| Author | Message | |||
     Clint Carothers (Cdrums21) New member Username: Cdrums21 Post Number: 10 Registered: 05-2005 Rating: N/A |
Hi again Anton and thank you so much for replying to my post about tom tuning specifics. I know you're probably burnt out on tuning questions, but it is such a popular subject and I just have one more question. From your post I assume that you tune your toms by how they sound and feel rather than specific notes. When tuning the bottom head tighter, do you tune each bottom head the same degree above the top head on each drum? In other words, if you tune the bottom head on the 10" tom two notes higher than the top, would you tune the bottom heads of the other toms two notes higher above the top as well or would you just go with what sounds right to your ear? My biggest challenge seems to be the floor tom. I want a nice full floor tom sound that doesn't resonate too much and doesn't sound floppy when struck. I have the top head tuned so that it resonates well and feels good. Any lower and it will sound floppy. Any higher and it will feel stiff and won't have that "floor tom" sound. When I have the bottom head tuned a minor third (three notes) tighter, it sounds good, but just a tad stiff when struck. I have the bottom heads on my other two toms a minor third higher in pitch. If I lower the bottom head on the floor tom, it won't have the same pitch relationship as the other toms. Does that really matter? How is your floor tom tuned? Any advice? Thank you!! Clint | |||
| Clint Carothers (Cdrums21) Junior Member Username: Cdrums21 Post Number: 12 Registered: 05-2005 Rating: N/A |
Hi Anton, I know you are extremely busy hence the long periods of time between checking your postings. I appreciate what you are able to do. As far as my posting above, I experimented some more and got my drums to sound absolutely awesome using a combination of tips I've learned over the years. It seems to me that there would be an elimination of unwanted overtones if the drums are in tune with themselves and each other. Since I have the bottom heads on the toms tighter, it makes sense to me to tighten the bottom head to a pitch that will be complimentary to the top head and not cause any dissonance, while at the same time throwing the sound back up at you so to speak, making the drum sound more lively with slightly less sustain (in my case, more microphone friendly compared to heads that are tuned to the same pitch, I get a true, pure tone when the heads are tuned to the same pitch, but at times the extra resonance makes the snares buzz or causes engineers to call for duct tape). I think it makes sense to know what these pitches are rather than just stumble upon them by trial and error each time you have to tune. With that being said, my drums seem to sound the best to me when the bottom heads are tuned a minor third (three notes) above the top head. This way, my toms have a pich ralationship of a 4th between the 10" and 13" tom and a 5th between the 13" and 16" tom on top and the same on the bottom, and all pitches are complimentary to each other, leaving me with powerful, lively sounding drums with no unwanted overtones. It's great. I use a pitch pipe to remember what notes the heads are tuned to and it's dialed in everytime and seems to work in any venue. I guess ten different drummers will have ten different ways to tune, but I'll bet that our drums are tuned very similar, I just have a different way of achieving my sound. Anyway, I guess maybe I'm writing this post more for someone who is looking for some tuning tips rather than explaining to you how I get my sound. I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know and you probably could care less, you have an awesome resume and great sounding gear all the time, I just wanted to let you know that I answered my own question. Thanks man and take care. | |||
| Anton Fig (Anton) Moderator Username: Anton Post Number: 725 Registered: 04-2002 Rating: N/A |
Glad you worked it out. I always tuned by feel more than to specific notes - but you seem to have made a science of it - which makes sense. That being said, there are variables to consider. eg. if I have to play in a room that is very live, I will sometimes tune my drums really low - that way there is hardly any resonance and I can hit them a bit harder. Also sometimes you want to tune your drums higher because they sound good there - but they may not feel so good to what you are used to. In this case you can modify the way you normally play and go for some new ideas. In recordings - if a drum does not sound good to me - and if I don't really need it - I will just get rid of it - it saves time. The rule of thumb for me is: if the drums sound good you will want to play them [the opposite is also true] - so I will do whatever is necessary at the time to make that happen. In the next situation that may require a different solution - so I don't get too locked into one way of doing things. But that is the nature of my work. If I were to play in the same situation every night, I may opt for a more exact approach as you have laid out. | |||
| Clint Carothers (Cdrums21) Junior Member Username: Cdrums21 Post Number: 13 Registered: 05-2005 Rating: N/A |
Thank you Anton for your insiight. It makes perfect sense and I will keep your tips handy when I approach different situations. You can never have too many weapons in your arsenal! :o) Clint | |||
| Anton Fig (Anton) Moderator Username: Anton Post Number: 774 Registered: 04-2002 Rating: N/A |
I'm replying to this to make sure the board is working properly again. Also sorry for the delay - this thread seemed to have gotten lost amongst the other messages. Your posting of 7/15 was good in terms of tuning ideas. Again I have the basic idea of having the top heads at a comfortable tension for playing and the bottom ones a little tighter than that. Beyond that it is mostly by feel - though your ideas all sounded very good to a more scientific approach . Sometimes if a drum does not sound good I will just get rid of it. I have found that, especially in the studio, I do not like to hit the drum unless it sounds great. My drums are usually tuned quite deep - but I may start experimenting with more resonant higher pitched drums in the future. ....and all this depends on the kind of sound you want for a specific song - because sometimes very dead sounding drums work great too. | |||
| Anton Fig (Anton) Moderator Username: Anton Post Number: 775 Registered: 04-2002 Rating: N/A |
Excuse the double reply - I did not notice that I had already replied some time ago - but my answer is almost the same - just different words.... Anyway the message board is working again.... | |||
| Brian Johnson (Bryan123) Junior Member Username: Bryan123 Post Number: 11 Registered: 01-2007 Rating: N/A |
Thanks for the info!
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