I don’t understand why some people get so angry and triggered that DW tells you what the pitch of the shell is. You can tune whatever pitch you like. DW simply tells you the resonant frequency of the shell and you decide if you want to use it or not. It’s a simple matter of physics. Every object has its’ own resonant frequency and if you expose that object to a matching frequency it will cause that object to start vibrating on its’ own. So if you tune the head pitch to match the shell, you will get the most active and full vibration out of the shell. If hou like that, then great! If you don’t, ALSO great! Use it or don’t. You do you.
A very accurate, concise response to something like this. I've always loved DW. But I also, likewise like as much any quality, especially handmade and custom, drums, basses, guitars, etc. 🙂
Amd then you feel like you're doing something wrong by ignoring that big C# or whatever it is that they've taken the time to print inside the shell. If any other company suggested doing something with their product, you'd probably abide by it. I personally think the pitch of the shell thing is a total nonsense. It might sound somewhat like a G when struck with a mallet, but guess what? You're not going to be striking your drum shells with mallets and if if you do, they're just going to go "tunk" once you put all those lugs and mounting hardware on it. And then your going to squash some heads on it with metal hoops. It might be just some extra information, but it's useless, unnecessary information.
alan duncan thank you for summing up hardware: that's absolutely a Problem - as far as I'm aware those pitches are taken from the bare shell of those drums (probably with the drillings already done - wouldnt make sense any other way). The Problem that I have with that is, that as soon as the lugs are added to the drum there is additional weight added, which means that through added mass the resonance and pitch of the drum shifts (works the same way on drums as it works in object resonances on architecture), which totally trivializes the measured pitch of the bare shell. You might be tempted to tune to that note, but it surely does not get you closer on matching the actual resonance of the drum with installed hardware, which makes the bare shell tone as random of a pitch to choose, as any other. I think it is misleading to add that information to those shells and does not aid you in finding the right tone with your drums. That being said, I still understand, why people might find dw drums appealing and I do so too, to some degree, just not for this particular feature.
Except they don't just slap a sticker on without any influencing, in their videos they go on and on about how important the shell note is and list all the "benefits" of it, which is bullshit because i've yet to hear a "properly tuned" DW kit sound better than it being tuned by ear, in fact I would argue that tuning the shells to their spec makes it sound much worse than almost any alternative tuning.
In the mix it sounds amazing. That's what matters. How a kit sounds all by itself means nothing if it sounds bad with the whole song. That snare was PERFECT.
Somebody who gets it!!! Really that's what matters with any instrument. How does it sound with the band? I remember trying to get this point across to so many bass players through the years. A lot of bass tones sound amazing on their own but, they don't work with the band. You don't know until you hear everything together.
Dude, I loved the snare tone and tune. The rack toms sounded great. I like your previous tuning on the floor. I couldn’t tell how the kick sounded. Thanks for posting.
@@jamesdevine02 No I’m not. People just want to get straight to the point. It takes two seconds for uploader to do this but they choose not to force us to watch the whole video
The way John Good recommends to tune drums is to tension the bottom head to the pitch of the shell. Then tune the top head somewhere between a half step to a minor third above the pitch of the bottom head. I tried it on my DW Jazz kit (I did a whole step above the bottom). The entire kit sounded great. 12, 13, 14, 16, 24. People might not know that John was a drum tech who toured with some of the best drummers with the biggest artists of that era. He certainly was in the trenches. He has a lot of real world experience with this. I also LOVE the True Pitch 50 tension rods. When you’re dialing in precise pitches, it makes it much easier. They also hold the tension better than regular rods. I use a drill bit anyway so there was no aggravation of it taking a long time to thread them by hand. The best thing about all of this is that it gets people thinking and experimenting with tuning, which is a skill that develops over time.
Hey David. John Good has been on the record multiple times about this. The note printed on the inside of the shell is what you tune the bottom head to. You can then do whatever you want with the batter head afterwards
@@JakeMartinWallace Check out Sounds Like A Drum on yt, lots of videos experimenting on tuning, what happens with intervals between heads, dampening, everything drum nerdy
I'm listening on my phone speaker, so judge this content accordingly. But to me, your drums cut through the mix really nicely and suit the style of music really well. It is a little on the high side, but for big band music, that's what you want. I love the snare, but would reach for a moon gel to dampen the ringing. It's more style dependant than what is "right"
True! And sorry to be so nit-picky but what actually John Good recommends for the batter head is that you can go as far as a minor third sharper on the batter head relatively to the bottom head/shell note (in case that you find that you want the sound of the drum to pitch bend and fall after you hit it). You can see that here: th-cam.com/video/yl9wgXSfxew/w-d-xo.html
As a drummer, recording engineer, and live sound engineer I've been fortunate to work with some amazing drummers and drum techs. It has been a standard practice to tune drums to the fundamental, or alternatively to intervals of, the shells resonant frequency (or pitch) by drum techs and engineers in professional recording studios and touring applications for decades because it eliminates dissonant overtones (wonky, pitchy, ringing), and reduces the need for dampening that constricts the tone, resonance, and sustain of the drum. DW started to measure the resonant frequency of each shell and print it on the label of each individual drum in it's kits at the request of professional studio drummers and drum techs as a courtesy and a time saver. Before DE started to do this (and currently for all of the manufacturer kits that still don't) it was/is a fairly time consuming task for drum techs to do themselves each time they are working with a new kit. It's not always required, since some drum sounds are meant to have minimal sustain and resonance. However for certain styles of music the drum sound demands a rich, open tone with excellent sustain and minimal, or no, dampening and tuning the top and bottom heads to the shells fundamental (or an interval of it's fundamental) is the way to go in professional applications. Drummers who don't understand this usually fall into the amateur catagory, with little or no real professional experience working in the studio, or live with a professional tech and/or engineer.
@@passtheparcel2007 He didn’t say it wasn’t professional to tune them differently, he said it wasn’t professional to not know how it works. Personally I hate that particular drum sound, and I hate that techs delivering kits to a session or a gig tune them that way. The most important thing is to find a neutral pitch that does not exite or dip too much with the room. People tuning their toms to the frquency that goes the most BOOOM in the room are the ones ending up with over-eqed and wimpy sounding drums on the record or in the room on a gig. (Sound eng. with a degree, 200+ albums, hundreds and hundreds of FOH gigs)
I love a good hi tuned snare. That Ludwig piccolo you did a video on way back when (the dumpster snare) blew my mind the first time I heard it. Dream snare sound.
About 3 years ago during my freshman year of high school I got to go on a field trip to the DW factory in Oxnard California and it was definitely an impressive facility and I was lucky enough to get to play some incredible drum set’s. Over all that was a great experience and is know a great memory!
I have to say that the mix sounded amazing. Hearing them separately not so much, some kind of magic happened there. I'm actually pretty impressed, like everything had its own space....
I agree. I had almost exactly the same opinions as rdr on this -- the rack toms sounded GREAT, the floor tom was a little .. ehhh, and the snare was tighter than I like. But, it _really_ worked in that mix. Although, it's hard to say whether that was because of THE tuning, or just _good_ tuning (and good playing, and good micing, mixing, processing, etc.)
