OB!...

Now that's an interesting question actually.. and .. all I can really offer is that Buddy didn't have those floor toms tensioned all that high, but that isn't to say that they were real loose either! As to WHY you can't see the "give" in the batter head I can't say. We are all in agreement that Buddy's chops/technique was just incredible, so perhaps he is literally pulling everything he plays right off the heads without a lot of pressure. I saw Buddy LIVE 5 times between 1973 and 1978 and will say that was NOT a light hitter! Sure, he played with dynamics where needed of course, but when it was a shout chorus, man... I'm thinking just incredible wrists/technique with the ability to just pull everything off the head... no stickings "buried" which would of course push the head down. Back in the day...

... I copied his tensions/tunings by listening to "Diabolus" and "Winning the West" as both feature solos with a better than usual amount of tom work. Buddy, for the most part, favored the snare drum. I realize that I have stated the obvious there, but for the younger guys that might not have known that, well... hunt down those two tracks. Hope this was of a little help!

Tommyp

OddBall,

Can you see the heads moving on other people drums on youtube? I'm thinking you must have Ted William's eyes to see that.

I saw Buddy Rich live three times between '67 and '70 or so and I was lucky to know where his hands were never mind monitor if the heads on his drums were moving.

Out of it all, I thought the most notable aspect of his play was the drive. He drove his band like few you ever see. I enjoy watching Dick Cully because he is so knowledgeable about Buddy's techniques, but the ability Buddy Rich had to drive is something else altogether.

There would be far more to learn about how Buddy tuned his drums by listening as opposed to watching the head vibrate, however, that is an interesting premise and cool that you thought to look for that. To be fair, the resolution and frame rate of any video from that time frame, especially once it is compressed for posting, is probably not going to yield enough visual information to be able to tell how tight his heads might have been.

... and so true! Please reference the 2nd paragraph in my initial reply!

Tommyp

I live near the Ted Williams Tunnel !!

No special equiptment required,..look for the distortion in the light reflections !! His are white but still reflect the stage lighting !! Hitting hard is noticeable unless it`s really tight, then you need to be there !! If you tune low it`s really noticeable, that`s why I asked if he tuned tight !!

It is more the sound of the drum that I took note of.

You can easily see the BD reso head move !!

That is true, of course it is a much larger drum with a lot more surface area and a much lower wave length. And it is directed at the camera which makes a big difference.

All of that to say, you and I would both would like some basic info on Buddy's tuning method.

The Floor tom just sounds too different than any others. It kinda sounds smaller rather than larger, it`s hard to explain cuz I`m not privi to tec. talk !!

The one I looked the most at is the battle with Animal. Well lit up, and whoever is play`n for Animal aint that bad either !!