I tune them by ear. Making sure there are no weird overtones and that the batter and reso are nicely balanced. Usually I notice a clear base frequency of 200-215 HZ when I open up an EQ plugin. I recorded this song (and album) on a Mapex 'The Blade' snare which is a 14x5.5 steel snare. Pretty punchy and fat sound right? open.spotify.com/track/0ZpacAQtUfr3mjJtMmDi2u?si=oaH4NCvqRHOmW4idK0MSNg
As a drummer of just over 40 years(shit im old) and a recording engineer of 30+ years I have learned a few things about drums and recording them. The first thing I learned is if it sounds good then it is good, regardless of the technical aspects of things, some drums just sound awful no matter what you do with them(and price) and some sound amazing. All things aside if you want bottom end from a drum at source the depth of the drum is the least important part. Depth is usually about speed, Its kind of like the release on a compressor. Taking a 14 inch snare, an eight inch depth wont be lower in pitch than a 5 inch depth simply because eight inch is more than five, it will usually be a combination of factors. Pitch of a drum is depicted by its diameter, how thick the shell is and its tuning. A 14 inch snare will be lower in pitch than a 13 because of the larger diameter. Thicker shells resonate at a higher pitch and are louder. Thin shells are lower pitched but not as loud. A kick drum is loud because of the overall diameter, usually 20 to 24 inch and is usually made really thin for the low end. So the recipe for a fat snare(in my experience) 14 inch snare(depth doesnt really matter) Stay away from super thick shells. I like metal snares like steel/brass but thinner shelled wood snares can sound huge. tuning Think of snare tuning like this. The batter head sets the pitch and the reso head sets the sustain. Tune the ring/sustain in/out with the reso head but keep it relatively tight and the snare wire response will be faster, the tighter it goes though the less it will ring. The batter head sets the pitch, if its a touch too ringy detune the bottom two lugs to control ring, drummers have their own methods and they are all a little weird and wonderful. I tend to like my drums a little live sounding and dont use moon gel/damping etc. The last thing I would say to drummers is to remember your drums sound totally different sitting behind them to what someone standing in front of them or a mic hears and tune your drums to the guitars not for yourself. Love your channel, thank you for a great video
Great! I run a little studio in Stockholm and been struggling with what I thought would be a safe buy, Supraphonic 6.5” I start to come to the same conclusion as you..and my buy was not the key to best snaresound in the world... So...you started out as an engineer when you were 10 years old? 😄
@@southsidesoderlund A Supraphonic 6.5 is a great snare and will do pretty much anything you need. I started as a tape op for the BBC at 21, I'm in my 50's.
My first instrument is admittedly guitar and that along with producing records is how I've made my living for the last 20 years, but I've also played drums for almost 30 years now and recording different drum kits as an engineer/producer as well as session drummer for 20 years and everything you just said is completely on the money. I take samples of most the kits I record for use in "editing" wink wink and I have a sample of a craviotta 14"x4" piccolo snare that sounds lower and fatter than my Black Beauty 14" x 6.5". The depth really determines how long the drum resonates or sustains for, The batter head and thinner shells definitely are what make a snare fatter or lower in pitch. rest head definitely always higher than the batter head. You may THINK you can tune your snare by ear, but I promise you that you can't. Get a tune bot 100%. There are too many overtones and sympathetic tones to really know what you're listening for and guitarists who play a pitched instrument use tuners to get their guitar in tune, drummer's I hate to say, don't stand a chance of getting all your tension roods anywhere within more than maybe 7 or 8 cents from each other in pitch. Get a Tune Bot. The one other factor I would say can make a snare sound huge is room mics.
At last someone with taste. I am sick and tired of everyone telling me that the pif pif sound of their snare is good. Nice video man keep it up. Always quality content only
This is the first time ever I see a video on drums tuning in terms of frequency rather than "tension" and using drumdial and stuff. Great content as usual and please, PLEASE: send stuff! :D
The 235 / 325 Hz sounds to me very much like my absolutely preferred Metal Drummer, Cozy Powell! HE was the guy with the most beef and power in his drums. His snare hits were bigger than life! Good video tut here, Kohle! DANKESCHÖN aus Österreich!
I absolutely love my tune bot. Tuning by ear is possible if you're good, but getting perfectly tuned intervals among your toms, plus nailing a consistent snare is impossible without it. Every guitarist uses a tuner, drums are no different. Love that you rock the pearl floating 14x6.5, I've got the Maple and it sounds great. I'm a drummer though and fell into the "tuned too high" camp. Oops. Thanks for the tips as always!!
My band's drummer, and studio session drummer for other projects, got a Ludwig Black Beauty snare for his kit last year. It's the best snare I've ever heard and had the pleasure to record. He uses the Drum Dial to tune his kits.
I use a digital drum dial. I love my Pearl aluminum snare. Even after trying other high end (brass and wood) snares I still go back to my aluminum snare.
