How can you make your drum kit sound amazing? Tuning! Drum tuning refers to all aspects of enhancing the sound of a particular drum kit. This article will go over how to tune drums.
Drum tuning denotes almost everything done to perfect a drum kit’s sound, from applying just the right amount of tension to each of the drumheads, controlling the damping of the drumhead frequencies, and choosing the correct drumheads to help achieve the sound you are aiming for.
Good tuning is the key to getting a good drum tone. Learning how to tune your drum set will make you sound better and encourage you to play more often. Regardless of whether you want each drum to sound like a specific ‘note’ or not, you need to tune your drums to get a good sound. When you’re learning how to play drums, the better they sound and feel, the more inspired you’ll be to keep drumming.
Do Drums Need to Be Tuned?
This is a fundamental question that many drummers have. Do drums need to be tuned? While drums generally aren’t tuned to specific pitches, they do need to be tuned to produce clear, full tones. Learning how to tune your drum set will make you sound better and encourage you to play more often. With the proper tuning, even a beginner drum kit can sound great.
Most modern drums have one drumhead on each end of the shell: a top head (batter head) and a bottom head (resonant head). The two heads play off each other, which is why it’s important to tune them both so they vibrate together harmoniously.
Different drums also have different frequencies and pitches that will resonate a certain way, so ‘finding the sweet spot’ in tuning can differ from one drum to the next.
To make each drum sound as good as needed, the drumhead needs to be altered through tension so it vibrates in unison with the shell and all of its components. The key is to start with an even tension around the head and adjust from there.
How Often Do They Need to Be Tuned?
If you are jamming for yourself out of a passion for drums or as a leisurely hobby and you aren’t denting the heads, you might only tune your drums every 6-12 months. They’ll go out of tune before then, but as long as they sound and feel good enough to you, that might be all you need to keep you happy.
However, if you’re into gigging or recording drummer – or you want to make sure your drums sound as good as they can – you might have to tune your kit once a week, once a day, or even between songs (which is the case in most studio situations).
Drums can go out of tune for several reasons. Drastic temperature changes can cause the shell to expand or shrink, loosening the tension rods. Bumping or shaking the drum during transport or excessive playing can have the same effect. So if you want the drums to sound as good as possible, you should be checking their tuning regularly.
And of course, if your drumheads are old or have ‘pockmarks’ or dents in them, you should replace them. Check out the ‘how to choose drum heads’ section in this guide to playing drums.
To get your drums ready for tuning, you’ll need to start with zero tension, which means de-tensioning all batter heads. Some people use a drill to loosen it more quickly, and if you do this on a high-tension drum like a snare, make sure you don’t completely loosen one tension rod at a time. Instead, go slowly around the entire snare – loosening bit by bit – or do it in a star pattern.
What You Need for Tuning
Drum Key
Every drummer needs a drum key for tuning (or shop drum keys in Europe). They’re cheap and you can grab one at a local music store or order one online, and most new drum kits will come with one. It’s a good idea to have several at your disposal – especially on a keychain or in your wallet – so you’re always able to tune your drums whether you’re at a gig, in the studio, or elsewhere.
Can you tune drums without a drum key? Technically, yes. If you have a small socket wrench or a set of flat pliers, you can use those to turn the tension rods. But it’ll take much longer and you risk damaging the rods.
Tuning Apps
While these won’t replace a trained ear for tuning, some apps play different tones you can use as reference points while tuning. Some other digital tuning aides come with their apps as well.
Drumtune PRO detects the pitch your drum is at and helps you get the notes you want. It can also save your settings so you don’t have to start from scratch every time.
If you don’t want to shell out a few bucks for an app, you can download a free chromatic tuner that will play a note (like a piano) that you can then try to match with the drum.
Tuning Aids
While you shouldn’t fully rely on gadgets and apps to get your kit sounding its best, they can help you get there.
The DrumDial is a long-running classic mainstay for drummers. It helps you match the tension around your drumhead and provides a great starting point for tuning. You can find drum tuning charts online if you aren’t sure where to start.
If you’re looking for something that will help you tune your drums to certain pitches, the Tune-Bot is a digital option that also lets you save the notes you’ve chosen.
Evans also makes a tool called the Evans Torque Key, which is a drum key you can use to dial in the tension you want, and it’s designed to recognize and help you get each tension rod even.
Certain drum types like timpani are drums tuned with a foot pedal. If you aren’t on the traditional drum kit, make sure you have the appropriate tuning aid for your style of drums!
Drumsticks
You’ll need drumsticks to tap on the heads as you tune them. Although it’s not going to influence the tuning process immensely, it’s smart to have a great pair of sticks that give you an even sound throughout tuning. Apart from these standard instruments, some drums are tuned with a drum pedal as well.
Standard Drum Tuning Notes
Some drummers will tune so their drums are more in line with particular songs or to meet the expectations/vibe of the music they’re playing.
It’s important to note that sometimes your shells will limit the results of your tuning. For example, if you have a deep snare, it will be hard to get an authentic sound. If you have shallow toms, it will be difficult to get the ‘boom’ you might want as a rock drummer. A metal snare will resonate differently from a wood snare, and the same goes for acrylic.
Certain genres like rock or metal, tuning the bass drum or snare drum is often based on ‘feel’ (like the amount of rebound, tightness, or softness) so it’s important to consider that as well.
Drum Dial Tuning Chart
If you’re using a tuning aid that measures frequency, here’s a chart (designed by DrumDial) that shows you the approximate ranges to aim for.
How To Tune Your Drum
Two principles should be understood when it comes to tuning drums. They are as follows:
Pure pitches sound best. This is especially true for toms. Our ears prefer a pitch we can sing. A head that is filled with dissonances from a tension rod to a tension rod can reduce a shell’s resonant potential and make the drum less unique in a mix. And the other is that better drums tune easier. Quality shells, bearing edges, and hardware yield a drum that tunes faster and stays at the pitch.
The following guidelines state the various steps to tune a drum set:
Tuning the Fundamental Pitch of Each Drum in The Drum Kit
This involves setting the tension of the drumheads so that the drum gives exactly the tone you aim for. Jazz drummers tune drums to a relatively high pitch, whereas rock drummers often tune their drums quite low. An exception is the snare which works well tuned high or low for all musical styles.
Equalizing the Drumheads to Give a Clear and Smooth Tone
When the drumhead is tuned evenly, it will vibrate with a smooth and consistent profile. All drumheads give off a higher overtone frequency at the drumhead’s edge, so evaluating the overtone around the edge of the drum enables the tuning to be uniform and equal at all locations.
Controlling the Decay and Damping of the Drumhead
Some drummers like their drums to ring out for a relatively long time after they are hit, and some prefer a tight sound that decays quite quickly. It can also be beneficial if all the frequencies of the drum decay at a similar rate, to give a consistent sound.
There are many methods to control the decay of a drum, and none is more impactful than choosing the correct drumheads for your preferred sound and style.
Sounds by Genre
An understanding of a “good” drum tone takes years to develop. Here are some guidelines to get you in the ballpark:
- Pop rock: crisp and defined
- Hard rock and power ballads: big and lively
- Modern rock: beefy, macho
- The ’60s and ’70s rock: splatty, muted
- Classic country: loose and bassy
- Modern country: woody, cutting
- Folk: snappy, polite
- Punk and hardcore: sharp, abrasive
- Black and doom metal: Deep and dead
- EDM: crunchy, bold
- Hip-hop: percussive, Immediate
- Blues/R&B: fast and punchy
- Dancehall and reggae: tight and lingering