Fixing Snare Batter Tuning by Ear | Season Five, Episode 52
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- You asked and we’ve answered! We’re continuing the topic of making tuning adjustments by listening to overtones. We’re wrapping up this season with focus on snare batter intonation- knowing where to start and what to listen for.
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PRODUCTION PARTNERS:
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Evans Drumheads: sladl.ink/Evan...
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Signal chain:
Mics - Focusrite Clarett 8Pre USB- Mac Studio w/Pro Tools 2022.5
Recorded at 48kHz / 24bit
Overheads: (Matched Pair in Glyn Johns - Cardioid) AKG C314 sladl.ink/C314...
Snare, Toms: AKG C518M sladl.ink/C518M
Kick Drum: AKG D12VR sladl.ink/AKGD...
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Drums:
Pearl Masters Maple Custom Extra w/Ludwig 60’s Acrolite
Cymbals:
22” Jesse Simpson clone of old Zildjian A, 15" Zildjian “Fat Hat” Prototype Hihats
Drumheads:
Snare: Evans G12 Coated / Snare Side 300
Snare Wires: PureSound Custom Pro Steel 20-strand
Toms: Evans G12 Coated / G1 Clear
Kick Drum: Evans UV EMAD / EQ3 Coated White Reso
Hosted by: Cody Rahn
Production & Consulting: Ben O'Brien Smith @ Cadence Independent Media
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![“Fixing” Your Snare Sound [Step by Step] | Season Five, Episode 40](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xosBfmxmm40/mqdefault.jpg)
![“Fixing” Your Snare Sound [Step by Step] | Season Five, Episode 40](/img/tr.png)
Last Friday I had a gig and my floor tom was giving me a lot of unwanted ringing. In the old days I would have reached for the tape but I channeled my inner Cody and turned the drum over and proceeded to even up all the lugs. Wala! Problem solved. Thanks guys. 🥁❤
Nice! Good for you. The more you do this and realize you're capable of making the necessary adjustments the easier it'll become. Cheers! -Ben
Voila
Pretty much everything you said here are things I found out for myself over the years, and it was excellent to see you put it together like that. I've found that, even though I'm not someone who does a rimshot on every backbeat, I do still do rimshots, and the two tuning points nearest where my left hand plays are the ones I need to keep an eye on. Every so often, they need to be brought back up to match the rest. So, by extension, I would imagine that the more rimshots someone does, the more vigilant they need to be about the tuning on those particular screws.
Thanks again for another excellent video, guys!
I had an issue with the floor tom from a kit I bought in 1991, but didn't have a chance to play until 2011 (long story). One lug on the batter head was always higher than the rest, even if I took the lug rod out. When I took the head off, I noticed that it was difficult to get the head out of the hoop and back in. After a fair amount of experimentation, I came to the conclusion that the hoop was out of round. I ordered a new hoop & the problem was fixed.
I like the hair style Cody
The sine wave helps.
I almost want someone to randomly de/uptune a drum, and watch you tune it. The entire process, no time cuts.
Glad to hear it! Regarding the random tuning, we may do something like that over on our Patreon in the near future.
Thank you for this! Very helpful. I also like to detune a lug and in the same motion tune it up to the desired pitch. And I’ve noticed clearing the head matters more on low tension/tuning, where overtones can get wild and any slight variation across the lugs will show. FYI, I’ve been diving into your snare side head videos, love those too. I find huge benefits to dialling in the snare side head just right, you get crispness, attack, but also body. And when you’ve got it right, the slightest turn of the snare strainer makes a huge difference. For people wanting a hint, for my Pearl Decade Maple snare drum, 8 lug, with a Remo Hazy 3mil, PureSound 20 strand wires, the bottom head pitch is F#4. Hope it helps.
We needed a longer video for this. This is very useful.
Try changing out lugs for lighter lugs to see if if tunes to a different prefered note. The GMS kit would make the most sense saying it only uses one hole per lug and the others might be harder to find tube lugs of...
Even though I can tune by ear, with some out-of-tune drums, sometimes I can't find one t-rod to be the culprit. Then I start over again from a low tension, first tuning mechanically feeling the torque at each t-rod, starting from fingertight and tightening the same increment on each t-rod. With a perfect head/hoop/drum this often results in a perfectly cleared low pitch all around; I then just need to tighten up all t-rods the same to the desired sound.
As you mention, not all drums are perfectly round, not all hoops are even, not all heads sit evenly. Getting those in tune is tricky but it can work; there just won't be even torque at all t-rods in the end.
If I like where my tuning is on my home kit, how often should I try to touch up the batter and reso heads?
Toms on my kit seem fairly straight forward, it's that snare side head that's my nemesis (I know, strong words). It's more, how tight should I go, is each lug tuned the same, I over-think it. Time to succumb, and try the ruler method. Thanks Cody and Ben, love your posts.
This is useful information
Super duper. Love you guys 😀
Digging the haircut! 🤘
Love the idea of fading in the sine wave. Maybe next time can you display the Hz value too? The other thing that's a little confusing is that the two lowest pitched lugs, I'll say the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock lugs, sound about the same. Typically, I'd have tuned them both up like a 1/4 turn, rather than one of the 1/2 a turn. So, I guess in short, how do you determine the lowest lug if it seems like opposite lugs are the same pitch?
Level heads prevail...got it.
I just bring my snare to my drum teacher, and he tunes it for me. Then I ask him how he did it, and he’s like “I dunno 🤷♂️ “
I desperately need help with this. I feel like my ears are broken. Whenever I sit with my snare or toms, I can’t tell which lugs are higher vs lower. My brain can’t comprehend what sound is the overtone vs the fundamental, even with the sine waves you put in these videos. Please someone help me. 😓
Hey Avery! No worries- you're not alone. When listening to the sine waves for the out-of-tune demo, could you hear the difference in pitch/frequency between the sine waves?
Great episode! Using a sine-wave would make it a lot easier to tune! How can I get wave like that? 😯
Thanks! That was just something we added in post production to clearly communicate the pitch we were listening to out of all of the overtones. Each frequency was chosen by ear as well. The best way to improve is practice. We included a recommendation at the end of this episode for how to go about doing this.
You might also try using a not-too-hard and not-too-soft Timpani mallet ala the Vic Firth T2 to get a little more tone than regular sticks could provide.
I’d love help in trying to do this with the snare side head. I just picked up new heads for my Mapex Tomahawk. The batter tuned up perfectly, but I found that the the two lugs closest to the snare head, and the one directly in the middle (it’s a 10 lug drum, are a bit higher than the other four. I tried to correct them, but I didn’t want to over time and stretch the head to where it wasn’t tunable. The drum sounds amazing, but I wish I could get that head in better tuning.
Have you tried the ruler method we've shown in previous episodes?
@@SoundsLikeADrum I did try that today, and managed to level the head and dial in the tone.
🔥🔥🔥
I seem to get a lot of “buzz” on my snare when I hit it, no matter how tight I have the wires. The only way to fix it is to lower the batter head so it’s really low lol pls help
Snare reso please? Hardest one :o
Check out our episodes on the ruler method.
You lost me with "fading in the sine wave." What sine wave? Fading in from where? How?