There are a few ways to keep the snare drum tune high but sound low. You can also get a big fat snare drum or use a cutout drumhead and place it on top of your snare drum. If you do that it will still have the sustained but it will lower the fundamental pitch. Another option is to detune the two or three lugs closest to you if you are sitting at the drum. It will lower the pitch if you do that but if you needed to be a higher in Pitch again add tension to the lugs across from those. There is another drum tuning tool bald drumdial. It measures the tympanic pressure of each lug. I as a drummer have developed the year that I have for tuning over 10 years. But I still have trouble sometimes it can be helpful I'm sure to use a tune bot the place you are in maybe very loud and it can become a crutch.
So you're basically tuning the resonant head around a perfect fifth higher than the batter head. It makes a lot of sense to explain the thickness in the sound from a musical theory perspective.
Not really! First of all, it's not a perfect 5th if I'm not mistaken. I spent years at university studying musical theory, but I never understood why this should be applied to drums in a rock / metal context. But I'm open for a discussion!
You're right, for 235 Hz the perfect fifth would be at 352.10 Hz. 325 Hz would be 139 cents short. In this case, you're closer to a diminished fifth (devilish metal!), which should theoretically be at 332.34 Hz. You're 39 cents short. On guitars, perfect fourths and fifths sound good and still fat to our ears even when slightly out of tune. It's the first thing I thought when I saw the frequencies you used. Many years ago I read in some magazine an interview with Terry Bozzio where he mentioned he tuned all his drums to actual notes in relation to the band's tuning, so he could sort of play scales and chords, that triggered this thought on my mind.
Super interesting video. I'm a drummer loves a high tuned ringy snare. I don't make metal, more heavy melodic proggy stuff, but I think I'll try the low tuning for the heavier stuff. Great information.
I liked the 275Hz / 300Hz combo the best, personally. I think the other side of drum tuning that would be cool to explore in another video is the interaction between the drums and the bass and guitar. For example the higher tuned snare might work better with some guitar or bass sounds than others.
I would love this same video but with kick drums! The kick of the drummers i have recorded always sound weird and weak, not metal at all. I always learn a lot with your videos thank you a lot!
Aquarian super kick 2 heads, one piece of 24 audio foam trimmed to your drums depth, plastic or rubber beater, and plastic beater pad. I don't care I'd all you have is a 57 to Mic with it will be metal as fuck and you can't screw up the formula above. You'll be wishing you could just adequately capture how amazingly prefect it is right there in the room....which is kinda the point he made, that good sounds start at the source
Another excellent video with great information presented in an easily digestible and light hearted way. Thank you Kristian. Keep up your great work. Cheers and beers
That’s one of my biggest issues with drummers that don’t take tuning their drums seriously especially the snare drum !! Thank You for the tips on low tuning the snare !!
I found the video interesting. It was interesting how the ring changed with the adjustment of the resonance head. I would love to see the proposed video on snare drum processing.
Tuning low is very much in vogue for heavy styles right now, but Tim Redmond of Snapcase still takes the prize for coolest snare sound ever, on "Progression Through Unlearning".
I tune my snare in different ways, a lot of it based around the sound of the band itself and what will fit in to help complete it. After that part is figured out, I decide on the shell type, depth, and the heads. It's sometimes possible to make cheap drums sound good with the right head combinations, but not always. For heads, I usually use the coated ambassador for most applications. The coating adds a nice little bit of muffling without removing the ring/resonance of the head and has enough warmth and attack. If you need to cut off some ring, moon gels are the ticket away from muffling rings. The 275/300 tuning works well on a maple or mahogany shell for jazz if that's your thing, but can work for some rock when tuned a little lower, like 250/300. I like maple/mahogany for wood, brass for metal. A Tama Bell Brass snare from the 90s is my Holy Grail of metal snare drums. 6.5x14 or 7x14 has always been my preferred depth because you can tune them super high like a marching snare if needed but also can tune them low and fat for metal and funk. Now, I don't have a tunebot, just ears. I'll use a tension meter and tune by ear to tension. This won't give as much accuracy but if your ears are good, the drum is good, the heads are good, and the room sounds good, the rest is easy to dial in. Taking a little extra time in the setup saves time in the post processing.
As a drummer by trade, I think its safe to say this: When the resonant head is too low compared to the batter head...ready for it?... they are out of phase....ha ha! I hope I made you laugh. You are correct and your tones prove it! Great video as always!
The most important item here is "how does the snare sound itself" and "how does the snare sound in the whole band mix" thing. At least I know, that is certainly where I am struggling with... doing everything individually, and then in the end nothing fits together... Thanks for giving input in a direction I had not considered currently...
Great video Kristian. I used to make the mistake of letting drummers tune their drums too many times. It took a while until I realized that they mostly don't know what they are doing.
the right sample, too. If the mix calls for it. speaking of snare ring, treat it with expander plugin, and maybe a midrange cut & frequency notch, but don't go overboard.
If you want to be able to tune higher without losing the punch, try and get a bell bronze snare (also known as bell brass, e.g. Tama Bell Brass). They have much more low frequencies than snares of other materials. I own one and recording has gotten so much more joyful now :)
I agree, it's better a deeper snare. With 5.5" snares if you want a fat sound you usually tune them lower but they sound flabby. I could never get my 5.5" snares sound great as I want when they're tuned low. At least with 6.5" you can tune a bit higher, as you say Kristian, but still retain the deepness needed
I played as drummer father`s 14x8 and it sounded very fat. Old Tama Superstar set from 80s, with concert toms. Very massive tone, but needed bright skins, and higher pitch.
