GreggTL Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 My project studio owns a nice 7 piece DW set. I've noticed that the heads can easily be tuned to specific tones , with the aid of a hand-held BOSS chromatic guitar tuner. I need to know, (at least as a starting place), which specific notes to tune those 7 top heads and 7 bottom heads to. And then of course from there I can tweek the funky stuff, like detuning just one lug per drum etc. Where do I find this specific info on exactly which tones to use as a starting place? There are names of notes stamped inside some of the shells. Do I use these? On both the top and bottom heads? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archtop Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 The notes stamped on the inside are the note that drum makes w/ no heads on and you rap the side. Do it yourself vasectomy might be more fun, than keeping them drums tunned like a piano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archtop Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 The notes stamped on the inside are the note that drum makes w/ no heads on and you rap the side. Do it yourself vasectomy might be more fun, than keeping them drums tunned like a piano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archtop Posted September 8, 2003 Share Posted September 8, 2003 oops double post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siberian Posted September 9, 2003 Share Posted September 9, 2003 The notes stamped inside the shells on DW drums are the fundamental frequency of the drum shell itself. In other words, if you were to hold up the shell with no heads on it and tap on it, that is the note that it yields. That is also the note that you could call the "sweet spot" in the tuning range. If you were to tune the heads to that note, it will yield the most resonant, loudest, phattest tone that the drum can make. I own DW's as well and I have tried using the Korg tuner method. It's a major pita. I've had mixed results using that method because there's a fundamental flaw in the idea of using the tuner... When you hit the drum with a stick, the head stretches slightly, thus yielding a slightly different note than when the head bounces back and resonates briefly. Therefore, the Chromatic tuner doesn't always yield a consistant note. It varies each time you hit the drum. I've found an easier way that I have had slightly better luck with... You'll need the help of an extra set of hands for this... Set up your toms, one at a time, right next to a bass guitar amp. Using a bass guitar, have your assistant pluck the note stamped on the shell and continue to pluck it, giving you a constant note. (this works equally well with a synth where you can just hold a constant note... as long as it is a lower octave) While that note is ringing out, you tune the head until it starts to vibrate by itself. Once it is vibrating on it's own, you are close to the sweet spot because the bass note will cause the drum head to vibrate due to sympathetic vibration of similar frequencies. The stronger the vibratio gets, the closer you are to zeroing in on the sweet spot. One thing I would recommend is after you think you have the kit in tune, have someone else play it while you stand out in front. Sometimes your perception of the sound is not the same from in front as it is from behind the kit. Last time I recorded my drums, I thought I had everything tuned up perfectly. Then when I listened to the playback, I noticed my 10" rack tom was really boingy. I wasn't hearing that from behind the kit, but the room mic was picking it up loud and clear. A quick adjustment to the bottom head fixed the problem. There's a really great online resource for drum tuning tips... it's on drumweb.com. Look for "Professor Sound's Drum Tuning Bible." Go to the "message board" section and then click on "view" and it should be posted in the upper left hand corner of that page. It's a free download and it goes into great depth about shell construction, bearing edges, head selection, tuning methods, etc... Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreggTL Posted September 10, 2003 Author Share Posted September 10, 2003 Siberian--THANK YOU Your advice like rainfall in the dessert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Speers Posted September 10, 2003 Share Posted September 10, 2003 Yes, great stuff, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siberian Posted September 12, 2003 Share Posted September 12, 2003 glad to help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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