tuning preference?

Barometer

Barometer

New member
I was in the cave and stumbled across this link that pipeline posted that he got in this forum
http://www.drumweb.com/profsound.shtml
It's a great page and has some really helpful tuning tips. So I went to my studio and proceeded according to these guidelines (I was going to retune anyway, now I just had something to go by). It worked out great, everything sounds nice and much more consistent with the other pieces and it wasn't that difficult.

So here's my question. I just got a small kit, Mapex Saturn Pro Manhattan 4-piece including an 18x14 kick, 14x14 floor tom, 12x9 rack tom and 14x5.5 snare (all maple). Since the snare is just over 1/3 the depth of the floor tom I decided to tune the rack tom about a fifth higher than the snare and the floor tom about a fifth lower than the snare. They sound great together, but I'm afraid the rack tom might be pitched too high. Does anyone else use this kind of setup and do you tune this way? Is it a problem to have a rather high pitched rack tom in a 4-piece setup? I also use another snare (12" brass piccolo). Would that get tuned in between the snare and the rack tom? I guess it comes down to preference in the end (hence the thread title). What do y'all think? Thanks ahead :cool:
 
I don't tend to use any sort of formula other than the standard getting the head in tune with itself. I just get each drum sounding good on it's own, and then they tend to just fall in line with their relationship to each other.

Whether your high tom is too high is purely up to you. If you're afraid that it is, then it probably is. It seems that a widely used interval in drum relationships is a 4th apart (Here Comes The Bride!). You may want to try that. :)
 
if it sounds good to you and it records well then it's perfect. there are not solid rules on tuning. tune the toms in intervals and get your snare drum sounding good without sympathetic buzz. that's all I do and my kit always sounds good - to me ;)
 
Thanks guys. I don't particularly think it's too high myself, it sounds quite nice but definitely higher than I'm used to (last tuning). I may try the fourths q, that might get me back in the range I'm used to hearing. :D
 
one general tip I've heard, and have used when there's nothing to match the tuning with, is to use beethoven's fifth to tune your intervals. higher tom tuned to match the first note and the next tom over to match the 4th note...and the same on down the line starting over again with the tom you just tuned to match the 4th note. make sense?
 
vaughn said:
one general tip I've heard, and have used when there's nothing to match the tuning with, is to use beethoven's fifth to tune your intervals. higher tom tuned to match the first note and the next tom over to match the 4th note...and the same on down the line starting over again with the tom you just tuned to match the 4th note. make sense?
Click to expand...

Very interesting....would this be called "Romantic Tuning"? :D

bing
 
When I tune a five piece

vaughn said:
one general tip I've heard, and have used when there's nothing to match the tuning with, is to use beethoven's fifth to tune your intervals. higher tom tuned to match the first note and the next tom over to match the 4th note...and the same on down the line starting over again with the tom you just tuned to match the 4th note. make sense?
Click to expand...

I always use "Bonanza" for the toms and I like a crisp snare si I usually put that higher in pitch than the rack tom.

Since you are using only four pieces, try the Bonanza thing with the floor rack and snare.

nP
 
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