tuning drums

[John Finn]

hey guys,
does anyone know if there is a standard way of tuning drums?

for example should the kick be in e the snare in a etc...

also would using a regular hand held guitar tuner work for checking the tuning?


tara!
john

[Heka]

You donīt need to tune your drums to a certain pitch. And drums canīt be tuned like guitars (e-a-d- etc.).

[Tom B]

our drummer seems to just keep turning until the snare sounds not too lose but not too brittal either. about the toms, no idea

[stu_hig]

Tom's can be tuned to certain notes but as long as there not too high or low it shouldn't matter.

[glockhead]

Drums are tuned to a certain timber rather than pitch. Also, you tune one head or the other to controll the amount of overtones...

There are so many ways to tune a drum. You will have to mess with them till you find what works for you on yours.

[rgr]

Originally Posted by Heka

You donīt need to tune your drums to a certain pitch. And drums canīt be tuned like guitars (e-a-d- etc.).

Hmm, nobody ever told Terry Bozzio that... He has his toms tuned and plays melodic lines on them.

For more "human" drummers, not as much. My best advice would be to enlist the help of a drummer friend and watch and listen. It's about feel as much as anything.

$0.02,
Roger

[Robot Boy]

there is a relative tuning thing with them. if you flip the switch on the snare, you should be able to play the beginning of yanky doodle with the snare and the toms

[rgr]

Bozzio tunes his to a C Major scale if I remember right... He mentioned it at a clinic once. He also said he has to play the melodic pieces first because they get slightly out of tune quickly.

<$0.02,
Roger