Great video! I’m a huge advocate for tuning lower for bigger sounding results. I also use the tune-bot and my favourite batter head tones are around the same mark as yours. I have found that those numbers can change with thicker heads that have a lower timbre though. I’m intrigued by the 300~325 range for the reso. I’ve always loved 400hz for a snare reso as I find it really opens up like a presence knob on an amp around this frequency. But I’ll do some A/B’s under the mics and see what sounds better!
Fantastic video! I have a very similar approach, and even go a bit lower on all of the Horrendous records. This should be required viewing for all drummers!
Have to try those setting on Tunebot, I usually tune my bottom head around F#4, G4-G#4, 392 to 400-410....And the top around C#4-D4 or E4, 277 to 329....lol...the Bohnam style....Don't try the new Tune Bot buy more beer instead I throw it out of the window and didn't drink anything....I still use the old one.
Very cool stuff 🤘🔥 could you maybe also include the fundamental note you see on the tune-bot in addition to the lug pitch? That would make a great video even greater.....
When will you make the video on snare slams and how to mix them properly? great video anyway, you have great sounds and you did a great job with all your productions!
Schön, das mal aus einer Nicht-Drummer-Sichtweise zu sehen. Ich nutze den TuneBot auch. Außerdem verfechte ich seit Jahren tiefgestimmte Snares ohne Dämpfung. Nur meine einlagigen Felle brauchen einen Dot in der Mitte, sonst sind die nach zwei Songs durch.
brass ring is great but acrylic is balanced try converting an old sonor acrylic 10 inch deep tom to a snare it gives all the right body and takes single ply heads like a hammer of god, brass does great though world max hand hammered are affordable too, got to really work at tuning
Hey Kohle!!!, do you tune your toms to specific notes and intervals (3rds, 4rths, 5ths)? I know producers/drummers who tune their toms that way, sounds very musical. I don't know if it would work on say a brutal death metal band that uses chromatism, in pop it makes sense because of the melodic nature of the music. Maybe this is an idea for a future video, cheers!!!
I think it's better to just have an idea in your head of what you want each of them to sound like, but even if you aren't planning on tuning to a specific scale or anything, it helps to tune each of them to a particular note, because the top and bottom heads need to be in tune with each other and it's easier doing it precisely than with guesswork. Try using a guitar tuner plugin
Tuning the drums to pitches could end up having the toms have unwanted intervals with the rest of the music. Works if you don't have a lot of changes in keys between songs or if you're ready to re-tune drums for each song. Naturally, there's differences in taste here.
@@samuliauno8163 That sounds right, but it's never been a problem for me. I'm not great at tuning though to be honest, even though I'm a drummer. I should be, but I've never been able to get it right.
I spent years at university studying musical theory, but I never understood why this should be applied to drums in a rock / metal context. But I'm open for a discussion!
@@sammyloehnis3373 For my own Pearl Vision 6ply birch drums, I just use clear Emperors at the lowest tuning they can handle. Sounds surprisingly good. The fine-tune the tone with the bottom head (ambassador, slightly higher pitch than top).
@@KohleAudioKult thanks for the response! What do you find differs in the attack between wood and, lets say brass drums? I get that it depends on the wood, but any general differences you find apparent overall?
Nice video, great info. Don´t forget to add the snares tension factor to the academy, I have found that when you have the tension too high the snare shoke and sound really crapy. But I don´t know when is tight enough for fast metal.
Cool. The hoops make a difference too. The more deeper\fat of that aluminium is because of the power hoops instead of die cast on brass. I like S-Hoop on top with Power Hoop on bottom. Good work!! Rock on!!
I have a weird way of tuning my snare. I tune it up high then the bottom 3 lugs i back off a few turns then make the middle of the 3 lugs i detuned only finger tight. I can still have a decent amount of rebound for fast passages and still have that fat detuned sound
Looks like my comment was nixed...use a frequency chart to find the key of the songs corresponding frequency. For example..if the key of the song is B..247 or 248 would be your target top head tuning frequency. Hope this adds value to what your doing here...great video as always! Prost!
@@KohleAudioKult Interesting. I tried the TuneBot Tuning app and they give quite high frequencies for the snare. For a snare tuned to G (Which is kind of in the middle of the road for what the app suggests) it would give you 398Hz for the reso and 266Hz for the batter head..
It will be a part of my academy, the Kohle Audio Kult. The beginner course is the first one and there will be more and more small videos / courses added.
I’ve been guilty of tuning my snare too high. The reason it was done is for something you mentioned early in the video: the guitars eat up the sustain. In a live setting, you’re then left with just the attack, which is what needs to cut through. How do I get my blast beats to cut through? Tuning my snare really high. Yes, it sucks for recording, but how often is a gigging drummer in a studio vs playing live? And that is why our snares sound like crap in a studio.
