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Tuning drums with an instrument Last viewed: 28 seconds ago

Posts: 6524 Threads: 37
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I set the tension on the elcetric screwdriver to bring me close, then use my ears to wiggle it closer or to what I like.

A poorly machined drum lug + Trod, added to a spring with an incert,..wont give each lug the same properties. Pro level drums will. Single tension drums are even more out of tolerances. Calf heads,..good luck !!

I can see uses for these with learnning expieriences, Great for viewing the differences in range.

They`re good for new heads and great for telling you your old head needs to go !!

I still have my guitar tunner and use it, but my drum dial was hit down left field line and hooked foul at the smoke stack !!

It`s a drum,.....Hit It !!

.....76/#XK9207 Phonic Sound Machine D454/D-505 snares !i
Posted on 12 years ago
#31
Posts: 6524 Threads: 37
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Vin, I go months without re-tunning, cuz I stay close..even when they are played. The time wasted is try`n to keep them excact, the sound differences are not a factor for me !!

It`s a drum,.....Hit It !!

.....76/#XK9207 Phonic Sound Machine D454/D-505 snares !i
Posted on 12 years ago
#32
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From OddBall

Vin, I go months without re-tunning, cuz I stay close..even when they are played. The time wasted is try`n to keep them excact, the sound differences are not a factor for me !!

I use 2b drumsticks once again a hard player, and it is always usually the tension rod closest to where I'm hitting the head at, a quick tweak to that tension rod and I'm done. also I don't use the drum dial I use the tension watch more accurate, also I have no trouble tuning single tension drums to a great sounding drum with this device. also a single tension drums ends up with different values from the very nature of a single tension system. There is a learning curve to them and not a short one either. but once you understand whats going on, Invaluable to me, your mileage may vary.

Your drummers not much good is he!? What you need is someone that's as good as me. ! John Henry Bonham !!
Posted on 12 years ago
#33
Posts: 6524 Threads: 37
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From vintagemore2000

sorry your wrong. I'm a hard player, I sometimes don't have even touch my drums for a week or more after properly tuning with this method. Then something is wrong with your guitar the tuners, your bridge. or the nut needs adjusting? mine stay it tune for a good while with hard string bending? I don't have locking tuners either, good ole grovers.

Know what`s wrong with my bridge,..I pull the sh*t outta it when I bend the neck, same with the strings. The wammy bar will crunch the strings, or stretch them too. I don`t break strings often any more, but I pull the sh*t outta them too. I put the string balls up top at the keys, if a string breaks, I unwined it and put it back into the Floyd Rose vise cuz the string will alway break at the bend. Very quick and easy, on stage too !! Not that I ever get on stage !!

It`s a drum,.....Hit It !!

.....76/#XK9207 Phonic Sound Machine D454/D-505 snares !i
Posted on 12 years ago
#34
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From OddBall

I`m sorry but those little taps are not gonna show you what the drum sounds like when you hit it harder !! When your done fine tunning the drum, play it for five minutes, then check the dial again, it wont be the same !!I have an electric tunner for my guitar, I can easily tune to a perfect 440 the low E and when I go to the A, it pulls the string I just tunned out. enventually I get them all at 440, but two seconds into playing,..they are all out of 440. These things can exactly tune your drum, but five minutes into play`n, your just close now, so ya better off just useing your ears and being close cuz that`s where your gonna end up anyway !!Those little taps will tell you your tune, but no way will they tell you what the drum sounds like being hit !!

To clarify, I tune my drums to whatever pitch that seems to hit the proverbial "sweet spot" for that particular drum. In most cases there is more than one preferred pitch and that depends entirely on the type of music and the preference of a particular drummer. The pitch in question is the pitch attained while placing the drum on a padded surface so that I am only listening to one head at a time more or less. I make notes of what works and keep those notes on file. It has everything to do with what the drum can and cannot do. The end result from detailed tuning is picking up the drum and hitting it. If that particular pitch or set of pitches that you just dialed in did not produce the tone you were looking for then, keep making adjustments until it does. Eventually you will get what you were looking for and you will be able to replicate that every time. That is why the little taps are critical.

Assuming one has seated the head properly, the drums should stay in tune fairly well, even with heavy hitters. I have a guy touring with one of my kits right now that just destroys everything. In one afternoon of rehearsals he wore out a 10" Emperor to the point of uselessness, three 14" Emperor snare drum heads (including breaking one) broke a 20" crash cymbal and split about 2 dozen sticks. Other than the poor 10" tom, the other toms held their tuning just fine.

tnsquint
Very proud owner of a new Blaemire Snare 6.5 x 14 made by Jerry Jenkins "Drumjinx"
Posted on 12 years ago
#35
Posts: 6524 Threads: 37
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Quint, I totally agree, but to keep it within the exact numbers you tuned to, you would have to leave it alone !!

It`s a drum,.....Hit It !!

.....76/#XK9207 Phonic Sound Machine D454/D-505 snares !i
Posted on 12 years ago
#36
Posts: 6524 Threads: 37
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Drumming is not an excact science, close enough will do !!

It`s a drum,.....Hit It !!

.....76/#XK9207 Phonic Sound Machine D454/D-505 snares !i
Posted on 12 years ago
#37
Posts: 6524 Threads: 37
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For those of you reading,...this is why you have to have the same T-rods and lugs on your drum. Mixed matched wont do !!

It`s a drum,.....Hit It !!

.....76/#XK9207 Phonic Sound Machine D454/D-505 snares !i
Posted on 12 years ago
#38
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From OddBall

For those of you reading,...this is why you have to have the same T-rods and lugs on your drum. Mixed matched wont do !!

You must be talking about different lenght tension rods, correct?


Thank you!
Jeff C

"Enjoy every sandwich" Warren Zevon
Posted on 12 years ago
#39
Posts: 6524 Threads: 37
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Threads and flange at the top of the rod. Some threads are sharp and some slightly rounded but will fit the same nut with different wiggle room. Some rods have thick flange or thin with washers !! If I have to pull one rod down fuerther to get the same tension on the opposite lug,..what does that do to the one`s in between ? Also a bend in the hoop eyelet can throw off the depth and pull the hoop acrook !!

It`s a drum,.....Hit It !!

.....76/#XK9207 Phonic Sound Machine D454/D-505 snares !i
Posted on 12 years ago
#40
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