I’d say it’s a combination of a really good mix and also a great player who adjusted to how the drums “want” to be played. Drums can sound super wonky in isolation, but when you are playing in the context of the entire kit, especially with a backing track, sometimes that wonkiness actually helps the drums to carve out their own space in the mix. In that same regard, you wouldn’t want to take a kit that sounds like that and play with a really loose, wide open sort of feel because it would feel flat. He recognized the tightness and short decay that the tuning was giving him and played in a way that made it feel right. Being able to recognize what the song is calling for is part of what separates a good musician from a great one, in my opinion.
@@ZacharyWThomas Exactly. You can make the biggest guitar sound on earth, but it will pretty much only be usable in solos. For everything else, the engineer will at the very minimum chop off the high and low end of that guitar to make it sit in the mix. Most sounds in a professional music production are actually surprisingly small when soloed, but they are engineered to fit with the rest of the elements like a puzzle piece. That's what makes a mix sound huge and clean at the same time.
Lovely video and lovely playing. I totally agree that it's "fun" to tune to the factory specifications, but it's even better to tune them to your liking. Thank you for sharing.
I love your snare sound and man these drums sound fantastic. At first when you were tuning I did not like the sounds that much, but when you did the fine tuning and started playing that little chunk without the music @ 8:53 they sounded really good
From a viewer perspective that tuning was awesome. Especially the way they sit in the mix. I know from experience that it always sounds and feels different behind the kit. I play DWs and love the fact that they're consistent and the hardware is always going to lock my positioning in. For most of us gigging drummers, those are the most important aspects. And you need to feel comfortable with the sound you produce. My taste is all over the place, so playing a drum set that's not in tune really doesn't bug me like it use to. As long as the sound in the house is good, then I'm happy. Funny how when you listen to a drum set that sounds godlike in the audience, sounds like crap when your playing them. Such was the case at my church. I'm not sure how they produced such a massive sound in the foh, yet behind the kit, it sounded like cardboard boxes taped together! Hope you get to do the Sonors... I love watching your channel!
"funny how when you hear a drum set from the audience it sounds godlike, but sounds like crap when you're behind it playing it." May not be an exact quote, but I'm lazy and not gonna double-check. Another one, something about consistency and hardware being solid and locked down is important to us. Yes, and yes
That drumset that sounds good like out front probably sounds like cardboard that vaguely resembles a note but decays so quickly you can't really tell from behind. Out front, John Bonham lmao. Mine sound that way, after a trip through sd3 on its way to the mix that is lol
Dude went from being decent at drums but having great videos to being an AMAZING drummer with top notch content. You sound soooo good man. And so do the drums ofc
Man its been years since I've watched one of your videos been watching since you had a just a couple videos on the channel, glad to see you still around, big upgrades to the camera set up and production, keep it up 🤘🏼
Interesting. I'm not a drummer, but , man, I thought that snare sounded like hot garbage. OK, that's exaggerating it, but I just did not like the sound of it, and was relieved to learn neither did the drummer.
As a non drummer bass player that Tune Bot is badass !!! Also, this is a very good video and the first time I've seen you, so I fall into the "Welcome" category as to the "Welcome Back" as you stated. The demo at the end blows my mind with revelations ! A whole new outlook at drums.
I was discussing with a DW rep on the phone this very thing a while back. What he pointed out was that these shells are measured for their "note" when they're blanks. They're then drilled, finished (FinishPly or lacquer), then the hardware is mounted. All those steps change the fundamental note. He couldn't really say why except that's it's a cool feature John Good came up with, but doesn't really reflect the pitch of the final product.
@@jimnasium452 Tuning the drum to match the resonant frequency, or a simple ratio of it, will produce a different tone than when tuning arbitrarily since the shell will vibrate more naturally. Whether one is better than the other is all down to personal preference though.
That was really interesting! I’ve wondered about and attempted tuning my drums to given notes. Now I understand why it’s so difficult to dial it in. I also concluded that tuning by how they sound is a lot easier, and generally adequate. Although, those tuned drums on this video sounded really good!
I’ve never tuned a kit like this but I enjoyed watching you do it. The full you played at 10:31 is killer. You’re a great player. Love your channel. Keep on keeping 💥
Great video. I think also to be factored in is that you are an amazing musician which does also factor in to the sound of the drums and how you hit them.
I have had a large 9 piece double bass Sonor S-Class Pro thin maple shell kit since 2005. I always tune the bottom head a half step higher than the batter. A wonderful kit and with only one screw per lug the drums are quite light. When lugging around a large kit it really helps.
Rdavid, yes let's see you playing in live venues with bands. I know you're an accomplished drummer too. As for DW set I've never owned one but I have been to their factory in Oxnard for business several times. They are the nicest, most professional group and build very high quality equipment. And their "candy shop" room with lots of different kits and drums to try out is like heaven for drummers! Maybe someday I'll be able to afford a DW kit. For now I'll just stick with my old 30 year old Premier set.
I've had a set of DWs for 20 years. I ended up tuning the batter head to the note stamped in the shell, The reso side is a major 3rd above the batter. This has worked well for me.
Hearing the kit for the first time...I can say for me that the kit sat just perfect in the mix...DW seems like they have their heads really into the kit...Giving you the shell frequency is a huge advantage if you use it or not is your choice...But for me the tuned kit sounded very natural ...Thank you for the hard work.
Both tunings sounded good to me., which isn't surprising. After all, these shells are excellent and offer a wide range of tuning options. When it comes to kick drum in particular, I feel that tuning and damping have a big impact on the feel (how much bounce you get, how far into the head the beater goes, etc.). These days, I tend to tune my kicks by feel more than sound really, and deal with the sound by using EQ and comp. Very interesting and informative video, as usual! And great playing too! Thanks!
Yoooo I’m getting some starclassic maples soon, what do you reccomend tuning for an overall tuning. I like a high, not too resonant crack/pop kind of tuning. If you can help at all, thank you
i like the DW tuning on that set. for small toms, they have a very big sound, the kick is perfect to me, toms great, I like a bit more rattle to my snare and would loosen the wires a bit [ to funky for me]. but all in all, they do sound bigger than before
Hell yes they sound great tuned the dw way. More damping would sort the kick (and sn) maybe. I know loads of people that would tune the drums every change of song when when recording, and techs that tune the kit for the drummer. Great recording and playing too.
I have to say, the sound after the tuning was freaking unreal. That's the best drum set I've ever heard, much better than before you tuned them IMO and I strongly disagree with your findings, however, very nice playing!
I've had a 6-piece DW Collectors series set for many years now and it has always been outstanding. I went with 8,10,12,14- inch toms. The set cuts through the mix perfectly and is very musical..
My experience tuning drums is like David said sometimes having the drum NOT in tune with itself yields the best results. Like you were saying about the 2 dissonant type notes and kill the weird ringy stuff, doing that on just one head can get you good results. Ironically I've found with tuning drums, sometimes the harder you try and more anal you get about getting everything perfect, the worse your results are. I do agree, those 2 rack toms sounded great tuned there.