@@KohleAudioKult First: Thank you for this video. I wish I had someone tell me this BEFORE I went to a studio to record. It’s this very reason I now have separate live and studio snares. Having to compromise on your sound sucks. I hope you have more videos like this in the future.
just another great, informative, insightful video. please, please keep them coming. just one question though...what beer are you drinking during the filming???
Great video! Drummers should know more about how to work in the studio. I've recorded many drummers who use small drums, and play softly, but still expect heavy and fat results. Also many drummers put cymbals very low next to toms, because it's easier to play, but it also causes horrible cymbal bleed to tom mics. Same with the snare tuning, it's easier to play when it's tuned high, but you can't get a fat tone out of it that way. I personally really like CLEAR Emperor or Controlled Sound heads for the batter head. Clear head has ever so slightly more upper punch, and Emperor or CS is not as ringy as Ambassador, and lasts longer.
Are those recommend hz at the lug or hitting in the centre of the head. Tune bot gives 2 different readings. ie are you tuning each lug to 230hz equally on the batter head? Thanks!
@@KohleAudioKult thanks man. So by head you mean lugs? As that is the terminology that tunebot uses. Lug pitch and fundamental pitch. Top lug- Bottom lug and Fundamental. Just trying to clear it up. Thanks again.
@@troymckubre3646 If they call it like that, that's what I mean! The fundamental pitch is pretty much useless to me because it depends on too many factors.
I used to like me some "311" super high snare pop, but nowadays my tuning is getting lower and lower, just like my sacroiliac. I was a lil shocked how low I go tho. Apparently my goldilocks zone is from around 240 to 260hz, depending on reasons. 230-235 was a little in the dumps for me tbh, and 275 was a bit high. I'll prolly never do 300 or above tho, unless I'm zoomin my Delorean back to 1998. Cheers! 🍻
How do you guys tune your snares?
I have a very good way ! I just replace everything with drumshotz!👌👌👌
On rehearsals, high. Live performance, a little low. I will try your approach with a 4.5" snare. I’m curious to hear how low and cool can go.
I have to say that i am used to tune my snares higher because it always was pain in the *** to tune it low. :)
I tune them by ear. Making sure there are no weird overtones and that the batter and reso are nicely balanced. Usually I notice a clear base frequency of 200-215 HZ when I open up an EQ plugin. I recorded this song (and album) on a Mapex 'The Blade' snare which is a 14x5.5 steel snare. Pretty punchy and fat sound right?
open.spotify.com/track/0ZpacAQtUfr3mjJtMmDi2u?si=oaH4NCvqRHOmW4idK0MSNg
@@sebastiencamhi High is easy, but not cool for most rock and metal styles!
As a drummer of just over 40 years(shit im old) and a recording engineer of 30+ years I have learned a few things about drums and recording them. The first thing I learned is if it sounds good then it is good, regardless of the technical aspects of things, some drums just sound awful no matter what you do with them(and price) and some sound amazing. All things aside if you want bottom end from a drum at source the depth of the drum is the least important part. Depth is usually about speed, Its kind of like the release on a compressor. Taking a 14 inch snare, an eight inch depth wont be lower in pitch than a 5 inch depth simply because eight inch is more than five, it will usually be a combination of factors.
Pitch of a drum is depicted by its diameter, how thick the shell is and its tuning. A 14 inch snare will be lower in pitch than a 13 because of the larger diameter. Thicker shells resonate at a higher pitch and are louder. Thin shells are lower pitched but not as loud. A kick drum is loud because of the overall diameter, usually 20 to 24 inch and is usually made really thin for the low end.
So the recipe for a fat snare(in my experience)
14 inch snare(depth doesnt really matter)
Stay away from super thick shells. I like metal snares like steel/brass but thinner shelled wood snares can sound huge.
tuning
Think of snare tuning like this.
The batter head sets the pitch and the reso head sets the sustain.
Tune the ring/sustain in/out with the reso head but keep it relatively tight and the snare wire response will be faster, the tighter it goes though the less it will ring.
The batter head sets the pitch, if its a touch too ringy detune the bottom two lugs to control ring, drummers have their own methods and they are all a little weird and wonderful. I tend to like my drums a little live sounding and dont use moon gel/damping etc.
The last thing I would say to drummers is to remember your drums sound totally different sitting behind them to what someone standing in front of them or a mic hears and tune your drums to the guitars not for yourself.
Love your channel, thank you for a great video
Great! I run a little studio in Stockholm and been struggling with what I thought would be a safe buy, Supraphonic 6.5” I start to come to the same conclusion as you..and my buy was not the key to best snaresound in the world... So...you started out as an engineer when you were 10 years old? 😄
@@southsidesoderlund A Supraphonic 6.5 is a great snare and will do pretty much anything you need. I started as a tape op for the BBC at 21, I'm in my 50's.
