PRO AUDIO
This article on drum tuning first appeared in a printed version of the Peavey Monitor.
The first hurdle to overcome in obtaining a good drum sound is that tuning a drum is not hard. Many books, articles, and videos have been written about it over the years, but instead of giving you something else to learn, this guide will let you apply what you already know to tuning your drums, an you will soon agree that tuning your instrument is not hard.
Can you tune a guitar? Even most "non-musicians" can recognize pitch differential. Tuning a drum is all about recognizing pitch differential. I strongly suggest getting any instrument, like a guitar, and spending some time listening to the pitches between strings. Practice until you can hear not only if two strings are close, but if there is any wavering in pitch as both strings sustain. Listen until you can tell which string is high and low while both strings are resonating.
I recommend a few weeks of practice, not on a drum. I know it may be hard to have the patience to wait, but getting a good sense of pitches and their relationships, is crucial to simplifying your drum tuning. You will learn through this process that very small adjustments made to a string will cause a major adjustment in tuning. All of these practices carry over directly to the drum.
Why did we start with a guitar? Believe it or not, a guitar is easier to tune than a drum. Each string vibrates between two fixed fulcrums (the nut and the bridge) that are also in a straight line. A drum has four to ten different adjustment points as opposed to a guitar’s one. The head is round, which can create a multitude of odd order harmonics.
So, how do we make all those variables simple? Easy. Place your drum on a drum stool. This will dampen the bottom head so we only have to listen to one head at a time. It will also make tuning much easier. This is VERY important. Tap the drum about one inch from the rim by a lug. Then tap the drum at the next lug. You may or may not hear a difference. Now place your index finger in the middle of the head with a slight pressure (the pressure you would place on a guitar sting if you where going to produce a harmonic). Now tap one of the same lugs. Stop the head from vibrating, and tap the next adjacent lug. Do you hear a much greater difference? That is because by dampening the head in the middle with your finger, you are now listening to the head between your finger and the lug. This is what makes tuning so simple. Tap at each lug and only listen to the head resonate in that area. Simply adjust the two adjacent lugs so that the pitches match, just like you were tuning a guitar. When you have lugs one and eight tuned, move to eight and three, and so on around the drum. Keep doing this until the entire head is in tune with itself. If you want to then tune the entire head higher or lower to meet your playing situation, go ahead, and then just re-tune lug to lug to get the optimum sound.
Have you ever had a drum where one lug was too high, yet the tension rod was as loose as it would go? That was because the lug that was straight across from the lug that is all the way out (1-2) was too tight. To illustrate this principal, tune the head so that the pitch is the same at two adjacent lugs. Raise the pitch one half turn directly across from one of the lugs that is in tune (1-2). When you go back and check your tuning that was perfect, you will find that the lug directly across from the lug you tightened, is now sharp. Understanding the 1-2 relationship will help you get a drum with a head that is way out of range, back under control.
Then dampen, and tap the top head. Decide which pitch is best for how you want the drum to sound and move the other head to that pitch by adjusting the lugs in the numerical sequence shown.
Once both heads are the same pitch, you should hear the best drum sounds you’ve ever heard coming from your drums. You may want to tune the bottom head higher or lower depending on your playing situation, but for now, just try to get the entire drum in tune. This will also give you the most sustain.
Always listen to your drums. If you are practicing alone or in a band situation, always use that time to listen to your instruments. Does the 12 sustain as much as the 14? Always listen to your drums. You will find that the confidence you will get by knowing that your drums sound great all the time will help your playing. And your bandmates will greatly appreciate it too, for the same reason you love to play with a bass player that has a "killer rig".
What? Really! Don’t just try and tune at band practice. You probably can’t hear your drums with the guitar player in the room anyway. Take a small tom home and practice. Take the heads off while you are watching TV and then tune it up. Tune it high, then low. Practice every chance you get. You will be very surprised at what that drum sounds like when you put it on your kit next to the other drums that didn’t get any "love".
Don’t worry about it too much. If you get frustrated, just put the drum back on the kit and play for a while. Tuning is about listening. And listening to our drums is what we all love to do. I hope this helps. We will get into this further in future Monitor issues. Stay tuned
