Good studio snare drum AND how do you tune yours?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nick The Man
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Let me give you all some advice. Go now, right NOW to Guitar Center, and get a Pork Pie BIG BLACK SNARE, aka BOB. Its a Black Beauty Copy with Tube Lugs and I have three black beauty originals and the Pork Pie sounds better then all three of them. There I said it. This snare is part of my Elite Mixer series and its used on so many major productions I cannot even begin to mention it. Just get it, put a Remo Ambassador on it, tune it medium, and then send me a gift basket.
 
I've been intrigued by both the Black Beauty and Pork Pie snares, thanks for bringing that up! I've been using a Mapex Millenium snare for years, and want something with some real crack to it.
 
Well it seems I have alot of options to look over. My friend has the mapex and the acrolite so maybe ill go with the other ludwig snare that was mentioned. I'll have to look into that pork pie as well.

So many options, I don't know what to pick.
 
For a studio snare - I can't imagine anything better than birch or maple. In my experiance, metal drums are too loud and too difficult to tame in a controlled studio environment (although if, I were to use a metal drum - I would likely choose brass).

While I own several snare drums, the one I go to the most often for recording is a Pearl maple 3"x13". I can tune it down a little if I need something a little fatter and if I tighten it, well I can get a snap that could drive the groove on anything.

I'm a firm believer that when recording drums, smaller is almost always better.
 
^ I concur. Piccolo snare FTW!!! I'm a HUGE fan of the pearl snares as well, they're a lot more diverse than other snares I've heard...
 
mikeh said:
I'm a firm believer that when recording drums, smaller is almost always better.
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How funny!
Over the years recording as a drummer, I have set aside my Larger kits more for live work and moved to primarily smaller drums in the studio.
My main recording kit is a Mapex with a 18 inch kick and 8/10/12/16 toms. I usually use a 13 x 7 maple snare (for ballad / folk work) a 12 x 4.5 for pop / dance and a 14 x 6.5 brass for Jazz and country rock.

I have a couple of 13 x 3 I need to break out and try one of these days.
 
Nick The Man said:
Well it seems I have alot of options to look over. My friend has the mapex and the acrolite so maybe ill go with the other ludwig snare that was mentioned. I'll have to look into that pork pie as well.

So many options, I don't know what to pick.
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If you're saying you have an Acrolite you can use, getting a Supraphonic won't add much. They use the same shell, the only significant difference is the Acro has 8 lugs and the Supra 10. If you've got a 6x14 maple, and a 5x14 aluminum, I'd go with the 3x13 opinion for more versatility. The BoB is supposed to be good, too.
 
my cousin has an Acrolite and it works for just about any type of music you'd want to play. it's a great snare. and i love my Starclassic Copper snare, surprised not that many people have tried them out. it's awesome. tuned high, it has a nice sharp CRACK, but still thumps you in the chest. it's lively without being too pingy, just right. plus it looks bad ass.


now THIS is a killer snare sound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd4NDf7ciK4

good ol' Supraphonic. :D
 
Nick The Man said:
I could try a nice medium on it, im having a hard enough time getting the same pitch out of both heads.. dammit all, i hate tuning
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I don't think in my 25 years of playing I've ever heard of someone trying to get both heads to the same pitch. For the most part all I've ever heard is the bottom head should be higher.
 
yes, the bottom head on my snare is tighter than the top for sure, and the top is pretty damn tight. sounds great! on my wood snare, both are tuned lower than on my copper snare, but the snare side head is still higher than the batter side.
 
PhilGood said:
I don't think in my 25 years of playing I've ever heard of someone trying to get both heads to the same pitch. For the most part all I've ever heard is the bottom head should be higher.
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RezN8 said:
I would start by checking the condition of the reso head - it might need to be replaced if it's old and has been stretched. Then check for even tuning on both heads.
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Too shay?? Maybe I mis-understood something
 
Nick The Man said:
Too shay?? Maybe I mis-understood something
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i think he meant even tuning among the lugs, not that the top and bottom heads are tuned to the same pitch. definitely make sure there's even tuning at all lugs, tap about an inch in on the head at each lug and make sure the pitch is the same all around the drum.
 
zed32 said:
i think he meant even tuning among the lugs, not that the top and bottom heads are tuned to the same pitch. definitely make sure there's even tuning at all lugs, tap about an inch in on the head at each lug and make sure the pitch is the same all around the drum.
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I concur!

I believe he meant even tuning from lug to lug. The bottom should be 1 to 1 1/2 steps higher, or even more, depending on your tastes.
 
PhilGood said:
I concur!

I believe he meant even tuning from lug to lug. The bottom should be 1 to 1 1/2 steps higher, or even more, depending on your tastes.
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Yep, that's what I meant - even tuning across the head. Sorry if it wasn't clear.

I think I tried matching the pitch of both top and bottom heads on a snare once and it rang forever. Not very useful in most situations.

Nick- I checked out your drum clip a few days ago. It sounds like you're pretty close with the sound of your snare. In a mix, the ringing will be more subtle when it blends with the music.

I would suggest moving the mic a little further away from the head (two finger rule as a general rule of thumb) and move the mic around a bit to try and find that sweet spot.

Also, as I stated before, try to be more accurate with the way you strike the drum. I heard some hits that were dead on and then a lot of hits that just missed the mark.
 
he's right! the ring will be greatly diminished in a full mix. plus moving the mic a little further and possible a little more toward the center of the drum will help so it doesn't pick up so much ring. and the closer to the middle of the drum you smack with the drumstick, the less ring you're gonna get generally speaking. if you get an errant drum hit near the rim it'll probably ping like crazy, but you can always cut & paste that in the mix with a better snare hit. just try to be as consistent as possible.
 
Anyone have any objections to buying older acros and supras? I'm talking 60'70s models.
 
Nick The Man said:
Anyone have any objections to buying older acros and supras? I'm talking 60'70s models.
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Nope. The only thing that goes wrong with the supras is the chrome flakes off. It doesn't affect the sound as long as the bearing edge is still smooth.

Acrolites are a dime a dozen, you see them on ebay all the time listed as 'student snare' that comes with a case. Just make sure you look at the picture, it has to be the same shaped shell as the supraphonic.
 
Is there any difference between the olive badge and the other kind???
 
The badges just tell you what era they are from. Generally, the keystones are from the 60's, the blue/olive are from the 70's, and the black and white are from the 80's. (these are very loose approximations)

There are some superstitions that say the blue/olive are magical, but I've had supras from all 3 eras and, with the exception of the muffler, they were all interchangable. (the really old ones had the "baseball bat" muffler instead of the knob, I prefer the knob)
 
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