My first instrument is admittedly guitar and that along with producing records is how I've made my living for the last 20 years, but I've also played drums for almost 30 years now and recording different drum kits as an engineer/producer as well as session drummer for 20 years and everything you just said is completely on the money. I take samples of most the kits I record for use in "editing" wink wink and I have a sample of a craviotta 14"x4" piccolo snare that sounds lower and fatter than my Black Beauty 14" x 6.5". The depth really determines how long the drum resonates or sustains for, The batter head and thinner shells definitely are what make a snare fatter or lower in pitch. rest head definitely always higher than the batter head. You may THINK you can tune your snare by ear, but I promise you that you can't. Get a tune bot 100%. There are too many overtones and sympathetic tones to really know what you're listening for and guitarists who play a pitched instrument use tuners to get their guitar in tune, drummer's I hate to say, don't stand a chance of getting all your tension roods anywhere within more than maybe 7 or 8 cents from each other in pitch. Get a Tune Bot. The one other factor I would say can make a snare sound huge is room mics.
Great video and wise words! Jens Bogren taught me the same when I was at his studio.
You have to go Looooow!
The eternal struggle between metal producers and extreme metal drummers, haha!
Schönen Gruß! 🍺❤️
@@KohleAudioKult genau so ist es! 😁🤌🏼
O hai its KRIIIIMMMMMMHHHHHH
At last someone with taste. I am sick and tired of everyone telling me that the pif pif sound of their snare is good. Nice video man keep it up. Always quality content only
🍺❤️
This is the first time ever I see a video on drums tuning in terms of frequency rather than "tension" and using drumdial and stuff. Great content as usual and please, PLEASE: send stuff! :D
The 235 / 325 Hz sounds to me very much like my absolutely preferred Metal Drummer, Cozy Powell! HE was the guy with the most beef and power in his drums. His snare hits were bigger than life! Good video tut here, Kohle! DANKESCHÖN aus Österreich!
a snare drum from the 90s is vintage now? man, that makes me feel so old :P
You’re not old. You’re vintage too! 😜🍺❤️
Very helpful Kohle, thanks! It would be great to see videos like this also for toms!
Great video! Kristian makes your snare PHAT! Machen Sie Ihre Snare übergewichtig!! Feed it beer (German Beer!) and strudel!
Uber phat!
@@harmonystudios1182 Ja! Haha
Machen sie ihre Snare übergewichtig! (Translated to english: Make your snare obese!)😄😄
Gonna say that to my drummer…
I would be super interested in a tom tuning video, especially in connection with the Tune Bot!
I absolutely love my tune bot. Tuning by ear is possible if you're good, but getting perfectly tuned intervals among your toms, plus nailing a consistent snare is impossible without it. Every guitarist uses a tuner, drums are no different.
Love that you rock the pearl floating 14x6.5, I've got the Maple and it sounds great. I'm a drummer though and fell into the "tuned too high" camp. Oops. Thanks for the tips as always!!
Man, those Pearl brass free floating snares were / are rad (and loud as hell). Really enjoyed this and thanks for sharing.
My band's drummer, and studio session drummer for other projects, got a Ludwig Black Beauty snare for his kit last year. It's the best snare I've ever heard and had the pleasure to record. He uses the Drum Dial to tune his kits.
That final sound of the snare sounds Gorgeous Kohle... can't wait for a video of explaining that post-processing (as you stated in 17:27) :-)
This could be the greatest video about snare recording. Amazing
Awesome! I’ll trust your tuning and selections, dude!
I use a digital drum dial. I love my Pearl aluminum snare. Even after trying other high end (brass and wood) snares I still go back to my aluminum snare.
OMG, that's an awesome sound! Tha's what i was looking for in the snare sound
I'd definitely be interested in the post-processing you do on snares. Great video!
Ever since I bought a big, fat brass snare I haven't looked back. It is 95% perfect for me. Now i just need to try your tuning recommendations.
There are a few ways to keep the snare drum tune high but sound low. You can also get a big fat snare drum or use a cutout drumhead and place it on top of your snare drum. If you do that it will still have the sustained but it will lower the fundamental pitch. Another option is to detune the two or three lugs closest to you if you are sitting at the drum. It will lower the pitch if you do that but if you needed to be a higher in Pitch again add tension to the lugs across from those. There is another drum tuning tool bald drumdial. It measures the tympanic pressure of each lug. I as a drummer have developed the year that I have for tuning over 10 years. But I still have trouble sometimes it can be helpful I'm sure to use a tune bot the place you are in maybe very loud and it can become a crutch.
That kick though!
My brother is a drummer...we always fight for the tuning. I need to show him this video!
detune his snare while he's passed out and see if he notices
Cool Kohle - Would love to see how you tune (and mic) toms.
Noted!
+1
17:45 when the drums only start, its such a great sound, wow :)
So you're basically tuning the resonant head around a perfect fifth higher than the batter head. It makes a lot of sense to explain the thickness in the sound from a musical theory perspective.
Not really! First of all, it's not a perfect 5th if I'm not mistaken.
I spent years at university studying musical theory, but I never understood why this should be applied to drums in a rock / metal context.
But I'm open for a discussion!
You're right, for 235 Hz the perfect fifth would be at 352.10 Hz. 325 Hz would be 139 cents short.
In this case, you're closer to a diminished fifth (devilish metal!), which should theoretically be at 332.34 Hz. You're 39 cents short.