Drums sounded pretty good, but holy crap, your playing sounded crazy good. That was the most impressed I’ve ever been watching you play, and I’ve been a fan since 2015. Also, that snare sound when you tuned it to an A was 😩😩😩👌🏻
You can do this with any kit. When I was in college I took a science of acoustics class and did this for a class project. I brought a tom, a keyboard, and an amp to class. Took the hardware off, and tapped the shell with a mallet until I matched the pitch by ear, used the keyboard to figure out it was an "e". Then I put the hardware back and tuned the batter to the 'e' note and demonstrated resonance by carefully tuning the head and droning an e note through the amp until the drum started singing much more loudly. The entire system (head, shell) was resonating an e note along with the keyboard. After that, I said I had read in a magazine to tune the bottom head a fifth above and I said I'd never tried it so I tuned it to a 'b' and had the class comment on if they liked the sound. My teacher was impressed (I got an A). As far as how to tune your kit, it doesn't matter how you do it but at least it's good to understand the intent behind matching heads to certain pitches. At least educate yourself a little before you stray into your own sound.
ever since I learned Nolly's drum tuning method, i've only been complimented by every drummer's kit I've teched/tuned that it was one of the most well tuned kits they've played behind, not as a brag but a testament to the tuning method. you don't need a tunebot, just some sort of piano phone app or pitch pipe for referencing the tone. so much faster and more consistent than tuning by ear, and maintaining a tuning is so simple and easy because there's a concrete note you're tuning to. the drum doesn't go out of tune halfway through tracking a song and then you crank on the wrong lugs and have a different sounding floor tom for half of your takes. to those who don't know: toms are tuned to a selected note by tuning the resonant head one semitone below the note, and the batter head 4 semitones below that note (ie. 10 inch tom tuned to D, resonant head C#, batter head Bb), and then snare to whatever note, batter side cranked. Has worked perfectly on every kit I've tuned, gives the most clean and pure note I've ever heard from a kit just sitting behind it.
I play a DW Collectors kit in church and tuned to pitch once, and quickly changed it back to my own tune. I also prefer the oem DW heads, after trying several types. Overall I’ve been pretty happy with their sound. I’d like to hear your church playing too. 👍
I always tune my bottom Tom head to a note that gets a good sound, then tune the reso head to the major 5th of that notes scale. Then I tune the batter head of the next highest drum to the note of the reso head of the floor Tom. Then repeat for all the drums including the snare. Sounds complicated but it’s really not once you do it. I really like the sound for worship music and rock music with coated heads
The point of DW Timbre matching is to give separation between your toms. I had a Pearl masters kit with a 13" rack tom and a 14" floor tom that were practically the same pitch, which made it a nightmare to tune. I hated that 14" floor tom. Pearl has this problem a lot as they like to make the shells on the larger drums thicker which actually increases the pitch. "Timbre matching" is just a marketing term, other companies do this to ensure separation between the drums. You can tune the drums wherever you want to it doesn't matter. I've never tuned my DW's to the shell note.
My drummer has a Tama Starclassic(?) kit, I have no idea the model but it's got that, I think the sizes are 10-12 rack, 14-16 floor, he added the 16, that did not come with the kit. But getting that 14inch floor tom to sound good at all was a massive challenge, and then to get it to play nice with other drums while sounding good was virtually impossible. I now have a different drummer, he uses a Tama Granstar kit from 1989 (identical to the one Lars used on Metallica's Black Album tour, but in a faded pink instead of white and black, it looks SICK) but anyway, he has 12-13 rack, 16-18 floor. And Basically you tune that 18 just above finger tight to get rid of that "motorcycle" sort of growl heads give you when they're too lose, and then tun the 16 a little higher than you normally would, and that is MONEY right there. Something about the 14 size floor tom just I could never get to work right. Full disclosure: I'm not a drummer although I can play enough to fake my way through easy songs. But I am a bandleader and sound guy, and have been for almost 15 years, and I'm also a perfectionist never-satisfied type so I always just say to my drummers, "Can I tune your drums for you? I've gotten good at it by now and I know what I like and what works and doesn't in a live setting." And my drummers are almost always like, "Yeah sure man go nuts, I fucking HATE tuning drums if you make em sound good for me I'll whack em for ya." And it works well for all parties involved lol.
When I played drums through the mid-1980s to 90s I never saw a 14" floor tom, but a 14" rack tom was common. If it was harder music the toms would start at the larger sizes and be deeper in length too. All metal drummers needed to match the look and had big toms on the double bass kits.
@@djjazzyjeff1232 same with me… I call myself the lead bassist but I’m the sound guy, I swap out on rythm and lead guitar, drum on some songs especially the ones I write, play keys/synth, woodwinds, mandolin, slide guitar setar and sing. I started on guitar and am most comfortable with strings. I just tune drums to what sounds best to my ears. I have a tuner that I don’t even use. And have gotten specific tightness numbers to do from drum techs. They never work out on our 74 ludwig kit though with Reno empoerors. I know nothing about drums but when I’m done tuning they always sound better than when any of my drummers have tuned. Just by ear, just by feel. No one else does it so I do it. I’m also a perfectionist and I have pitch perfect hearing. Well more than pitch perfect. Overtones, undertones everything I here. And then I see it and I’ve to work with it in Logic Pro using the presonus 24R. Check out the presonus 24R!
Thanks for the video. There are many reasons to keep using suggested tunings. Live venues, recording, using different kits. A bad room changes everything.
We rented a Sonor kit a while ago for a session. Man, the oval badge Tom sound was out of this world. In the UK their jazz kits are fairly ubiquitous but little else, sadly.
I was an Electrician for over 37 years. I learned a little trick that will definitely help you with screws loosening up. Get a good grade of fingernail polish. Every Electrician has his/her own color. When you tighten screws, or bolts, apply some on the head and nut, always in the same line, after you torque them to the set inch-pounds or foot-pounds, depends on the bolt or screw size. The procedure serves two purposes. 1. when it dries, it acts as a vibration inhibitor against turning. 2. You can see, with a glance, if anything has moved. (Also, you can tell who did the work, by the color code) (( Most folks don't realize, that AC (alternating current) produces a Counter Clockwise rotation vibration. Over time, this inherent action loosens hardware. That's why a tune-up of systems includes checking tightness of hardware.)) I don't know about the direction of rotation for drums. I do know that if you're feeling good, your nervous system will tighten the screws on your glasses. You'll notice they are a little stiff when unfolding the temple pieces. However, if you're feeling poorly, the screws in your glasses will back out, on their own and your temple piece will get very loose or your lense will fall out. A touch of clear fingernail polish on the threads and on the screw head, will prevent them from following their natural course. Hope this helps lots of folks. Bill, from Tn. 🇺🇸
I do have perfect pitch and after trying to tune my low-end drums to notes that make sense with eachother and with the drums themeselves, I would absolutely appreciate having drums that clearly sound in a note and are labeled. The harmonics getting in eachother's way meant I had to listen to multiple notes at once and figure out which was the one I was looking for. That said, they picked some weird pitches to target when crafting them, a triad or straight fouths/ fifths are easier to throw around than a maj7 chord
Thanks for the video. I prefer the sounds you got after tuning to the DW pitches. Better, clearer tone all around. I also prefer the heads you used on the toms the second time around, for the same reason.
