Starting from scratch with new studio drums.

[Fishkid]

Just bought a new set(used)for use in my studio and am seeking advice. They will be mostly used by other musicians and my sons. I have a fantasy about playing them on song of my songs too, yeah as soon as I learn how to play! With the long weekend I'll have some time to get the drum heads changed and get them tuned up.

 

So what heads should I be looking at?

I know I need to get these stock heads off. The shells are birch/mahgony. Since I don't have much of a reference point I would like to get your advice on some versatile sounding heads for use in Rock/Pop/Blues type stuff.

 

Any pointers/links for tuning methods?

Not sure where to begin with this, but willing to learn and listen.

 

The set is only about 3 weeks old, cymbals still have pricetags on them. I paid $1250.00 and got the following:

Yamaha Stage Custom Standard in cranberry matte finish

10,12,13,16 toms

22x18 bass drum

Pearl Eliminator Bass Pedal with case

14x5 steel snare

4 Yamaha cymbal stands

Yamaha Hi-Hat stand

Yamaha Snare stand

16" Zildjian China Trash

16" Zildjian A Custom crash

17" Zildjian A Custom crash

20" Zildjian K Custom Dark Ride

14" Zildjian A Custom Mastersound Hats

Set of Remo tone control rings

 

Did I do good?

[coyote]

You did well. You would've paid perhaps another $200-300 new for all that.

 

If the drums are new, the toms come with the Yamaha equivalent of Ambassador heads on both top and bottom. The stock heads are pretty good. When mine wear out I will replace them with Remo Pinstripe, but I'm in no hurry. To tune, first put the heads on and tighten them to a high pitch, just to stretch them a bit. Then remove them. Now start with the bottom (resonant) head. You want to put it on and tighten the lugs in smallish increments, and always across the head **NOT in series around the head**!!! Tune it slowly and strike it softly but regularly til you get a head pitch which sonically complements the natural resonance of the shell. Once you've got that, put the top head back on and go through the same process. When complete, the drum should sound "in tune with itself" so that the head resonances work with the shell resonance instead of clashing.

 

The bass drum ought be fairly easy to tune. These bass drums have a natural excellence with the stock heads. Here, you're looking for a BOOM instead of a BOING. You should be able to get it without making the heads too loose.

 

For the snare, I like to tune the batter head first to the pitch I want, and then tune the snare head to a lower pitch. If the snare (bottom) head is too tight, the snares will buzz like crazy so be wary of that (also keep this in mind as you adjust the snares themselves).

[Fishkid]

coyote,

 

Thanks for the advice. Yeah, the heads on the set are labled as Yamaha U2-BA made by Remo in Taiwan. Don't know if that's good or bad.

It would probably be wise to learn how to get what I can out of these heads and practice tuning with them and then I'll probably have better idea of what I'm looking for later.

 

I will try the tuning technique you suggested; it sounds straight foward and I'm sure will improve things considerably. Especially as the set has been in a UPS truck for the last 4 or 5 days and is probably way out of whack. Not to mention the lack of humidity here in the desert, I'm sure the shells will need some time to stabilize, that point would be a better time to put on new head as well.

 

Regards,

Scott

[Prof.Sound]

See Link below - it may help.