On guitars, perfect fourths and fifths sound good and still fat to our ears even when slightly out of tune. It's the first thing I thought when I saw the frequencies you used. Many years ago I read in some magazine an interview with Terry Bozzio where he mentioned he tuned all his drums to actual notes in relation to the band's tuning, so he could sort of play scales and chords, that triggered this thought on my mind.
Super interesting video. I'm a drummer loves a high tuned ringy snare. I don't make metal, more heavy melodic proggy stuff, but I think I'll try the low tuning for the heavier stuff. Great information.
I liked the 275Hz / 300Hz combo the best, personally. I think the other side of drum tuning that would be cool to explore in another video is the interaction between the drums and the bass and guitar. For example the higher tuned snare might work better with some guitar or bass sounds than others.
Super gutes, hilfreiches Video!!! ❤️
I would love this same video but with kick drums! The kick of the drummers i have recorded always sound weird and weak, not metal at all. I always learn a lot with your videos thank you a lot!
Aquarian super kick 2 heads, one piece of 24 audio foam trimmed to your drums depth, plastic or rubber beater, and plastic beater pad. I don't care I'd all you have is a 57 to Mic with it will be metal as fuck and you can't screw up the formula above. You'll be wishing you could just adequately capture how amazingly prefect it is right there in the room....which is kinda the point he made, that good sounds start at the source
Great video and a great channel. It would be interesting to see some post-processing.
My favourite part was there you glued three tunings to hear em one after another. The only thing that changed was snare!😁 Really cool!
Another excellent video with great information presented in an easily digestible and light hearted way.
Thank you Kristian.
Keep up your great work.
Cheers and beers
That’s one of my biggest issues with drummers that don’t take tuning their drums seriously especially the snare drum !!
Thank You for the tips on low tuning the snare !!
Cool video!! I will put this to the test! Thanks
I found the video interesting. It was interesting how the ring changed with the adjustment of the resonance head. I would love to see the proposed video on snare drum processing.
I'm feeling that I've learned a lot just watching this video! Thanks man!
Tuning low is very much in vogue for heavy styles right now, but Tim Redmond of Snapcase still takes the prize for coolest snare sound ever, on "Progression Through Unlearning".
Yeah, that Snapcase snare is ridiculously tight & "snappy".
You explain things so well. This is gold
Sounds great to me!
Thoughts on regular use of rimshots - good, bad, context dependent, add them later??
Sehr geil genau das Video das ich gerade gebraucht habe XD ... Bitte Bitte genau so ein Video noch ein mal für die Toms :-P !!!
I tune my snare in different ways, a lot of it based around the sound of the band itself and what will fit in to help complete it. After that part is figured out, I decide on the shell type, depth, and the heads. It's sometimes possible to make cheap drums sound good with the right head combinations, but not always.
For heads, I usually use the coated ambassador for most applications. The coating adds a nice little bit of muffling without removing the ring/resonance of the head and has enough warmth and attack. If you need to cut off some ring, moon gels are the ticket away from muffling rings. The 275/300 tuning works well on a maple or mahogany shell for jazz if that's your thing, but can work for some rock when tuned a little lower, like 250/300. I like maple/mahogany for wood, brass for metal. A Tama Bell Brass snare from the 90s is my Holy Grail of metal snare drums. 6.5x14 or 7x14 has always been my preferred depth because you can tune them super high like a marching snare if needed but also can tune them low and fat for metal and funk.
Now, I don't have a tunebot, just ears. I'll use a tension meter and tune by ear to tension. This won't give as much accuracy but if your ears are good, the drum is good, the heads are good, and the room sounds good, the rest is easy to dial in. Taking a little extra time in the setup saves time in the post processing.
As a drummer by trade, I think its safe to say this: When the resonant head is too low compared to the batter head...ready for it?... they are out of phase....ha ha! I hope I made you laugh. You are correct and your tones prove it! Great video as always!
It's very educational. I would like to see the tuning and recording kik and toms:) Thank you!
The most important item here is "how does the snare sound itself" and "how does the snare sound in the whole band mix" thing. At least I know, that is certainly where I am struggling with... doing everything individually, and then in the end nothing fits together... Thanks for giving input in a direction I had not considered currently...
Great video Kristian. I used to make the mistake of letting drummers tune their drums too many times. It took a while until I realized that they mostly don't know what they are doing.
Ich dated studio time! I’ve been there. But 95% of them are happy if you tune for them.
Out of topic, tom tom sound pretty good too. Haha! Thank you for the tuner information.
shell, head & snare choice
tuning & snare tightness
the right mics
cohesion between close and room mics
and of course, the drummer themself
the right sample, too. If the mix calls for it.
speaking of snare ring, treat it with expander plugin, and maybe a midrange cut & frequency notch, but don't go overboard.
Nice lesson. Put more drums on your videos. Thanks
If you want to be able to tune higher without losing the punch, try and get a bell bronze snare (also known as bell brass, e.g. Tama Bell Brass). They have much more low frequencies than snares of other materials. I own one and recording has gotten so much more joyful now :)
I agree, it's better a deeper snare.
