Tuning drums is something I had no idea was so difficult to get good at.

It's like so much else with drums, I had to learn to crawl before I could walk or run.

I started out trying to tune to actual notes, and that was a fiasco.

The first thing that really helped was learning the JAW (just above wrinkle) quick-and-dirty method promoted by Rob Brown in his YouTube videos. That's a good way to get started, and I still use it to make sure I'm starting with the rim on flat rather than cocked to one side.

I start with that and then get the head in tune with itself, all the lugs even.

The next thing that really helped was using a tuning app with my iPod Touch. I can't figure out how anyone can tune to a target note without one of these, unless their pitch perception is much better than mine.

There are three of them that I've tried, iDrumTune, iDrumTech, and Drum-tuner. The last two are available for Android as well.

iDrumTune is great because it has a spectrum view to help sort out harmonics and overtones, iDrumTech is great because it has lots of cool features, including a library of drum kit settings.

Even with all this, it still takes me the better part of an hour to dial in a drum from scratch (both heads slack). Once it's tuned up, of course, touch-ups are much quicker.

Thanks a lot for the suggestion! I’ll download the Android app right away and try it this afternoon (I just got a smartphone for my birthday, so it’s a great way to try it :D).

To tell you the truth, after a couple of hours It becomes pretty hard for me to tell the actual pitch of the heads (even using the DrumDial isn't much help), so an app that can detect notes would certainly be a godsend (if tuning a drum were more like tuning a guitar life would be so much easier :-D).

I’ll let you know how it goes.

[SIZE="3"]YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, I THINK I GOT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/SIZE] D' Drummer

After much hair-pulling and wasted time, it turns out that there is a simple, cheap, scientific and repeatable way to tune drum sets: WE SHOULD SPREAD THE WORD (REALLY) :D

I downloaded the Android app that Starship Krupa mentioned (THANKS again): Idrumtech. For 3 bucks, it’s a steal compared to dedicated tuners like TuneBot (I haven’t tried it, but apparently they work about the same). I also downloaded Drumalyzer, a free android app that works even better (in the sense that, with my phone, idrumtech seems to be all over the place when reading frequencies; you have to tap the head a bunch of times before you are reasonably certain of the reading. Drumalyzer seems to get it faster. Maybe the iPhone version of Idrumtech is different...).

Anyway, with those apps and the following document:

http://www.tune-bot.com/tunebottuningguide.pdf

It’s really easy to figure out which notes to aim for in each drum and how to tune the batter heads with respect to the reso heads. No more guesswork, no more frustration. Once the drum is tuned, write down the lug frequency of each head for future reference, and you’re set.

[Just a side note: I noticed it’s important what to use to tap the head when reading frequencies. I found that I got the best readings (more consistent/repeatable) using a bass drum beater, especially the ones that have a small felt area on one side and rubber on the other (you can try both). Using a drumstick is a bit loud and I think it adds some “noise” to the stroke, making the frequency harder to determine].

ANYWAY, I WILL POST THE FINAL NOTES FOR MY TOMS/SNARE/BASS WHEN I’M ALL DONE.

[SIZE="3"]AGAIN, THANKS A LOT TO EVERYONE!!!

[/SIZE] Clapping Happy2

I have spent an obscene amount of time tuning tubs and have found many different top/bottom relationships that work.

Depends on: drum size, head choice, and sound you're after. For instance, for jazz, I find I like the batter head about a half step higher (generally). For a fat, deep sound, I like the resos anywhere from a third to a seventh (!) higher (smaller interval for smaller drums). Then again, even tension/pitch on both sides can be good too...

Tunebots and Drum Dials are great, but I usually find the ear is required for the final tweak.

If you have not already done so, please make sure your edges are flat and true, and shells are in round. If not, you can find someone to address the edges; roundness can be finessed somewhat with head choice. American Vintage heads are fairly tolerant of shell imperfections.

If your edges are out, it's very hard to get the drums to sound great,in my experience.

I'll give an upvote for the idrumtech app. It's deffinetly got some kinks and isn't the most intuitive thing to use, but it sure beats anything else I've ever tried. The tubebot guide deffinetly comes in handy when you go to customize your settings as a base reference.

Anybody have any tips on tuning a five lug tom? I always seem to find my 12 always ends up with one lug that goes way high and I result to checking all the other lugs for the culprit, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason I can use to identify which one will do the trick.

Then of course another lug ends needing tweaked.

Thanks,

Jake

[SIZE="4"]ADDENDUM[/SIZE]:

After I had my little epiphany with the tuning apps and happily rode into the sunset feeling I had finally mastered the fine art of drum tuning I hit a wall and everything seemed to stop working (ain’t it always the case?) :D. For a couple of “tuning sessions” my 2 phone tuning apps seemed to go berserk and give frequency readings all over the place, making it impossible to tune the drums. And when one head seemed to finally be in tune, the opposite head would start acting up and it was back to square one. Imagine my disappointment.

