An Overview of Drum Tuning Techniques | Strategies For Tuning Drums

The question of how to tune drums is one upon which i've never heard two drummers agree.

They might subscribe to the same pattern of tightening the lugs for bass drum tuning, but as far as methods of snare drum tuning, they'll come up at odds. Or, as countless drummers do they might disagree on whether evans drum heads or remo drum heads are superior.

Instrument tuning is never an exact science, and- especially for drum tuning- there are a number of issues to be addressed.

Therefore with this first installment of my drum tuning tips, i would like to focus solely on the topic of how drum tuning for specific resonance and overtones can greatly improve your drum sound.

Like any other tone, specific drum frequencies can change depending on the intonation of the player, but in principle a drum will always produce a number of different pitches when struck.

The lowest of these is referred to as the fundamental pitch, which is the root drum pitch.

However, because of the properties of acoustic sounds, all frequencies that do not correspond to a whole number ratio of the fundamental pitch will cancel out after a given length of time (e.g. if 50 hertz (The musical note A) is the fundamental pitch than 100, 150, 200 and so on by increments of 50 hertz will remain audible and any other frequencies will cancel). In terms of mathematics, the wavelength of each overtone corresponds to a whole number ratio with the fundamental note- for example 2:1 is the first octave above the fundamental.

So if 50 Hertz is the fundamental frequency then 100 Hertz would be the first octave. Keep in mind though, that because drum tones are technically the most complex of any known instruments (meaning that certain overtones come out stronger than others and it varies based on where the drum is struck, etc) the fundamental pitch of a drum is often disguised by its overtones.

Therefore, drum tuning is heavily impacted by the overtone series, because what you hear in a drum doesn't necessarily correspond to its root pitch.

Drum Resonance is one of the most complex and fascinating concepts- to me- in music.

When discussing overtone production and tuning of the drums, the most important thing to keep in mind is that the master pitch and the resonant quality of the drum as a whole (meaning when it is struck loudly in the center) is really the sum of 3 different factors: the pitch of the top head, the pitch of the bottom head, and the quality of the wood shell casing.

And in turn, each of these factors is variable within itself.

For example, different parts of each drum head can be tuned differently depending on how tight or loose each individual lug is adjusted. As a starting point, though, let's note that the best theoretical resonance for a given drum occurs when both heads are stretched evenly and to the same degree across the shell.

Furthermore, this resonance can be boosted if one knows the better resonant frequencies of the wood shell and applies those to the pitch of each drum head.

In some ways, drum tuning is a very personal concept based on your stylistic choice for what and how you want your drums to sound like.

However, what i'm suggesting here is simply that your drums will always sound their best when they are in tune and resonating to their full capacity.

If you want dead-sounding drums for a particular song or style- Tune Them and Then Dampen Them! It is truly astounding how many drummers have said to me something along the lines of "Well i kind of like it when my drums are out of tune".

NO YOU DON"T!

You simply mean that you want muted or muffled drums and although out of tune drums resonate less- because there is more overtone cancellation- your drum tone still suffers when you are out of tune.

Sorry for ranting.

Now, as stated in Lemmon Percussion's Definitive Guide To Tuning The Drums, you, the drummer, do have a choice in deciding what kind of resonance you want your drum to have.

The first step though, is always to make that both of the drum heads are individually in tune- or stretched evenly- across the drum.

Once you get to this point, there are basically three options: Heads tuned the same, Bottom Head Higher, and Bottom Head Lower. Lets take a look at these all individually.

When you tune your drum heads the same, you end up with the theoretically most pure tone you can get out of the particular drum.

And although this sounds like it'd be a great thing, oftentimes you'll end up running into a lot of the same issues as having a straight tone on any other instrument- your ears get bored of it after awhile!

Just the same as other instrumentalists will use vibrato and other techniques to keep their tone interesting, if you are going to tune your drum heads to the same pitch, you may need to use some creativity to keep your tone interesting for the listener. It will still sound better than having them out of tune, and, because of the mechanics of actually striking a drum, the pitch changes a little bit within every individual note.

But for the most part, the technique of tuning your drum heads to the same pitch will sound its best when the drums are going to be dampened afterwards.

The next choice you may make in deciding the resonant quality of an individual drum is to have the bottom head at a lower pitch than the top.

Many drummers like this technique because it adds "warmth" and lot of sustain to your individual drum beats. If you are careful and take the time to tune the two drum heads to a relative interval (such as having the bottom head a third, fourth, or fifth lower than the top- ask me if you don't know what this means!) you will find that you can get some absolutely lush tones out of your drums with this drum tuning technique.

However, because of the added decay time on each hit, i would not recommended using this technique when you're going to be playing fast fills around the toms, for example, as your drumming will start to sound quite "muddy".

And, *disclaimer*, i would never recommend that you tune your snare drum in this way, for the same reason that it will sound quite dirty and will make your snares resonate like crazy.

Tuning your bottom drum head lower than the top is a technique best used when you are going to be striking the toms or bass drums with individual hits, or for long, sustained drum rolls.

Last, we come to my personal favorite drum resonance choice, tuning your bottom drum head higher than the top.

If you are needing a large amount of clarity and attack for in your drum tone and will be playing for a sustained amount of time on any particular drum, i would recommend using this tuning option as it will decrease the decay time for each individual note- lead to greater clarity- and will give you a much more interesting tone than if you tune your drum head's to the same pitch.

If you play music requiring any sort of technical display, and want that your voice communicated clearly to the audience, i would generally urge you to tune your bottom drum head higher than the top.

Personally, when tuning my bottom drum head higher I like to raise it the interval of a fourth (from the note A up to the note D) from the top, and when tuning it lower i like to have it a fifth lower (from the note A down to the note D).

Fourths and Fifths are musical opposites of each other and for good reason- a fifth lower on the bottom head will give you the maximum theoretical sustain and add depth to your tone, while a fourth higher will give you the minimum theoretical resonance (of any closely related interval) and add "punch" to your tone.

However, the best way to learn what sound you like and how to achieve is through practice and experimentation. So try out different tunings for an individual drum, and combinations between the drums while you are still figuring out what resonance you like best for your drums!

If you've found this hub useful please leave a comment and check out some of my other music articles.