With 5.5" snares if you want a fat sound you usually tune them lower but they sound flabby. I could never get my 5.5" snares sound great as I want when they're tuned low.
At least with 6.5" you can tune a bit higher, as you say Kristian, but still retain the deepness needed
Mooooom!! Kohle's made another great video for us, and now I really need a tune-bot! Thanks master Kohle 🤘🏻🤘🏻🍻
Believe me. You really want one!
I’m not sponsored or anything, it’s just so helpful.
Great video once again!
I played as drummer father`s 14x8 and it sounded very fat. Old Tama Superstar set from 80s, with concert toms. Very massive tone, but needed bright skins, and higher pitch.
Great vid, really interesting tips!
Great video! I’m a huge advocate for tuning lower for bigger sounding results. I also use the tune-bot and my favourite batter head tones are around the same mark as yours. I have found that those numbers can change with thicker heads that have a lower timbre though.
I’m intrigued by the 300~325 range for the reso. I’ve always loved 400hz for a snare reso as I find it really opens up like a presence knob on an amp around this frequency. But I’ll do some A/B’s under the mics and see what sounds better!
how did it go?
Kristian Kohle Muchas Gracias !!
Fantastic video! I have a very similar approach, and even go a bit lower on all of the Horrendous records. This should be required viewing for all drummers!
Listen to this man, he knows his shit!
Have to try those setting on Tunebot, I usually tune my bottom head around F#4, G4-G#4, 392 to 400-410....And the top around C#4-D4 or E4, 277 to 329....lol...the Bohnam style....Don't try the new Tune Bot buy more beer instead I throw it out of the window and didn't drink anything....I still use the old one.
Is the new one really worse? Let me know!
Very cool stuff 🤘🔥
could you maybe also include the fundamental note you see on the tune-bot in addition to the lug pitch? That would make a great video even greater.....
Exactly!!!
Dude that video is gold
Saving this video, so usefull!! thank you Kristian!
Please do a more detailed video about the processing that you put on that snare. It sounds awesome.
I'm excited! I must try this trick ;)
You have to make a video of how to tune a snare drum! Congratulations Khole.
When will you make the video on snare slams and how to mix them properly? great video anyway, you have great sounds and you did a great job with all your productions!
I'm working on a nice slam video
@@KohleAudioKult I think I fell in love with you!
Lovin the snare drum philosophy... Track it beefier. Gonna put that into play this week on a session...
Track with beef, cut the fat and add the spice later.
Schön, das mal aus einer Nicht-Drummer-Sichtweise zu sehen. Ich nutze den TuneBot auch. Außerdem verfechte ich seit Jahren tiefgestimmte Snares ohne Dämpfung. Nur meine einlagigen Felle brauchen einen Dot in der Mitte, sonst sind die nach zwei Songs durch.
brass ring is great but acrylic is balanced try converting an old sonor acrylic 10 inch deep tom to a snare it gives all the right body and takes single ply heads like a hammer of god, brass does great though world max hand hammered are affordable too, got to really work at tuning
Nice Vid, Bro! Thx.
Exceptional Video, Thank You!
Hey Kohle!!!, do you tune your toms to specific notes and intervals (3rds, 4rths, 5ths)? I know producers/drummers who tune their toms that way, sounds very musical. I don't know if it would work on say a brutal death metal band that uses chromatism, in pop it makes sense because of the melodic nature of the music.
Maybe this is an idea for a future video, cheers!!!
I think it's better to just have an idea in your head of what you want each of them to sound like, but even if you aren't planning on tuning to a specific scale or anything, it helps to tune each of them to a particular note, because the top and bottom heads need to be in tune with each other and it's easier doing it precisely than with guesswork. Try using a guitar tuner plugin
Tuning the drums to pitches could end up having the toms have unwanted intervals with the rest of the music. Works if you don't have a lot of changes in keys between songs or if you're ready to re-tune drums for each song. Naturally, there's differences in taste here.
@@samuliauno8163 That sounds right, but it's never been a problem for me. I'm not great at tuning though to be honest, even though I'm a drummer. I should be, but I've never been able to get it right.
I spent years at university studying musical theory, but I never understood why this should be applied to drums in a rock / metal context.
But I'm open for a discussion!
@@sammyloehnis3373 For my own Pearl Vision 6ply birch drums, I just use clear Emperors at the lowest tuning they can handle. Sounds surprisingly good. The fine-tune the tone with the bottom head (ambassador, slightly higher pitch than top).
When do you use a wood snare over a metal one? Does your preferences regarding dimensions change when using wood snares?
Whenever it sounds cool, fits the drummer and has the right tuning for the style I’m recording.
I do use my Yamaha Birch Custom quite often.
@@KohleAudioKult thanks for the response! What do you find differs in the attack between wood and, lets say brass drums? I get that it depends on the wood, but any general differences you find apparent overall?
Nice video, great info. Don´t forget to add the snares tension factor to the academy, I have found that when you have the tension too high the snare shoke and sound really crapy. But I don´t know when is tight enough for fast metal.
