That gated sound would be awesome in an electronic/industrial setting. Like most slow tunings, I'd probably hate it live and out of context, but it sounds great recorded. I usually just throw a cut out drum head onto my piccolo, as it gets me a decent approximation of the sound without the low-end ringing I hate, but I also hate the lack of rebound. This makes me want to give tuning down my other snares another go.
I use this snare wire method a lot, as it’s a quick way between songs to dial in a slightly fatter sound, or a more dry, crisp sound. This as long as you maintain a medium, at least not super high tuning on either side.
Very useful video! Something I came across with unmuffled low tunings is to listen to the decay of the first overtone. If you can get it the right length it adds an unique character without sounding like a humming mosquito each time you hit the drum
That was a surprise for me! I didn't think that my snare wire tension would play such a high role in how my over all snare sound. Especially when it comes to getting a fat snare sound. Great Job on the video!
Great video! I get around the loss of rebound with the BFSD by making my own from old reso heads. By cutting a 3" or 4" hole in the center, I can reclaim the rebound while still getting a fat sound. It will never be the same as getting there by tuning, but it's good for a fast change in tone.
if one wants to get drum dimensions working for them, wider is better than deeper, since you can get a lower fundamental without running into tension issues. best version of this sound i've heard came from a 16" snom that looked like it was only 12" deep.
I keep my wires very loose and the batter tuned low. I like the way a low tuned snare feels soft to my hands. There's also a lot less sympathetic buzz from the toms.
@SoundsLikeADrum You published this video just in time! I'm trying to convert an old Ludwig Accent CS snare (14x5.5) into a fat snare / snom, to put on the left of the hats, but i could only get a cardboard sound out of it. I'm thinking to get an evans hydraulic for the batter, and keep the stock reso that came with it. Have you had better luck than me in a similar situation? What would you do?
Not a fan of overly thumpy low snare sounds. It sounds good for some types of songs tho... but I usually trend towards the Charlie Watts/John Bonham type of sound... medium to slightly higher. Can still get some gut-thump with higher tunings.
I like the sentiment that the secret is in the snare wires. But, when I do it on my main snare, it just sounds like they’re too loose. When the snare wires are off though, it sounds just right low. I guess I haven’t found the right combination of things yet.
Also, consider the space you are in - there are too many of us in small, untreated or just plain acoustically bad spaces. The BEST drums (or best set up) will have problems in small reflective spaces. And because most drummers set up agains a wall - standing waves are reeking HAVOC on your sound. Everything about a drum kit suffers when played in a typical bedroom - the best thing you can do if stuck in a smaller space: set up in the center of the room - buy several inexpensive packing blankets (like at Harbor Freight) - and place them first on the ceiling (esp if a hard surface floor) and then centered on each wall (esp on the wall with windows). If your kick doesn't sound fat enough, you may get good results addressing the tetrahedal corners where low end builds up and cancels out what low end is actually coming from the drums. Take a blanket and roll it loosely and tack it up vertically in a corner and cheat it up toward the ceiling and that should help (4 corners best, at least 2 would be better than not). Cheers!
@@bigkickleo- Completely agree. I have a rule, formed from decades of experience of trying to tune drums at home in my garage. “Drums always sound garbage in a garage. If you ever get a drum to sound half decent in your garage, it will sound absolutely AWFUL when you get to the gig”. 😉
@@SAHBfan Hah! Yeah - it looked like a 3 or 4 car/ bay with prolly min 10ft ceilings, and they added some variety of simple treatment and rugs etc. Check out the documentary 🤘🏻
Any insights here? So I've got a 14×5.5" Steel Snare and it's easily sounding great low tuned. For the best of it I can't get a good low tuned sound out of my 20 ply 14×8" Snare. Is it too deep? Too shallow? I'm lost...
Same here! I could get my 8" snare to sound like a great low tom without snares but adding snares either choked it out or gave a machine gun rat-tat-tat response. I went kind of crazy re-cutting the snare beds to try to get it to buzz right and still sound resonant when it was tuned low. My big breakthrough was tuning the top head higher than I thought it needed to be. Especially using the Toulson method.
Detune top and bottom half turn, Or until it sound right But first throw a cotton ball in the drum for a nice gating effect, And only slightly muffle the batter. That's for the PDP twenty ply 8 inch deep snare. I have eight other snares. Ludwig supras, Slingerland Radio king and Gretsch for the snappy stuff.
this reminds me of a drummer joke. 'how do you know when a drum is in tune? the drummer stops messing with it.'
How do you get a drummer off your porch?
Pay him for the pizza
That gated sound would be awesome in an electronic/industrial setting. Like most slow tunings, I'd probably hate it live and out of context, but it sounds great recorded.
I usually just throw a cut out drum head onto my piccolo, as it gets me a decent approximation of the sound without the low-end ringing I hate, but I also hate the lack of rebound. This makes me want to give tuning down my other snares another go.
Love that Supra sound! It reminds me of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: "Breakdown" or John Mayer Trio: "Vultures."
