Snare Drum Tuning Lesson - Basics

We've been asked more than a few times to demonstrate how we tune our snare drums, so here is our response. While we believe there are no set in stone rules to how you tune drums, there are some basics that will help you on your way to better sounds.

We also believe that tuning is 100% subjective and to always find your own path to great sounding drums. Experimentation is how you learn for yourself, and it doesn't need to be a big, scary undertaking.

So, with that said let's jump into a few answers to some potential "questions from the future." Yes, the snare drum at the end of this video is a fairly high pitched sound. In no way are we suggesting your particular snare has to sound like that. In fact, recorded drums can reveal all kinds of things that you don't hear in person. So, adjust accordingly to your recording or performing needs. Tuning for the room is definitely a thing too.

We're well aware that a well known, highly respected drum related YouTube channel prefers loose resnant heads for snare drums. That is 100% a valid opinion, and works well in many situations. However, here at West Coast Drum Shop we prefer much tighter reso heads for increased projection, and snappier snare response. So take that for what it is. Keep in mind we've tuned thousands of drums and recorded with dozens.

We did not go over how to set up snares in this video, as it would have become long-winded. We may decide to cover that in future videos if requested.

"One size fits all" tuning rules should be abolished. The subjective nature of drum sound, microphones, rooms, recording/mixing/live sound engineers and audience all have different opinions. Another thing to add is mods (gel, tape, tampering with snares etc.) are suggested to be used after the drum sounds great.

"Blatty" is not a real word. It's an onomatopoeia that sometimes gets tossed around by instrument repair technicians to describe the attack of the instrument, so don't @ us

TuneBots and Drum Dials work to help guide you to get even tension around drum heads if you can't do it with your ears, and they're perfectly OK to use. What's also great about them is they provide a numeric value the tension at a particular point in the drum head. These values can be recorded and then utilized as needed to allow for consistent tuning at any time, for example having the same tone take to take in the studio. Tuning drums to actual pitches is a mostly futile and confusing mess unless you absolutely have to, which usually never if you're a drum set player. Tuning devices do not replace tuning knowledge and experimentation. Understanding how drum tuning works without them will benefit your experience with them.

Feel free to post any additional questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer. We hope this helps and thanks for checking it out.

http://wcdrumshop.com