Good idea! Noted
Cool. The hoops make a difference too. The more deeper\fat of that aluminium is because of the power hoops instead of die cast on brass. I like S-Hoop on top with Power Hoop on bottom. Good work!! Rock on!!
Thanks man!
In the audio files it was a Die Cast hoop both times!
At least on the batter side.
I have a weird way of tuning my snare. I tune it up high then the bottom 3 lugs i back off a few turns then make the middle of the 3 lugs i detuned only finger tight. I can still have a decent amount of rebound for fast passages and still have that fat detuned sound
Looks like my comment was nixed...use a frequency chart to find the key of the songs corresponding frequency. For example..if the key of the song is B..247 or 248 would be your target top head tuning frequency. Hope this adds value to what your doing here...great video as always! Prost!
What do you do if you record faster styles with lots of blast beats? I feel like a tuning like this wouldn't really translate in such a situation.
I try to make them go as low as they can go.
@@KohleAudioKult Interesting. I tried the TuneBot Tuning app and they give quite high frequencies for the snare. For a snare tuned to G (Which is kind of in the middle of the road for what the app suggests) it would give you 398Hz for the reso and 266Hz for the batter head..
I will totaly buy that course, even if I think that I'm not a beginner anymore. But there is always new stuff to learn, isn't it?
It will be a part of my academy, the Kohle Audio Kult.
The beginner course is the first one and there will be more and more small videos / courses added.
Snare is a king
Awesome sound!!! My snare is better now.
Have you any advice for toms ?
Coming up in another video!
@@KohleAudioKult thanks a lot !
I’ll trust your tuning and selections, KOHLE! Maybe i should get these Pearl Brass Snare for my Metal Stuff, it sounds great :-D.
I’ve been guilty of tuning my snare too high. The reason it was done is for something you mentioned early in the video: the guitars eat up the sustain. In a live setting, you’re then left with just the attack, which is what needs to cut through. How do I get my blast beats to cut through? Tuning my snare really high. Yes, it sucks for recording, but how often is a gigging drummer in a studio vs playing live? And that is why our snares sound like crap in a studio.
Live you can tune it higher. The overall loudness compensates the lack of body.
@@KohleAudioKult First: Thank you for this video. I wish I had someone tell me this BEFORE I went to a studio to record. It’s this very reason I now have separate live and studio snares. Having to compromise on your sound sucks.
I hope you have more videos like this in the future.
A Drum tuning Video would be great ?
No hate! That sounds really nice and I seem to like the wires sounds in there too. I need to work on this. 😊
just another great, informative, insightful video. please, please keep them coming. just one question though...what beer are you drinking during the filming???
Thanks! In which video?
@@KohleAudioKult this one.
Great video! Drummers should know more about how to work in the studio. I've recorded many drummers who use small drums, and play softly, but still expect heavy and fat results. Also many drummers put cymbals very low next to toms, because it's easier to play, but it also causes horrible cymbal bleed to tom mics. Same with the snare tuning, it's easier to play when it's tuned high, but you can't get a fat tone out of it that way. I personally really like CLEAR Emperor or Controlled Sound heads for the batter head. Clear head has ever so slightly more upper punch, and Emperor or CS is not as ringy as Ambassador, and lasts longer.
Great lesson with the humour too🤣
Great, thanks!
Fantastic video, I love the fat snare 🥁 ! 🇺🇸
4:57 that moment of realization. Made me laugh out loud haha.
Haha! I didn't remember this one!
Are those recommend hz at the lug or hitting in the centre of the head. Tune bot gives 2 different readings. ie are you tuning each lug to 230hz equally on the batter head?
Thanks!
This is the tuning of the head and not the tuning of the shell. And yes, I tune them all the same
@@KohleAudioKult thanks man. So by head you mean lugs? As that is the terminology that tunebot uses. Lug pitch and fundamental pitch.
Top lug- Bottom lug and Fundamental.
Just trying to clear it up.
Thanks again.
@@troymckubre3646 If they call it like that, that's what I mean!
The fundamental pitch is pretty much useless to me because it depends on too many factors.
@@KohleAudioKult perfect. Thanks for your reply. Very helpful video.
Keep them coming, so that I can send them to my drummer. Eventually, he'll buy a snare bigger than a slice of Bierschinken.
Haha!
I used to like me some "311" super high snare pop, but nowadays my tuning is getting lower and lower, just like my sacroiliac.
I was a lil shocked how low I go tho. Apparently my goldilocks zone is from around 240 to 260hz, depending on reasons.
230-235 was a little in the dumps for me tbh, and 275 was a bit high.
I'll prolly never do 300 or above tho, unless I'm zoomin my Delorean back to 1998.
Cheers! 🍻
Tama Starphonic Copper 14x7 / Tama SLP Black Brass 14x6,5 / Tama SLP Sonic Stainless Steel 14/6,5 -
welche würdest du wählen?
hello, please make a video of how you use tunebot :) a lot of people would appreciate it
I swear on Satans name that been all week listening to Metallica Admiring his snare tone, and today you up load this
St. anger? Super rad
hi, great video! is suitable for big fat snare bronze? it seems better to me than brass, but I have no experience .. thanks for the feedback