I use this snare wire method a lot, as it’s a quick way between songs to dial in a slightly fatter sound, or a more dry, crisp sound. This as long as you maintain a medium, at least not super high tuning on either side.
Very useful video! Something I came across with unmuffled low tunings is to listen to the decay of the first overtone. If you can get it the right length it adds an unique character without sounding like a humming mosquito each time you hit the drum
I had to stop and replay the part about snare wires prior to 5:22 to make sure I heard you set it up correctly. Shocked is right!
That was a surprise for me! I didn't think that my snare wire tension would play such a high role in how my over all snare sound. Especially when it comes to getting a fat snare sound. Great Job on the video!
Great video! I get around the loss of rebound with the BFSD by making my own from old reso heads. By cutting a 3" or 4" hole in the center, I can reclaim the rebound while still getting a fat sound. It will never be the same as getting there by tuning, but it's good for a fast change in tone.
Eric Valentine has talked a bit about the non-linearity of snare tension as well. Pretty wild.
Sweet! A great exploration of possibilities. Thanks, guys!
Amazing! Awesome thought & intention put into this & many more episodes. Thank you! Fantastic.
Lots of great sounds there! Thanks guys!
A Pinstripe as Batterhead at a low tension....sounds pritty good too.
if one wants to get drum dimensions working for them, wider is better than deeper, since you can get a lower fundamental without running into tension issues. best version of this sound i've heard came from a 16" snom that looked like it was only 12" deep.
I keep my wires very loose and the batter tuned low. I like the way a low tuned snare feels soft to my hands. There's also a lot less sympathetic buzz from the toms.
@SoundsLikeADrum You published this video just in time! I'm trying to convert an old Ludwig Accent CS snare (14x5.5) into a fat snare / snom, to put on the left of the hats, but i could only get a cardboard sound out of it. I'm thinking to get an evans hydraulic for the batter, and keep the stock reso that came with it. Have you had better luck than me in a similar situation? What would you do?
I do love a low, fat sound - but sometimes I can't fine tune into the right place. Very fine line between great and no-so-good.
Hopefully some of the elements covered in today's episode will help make make that sound more consistently attainable for you!
I used to put a sheet of paper on my batter head at times
I came here to make this comment. The cheapest way to a fat snare!
Not a fan of overly thumpy low snare sounds. It sounds good for some types of songs tho... but I usually trend towards the Charlie Watts/John Bonham type of sound... medium to slightly higher. Can still get some gut-thump with higher tunings.
I like the sentiment that the secret is in the snare wires. But, when I do it on my main snare, it just sounds like they’re too loose. When the snare wires are off though, it sounds just right low. I guess I haven’t found the right combination of things yet.
Also, consider the space you are in - there are too many of us in small, untreated or just plain acoustically bad spaces. The BEST drums (or best set up) will have problems in small reflective spaces. And because most drummers set up agains a wall - standing waves are reeking HAVOC on your sound. Everything about a drum kit suffers when played in a typical bedroom - the best thing you can do if stuck in a smaller space: set up in the center of the room - buy several inexpensive packing blankets (like at Harbor Freight) - and place them first on the ceiling (esp if a hard surface floor) and then centered on each wall (esp on the wall with windows). If your kick doesn't sound fat enough, you may get good results addressing the tetrahedal corners where low end builds up and cancels out what low end is actually coming from the drums. Take a blanket and roll it loosely and tack it up vertically in a corner and cheat it up toward the ceiling and that should help (4 corners best, at least 2 would be better than not). Cheers!
@@bigkickleo- Completely agree. I have a rule, formed from decades of experience of trying to tune drums at home in my garage.
“Drums always sound garbage in a garage. If you ever get a drum to sound half decent in your garage, it will sound absolutely AWFUL when you get to the gig”. 😉
@@SAHBfan Hah! Unless it's Dave Grohl's "garage" where they recorded Wasting Light 😅
@@bigkickleo - I think David Grohl must have a better garage than me! ;)
@@SAHBfan Hah! Yeah - it looked like a 3 or 4 car/ bay with prolly min 10ft ceilings, and they added some variety of simple treatment and rugs etc. Check out the documentary 🤘🏻
Good drummer.
In every video at some point you have an elephant in the room.
I'm starting to think that you might have an elephant problem.
Any insights here? So I've got a 14×5.5" Steel Snare and it's easily sounding great low tuned. For the best of it I can't get a good low tuned sound out of my 20 ply 14×8" Snare.
Is it too deep? Too shallow? I'm lost...
Same here! I could get my 8" snare to sound like a great low tom without snares but adding snares either choked it out or gave a machine gun rat-tat-tat response. I went kind of crazy re-cutting the snare beds to try to get it to buzz right and still sound resonant when it was tuned low. My big breakthrough was tuning the top head higher than I thought it needed to be. Especially using the Toulson method.
Detune top and bottom half turn, Or until it sound right But first throw a cotton ball in the drum for a nice gating effect, And only slightly muffle the batter. That's for the PDP twenty ply 8 inch deep snare. I have eight other snares. Ludwig supras, Slingerland Radio king and Gretsch for the snappy stuff.