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. And respect to anyone who can get a battery full of high-tension noisemakers to speak and project with a good sound - whatever the technique, formula or philosophy they choose to employ.

Regards,

Fred O.

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I think this year BD has a different bass sound. Not sure how to describe it but just seems to have more bottom end but not as resonant as Cavaliers are.

I love BD's Tenor sound. Also Cadets Tenors.

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Yeah, I can agree with that conceptually - though with the disclaimer that tuning a drum is different than tuning a horn line. If Meehan, or Gino, or one of those guys tells his underlings to tune to A=442, they can dial it in on the tuner and use it as a standard for every player in the line. But a drum is, imo, much more subject to the touch and feel of the guy turning the key.

Rennick might do some spot checking as well.

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Does Rennick tune them all himself? Does he tune any of them? Not questioning his knowledge, or challenging SCV's sound, or anything like Just wondering who among the 6 or 10 guys on their staff actually does the cranking.

Peace,

Fred O.

Sam Flores Jr. has been with Rennick since the Phantom years and I'd bet he does 99% of the tuning. He was tuning all of the drums back in '76 when we marched together in the Scouts (Fred Sanford's line) and was probably tuning for the Cavies prior to that.

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Not sure what you mean by 'two sets of scoops'. Anyway, if you want a reason for scooping tenors, just pull up 1981 Phantom Regiment on FN. There's your answer. You could hear those tenors in the next county!

I would guess they are referring to the fact that with tenors the shells are already shaped to be "scoop like".

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