So I did some research online and figured out what was happening. After finally getting it right, I thought I’d come back here and give those of you still interested a (final?) update on the whole process.

Things I found out in the last week (some are very basic, but bear with me):

1) The note that an outside listener perceives when you hit a tom (what they call the “fundamental note” of that drum) is actually a combination of the tension of both the batter and resonant heads. Therefore, if you want to tune a tom to produce a “G”, you *don’t* tune the batter to a G and the reso to whatever note you feel will give you the resonance you need (more tension –> less resonance), like I used to think. There are actually several (infinite?) possible combinations of batter-reso tensions that all produce the fundamental note “G” (with varying degrees of resonance), so you either have to calculate what those tensions need to be or simply use the tables in the “tunebottuningguide.pdf” document (pag. 3-4) to choose your head tensions according to the resonance you want to achieve.

2) When you hit a drum head in the center with a normal force, you’re actually hearing a bunch of frequencies at the same time: the frequency at the center of the head, the frequencies right next to each lug, plus all the frequencies of the opposite drum head! This is what drives tune-bots and tuning apps crazy and makes it hell to know what is what. I found an excellent video by Geoff Fry that explains how all this works and how to get the tune-bot/phone app to give you consistent readings. If you have 10 minutes, you should definitely check it out; it will save you a world of frustration:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BRTblC8Odc[/ame]

There’s another video where he experiments with head tunings to achieve different sounds that is also very interesting:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i21zCMwUSWw[/ame]

3) OK, let’s go to the actual process:

* (Skip this step if you’re using a tune-bot instead of a phone app) If you’re using a mobile app to tune, get a phone holder with a suction cup (see attached picture, they cost less than 10 bucks). You can attach the holder with the phone to the edge of a (smooth) table and sit the tom on a chair right next to the table, with the upper head sitting a couple of inches below the phone (see the other picture for a similar setup). This way, the phone is fixed and you only have to turn the tom around so that the lug you’re working on is closest to the phone’s mic. This also frees your hands and makes the process quite a bit faster and more comfortable.

* Again, you want to tune each head independently from the other, so you need to stop that opposite head from vibrating. The easiest way to do that is to get a big soft cushion (a pillow would do, I guess) and sit the drum on it. This will totally muffle the bottom head and eliminate all those frequencies from the readings.

* Place a small piece of “moon gel” (less than a 1/2 inch square in size) on the center of the head. This will dampen the “center frequency” and let you concentrate on the lug frequencies (remember, the tuning tables in the Tune-bot PDF document refer to lug frequencies, not the center one). Note: if you don’t have moon gel, you can get a cheap substitute in stores where they sell those rubbery decorations people stick to their windows for Christmas/Halloween. You can get all the gel you will ever need for about a buck :-D.

* Now we’re ready to start tuning. Start from scratch, completely loosening all the lugs. Then tighten them with your fingers, two at a time (each hand on an opposite lug) to give them a uniform (low) tension – what they call “finger tight”. From that point on, tighten each lug in a star pattern in SMALL increments (the first adjustment after the finger tightening can be a quarter key turn, but after that you should use smaller turns). Tap the head with your finger after each adjustment to check that the lug regions all sound the same (even if you don’t know their actual note/frequency). Do this until you are approaching the desired pitch. After that, start using the tune-bot/mobile app to read the frequency at each lug and, hopefully, you will have no problem getting a consistent read on that value (which, again, is the biggest issue with this kind of tuning). If you keep getting all sorts of readings as you check the lug frequency, the causes are probably: you’re hitting the head too hard / the opposite head is not properly muffled / one or more of your lugs are too tight/loose and are producing a different frequency. If you get stuck with those crazy, seemingly random readings, loosen all the lugs and start the process again.

* After you achieve the desired lug frequencies and the head sounds the same close to all the lugs (i.e., it is “in tune with itself”), you can flip the drum and do the same for the opposite head. After that, remove all the muffling, hold your tom in the air with a couple of fingers and hit it normally. You will hear a great, ringing note that, as if by magic, corresponds to the pitch you were aiming for :-D. And if it’s not quite there, you can still do a final, fine adjustment using the best pitch detection device you’ll ever possess: your ears :-D

****************

Hopefully, you’re done, and can concentrate on what’s important, that is, playing your freaking drums!!

In case you’re curious, I ended up tuning my drum set using the “medium resonance” table from the document (the values aren’t exactly what I got, but they were surprisingly close. Also, I tuned my 13” tom to the values they give for a 14” and it sounds great):

10” tom: Fundamental note: 3D // Top lug freq.: 206 // Bottom lug freq: 294

12” tom: Fundamental note: 2B // Top lug freq.: 174 // Bottom lug freq: 248

13” tom: Fundamental note: 2G // Top lug freq.: 137 // Bottom lug freq: 196

16” floor tom: Fundamental note: 2D // Top lug freq.: 103 // Bottom lug freq: 147

It only took me (three weeks and) two hours :-D

Thanks again for the help.

