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Kick & floor tom micing


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What about drum tuning? I noticed someone mentioned tuning the drum to the resonant frequency of the shell. Is that standard MO.

One particular tune we actually tuned the heads to the key of the song, and created some 2 note harmonies with the top and bottom skins of the toms. At the time we were just experimenting, and I had never heard of anybody doing this. We kinda thought we were crazy but the tune called for it because we're actually playing the melody on the drums. Either way its probably the best drum sound I've gotten, though I don't think its common practice to do this. How do you guys tune your drums?

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Being that my shells are sparkle-wrapped vintage Ludwigs, I don't really mess with the resonant tuning approach. I optimistically tried it once, but it made scant difference. Anymore, if tuning to the key of the song isn't a prerequisite, then I just find the pitches I like, establish the top head first, then match the bottom, and take it from there...detune the bottom a few cents to get the slight downward pitch, or tune up a few to choke the decay somewhat.

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Being that my shells are sparkle-wrapped vintage Ludwigs, I don't really mess with the resonant tuning approach. I optimistically tried it once, but it made scant difference. Anymore, if tuning to the key of the song isn't a prerequisite, then I just find the pitches I like, establish the top head first, then match the bottom, and take it from there...detune the bottom a few cents to get the slight downward pitch, or tune up a few to choke the decay somewhat.

 

 

Those are some helpful tips, man. Thanks. So if the bottom is higher than the top head that sort of stacatto's the drum a bit and rvisa versa?

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I disagree with that concept, my toms sound best when the reso is tuned a good 1/4 turn higher than the batter. Several good sounding drummers use that approach. All depends on what you're after. Some even go to the third or fifth for the reso based on the batter.

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