tom tuning...

[sirslurpee]

I know this has probably been discussed before, but I want to put this in my exact words.

I CAN'T get my toms to stop sounding like tympanies. It's kind of upsetting. I'm following the DTB to try to tune them but I can't make any headway.

[daav]

what is your room like? treated? sounds like it ought to be.

Daav

[sirslurpee]

it's sort of big, i'd say 23x16x10.. carpet on part of the ceilings and some of the walls.. hardwood floors with a big rug.. lots of furnature and shit....

it sucks because they sound bad no matter where I take them

[sirslurpee]

uh......................





i just found sawdust in my drums....

wtf would cause that?

[sirslurpee]

okay so..... i give up. I guess I will just not play my toms at all untill I get paid and can buy all new heads for them. I think the pinstripes on the top and clear single plys on the bottom just aren't what I am looking for....

[ez_willis]

Originally Posted by sirslurpee

uh......................





i just found sawdust in my drums....

wtf would cause that?

Your drums are infested with the South American Tympani Termite.

[sirslurpee]

Oh shit. I better call Terminex!

[timboZ]

What kind of heads do you have on the toms?
If they are the stock single ply heads that come with most drums that may be the problem.

[KonradG]

Hydrolic heads are mans best friend. I cant say it enough. I think they sound strong live and recorded.

[mrface2112]

if your toms sound like tympani, i would suggest that you're either tuning them "too tight" or you're tuning the top and bottom heads to the same pitch.

try tuning the top head to get the resonance/sustain you're looking for and tune the bottom head for the pitch.

and i've never had a problem like that with a pinstripes/ambassadors combo--on many drums that seems to do the trick rather well (for certain styles of music). i would suggest the problem is more in the tuning than head type, but by all means, use this as an excuse to try different heads!


cheers,
wade

[timboZ]

Originally Posted by KonradG

Hydrolic heads are mans best friend. I cant say it enough. I think they sound strong live and recorded.

Hydrolic heads = Dead sounding heads.....
You want your toms to have some life/ring to them.

[sirslurpee]

I've got pinstripes on the tops and the stock heads on the bottoms... I have them tuned pretty low.. and when tuning I tune to a piano, and tune the bottom head a minor 3rd above the top. So say the top head is A the bottom head is C above A. I usually can get a pretty good sound out of that but for some reason it is really really ringy now. I dunno what happened :\

Anyway, I got a job at the coporate music store and when I get paid and start getting my discount I'm going to re-head my whole kit. I want to go coated heads on everything, even the kick. (except the resonant heads, obviously)

This is probably a dumb question, but would it help lessen ring without killing tone if I used thicker heads on the resonant side?

[mrface2112]

Originally Posted by sirslurpee

This is probably a dumb question, but would it help lessen ring without killing tone if I used thicker heads on the resonant side?

this is NOT a dumb question, and the answer is "in general, yes".

i'm partial to ambassadors for my resonant heads, but that's me.


cheers,
wade

[TheBigGiantHead]

Your drums "sound like shit" because you have no idea what real drums sound like. Your only experience with drum sounds, has been that digital crap pumped through your iPod. Drums ring. They are a membraphonic instrument, and that's what they do. Most of the ring can't heard a few feet from the kit and none of the ring can be heard within the context of a performance.

I'm sure your heads suck and you can't tune to save your ass, but in all likelyhood, you have probably had atleast one drum sounding pretty damned good atleast one time. You have to condition, no...train your ears to recognize a well-tuned drum. This means going to as many clinics, seminars and live acoustic gigs as possible.

Hydraulic heads by the way...are for banjo-pickin', budweiser-drinkin', Velveeta-eatin', wife-beatin', Skynard-lovin', NASCAR-watchin', basement-gigin', web-toed rubes.

[orksnork]

btw, the sawdust is from your sticks.

[funkdrmr]

Originally Posted by sirslurpee

This is probably a dumb question, but would it help lessen ring without killing tone if I used thicker heads on the resonant side?

That's exactly what I've done as well.

Batter: G2 Coated (studio), EC2 (live)
Resonant: G2 Clear

Lots of tone, unlike the hydraulics, yet I don't have ringing problems like I did with single ply heads on.

[PhilGood]

Funny. I've been trying for years now to get my toms to sound like tympany so I can have better recorded toms and you're trying to do the oppostite.

Did it ever dawn on you that since you're following a tuning bible (and are probably doing it right) that maybe that's how toms are supposed to sound?

Try recording the kit with them sounding like tympany and see what the results are. (watch your levels)

Get back to us.

[Tim Brown]

Originally Posted by sirslurpee

I've got pinstripes on the tops and the stock heads on the bottoms... I have them tuned pretty low.. and when tuning I tune to a piano, and tune the bottom head a minor 3rd above the top. So say the top head is A the bottom head is C above A. I usually can get a pretty good sound out of that but for some reason it is really really ringy now. I dunno what happened :\

Anyway, I got a job at the coporate music store and when I get paid and start getting my discount I'm going to re-head my whole kit. I want to go coated heads on everything, even the kick. (except the resonant heads, obviously)

This is probably a dumb question, but would it help lessen ring without killing tone if I used thicker heads on the resonant side?

Ahh Grasshopper, if you tune the bottom head higher in pitch - they will sound like Tympani, tune the bottom head equal to, or lower than the pitch of the top.


Tim

[orksnork]

equal to is very hard to keep consistent, and with give a bad reverbaration when it's slightly off...

like when you tune a guitar and it goes WOOOOOOOOAH WOOOOOOOOAH WOAH WOAH WOH WOHWOHWOHHOWH

and gets quicker

most rock toms are tuned a 1/4th off