I have this same exact drum set! mine sounds exactly like it did before you tuned it to the notes DW suggests. Honestly I've always tuned until they sound good. Can't complain about the set, it's just amazing was worth every penny.
As a professional drummer of 38 years... I can say, that in a STUDIO situation, the toms and snare should ALWAYS be tuned to the 1st, 3rd(major or minor), 5th, 7th (major or minor) or 8th(the -8th if low tom), doubling the lower or higher octave of the 1st of scale, depending whatever key the song is in and whichever 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th the guitars/bass/keys etc are playing.. In a LIVE situation, though, it is best to tune that 3rd (major or minor) to a 4th of whichever key is MOST used in a live set, depending on the key, again. That way, it covers most of everything, but not everything, of course. But it's certainly the closest option to perfect. Tape helps.
I believe the reason they stamp the note on the shell is for themselves when they are putting a set together: so that when they put a set like 10-12-14 the timber note of the 12 isn't too close to the note of the 14 😊 from what I understand it is NOT a tuning guide 🤔
A worker doesn't need all of the signatures from CEOs and certified seals and whatever to put a kit together. That's also extra work and money with printing and cleanly placing the sticker just for a worker's "benefit," when writing in some light chalk or just organizing them by pitch, no mark needed, is enough. If at the end of all of that, it's still mostly meant to be for putting a kit together, it's still definitely being spun into a consumer thing.
It’s not for the workers at at the factory. It’s for the drummers to be able to order extra drums that match their already exciting kits. Like if one would add an 8” and a 14” to your 10,12,16
I actually like the sound of the drums before you tuned them to the "specified" note, etc, at least on the floor / kick / snare. I agree the top two toms sound better afterward, but I totally agree with your final comment about tuning them to specific notes.
As owner of DW myself; I’d say there’s definitely downsides to them, but I went with them because it’s so hard to get custom drums from any of the other major manufacturers. Most want to pick sizes for you, and if you don’t like the color: you’re screwed. As far as snare sounds, the Ludwig black beauty is still king
1985 Premier Royale APK: years ago, I was cleaning/polishing my piano black wrapped finish and had taken all the hardware off all 4 wood shells to do this. I then decided to tone-match the shells with my keyboard, (12, 13, 16, 22, Basswood/Mahogony mix). I then balanced each shell with one fingertip centered on the inside (as best as I could with bass drum) and tapped each "hanging" shell using my felt-side DW bass drum beater with my other hand. I then "ear-matched" each shell's "tone" as best as I could to a note/key on my keyboard. It actually kinda worked. I mean, it wasn't really that hard to find a "matching" note/key on the keyboard. Attempting to tune the heads to these "notes" was challenging for me, though, and musically, I didn't really have the musical training to navigate my tuning attempts to any other "options." However, I think attempting to tune each shell to the matching notes "opened" up, or "warmed up" my toms, but didn't bring the tunings to my particular tastes. I thought, "Do I conform to my drums, or do I make my drums conform to me?" Lesson learned. Plus, it just seems that so much of what I hear seems to come primarily from the heads themselves and the amount of air between the top and bottom heads.
Anybody tune their drums like this?
nope never. im on a hard punk rock band so mine are always very low... apart from the snare
I make em go bim bem bom bum boom respectively
Sounds like a drum tuned like this for a video and it sounded like ass lol.
Edit: I also don't tune my drums like that
nah
i just tune them to what i like
Never :(
I don’t understand why some people get so angry and triggered that DW tells you what the pitch of the shell is. You can tune whatever pitch you like. DW simply tells you the resonant frequency of the shell and you decide if you want to use it or not. It’s a simple matter of physics. Every object has its’ own resonant frequency and if you expose that object to a matching frequency it will cause that object to start vibrating on its’ own. So if you tune the head pitch to match the shell, you will get the most active and full vibration out of the shell. If hou like that, then great! If you don’t, ALSO great! Use it or don’t. You do you.
A very accurate, concise response to something like this. I've always loved DW. But I also, likewise like as much any quality, especially handmade and custom, drums, basses, guitars, etc. 🙂
Because that would mean more work for them to realise that tuning a drum is important.
Amd then you feel like you're doing something wrong by ignoring that big C# or whatever it is that they've taken the time to print inside the shell. If any other company suggested doing something with their product, you'd probably abide by it. I personally think the pitch of the shell thing is a total nonsense. It might sound somewhat like a G when struck with a mallet, but guess what? You're not going to be striking your drum shells with mallets and if if you do, they're just going to go "tunk" once you put all those lugs and mounting hardware on it. And then your going to squash some heads on it with metal hoops. It might be just some extra information, but it's useless, unnecessary information.
alan duncan thank you for summing up hardware: that's absolutely a Problem - as far as I'm aware those pitches are taken from the bare shell of those drums (probably with the drillings already done - wouldnt make sense any other way). The Problem that I have with that is, that as soon as the lugs are added to the drum there is additional weight added, which means that through added mass the resonance and pitch of the drum shifts (works the same way on drums as it works in object resonances on architecture), which totally trivializes the measured pitch of the bare shell. You might be tempted to tune to that note, but it surely does not get you closer on matching the actual resonance of the drum with installed hardware, which makes the bare shell tone as random of a pitch to choose, as any other. I think it is misleading to add that information to those shells and does not aid you in finding the right tone with your drums. That being said, I still understand, why people might find dw drums appealing and I do so too, to some degree, just not for this particular feature.
Except they don't just slap a sticker on without any influencing, in their videos they go on and on about how important the shell note is and list all the "benefits" of it, which is bullshit because i've yet to hear a "properly tuned" DW kit sound better than it being tuned by ear, in fact I would argue that tuning the shells to their spec makes it sound much worse than almost any alternative tuning.
You're not the boss of me DW.
I'm tuning to Cb.
No way, Stephen. I'm tuning to B#
Hahahaha that's awesome Stephen!!!! 😂🤣😅
I see what you did there!
Thats illegal. Im calling the police.
@@rdavidr come at me bro. I'll hit a B# on that high tom so quick it'll have you second guessing your life.
In the mix it sounds amazing. That's what matters. How a kit sounds all by itself means nothing if it sounds bad with the whole song. That snare was PERFECT.
agree. love the snare. but i like my snares tighter than a welldiggers asshole so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
truth
Somebody who gets it!!! Really that's what matters with any instrument. How does it sound with the band? I remember trying to get this point across to so many bass players through the years. A lot of bass tones sound amazing on their own but, they don't work with the band. You don't know until you hear everything together.
Dude, I loved the snare tone and tune. The rack toms sounded great. I like your previous tuning on the floor. I couldn’t tell how the kick sounded. Thanks for posting.
Sounds better when tuned to DW's recommended notes for sure. That snare sound is so nice 👌
I know! our chubby bro is cray cray
cranked snares FTW!
not gonna lie, that snare is the EXACT sound i crave when tuning mine. snares like bullets for me dawg.
If the snare doesn't crack your eardrum, that's a no from me dawg
I LOVE high tuned snares
@@ArnyWar not only the tune, but also the body. Its gotta have punch with the crack. Thats the sweet spot.
The snare is perfect
yes the snare is amazing
Absolutely, well said.
