Tuning Tom Toms

[bongoboy]

Drummers seem to be perplexed with drum tuning. I will try to explain how I tune my drums and why. Also Ill explain how drummers tune drums just so wrong.(sooooooooooooo wrong)
   
First you need to take both heads off the drum. Clean out all the dead spiders and cob webs out and look at your torsion screws. if they are rusty try to clean them up and lubricate them with a coat of oil. also make sure the lug threads are clean and lubricated. (lube provides protection from rust and also the "feel" of the screws and lugs working together. sometimes I try to screw in and out the screw in the nut many times w/ lube to really get them to go in and out smooth. Then I will usually clean off the lube and apply some grease. Grease is longer lasting and has the best anti corrosion value.
 
Now that everything is in great working condition its time to "tune the bottom head" This is the most crucial point of drum tuning! yes that's right the bottom head is more of a factor than the top head. Put the head on, and the rim, and hand tighten the torsion screws using the pattern you should know. (Tightening the screws at the opposing diameter side in a star pattern). Now when your screws are in as tight as you can hand tighten them look at the head. see any wrinkles? If so tweak thoes 2 lugs just so slightly to pull out that wrinkle. Now get out a stick and whap your drum so you can hear the true sound of the drum.(be really careful not to dent that thin bottom head!!) Its probably too loose and it will sound like a thud or a flabby, way to low tone. So now you break out your drum key and turn your screws in a half a turn at a time all the way around. Then go back to the stick and listen to the drum. If its too low go ahead and crank it up in intervals until you reach the sweet spot of your shell. You can tell the sweet spot when the drum just really sings. not to low not to tight. I mess around with this for a long time till I'm sure its what the drum wants to sound like. Also lightly tap the drum at about an inch in from the rim and try to get all the tones the same at each lug. Its important to let the drum decide how it sounds not you! (ill discuss this a little later) You really just want the drum to sing, and be as uniform as possible with the tension as even as possible at each lug.
   

Now that you have the bottom head tuned to the tone the drum sounds best at go ahead and put the top head on going back through the cleaning and lube steps described earlier.
Tighten your torsion screws in, just like the bottom head and hitting it with your stick until you hear the two heads "bouncing"off each other in a weird almost total cancellation of the two heads. I usually back off the top head a little until I get that sweet spot. If the tone is too low for your ear I say too damn bad that's how that drum should sound! and that's it. Sometimes I might tune the top head a little tighter but for the most part the top is always a little looser than the bottom.
 

Ok now lets discuss this theory. The bottom head is the true sound of the drum how its made to sound all by itself. The top head adds to this sound by bouncing the sound from the top to the bottom. In effect accentuating the bottom head. If the top head is too loose for your type of playing too bad the drum sounds best here. Go out and get smaller toms if you want tighter skins.


Welp thats it If you have any questions just post away and ill respond. Also if you disagree with me Id love to find out the differences and try something new!!

[bongoboy]

Next post will be on the bearing edges of the drums and what they do. 

[king]

Nice dude! If you would like we can give you admin rights so you can post informative content like this on the front page as a story.So here's my question:
I went to an Evans tuning clinic and the guy said to replace the bottoms heads every other time you change the tops.Then at another clinic a guy explained that the resonant head takes just as much abuse as the top head. Sure ,it's absorbing the energy of the attack which is why it resonates but I don't agree with this at all...that's just me.It's not like it's being struck with the stick,getting dented or accumulating residue on the head that nylon tips leave behind. Just like an explosion...I would rather deal with the shockwave than be standing on ground zero when the actual blast goes off. What's your opinion on that? And as far as grease is concerned,I've known people to use a thin layer of Vasoline. What do you use?

[drumfreak]

My opinion is that these heads are made of plastic, which can change shape and position over time. The amount of air hitting the resonant head is not as bad as the stick hitting the batter head, but you are still displacing massive forces to the bottom head and it will get stretched out / worn out.

Nothing resonates better than a fresh bottom head after it has been stretched in there properly.  If you have the money to change the heads, or your kit is sounding kinda shady, then change them!

[bongoboy]

I use white lithium grease just a tiny bit.
As for replacing the bottoms. I rarely replace the bottoms I just retune them. I shall try this next tim I switch and let ya know! Maybe ill record it for a true test
Right now im using Attack heads terry bozzio edition. Coated Mediums for the top thin clear for the bottom. They last about 1 recording session if im playing rock. lol expensive habit for killer tone.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Attack-1Ply-Medium-Coated-Drumhead?sku=444584

[bongoboy]

here is my BD head set up. They sound great recorded or live. All my drummer friends love my kick sound the best and here is why.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Aquarian-Super-Kick-1-Regulator-Bass-Drum-Head-Pre-Pack?sku=449391

Looking up again, I noticed that the clinic you went to was sponsored by Evans drum head manufacturer. LOL you should change thoes heads every time you play dammit!! BUY BUY BUY! haha.

[Dave Heim]

. . . Nothing resonates better than a fresh bottom head after it has been stretched in there properly.  If you have the money to change the heads, or your kit is sounding kinda shady, then change them!

I agree.  The reso heads are often overlooked when it comes to tuning (I think some guys feel the reso head is only there on the bottom as a spare for when they break thru the batter head.)

Depending on how much I'm gigging, I change batter heads every 4 to 6 months.  I change reso heads every third batter head change.

[ThatDrummerKid]

Yeah, I change mine no later than 6 months most of the time, unless they still sound great.

[king]

Just don't get REMO kick drum heads NOOOOOO...but that's just me....just me. Not my bag baby!

[Dave Heim]

Just don't get REMO kick drum heads NOOOOOO...but that's just me....just me. Not my bag baby!

Meh...  the Powerstrokes are OK, but you still need to put laundry in the drum to cut the ring (if that's what you want).  The Super Kick & Regulators have that muffling built in - no laundry required!

[ThatDrummerKid]

I liked the Powerstroke III head, and i'm wondering if I should get another one, but i kinda like my Superkick better anyways.

[Dave Heim]

I liked the Powerstroke III head, and i'm wondering if I should get another one, but i kinda like my Superkick better anyways.

I sawpped out Remo Powerstrokes for Aquarian SKs on two of my sets.  I'm very happy with them.

[drumfreak]

My Gretsch Renown Maples have a Aquarian Superkick resonant head, all black with a low profile look and muffling in it. We've muffled that kick quite a bit and even have a emad2 on the batter side.

[fruddog]

I played a set this past Friday that had a Evans EMAD resonant head with a light hole muffler, an Aqu Superkick batter and no laundry inside. I't sounded great. I'm moving to superkick the next time I change heads.

[Dave Heim]

I follow the same procedure for the most part.  However, instead of using one drum key and moving across the drum back & forth, I like to use two drum keys opposite each other across the drum, and tune them at the same time.

I also try to tweak the drum key in 1/8 or 1/4 turn increments to make sure I don't tune past the sweet spot.

Finally - I believe it's far easier to tune UP to a pitch than it is to tune DOWN to a pitch.  But that's just me - probably a habit/preference from my days playing tympani.