Snare Tuning

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Rock God

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Hi,

After playing drums since about the age of 13 (i'm 18 now) I've now decided I should learn how to tune them properly! (I know I'm around 5 years late on doing this but at least I'm starting now right?!)

I guess as I've never had any lessons, or instruction videos or anything, tuning never really occurred to me to be that important (I hear you all shudder!).

Anyway, I'm mainly interested in the tuning of the snare at the moment. I've been going through most of my CD collection simply listening to the pitch of the snare in relation to the key of the song, and I can't seem to notice much of a pattern. My best example to that would be a new Aerosmith song called Lay It Down (on their new greatest hits album). The snare seems to be tuned to C# though the song is in C major. I love the sound of the snare on this track but I don't understand why that tuning works. If anyone gets chance to hear the first 30 seconds of the song and tell me whats going on, or offer some general advice on snare tuning I'd be really grateful.

Thanks!
 
Most drummers don't tune their drums to song keys... Simply due to the fact that every song they do is in a different key than the next... I mean, they would spend ther life tuning it to match every song if that were the case...And what about songs with key changes..???

I think the Aerosmith song your talking about is just coincidence... I don't think that tuning scheme was thought out ahead of time..

Joey Kramer probably tuned up his snare as his ears saw fit and then away they went and recorded the song.

But then and again I might be wrong....


I'm fairly new to tuning, and I have been using this as a guide, but it sort of sucks... Im not a real fan of it...

http://www.drumweb.com/profsound.shtml

I find it very confusing... I would feel better if I could see or hear what the instructor is showing me.... At least in a tuning sense..

Try and get a video or maybe even take 1 or 2 drum "lessons", but not for playing, just have the guy show you how to tune....

I'm just a rookie myself, sorry I can't be of more help.
 
Thanks for the reply Voxvendor, I agree with what you're saying about not being able to tune per song, don't think it would please crowds at concerts! I'm not sure about certain songs in the studio though. The Aerosmith track snare just seems to sit so perfectly in there, and just sounds like it couldn't be any other note.

The only explanation I can think of is that the snare (and bass drum) are tuned to C# to make them stand out better in the mix but I could of course be completely wrong!

I read all the info on that drum site, I think it's pretty confusing too. Though it does give good advice on tuning in general it could be set out a bit better. I'm starting a studio recording course in October that deals with micing and tuning drums in the studio so hopefully I'll find out more there.

Thanks for the advice
 
Check this crazy shit guys, from Alan Parsons on the song "Time", in The Dark side of The Moon:

-And the track features the newly invented Rototoms.

-Yes! That was the first time I'd seen them. Although they gave a nice, bright sound, they were sort of thin sounding - they didn't really have much room or space to resonate. Nick [Mason] had four of them, I think. And we had to re-tune each one of them for each chord change and punch the machine into record on each change; we had a lot of fun and games doing that!

(click here for the full interview)

I am with you, the Tuning Bible is pretty complex and is hard to follow for me. Maybe someone with the skills could write something better, as this is such an important aspect of recording.

I am a reader of Paul White on Sound On Sound magazine, he did an article about eq citing real life examples. I know this may arise controversy, but it's a good place for beginners like me to start. (http://www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/Aug01/articles/usingeq.asp)

I wish there was a tuning article giving a general method and also practical tuning, like how to get a hip hop kick drum, an AC-DC snare, etc...

Cheers, Andrés
 
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the tuning bible may seem tedious & complex....but if you follow the method and have decent drums you're going to end up with a good sounding drum...key is, be patient! tuning is an art that takes a while to perfect (it's taken me 19 years - and I'm far from perfect!!)..

personally, I don't worry as much about tuning my snare to a 'note' - but rather tuning it to get the percussive effect that I'm looking for (nice full crack, a bit of ring, head very responsive for lower volume snare work)..I do tune my toms to notes - but I don't think that the note itself is as important as the interval between the toms...
 
I'm also self taught and just recently getting into tuning my kit. I've found numerous sources to research the subject and it seems everyone does it slightly differently. Which leads me to believe that it's up to the individual to get the sound he wants. Some key points that I emphasize in my own tuning are

Even tune on each head (not necessarily between two heads). Make sure no lugs are pulling tighter than others. Turn the lugs opposite each other to avoid uneven tightness and tighten to finget tight first before getting the key out.

I tune to my snare. I get the snare (without snares) sounding like I want and tune the rest of the kit to it.

Experiment with top and bottom. Some guys like the top to be tighter or the bottom to be tighter or both about the same. These give pretty drastically different results. Play around and see which gets closer to your preference.

I'm not saying don't go research, read all you can about it and take the best points from each source to form your method. hope this helps :)
 
I have been tightening up the bottom head pretty darn tight, and then the top head is tightened to roughly an octave lower than the bottom....

Then, once they sound good I move on to the snares....

I don't wrench the snares too tight... I don't like that sharp "snap"...I prefer a sustained "splat".. Mind you, not too loose so they vibrate and sustain forever.....


Anyways... I'm just a rookie, but thats what I have been doing... And, that describes the snare sound on the song I put up in the clinic..

Joe
 
<$.02>this is a great guide for tuning. of course it's always up to your own ear as to what sounds right but this is a great place to start. just a bit of advice, don't choke your snare drum tightening the heads too much. a lot of people crank the snare head and adjust the batter head to get the sound they want. they need to be adjusted fairly evenly to get the good stuff out of them.</$.02>

http://www.drumdojo.com/tech/toctuning.htm
 
Tension watches are good. I use one and it does wonders for me. Usually, the bottom head of the snare has to be at a less tension than the top because the bottom head is thinner and does not need to be cranked up as much as the top to achieve the same pitch as the top head.

I had been using the "star" method for tuning drums for a year, but then I read an interview from a respected studio drummer and I have since changed the way I tune drums.

Now I tune drums one lug to the next in a clockwise (or counter clockwise) fasion little at a time. This is analogous to screwing the cap on a can and seems to give me the best results than the star method.
 
fenix said:
I had been using the "star" method for tuning drums for a year, but then I read an interview from a respected studio drummer and I have since changed the way I tune drums.
Click to expand...

This is interesting, Is this article available online? If so can you post the link, I'd like to check it out :)
 
Vox:

After playing around at the Jamfest, I decided to build a drum room for recording in my basement. We have an exellent "Drum Shop" around the corner and they have lessons that include tuning.
 
jgourd said:
Vox:

After playing around at the Jamfest, I decided to build a drum room for recording in my basement. We have an exellent "Drum Shop" around the corner and they have lessons that include tuning.
Click to expand...

Cool..

Im currently looking for someone to teach me how to tune... Thats the hard part... Sure lots of these teachers are great drummers, but find one who can be a tuning guru... Now thats hard to find!:)

Can't wait till next year... Im gonna Bring my Tama's..... and I will know how to tune by then...

(hopefully)
 
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