1:44 Original Tuning
8:53 DW Recommended Tunings
I like the overall in the original recording. I liked the snare better with the DW recommended tuning.
Thanks, people who have 10+ min videos with no time stamps are scam artists
@@jd0879 you're exaggerating
These are different heads, though.
@@jamesdevine02 No I’m not. People just want to get straight to the point. It takes two seconds for uploader to do this but they choose not to force us to watch the whole video
The way John Good recommends to tune drums is to tension the bottom head to the pitch of the shell. Then tune the top head somewhere between a half step to a minor third above the pitch of the bottom head. I tried it on my DW Jazz kit (I did a whole step above the bottom). The entire kit sounded great. 12, 13, 14, 16, 24.
People might not know that John was a drum tech who toured with some of the best drummers with the biggest artists of that era. He certainly was in the trenches. He has a lot of real world experience with this.
I also LOVE the True Pitch 50 tension rods. When you’re dialing in precise pitches, it makes it much easier. They also hold the tension better than regular rods. I use a drill bit anyway so there was no aggravation of it taking a long time to thread them by hand.
The best thing about all of this is that it gets people thinking and experimenting with tuning, which is a skill that develops over time.
I really liked the after tuning. Especially the cranked snare. But with the backing track as a whole it sounded great.
me too!!
I second that. Yeah nice playing.
Hey David. John Good has been on the record multiple times about this. The note printed on the inside of the shell is what you tune the bottom head to. You can then do whatever you want with the batter head afterwards
@rdavidr This! Try this out... Would love to hear different tunings of the top head with the bottom head at resonant heads at the same.
@@JakeMartinWallace Check out Sounds Like A Drum on yt, lots of videos experimenting on tuning, what happens with intervals between heads, dampening, everything drum nerdy
Agreed. I have heard john say this too.
I'm listening on my phone speaker, so judge this content accordingly. But to me, your drums cut through the mix really nicely and suit the style of music really well. It is a little on the high side, but for big band music, that's what you want.
I love the snare, but would reach for a moon gel to dampen the ringing.
It's more style dependant than what is "right"
True! And sorry to be so nit-picky but what actually John Good recommends for the batter head is that you can go as far as a minor third sharper on the batter head relatively to the bottom head/shell note (in case that you find that you want the sound of the drum to pitch bend and fall after you hit it). You can see that here: th-cam.com/video/yl9wgXSfxew/w-d-xo.html
As a drummer, recording engineer, and live sound engineer I've been fortunate to work with some amazing drummers and drum techs. It has been a standard practice to tune drums to the fundamental, or alternatively to intervals of, the shells resonant frequency (or pitch) by drum techs and engineers in professional recording studios and touring applications for decades because it eliminates dissonant overtones (wonky, pitchy, ringing), and reduces the need for dampening that constricts the tone, resonance, and sustain of the drum. DW started to measure the resonant frequency of each shell and print it on the label of each individual drum in it's kits at the request of professional studio drummers and drum techs as a courtesy and a time saver. Before DE started to do this (and currently for all of the manufacturer kits that still don't) it was/is a fairly time consuming task for drum techs to do themselves each time they are working with a new kit. It's not always required, since some drum sounds are meant to have minimal sustain and resonance. However for certain styles of music the drum sound demands a rich, open tone with excellent sustain and minimal, or no, dampening and tuning the top and bottom heads to the shells fundamental (or an interval of it's fundamental) is the way to go in professional applications. Drummers who don't understand this usually fall into the amateur catagory, with little or no real professional experience working in the studio, or live with a professional tech and/or engineer.
Bingo!
Yes, you are absolutely right. I am a sound engineer.
Very condescending to refer to drummers, who dont tune to specific pitch, as amateur's.
I've done touring, session work an albums with no problems...
@@passtheparcel2007 He didn’t say it wasn’t professional to tune them differently, he said it wasn’t professional to not know how it works.
Personally I hate that particular drum sound, and I hate that techs delivering kits to a session or a gig tune them that way. The most important thing is to find a neutral pitch that does not exite or dip too much with the room. People tuning their toms to the frquency that goes the most BOOOM in the room are the ones ending up with over-eqed and wimpy sounding drums on the record or in the room on a gig.
(Sound eng. with a degree, 200+ albums, hundreds and hundreds of FOH gigs)
Well said.
- ex-pro engineer
You have really come a long way as a set player since I have started watching your channel years ago. Bravo sir!
As a non-drummer, I am totally shocked to learn that you can actually tune drums to a chord.
If it moves
It makes a pitch
;)
@@jaythoven67 Yep, it totally makes sense, now that I know it's a thing!
I learned about it back in mid 70s . When Ian Paice and Roger Glover used to talk about tuning the drums to the bass.
I have tuned my toms to the three chords of the song before. Old school trick.
Are you a musician of any sort?
Their recommended tuning worked just fine in my opinion. Big thing you want is enough separation to makes the toms distinct from each other.
I usually crank the shit outta my snare, so I personally love that snare sound
it actually started to grow on me... not for everyday, but I think this will be my new cranked to hell snare lol
I love a good hi tuned snare. That Ludwig piccolo you did a video on way back when (the dumpster snare) blew my mind the first time I heard it. Dream snare sound.
Absolutely love that cranked, highly resonant snare sound
About 3 years ago during my freshman year of high school I got to go on a field trip to the DW factory in Oxnard California and it was definitely an impressive facility and I was lucky enough to get to play some incredible drum set’s. Over all that was a great experience and is know a great memory!
The dueling triad sounds like a horror movie theme. This was super interesting. I do prefer the DW tuning. I also agree it's not worth the extra time.
I have to say that the mix sounded amazing. Hearing them separately not so much, some kind of magic happened there. I'm actually pretty impressed, like everything had its own space....
I agree. I had almost exactly the same opinions as rdr on this -- the rack toms sounded GREAT, the floor tom was a little .. ehhh, and the snare was tighter than I like. But, it _really_ worked in that mix. Although, it's hard to say whether that was because of THE tuning, or just _good_ tuning (and good playing, and good micing, mixing, processing, etc.)
@@nickwallette6201 yeah he makes it look easy
I’d say it’s a combination of a really good mix and also a great player who adjusted to how the drums “want” to be played. Drums can sound super wonky in isolation, but when you are playing in the context of the entire kit, especially with a backing track, sometimes that wonkiness actually helps the drums to carve out their own space in the mix.
In that same regard, you wouldn’t want to take a kit that sounds like that and play with a really loose, wide open sort of feel because it would feel flat. He recognized the tightness and short decay that the tuning was giving him and played in a way that made it feel right. Being able to recognize what the song is calling for is part of what separates a good musician from a great one, in my opinion.
@@ZacharyWThomas Exactly. You can make the biggest guitar sound on earth, but it will pretty much only be usable in solos. For everything else, the engineer will at the very minimum chop off the high and low end of that guitar to make it sit in the mix. Most sounds in a professional music production are actually surprisingly small when soloed, but they are engineered to fit with the rest of the elements like a puzzle piece. That's what makes a mix sound huge and clean at the same time.
Lovely video and lovely playing. I totally agree that it's "fun" to tune to the factory specifications, but it's even better to tune them to your liking. Thank you for sharing.
