TUNING DRUMS

After reading a lot, experimenting a lot, listening to a tons of records and to

the advices of great teachers and drummers like John Riley, here are my tips
for a standard good and versatile tuning:

- usually I tune to pitches, because it's more in tune with other instruments,
and without a DD

- each size usually resonates better at a certain note: 10" around E, 12"
around B, 14" around E up to F#, 16" around B up to C#

- for a 10"-12"-14" kit ussually I go E-B-E, or Eb-Bb-Eb, or F-C-F, that's a nice

melodic tuning for toms of that sizes

- for a 10"-12"-14"-16" kit you can go E-B-E-B (usually Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave
Weckl, Novak, Gavin Harrison) or E-B-F#-C# if you want your toms fourths
apart (usually Steve Smith)

- for a 10"-14"-16" kit E-F#-C# or E-A-E/Eb-Ab-Eb (Benny Greb)

- move everything up or down to taste and to meet each kit's preferred

resonance (after each head is in tune with itself bring everything slowly up in
pitch until the volume increases and everything opens up, there you've
reached the spot)

- start from the bigger tom of the kit and move up from there

- to tune each head keep the drum on your lap on its side, tap gently near the
hoop while stopping the other head with your hand, and listen for the pitch of
the main harmonic (the higher volume note). Don't put the drum with face or
bottom on a carpet as suggested on most guides, that raises the pitch of the
free head and corrupts the tuning.

- it's vital to "sit" the head properly, so press gently with the palm of your hand
in the center a few times, tune the head with itself by matching the pitch near
every lug, and repeat until the tuning is steady. Do not apply too much
pressure, doing it gently does the trick and doesn't stress the head.

- if you want a steady note, say on a 10", and your target is an E, tune the
bottom head a minor 3rd higher than the top one, so resonant head to an Eb
and the batter head to a C. That goes the same for the other toms: 12" to B=
resonant Bb and batter G, 14" to E=resonant Eb, batter C.

-If you want more a pitch bend effect bring the batter head half a step down,
sometimes a whole step.

- for a classic snare sound tune batter head to B and bring the resonant one
up until the feeling is right and the note of the drum hits something around Eb.
Don't overtighten the snares, loose them all and bring them up while playing
until you hear the sound slightly choking and the pitch raising, then back up a
little.

- kickdrums are more unpredictable and the tuning depends a lot on the size,
the heads and the style you're looking for, but a good starting point is batter to
E and resonant to Eb

Try these tips, experiment, have fun! Tuning is a vital part of the drums and
definitely not teached enough.

Ciao!