I am doing a gig this weekend, small bass drum, medium size room, no microphones. It’s so tempting to tune it low as it’s a rock gig. I have given it thought to go a lot higher and just find a good interval batter to resonant head to control the tone/pitch - and like you said, ask a band member to stand 10-15 feet in front of the drums and see what they hear. It’s about what the audience hears, not what I hear. :-)
Ive been doing this for a little while. I play in a rock band. We primarily play in medium sized rooms and I don't use any drum mics(except for a kick mic, sometimes). I use ambassadors on everything and i tune everything medium to medium high. I use a little mufflling on the bass drum, but no muffling on the snare and toms. It took a little while to get used to the sound from behind the kit. But the rebound and feel is way better and it sounds really great in the mix. I also get a lot of compliments on the sound, which is encouraging.
Spot on! Been watching for years! Some drummers are leaders, some are followers. You give them the option! Thank you for all your precision work! Gratefully, Wayne.
Sounds good to me. Think I'll bring my 12" rack up a little to see if I can make it sound better. Thanks for the informative video. Excellent as always
More great stuff. A little while back, I did exactly the thing you did today. My upper rack tom was *almost* choked out, but the rebound was sensational. The one thing I've always been afraid of is tuning the floor tom up. Maybe you just convinced me to try. Thanks, Ben & Cody! As I've said, you're the reason I look forward to Tuesdays.
i nearly always pitch my drums up, from big open sounds on my main big zep sizes kit to muffled sounds on a bop sized kit. i just prefer the massive sound and responsive feel, especially on the big kit, that tuning up affords
Very interesting video,i play on high snare drum tunning because if i tune medium or low tunning i have to hit harder.This is my tunning fundamentals. 14"Snare A3(220hz) 12"Rack Tom A2(110hz) 14"Floor Tom F2(88hz)
On the subject of rock drummers being precious about needing to tune low, it always amuses me how musicians get hung up on every instrument needing to have as much bass as possible. All of that bass is getting cut in the mix from just about everything but the kick drum. Read that statement again. That's one of the most fundamental truths of mixing. It's getting cut out of the snare, the toms, the guitars, and a whole bunch of other things because the bass range is where the mud lives and it's where instruments fight each other. If it's not outright getting high passed, it's getting a shelf applied and dropped several dB. Lots of gymnastics with parametric EQ around fundamentals and harmonic nodes will be done with the toms and the snare. And if you think the sound guy at the gig isn't doing the same thing, I have some pills that will help you regrow your kidneys, end your dialysis appointments, and get you the 59 Les Paul and college-age mistress you've been longing for. The irony is that tuning your shells higher makes them sound huge in a mix because they occupy a better spot in the overall spectrum and the toms end up not fighting the kick drum as much. This part of the reason why jazz drummers tuned high in the first place - in addition to making the drums project better, they sat better in the overall mix. No mixing consoles in those days.
We hear you! This sounds like an excellent opportunity to explore a bit, especially in combination with our recent episode highlighting the value of practicing softer playing.
Recently, I was tuning my 12 inch rack Tom relatively high. I really liked it, but I got so much crap from a Sound man that said it sounded horrible when he was trying to close mic it that I determined that I needed to tune it low again since I also close mic my toms.
I am doing a gig this weekend, small bass drum, medium size room, no microphones. It’s so tempting to tune it low as it’s a rock gig. I have given it thought to go a lot higher and just find a good interval batter to resonant head to control the tone/pitch - and like you said, ask a band member to stand 10-15 feet in front of the drums and see what they hear. It’s about what the audience hears, not what I hear. :-)
Ive been doing this for a little while. I play in a rock band. We primarily play in medium sized rooms and I don't use any drum mics(except for a kick mic, sometimes). I use ambassadors on everything and i tune everything medium to medium high. I use a little mufflling on the bass drum, but no muffling on the snare and toms. It took a little while to get used to the sound from behind the kit. But the rebound and feel is way better and it sounds really great in the mix. I also get a lot of compliments on the sound, which is encouraging.
Spot on! Been watching for years! Some drummers are leaders, some are followers. You give them the option! Thank you for all your precision work! Gratefully, Wayne.
We’re glad you enjoy the channel and we appreciate the kind words!
Sounds good to me. Think I'll bring my 12" rack up a little to see if I can make it sound better. Thanks for the informative video. Excellent as always
More great stuff. A little while back, I did exactly the thing you did today. My upper rack tom was *almost* choked out, but the rebound was sensational. The one thing I've always been afraid of is tuning the floor tom up. Maybe you just convinced me to try.
Thanks, Ben & Cody! As I've said, you're the reason I look forward to Tuesdays.
This the tuning range I like to use, for the exact reasons you stated like better definition/projection and rebound off the stick.
Wow! How did you know I skipped work today to tune my set for the Namm show this week. I literally just opened it to watch your old Tom video 😂
Great video. The rack tom sounds much happier at the higher tuning.
The 68 Acrolite I picked up cheap on eBay is my favorite snare too.😁
This sounds amazing. I didn’t realize this is what I was doing with my kit but I have a larger Premier kit with a preference to the higher tuning.
i nearly always pitch my drums up, from big open sounds on my main big zep sizes kit to muffled sounds on a bop sized kit. i just prefer the massive sound and responsive feel, especially on the big kit, that tuning up affords
Many of the great drummers have high melodic tuning. Simon Phillips, Stewart Copeland, Bill Bruford, Max Roach, Billy Cobham, Phil Gould etc etc.
Very interesting video,i play on high snare drum tunning because if i tune medium or low tunning i have to hit harder.This is my tunning fundamentals.
14"Snare A3(220hz)
12"Rack Tom A2(110hz)
14"Floor Tom F2(88hz)
Does anyone out there put dampening inside their snare ever?
th-cam.com/video/1ByHreFq3H0/w-d-xo.html
@@SoundsLikeADrum Thanks
On the subject of rock drummers being precious about needing to tune low, it always amuses me how musicians get hung up on every instrument needing to have as much bass as possible. All of that bass is getting cut in the mix from just about everything but the kick drum. Read that statement again. That's one of the most fundamental truths of mixing. It's getting cut out of the snare, the toms, the guitars, and a whole bunch of other things because the bass range is where the mud lives and it's where instruments fight each other. If it's not outright getting high passed, it's getting a shelf applied and dropped several dB. Lots of gymnastics with parametric EQ around fundamentals and harmonic nodes will be done with the toms and the snare. And if you think the sound guy at the gig isn't doing the same thing, I have some pills that will help you regrow your kidneys, end your dialysis appointments, and get you the 59 Les Paul and college-age mistress you've been longing for.
The irony is that tuning your shells higher makes them sound huge in a mix because they occupy a better spot in the overall spectrum and the toms end up not fighting the kick drum as much. This part of the reason why jazz drummers tuned high in the first place - in addition to making the drums project better, they sat better in the overall mix. No mixing consoles in those days.
I love how they sound, it is uncomfortable to play tbh, need to learn how to hit them with out beating them into submission.
We hear you! This sounds like an excellent opportunity to explore a bit, especially in combination with our recent episode highlighting the value of practicing softer playing.
Recently, I was tuning my 12 inch rack Tom relatively high. I really liked it, but I got so much crap from a Sound man that said it sounded horrible when he was trying to close mic it that I determined that I needed to tune it low again since I also close mic my toms.