I love your snare sound and man these drums sound fantastic. At first when you were tuning I did not like the sounds that much, but when you did the fine tuning and started playing that little chunk without the music @ 8:53 they sounded really good
From a viewer perspective that tuning was awesome. Especially the way they sit in the mix. I know from experience that it always sounds and feels different behind the kit. I play DWs and love the fact that they're consistent and the hardware is always going to lock my positioning in. For most of us gigging drummers, those are the most important aspects. And you need to feel comfortable with the sound you produce. My taste is all over the place, so playing a drum set that's not in tune really doesn't bug me like it use to. As long as the sound in the house is good, then I'm happy.
Funny how when you listen to a drum set that sounds godlike in the audience, sounds like crap when your playing them. Such was the case at my church. I'm not sure how they produced such a massive sound in the foh, yet behind the kit, it sounded like cardboard boxes taped together! Hope you get to do the Sonors... I love watching your channel!
Bro that is soooo true that has happened to me before lol
"funny how when you hear a drum set from the audience it sounds godlike, but sounds like crap when you're behind it playing it." May not be an exact quote, but I'm lazy and not gonna double-check. Another one, something about consistency and hardware being solid and locked down is important to us. Yes, and yes
It decided to go ahead and post the comment right there. Guess Google thought anymore would be rambling. Ok, I'll leave it at that google
That drumset that sounds good like out front probably sounds like cardboard that vaguely resembles a note but decays so quickly you can't really tell from behind. Out front, John Bonham lmao. Mine sound that way, after a trip through sd3 on its way to the mix that is lol
Dude went from being decent at drums but having great videos to being an AMAZING drummer with top notch content. You sound soooo good man. And so do the drums ofc
Man its been years since I've watched one of your videos been watching since you had a just a couple videos on the channel, glad to see you still around, big upgrades to the camera set up and production, keep it up 🤘🏼
the snare sounds AMAZING
It sounds great to me, especially the snare, but even so, I’m a Pearl player at heart
Same
I'm a Pearl boy too...
Yup, you'll have to peel my Pearls out of my cold dead hands.
In my opinion you just can't beat the sound or tone of Pearls.
I don't tune my drums like that in the perfect pitch but how this kit sounds including the snare I thought was actually an improvement
Could be the fresh heads and more attention to detail when tuning
@@ryanshreevedrums very true. I also think cause I'm a fan of higher pitched tuning. Hell my rack is 8 10 12
Interesting. I'm not a drummer, but , man, I thought that snare sounded like hot garbage. OK, that's exaggerating it, but I just did not like the sound of it, and was relieved to learn neither did the drummer.
@@pulykamell i honestly think context around the snare helps too. I do love higher ping to cut through downtuned guitars
Man those sound so friggin good at the end, and the playing is perfect too!
As a non drummer bass player that Tune Bot is badass !!! Also, this is a very good video and the first time I've seen you, so I fall into the "Welcome" category as to the "Welcome Back" as you stated. The demo at the end blows my mind with revelations ! A whole new outlook at drums.
I was discussing with a DW rep on the phone this very thing a while back. What he pointed out was that these shells are measured for their "note" when they're blanks. They're then drilled, finished (FinishPly or lacquer), then the hardware is mounted. All those steps change the fundamental note. He couldn't really say why except that's it's a cool feature John Good came up with, but doesn't really reflect the pitch of the final product.
It is just the resonant frequency of the drums nothing more.
John Good found a gimmick to come up with. I guess he could sell ice cubes to a Eskimo.
Gives DW a vibe and mystic. Something that is lacking in manufacturing today!
@@sibes4 Sure. What's that got to do with anything? I mean... besides the soul of the drum.
@@jimnasium452 Tuning the drum to match the resonant frequency, or a simple ratio of it, will produce a different tone than when tuning arbitrarily since the shell will vibrate more naturally. Whether one is better than the other is all down to personal preference though.
Would love to see a church vlog David. I want to play in church myself so would love to know your thoughts
That was really interesting! I’ve wondered about and attempted tuning my drums to given notes. Now I understand why it’s so difficult to dial it in.
I also concluded that tuning by how they sound is a lot easier, and generally adequate.
Although, those tuned drums on this video sounded really good!
love that tight snare after the retune. the rack toms also sounded more distinct, but I liked the bass drum and floor tom better before the retune.
This tuning method works for DW because of the way the make the shells (horizontal, vertical or crossed play woods). But it is not a rule.
I’ve never tuned a kit like this but I enjoyed watching you do it. The full you played at 10:31 is killer. You’re a great player. Love your channel. Keep on keeping 💥
Great video. I think also to be factored in is that you are an amazing musician which does also factor in to the sound of the drums and how you hit them.
I have had a large 9 piece double bass Sonor S-Class Pro thin maple shell kit since 2005. I always tune the bottom head a half step higher than the batter. A wonderful kit and with only one screw per lug the drums are quite light. When lugging around a large kit it really helps.
How many people truly LOL'd at the John Good Obi-Wan moment? I know I did. 😂
Great stuff, as usual, David.
I really enjoyed the way the DW tuning fit in the mix with the other instruments, more so than the way you had them tuned originally
I agree. SONOR. DW. and the Pearl export all have that rich lower sound
After tuning sounds amazing. I love the snare and floor tom
This is my first video of yours. CRAZY impressed with your musical knowledge
Rdavid, yes let's see you playing in live venues with bands. I know you're an accomplished drummer too.
As for DW set I've never owned one but I have been to their factory in Oxnard for business several times. They are the nicest, most professional group and build very high quality equipment.
And their "candy shop" room with lots of different kits and drums to try out is like heaven for drummers! Maybe someday I'll be able to afford a DW kit. For now I'll just stick with my old 30 year old Premier set.
Wow, I was skeptical at first to the shell notes but it works for this kit. I do agree about the floor and kick but overall well done sir.
I've had a set of DWs for 20 years. I ended up tuning the batter head to the note stamped in the shell, The reso side is a major 3rd above the batter. This has worked well for me.
It’s amazing how much better it sounded when you tuned the drums to DW’s recommendation.
Hearing the kit for the first time...I can say for me that the kit sat just perfect in the mix...DW seems like they have their heads really into the kit...Giving you the shell frequency is a huge advantage if you use it or not is your choice...But for me the tuned kit sounded very natural ...Thank you for the hard work.
Both tunings sounded good to me., which isn't surprising. After all, these shells are excellent and offer a wide range of tuning options. When it comes to kick drum in particular, I feel that tuning and damping have a big impact on the feel (how much bounce you get, how far into the head the beater goes, etc.). These days, I tend to tune my kicks by feel more than sound really, and deal with the sound by using EQ and comp.
Very interesting and informative video, as usual! And great playing too! Thanks!
Cool video and really cool editing bits like the drums above the keys in the chord.
Thank you for taking the time to make this video
Been tuning my Tama starclassic set to the key of the song recorded in the studio. It makes it sound amazing with the song.
Yoooo I’m getting some starclassic maples soon, what do you reccomend tuning for an overall tuning. I like a high, not too resonant crack/pop kind of tuning.
