I completely de tune my drums when not in use, to also save on head wear having so many kits. I tend to use one kit for a good while then switch to another when the mood or gigs demand it.

I think that constant tightening and loosening will stretch them out faster. I leave mine alone.

+1

Think about what happens when you bend, or stretch plastic over and over... it softens and snaps. As long as a drum isn't over-tensioned to begin with, you can leave it in-tune and you'll only have to 'tweak it back' when you're ready to play it again. Tuning and de-tuning a head over and over will affect the life of the head more than if you just tune it and leave it alone. No stretch, relax, stretch, relax.

John

I guess their are two schools of thought here snare drums are under high tension period think about it? I use the tama tension watch which is very accurate for measuring head tension I adjust my heads to the exact tension every time so the head is simply retuned to it's once original tension. where as heads under a constant load are stretched to that tension for 24/7 bearing the stress on heads, Rims. tensions rods, lugs and drum shell. All I know for sure is I have heads that are many years old with many many hours of playing time on them and they still sound great, To each his/her own.

I agree with the previous three posts.. unless of course you are speaking of Calfskin heads.. different story with those...

Cheers

John

I lived in the woods for five years, no running water, no electricity, etc...Anyway, I had an outdoor set that I had set up for at least three years through every season. The heads were kept at tension throughout the whole time, I just moved off leaves, or snow, or sticks and played away. I don't think that the heads were ever really affected by the experience of tension and weather.

its not the one made out of logs is it Laughing LOL

I usually take my heads completely off after every gig, I soak them in vinegar for two hours, them let them dry overnight. The next morning I take each head outside and toss them like a Frisbee, this allows the air to help them breathe. I put the heads back on my kit and not only do they sound better, but they smell like a freshly made salad.Laughing H

I`m one for leaving things alone(if it ain`t broke don`t fix it).So i don`t toy with the loosening of heads.Alot of this depends also on how high of tork you`ve got on the heads-high tuning has a more of a risk,etc.But one thing i`ve always done with the snare is to always turn off the strainer when not in use,even between sets to eliminate strain on that panel of the shell.Maybe it`s just a silly little thing i do, but snares are usually torked up the highest.

Wayne