Brummet's Conscious Blog

Drum Tuning - How To Tune Snare Drum * This in-depth tutorial article written by Gregory A Hill was a little too long for our blog, therefore I've split it into a 2-part article. Look for the 1st portion of this article, which was published January 29th . Gregory is a musician, audio engineer and producer. ...continued from January 29th... The desired pitch for your snare drum When all tension rods around the head have received your first 1/4 turn, you have made your first pass. Of course 1/4 turn on each rod is going to result in a very loose and lifeless head. In general four to six passes are required to bring a snares resonant head up to tension. This is where personal preference comes into play. If you want your snare to have more body and sustain, four passes should be plenty. If you'd like your snare to have more snap and snare wire response, really cranking down the hoop with five to six passes should suffice. This is why I prefer starting on the resonant side o...

Drum Tuning - How To Tune Snare Drum * This in-depth tutorial article written by Gregory A Hill was a little too long for our blog, therefore I've split it into a 2-part article. Watch for the 2nd portion of this to appear on Feb 3rd . Ahh yes... the snare drum. The most heavily played drum throughout the kit. The snare drum is the center piece, and it can very easily define a drummers style. From a deep thud to a tight snap; maple, birch, bronze, steel, and everywhere in between; the overall sound of this instrument is as varied as ice cream flavours and can be just as sweet if tuned correctly. This tutorial assumes you are putting new drum heads on your snare. If you're using older heads and want to follow the tutorial, just evenly loosen the tension rods on both sides of the drum and remove the rods, hoops, and heads to start anew. Ok - so first, let's start with the "do's and don'ts". Do :  Find the head suited for your style of playing ...