If you can help at all, thank you
i like the DW tuning on that set. for small toms, they have a very big sound, the kick is perfect to me, toms great, I like a bit more rattle to my snare and would loosen the wires a bit [ to funky for me]. but all in all, they do sound bigger than before
Love how you make your video. It's captivating. Didn't miss a second 👏🏼👏🏼😁
I never realized how important this was. I definitely will be tuning like this in the future.
Hell yes they sound great tuned the dw way. More damping would sort the kick (and sn) maybe.
I know loads of people that would tune the drums every change of song when when recording, and techs that tune the kit for the drummer.
Great recording and playing too.
I agree. The floor tom sounds better in my opinion, David’s tuning always makes the floors like a kick drum.
I have to say, the sound after the tuning was freaking unreal. That's the best drum set I've ever heard, much better than before you tuned them IMO and I strongly disagree with your findings, however, very nice playing!
Love it and especially the floor tom, after tuning.
I've had a 6-piece DW Collectors series set for many years now and it has always been outstanding. I went with 8,10,12,14- inch toms. The set cuts through the mix perfectly and is very musical..
My experience tuning drums is like David said sometimes having the drum NOT in tune with itself yields the best results. Like you were saying about the 2 dissonant type notes and kill the weird ringy stuff, doing that on just one head can get you good results. Ironically I've found with tuning drums, sometimes the harder you try and more anal you get about getting everything perfect, the worse your results are. I do agree, those 2 rack toms sounded great tuned there.
Your drumming has definitely improved lots over the last couple years.
Nice drum kit, enjoyed you're playing on it and sence of humor!
Great sound and one of your best performances!
They sound phenomenal in the shell tuning. Also, would love to see that church gig vlog!
Drums sounded pretty good, but holy crap, your playing sounded crazy good. That was the most impressed I’ve ever been watching you play, and I’ve been a fan since 2015. Also, that snare sound when you tuned it to an A was 😩😩😩👌🏻
You can do this with any kit. When I was in college I took a science of acoustics class and did this for a class project. I brought a tom, a keyboard, and an amp to class. Took the hardware off, and tapped the shell with a mallet until I matched the pitch by ear, used the keyboard to figure out it was an "e". Then I put the hardware back and tuned the batter to the 'e' note and demonstrated resonance by carefully tuning the head and droning an e note through the amp until the drum started singing much more loudly. The entire system (head, shell) was resonating an e note along with the keyboard. After that, I said I had read in a magazine to tune the bottom head a fifth above and I said I'd never tried it so I tuned it to a 'b' and had the class comment on if they liked the sound. My teacher was impressed (I got an A). As far as how to tune your kit, it doesn't matter how you do it but at least it's good to understand the intent behind matching heads to certain pitches. At least educate yourself a little before you stray into your own sound.
Sounds freaking awesome! It's a matter of taste. No right or wrong about what's better.
I was digging that snare tone particularly for that track style but totally agree with that floor, liked it more a touch higher had you had it before.
ever since I learned Nolly's drum tuning method, i've only been complimented by every drummer's kit I've teched/tuned that it was one of the most well tuned kits they've played behind, not as a brag but a testament to the tuning method. you don't need a tunebot, just some sort of piano phone app or pitch pipe for referencing the tone. so much faster and more consistent than tuning by ear, and maintaining a tuning is so simple and easy because there's a concrete note you're tuning to. the drum doesn't go out of tune halfway through tracking a song and then you crank on the wrong lugs and have a different sounding floor tom for half of your takes.
to those who don't know: toms are tuned to a selected note by tuning the resonant head one semitone below the note, and the batter head 4 semitones below that note (ie. 10 inch tom tuned to D, resonant head C#, batter head Bb), and then snare to whatever note, batter side cranked. Has worked perfectly on every kit I've tuned, gives the most clean and pure note I've ever heard from a kit just sitting behind it.
Lots of misinformation in that last paragraph.
@@morbidmanmusic care to explain, have done this exact thing for 5 years on dozens of kits
No such thing as misinfo when tuning your drums. Unless your saying something completely out of left field.
I love higher tuned snares, especially piccolo snares. So I thought that snare sounded pretty golden
very helpful! thank you for exploring this
I play a DW Collectors kit in church and tuned to pitch once, and quickly changed it back to my own tune. I also prefer the oem DW heads, after trying several types. Overall I’ve been pretty happy with their sound. I’d like to hear your church playing too. 👍
arnt the DW heads just clear ambassadors with DW printed on them
@@krusher74 They have a wide dampening ring around them that cuts the overtones, so I don't have to add any extra dampening.
I always tune my bottom Tom head to a note that gets a good sound, then tune the reso head to the major 5th of that notes scale. Then I tune the batter head of the next highest drum to the note of the reso head of the floor Tom. Then repeat for all the drums including the snare. Sounds complicated but it’s really not once you do it. I really like the sound for worship music and rock music with coated heads
Woooow! You are on FIRE on those drums!!
Good heavens, your drumming is spectacular!
The point of DW Timbre matching is to give separation between your toms. I had a Pearl masters kit with a 13" rack tom and a 14" floor tom that were practically the same pitch, which made it a nightmare to tune. I hated that 14" floor tom. Pearl has this problem a lot as they like to make the shells on the larger drums thicker which actually increases the pitch. "Timbre matching" is just a marketing term, other companies do this to ensure separation between the drums. You can tune the drums wherever you want to it doesn't matter. I've never tuned my DW's to the shell note.
My drummer has a Tama Starclassic(?) kit, I have no idea the model but it's got that, I think the sizes are 10-12 rack, 14-16 floor, he added the 16, that did not come with the kit. But getting that 14inch floor tom to sound good at all was a massive challenge, and then to get it to play nice with other drums while sounding good was virtually impossible. I now have a different drummer, he uses a Tama Granstar kit from 1989 (identical to the one Lars used on Metallica's Black Album tour, but in a faded pink instead of white and black, it looks SICK) but anyway, he has 12-13 rack, 16-18 floor. And Basically you tune that 18 just above finger tight to get rid of that "motorcycle" sort of growl heads give you when they're too lose, and then tun the 16 a little higher than you normally would, and that is MONEY right there. Something about the 14 size floor tom just I could never get to work right.
Full disclosure: I'm not a drummer although I can play enough to fake my way through easy songs. But I am a bandleader and sound guy, and have been for almost 15 years, and I'm also a perfectionist never-satisfied type so I always just say to my drummers, "Can I tune your drums for you? I've gotten good at it by now and I know what I like and what works and doesn't in a live setting." And my drummers are almost always like, "Yeah sure man go nuts, I fucking HATE tuning drums if you make em sound good for me I'll whack em for ya." And it works well for all parties involved lol.
When I played drums through the mid-1980s to 90s I never saw a 14" floor tom, but a 14" rack tom was common. If it was harder music the toms would start at the larger sizes and be deeper in length too. All metal drummers needed to match the look and had big toms on the double bass kits.
@@djjazzyjeff1232 same with me… I call myself the lead bassist but I’m the sound guy, I swap out on rythm and lead guitar, drum on some songs especially the ones I write, play keys/synth, woodwinds, mandolin, slide guitar setar and sing. I started on guitar and am most comfortable with strings.