Best wishes,

Alex

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I have enjoyed reading this thread. As some here know, I am pretty passionate about tuning and do a lot of it. Since most of my involvement with drums is with rentals, I am constantly putting new heads on drums and re-tuning. I have always used my ears and have been successful and quick at it. I do tune to specific notes and those notes are the ones produced when the drum is sitting on a padded surface. The reason for specific notes is to simply speed up the process. All I have ever cared about is the lowest possible pitch of the batter head and the reason is because I can then decide where the resonant head needs to be based on the artist. I generally like a minor third to a perfect fourth higher on the reso for general usage. For some artists, I know they want their heads tuned the same so that is no problem. Lowest possible pitch is also what most of my clients are looking for in pop, rock, roots and country music. Occasionally I will know a client wants more attack out of their toms so I will raise the overall pitch of all the toms which is pretty quick.

Here are some quick tips:

- Start with all lugs finger tight.

- Raise the lugs in a star pattern 1/4 turn at a time. This is critical as I have seen plenty of guys that have not developed that 1/4 turn technique so they are tuning some lugs under a 1/4 turn and some almost a 1/2 turn and never realize it until they hear how whacked out their tuning is.

- When putting on a new head I tune the head quite a bit higher than it needs to be to help seat it. In my case my drums have to go into service immediately so there is no option for "breaking-in" heads.

- I then detail tune the head in it's "high tension state". If you are accurate with your 1/4 turn technique then you will be close. What I might find is that I have a pair of lugs that are high. If that is the case I find it FAR quicker to lower those two rods than trying to bring the others up to it.

- the higher the pitch of the drum, the easier it is to tune. Short frequencies are easier to discern than longer frequencies. Conversely, the higher the pitch of the drum, the more critical the tuning. For a point of reference, it takes me about 3-5 minutes to get a head on a drum to the point where the head is at a high tension and in tune. I then move onto the next drum. By the way, I almost always send four toms with each kit.

- Once I have all four heads on and in tune with themselves, I go back to the first drum to start to detune it to it's target pitch. First, I gently depress the head with my palm. I then start lowering the pitch a 1/4 turn at a time. It is amazing how quickly you can get there. When I get near my target pitch I always loosen the rods then tension back up 50%. This is typically a 1/4 turn down by an 1/8 of a turn back up. I am constantly checking the pitch of the lugs as I go.

- I then gently depress the head with my hand and note the immediate change in pitch. Then tune back into the target range. I repeat this process until the drumhead pitch does not change when depressed. Keep in mind that I have no option for a break-in period for me. I probably would not do this if it were just me playing for the fun of it.

- Once the drum holds tension I do the final tune ALWAYS coming from below the pitch and tuning up to the target.

- This sounds time consuming but really is not once you get the hang of it. I may spend 4-5 minutes dialing in a drum. One thing that I have found that really speeds up the process for me is to simply use my finger to tap the drum. I also like the mallet idea mentioned above, but I find a finger is much quicker for me. I can tap with the tip of my finger to hear the fundamental, I can do a rimshot to hear the overtones and, if I really need to hear the fundamental, I simply "squeak" the head with the tip of my finger.

Using this method I can dial in a new set of batter heads and re-tune the resonant heads on four drums in well under an hour. Here are a few other notes:

- some drum heads will not tune the same as others so you have to be able to adapt your plan.

- some drum heads are simply duds

- if you start with lowest possible pitch and understand how to tune, you can then spend time going through the range that a particular drum will produce and will thusly allow you to find the various sweet spots available to you.

- when tuning your toms, a consistent tuning tension will produce a coherent sound across the toms. As you increase the tension of a drum you are not only raising the pitch but changing the timbre of the drum. This is not necessarily a bad thing depending on your playing style, however, most drummers will view a set of three or more toms as a tonal instrument so differing timbres will prove problematic.

- I do find that the larger the drum, the less tuning range is available. In other words, I am not a personal fan of a 16" floor tom tuned particularly tight.

- The only downfall with my method is I need to hear the drum as I am tuning. Sometimes that is not possible when there is another act onstage. As such I am considering an automated device for those instances.

I hope this is helpful.

This is a really good thread, tuning used to be a real pain but that's not the case anymore. There is so much info out there now that can make it a fun pastime on a rainy day..

I liked to tune to frequencies/notes and messed around with piano keyboards & guitar tuners years ago, with limited success. Nowdays I use either a workshop sweep audio generator or a frequency generator off the web. I like to try out others recommended head tensions and there are no end of combinations out there. I do not have a Tune bot or similar but have used their calculator recommendations on the kit and like many of the combinations.

I generate the frequencies through a large hi fi system and it seems to work better for me with a reasonably loud constant tone to tune to. Audacity software has a generator which I have used, I just select the frequency and set it up for a 5 minute duration and pump it through the speakers.

For any one just learning tuning I'd suggest they do something similar, you will really learn much about the countless combo of sounds from a given drum, and importantly how the reso head relates to the batter etc.

I'm still trying to play some Chords but not enough hands ..

Cheers