Quelling excess snare rattle??

[Slowjett]

Everytime I hit my bass drum I get a bunch of snare rattle. Can anyone give me some helpful hints? the drum is properly tuned. I heard of some kind of special snareband that floats to avoid excess resinense. Any ideas?

 

[PYRRHO]

Everytime I hit my bass drum I get a bunch of snare rattle. Can anyone give me some helpful hints? the drum is properly tuned. I heard of some kind of special snareband that floats to avoid excess resinense. Any ideas?

Resinense...is that the new cleaner for bongs?

A "properly" tuned drum will not eliminate excess buzz. The cause is sympathetic vibration...the pitch of one istrument is soo close to another, that when the former instrument vibrates, it causes the latter to resonate..."sympathetically".

There are three basic ways to deal with it, the most effective being a personally unique blend of all or any one method to varying degrees.

1 - RETUNE: The snare is very low, or the bass very high. Often...the culprit is a very loose reso head on the snare, or a bass that is overmuffled.

2 - MUFFLING/ISOLATION: If retuning still yields unacceptable results, then you may want to try a couple of tricks...detuning the 4 tension rods directly adjacent to the snare bed...or a bit of tape near the snare wires...or a piece of cloth/playing card placed between the head and snare wires, near the outer edge. These are often lame because the REAL culprit...is that you've over-muffled everything to begin with. If ALL of the drums are allowed to resonate freely, then snare-buzz tends to go simply unnoticed. It's only when one puts a huge pillow in the bass drum, duct tape on the Pinstriped toms, and drapes a towel over their snare...that they suddenly become aware of the wires vibrating down below. Of course they're vibrating... they're the only damned thing on the kit you haven't killed!!!

3 -DEAL WITH IT: Drums resonate...it's normal, it's natural, and it's beautiful. The best thing to do unless it's extreme, is to simply ignore it...because no one will hear it out front Or learn to use it to your advantage...a little buzz adds fullness to the sound.

 

[jamacian]

Here's a trick a drummer showed me that I love. Take the 4 lugs nearest to the snares and loosen them just slightly. You may have to tune the other lugs up a little. Check it, if that didn't help loosen them a tiny bit more...keep going till it seems to help with the rattle. Make sure your snares are tight enough to begin with or you will be loosening those lugs too much. Works wonders, my snare was buzzing on nearly every drum hit and now it just does a tiny bit on the low tom. It will take some work getting the bottom snare head tension back to sounding the same, record the bottom tone snareless before and try to match it after you get the snares fairly rattle free. It's a process but well worth it. YMMV.

 

[ez_willis]

Everytime I hit my bass drum I get a bunch of snare rattle.

The best advice I ever received was to get over it. It's a snare drum. Snares rattle.

If that don't work for you, put a tissue under the coils or gate the fuck out of it.

 

[hoops]

I don't think you have to deal with it. I don't have that problem. Why should you. How is your snare tuned?

 

[nddhc]

The room youre in might influence the snares vibrating as well.

It bothered me a lot at first but when I started trying to record drums but I got over it and have found it doesnt matter as much as I thought it did.

If it REALLY bothers you and you cant fix it with tuning, try taking a piece of tissue paper and putting it between the snares. This will often choke the snares though and not sound very good..


good luck!

 

[Slowjett]

Honestly Im not a drummer. I just got the kit a few weeks ago. My friend came and tuned it and said it was all relatively good. The snare sounds great but does rattle. the tissue idea sounds good. i will try a few of your suggestions. Thanks so much. Any other suggestions would be welcome as well.

 

[ez_willis]

Honestly Im not a drummer. I just got the kit a few weeks ago.

That's exactly when I was told to get over it.

 

[ez_willis]

I don't think you have to deal with it. I don't have that problem. Why should you. How is your snare tuned?

Why don't you tell him how your drum is tuned.

Most snare rattle can be eliminated by detuning the bottom 4 snare lugs closest to the snare strainer.

Make sure the snare is not tuned too closely in pitch to any of the other toms, especially the racks. They'll set off a sympathetic buzz if they're close in pitch.

If you have other instruments in the room playing at the same time, they can cause a rattle as well. You'll need to smash those other instruments to eliminate that slight rattle that you'll never hear after the other tracks are laid down anyways.

 

[ecktronic]

Here's a trick a drummer showed me that I love. Take the 4 lugs nearest to the snares and loosen them just slightly.

Gadz.
Then your snare wont sound at its optimum.