I just tune drums to what sounds best to my ears. I have a tuner that I don’t even use. And have gotten specific tightness numbers to do from drum techs. They never work out on our 74 ludwig kit though with Reno empoerors. I know nothing about drums but when I’m done tuning they always sound better than when any of my drummers have tuned. Just by ear, just by feel. No one else does it so I do it. I’m also a perfectionist and I have pitch perfect hearing. Well more than pitch perfect. Overtones, undertones everything I here. And then I see it and I’ve to work with it in Logic Pro using the presonus 24R. Check out the presonus 24R!
David, you're playing has improved so much it's amazing. What the heck have you been doing to improve so much over the last few years?
P-r-a-c-t-i-s-e
You've already answered your own question, but I suspect you're too dense to realize that.
@@dmacrolens lol I suspect you're a lonely and bitter person, yet saying that adds nothing to the conversation.
Dmac....please ingest fece and expire. Are you smart enough to figure that out?? 😆
Your chops have improved immensely since I subscribed originally. I'm glad I could be of service. 😎
Amazing video thanks for the explanation. And great groove you got there going. Cheers
Those lugs are why I love DW though. Those things will stay in tune for a gig better then anything else I’ve played.
I love the sound of the snare after the tuning, that's exactly the kind of sound I look for in a snare.
Awesome drumming, a lot of chops and change ups. Kit sounds great.
Thanks for the video. There are many reasons to keep using suggested tunings. Live venues, recording, using different kits. A bad room changes everything.
As someone with perfect pitch I absolutely love DWs tuned to their timber notes
Every drum made has a pitch its designed to be tuned to.
We rented a Sonor kit a while ago for a session. Man, the oval badge Tom sound was out of this world. In the UK their jazz kits are fairly ubiquitous but little else, sadly.
I herd one set years ago and it sounded great.
Nice selection of your tune and nice playing! Also, a great review to!
I was an Electrician for over 37 years. I learned a little trick that will definitely help you with screws loosening up. Get a good grade of fingernail polish. Every Electrician has his/her own color. When you tighten screws, or bolts, apply some on the head and nut, always in the same line, after you torque them to the set inch-pounds or foot-pounds, depends on the bolt or screw size. The procedure serves two purposes. 1. when it dries, it acts as a vibration inhibitor against turning. 2. You can see, with a glance, if anything has moved. (Also, you can tell who did the work, by the color code)
(( Most folks don't realize, that AC (alternating current) produces a Counter Clockwise rotation vibration. Over time, this inherent action loosens hardware. That's why a tune-up of systems includes checking tightness of hardware.))
I don't know about the direction of rotation for drums. I do know that if you're feeling good, your nervous system will tighten the screws on your glasses. You'll notice they are a little stiff when unfolding the temple pieces. However, if you're feeling poorly, the screws in your glasses will back out, on their own and your temple piece will get very loose or your lense will fall out. A touch of clear fingernail polish on the threads and on the screw head, will prevent them from following their natural course.
Hope this helps lots of folks.
Bill, from Tn. 🇺🇸
I do have perfect pitch and after trying to tune my low-end drums to notes that make sense with eachother and with the drums themeselves, I would absolutely appreciate having drums that clearly sound in a note and are labeled. The harmonics getting in eachother's way meant I had to listen to multiple notes at once and figure out which was the one I was looking for.
That said, they picked some weird pitches to target when crafting them, a triad or straight fouths/ fifths are easier to throw around than a maj7 chord
Thanks for the video. I prefer the sounds you got after tuning to the DW pitches. Better, clearer tone all around. I also prefer the heads you used on the toms the second time around, for the same reason.
wow these drums sounds amazing after !
I’d love to see more church drumming content, but honestly, I’ll watch any content you put out.
can we all actually appreciate his thumbnail lol
sweet drumming beautiful tone
I have this same exact drum set! mine sounds exactly like it did before you tuned it to the notes DW suggests. Honestly I've always tuned until they sound good. Can't complain about the set, it's just amazing was worth every penny.
As a professional drummer of 38 years... I can say, that in a STUDIO situation, the toms and snare should ALWAYS be tuned to the 1st, 3rd(major or minor), 5th, 7th (major or minor) or 8th(the -8th if low tom), doubling the lower or higher octave of the 1st of scale, depending whatever key the song is in and whichever 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th the guitars/bass/keys etc are playing.. In a LIVE situation, though, it is best to tune that 3rd (major or minor) to a 4th of whichever key is MOST used in a live set, depending on the key, again. That way, it covers most of everything, but not everything, of course. But it's certainly the closest option to perfect. Tape helps.
This doesn't work so well on tunes with complex harmony.
You just made drumming sound even less fun.
I believe the reason they stamp the note on the shell is for themselves when they are putting a set together: so that when they put a set like 10-12-14 the timber note of the 12 isn't too close to the note of the 14 😊 from what I understand it is NOT a tuning guide 🤔
A worker doesn't need all of the signatures from CEOs and certified seals and whatever to put a kit together. That's also extra work and money with printing and cleanly placing the sticker just for a worker's "benefit," when writing in some light chalk or just organizing them by pitch, no mark needed, is enough. If at the end of all of that, it's still mostly meant to be for putting a kit together, it's still definitely being spun into a consumer thing.
It’s not for the workers at at the factory. It’s for the drummers to be able to order extra drums that match their already exciting kits. Like if one would add an 8” and a 14” to your 10,12,16
I've got the design series and i tuned them to the shell pitch and man what a difference it made they sounded good before but sound great now
Love that back whap snare and the Low Tom
I actually like the sound of the drums before you tuned them to the "specified" note, etc, at least on the floor / kick / snare. I agree the top two toms sound better afterward, but I totally agree with your final comment about tuning them to specific notes.
As owner of DW myself; I’d say there’s definitely downsides to them, but I went with them because it’s so hard to get custom drums from any of the other major manufacturers. Most want to pick sizes for you, and if you don’t like the color: you’re screwed. As far as snare sounds, the Ludwig black beauty is still king
DW is not the only one: Beside Sonor (SQ2 configurator!) and DW there are also many small companies who deliver real and unique custom drumsets.
1985 Premier Royale APK: years ago, I was cleaning/polishing my piano black wrapped finish and had taken all the hardware off all 4 wood shells to do this.
I then decided to tone-match the shells with my keyboard, (12, 13, 16, 22, Basswood/Mahogony mix).
I then balanced each shell with one fingertip centered on the inside (as best as I could with bass drum) and tapped each "hanging" shell using my felt-side DW bass drum beater with my other hand.
I then "ear-matched" each shell's "tone" as best as I could to a note/key on my keyboard.
It actually kinda worked.
I mean, it wasn't really that hard to find a "matching" note/key on the keyboard.
Attempting to tune the heads to these "notes" was challenging for me, though, and musically, I didn't really have the musical training to navigate my tuning attempts to any other "options."
However, I think attempting to tune each shell to the matching notes "opened" up, or "warmed up" my toms, but didn't bring the tunings to my particular tastes.
I thought, "Do I conform to my drums, or do I make my drums conform to me?"
Lesson learned.
Plus, it just seems that so much of what I hear seems to come primarily from the heads themselves and the amount of air between the top and bottom heads.