DRUM TUNING AND TIMBRE

It is not uncommon for engineers or assistants to be required to replace heads and tune drums in recording studios.

The following steps outline head replacement and drum tuning procedures:

•    Remove the rim of the drum and the head to be replaced.

•    Check the drum shell (particularly the hoop) and make sure it is not warped.

•    Clean the hoop with a dry cloth.

•    Check the sound of the new head (tap on it and check that its tone is not ‘dead’)

•    Place the new head onto the hoop (do not force it).

•    Place the rim over the new head and insert tension rods.

•    Tighten the tension rods as far as possible by hand, using a ‘counter-lug’ sequence, e.g. 12 o’clock, 6 o’clock, 2 o’clock, 8 o’clock, 4 o’clock and 10 o’clock for a drum with six lugs.

•    Push down the rim around each lug and tighten the tension rods further by hand (still using a ‘counter-lug’ sequence).

•    Push down the centre of the head slowly until you hear it ‘crackle’.

•    Tighten each tension rod further by a quarter to half a turn using a drum key or wrench (use the same ‘counter-lug’ sequence) until the head has no ‘wrinkles’ left.

•    Hit the centre of the drum in order to check its pitch.

•    Tighten each tension rod further by an eighth to a quarter turn until the desired pitch is achieved (this should be the point where the drum appears to ‘sing’).

•    If a pitch ‘beating’ or undesirable overtones are produced:

-    Tap the area immediately above each lug and check for differences in pitch.

-    Add tension or loosen individual tension rods until the same pitch is produced throughout.

NB Always disengage the snares when tuning.

TUNING DRUMS WITH NO LUGS OR ROPE

Hand drums with no lugs or rope-based tuning system may be pitched up through the use of heat. An electric blanket, a blow-drier or the sun may be used for such purpose, although it is important to note that the effect will be temporary and the drum will require retuning at regular intervals.

NOTES ON DRUM TUNING / TIMBRE

Bass Drums

•    Bass drums are usually tuned to their lowest stable pitch or to a neighbouring tone that is sympathetic to the key of a given song (commonly between C1 and C2).

•    The timbre of a bass drum is significantly affected by damping.

Snare Drum

•    The top head of the snare drum is usually tuned a third, forth or fifth above the bottom head.

•    The heads are commonly tuned between ‘F’ and ‘B’, e.g. bottom at ‘G’ and top at ‘B’.

•    Overly tight bottom heads may cause the metal snares to sound loose and unfocused, although this may seem counter-intuitive.

Tom-Toms

•    The two heads of tom-toms are commonly tuned to the same pitch or the batter (top) head is tuned between a third and a fifth above the resonant (bottom) head. Alternatively the top head may be tuned lower than the resonant head, if a drier sound is desired.

•    Tom-toms may be tuned at regular intervals, e.g. fourths, from each other. This may be particularly effective if the top and bottom heads of each tom-tom are also offset by a fourth, e.g. the pitch of the bottom of the high rack tom matches that of the top of the middle tom-tom, etc. Alternatively tom-toms may be tuned to the most important degrees of a given song’s key.

Hi-Hats

The thickness of hi-hats dictates the overall timbre of the instrument, thicker cymbals tend to sound ‘darker’ and louder, while thinner ones sound brighter and more focused and are easier to record and mix.