Eck

 

[toddyjoe]

Slowjett, because you said you are not a drummer, you may want to have the drummer friend who came over to tune it identify if in fact you have a problem. The drummer advice in this thread is good if you have a legitimate problem but it might be hard to spot if your problem is real or not if you are a non-drummer. All snare drums should sympathetically rattle some when another drum in close proximity is struck. That is part of the nature of resonance and close proximity to an audible sound source and the sound waves emitted from it. Frankly, I would be more concerned if your acoustic snare does not rattle when another drum is struck as that would suggest your snare is not tuned correctly, i.e., may be choked or not tuned properly, or you are using too much acoustic muting or muffling on the snare. Perfectly-quiet snares may be available to non-drummers with MIDI sequencing and samples but a real drummer would likely tell you those "perfections" will not be present in a lively acoustic drum kit. It is much like the hum of a loud tube guitar amplifier when you are not playing notes, string noise and squeaks as your fingers move across the strings of a violin, breathe noise from a mellow saxophone, etc.... some natural noise is to be expected from a sound source that is true to its acoustic nature. Most of these minor sounds and noises get covered up by the primary instrument sound when you are recording so you may be worrying about nothing. I would consult a drummer for a second opinion before you try correcting something that does not need correcting. Good luck!

 

[Supercreep]

It's a snare. You want the snares to rattle, that's what they do.


Don't worry so damn much and just let the drums be drums.

 

[jamacian]

Gadz.
Then your snare wont sound at its optimum.

Eck

That's what I thought too, I was wrong, it sounds better.

 

[hoops]

Why don't you tell him how your drum is tuned.

Ok, I will. I tune the top skin really tight to get lots of attack and the bottom skin I tune to get the aproximate pitch I want. The snare I have some what tight. The rest of the kit is tuned down low for the metal bands I record. So the frequences aren't even close between the snare and the rest of the kit.

 

[ez_willis]

The snare I have some what tight. The rest of the kit is tuned down low for the metal bands I record.

Wait, just so I'm clear. You have a drum set in your studio that you have tuned, and you require bands to use that kit when you record them?

 

[hoops]

Wait, just so I'm clear. You have a drum set in your studio that you have tuned, and you require bands to use that kit when you record them?

I have a kit but no they can use there own if they would like. The thing is my kit usually sounds better. I find most of the drummers that I record do not know how to tune there drums. Some of them come in with duct tape holding them together. Most of the bands I record are teenagers with not a lot of experience.

 

[toddyjoe]

I tune the top skin really tight to get lots of attack and the bottom skin I tune to get the aproximate pitch I want. The snare I have some what tight. The rest of the kit is tuned down low for the metal bands I record. So the frequences aren't even close between the snare and the rest of the kit.

I am curious about that last comment. Even if the fundamental frequency of your snare is not close to the fundamental frequencies of the other drums, every drum will still have harmonic intervals and overtones that could cause your snare drum's resonant head to vibrate when the harmonics interact. This would be especially true the harder you hit the drums (metal music?). Of course, it would not be true if your snare is improperly tuned to the point of choking or if you have taken great cares to tune each drum to a particular frequency where it will have no fundamental or harmonic interaction with any other drum. I would think the latter might only be possible with a small, minimal kit as anything with a bunch of drums would make this way too time-consuming and odd-sounding when you play the kit as a whole. Can you explain that last comment a little better as far as what frequencies you are talking about?

 

[groovyisland]

the tuning tips work to a degree but in the end 2-ply quilted toilet paper worked the best for me.

it seems to me that most guys just tighten the strainer. i hear a lot of that high sharp pop sound with not much snare.

i like a lower tuning with a lot of loose snare

everything is a trade-off when dealing with this issue

 

[TripleJ]

Yeah it's basically a trade off situation. I think you want a little sympathetic buzz from the snares as without it the kit just sounds a bit strange. With that said however if there is ever an extended tom part with no snare I tend to turn the snares off.

 

[hoops]

I am curious about that last comment. Even if the fundamental frequency of your snare is not close to the fundamental frequencies of the other drums, every drum will still have harmonic intervals and overtones that could cause your snare drum's resonant head to vibrate when the harmonics interact. This would be especially true the harder you hit the drums (metal music?). Of course, it would not be true if your snare is improperly tuned to the point of choking or if you have taken great cares to tune each drum to a particular frequency where it will have no fundamental or harmonic interaction with any other drum. I would think the latter might only be possible with a small, minimal kit as anything with a bunch of drums would make this way too time-consuming and odd-sounding when you play the kit as a whole. Can you explain that last comment a little better as far as what frequencies you are talking about?

Well, when I tune the top of the snare it is really tight. It is coated and has some dampening. Hit as hard as you want on the other drums the top will not ring. The top is how I get lots of attack from my snare. I never use a bottom snare mic because of the way I tune my snare. The bottom skin I tune relatively loose. Not to loose though. This gives me low end in the recording. The strainer is pretty tight but not tight enough to change the pitch of the skin. In metal I like a short decay on the snare not a lot of rattle. I do get ring on the toms when the other drums are hit but not a whole lot. And yes I do spend a lot of time tuning my drums. I keep with small size drums 10", 12" and 14" toms and a 20" kick. Even incremments in sizes helps with tuning as well. I am trying to get the best sound out of my cheap kit. I have worked in a music store for 8 years putting together drum kits and tuning them. It really is a great oppertunity to practice my tuning skills. On average I tune a couple of kits every week.