Bass drum tuning...ow tight should the head be???

[Noise...]

I'm trying to tune the heads on this bass drum. How tight should they be? I don't have a drum tuner - I'm just going by "how many turns" of the drum key on each lug. How tight should each head be? Should I really be screwing it down, or should it be fairly loose?

 

I need advice ASAP!

[qwertyMan]

However tight you want. I'd go medium tension, but get where it feels right.

[Noise...]

Ok, I watched a kick tuning tutorial on Youtube, and my kick is still sounding pretty ringy. WAY too much resonance. What do I do to get rid of it?

[Chefmike8888]

Well some people use bar napkins on the drum heads to control ring :poke:.

Some cut holes in the front head or put a small blanket or pillow in there but be careful you don't want to kill all the body of the drum (or do ya?) I use something like THIS

 

Mike

[Noise...]

 

Well some people use bar napkins on the drum heads to control ring :poke:. Some cut holes in the front head or put a small blanket or pillow in there but be careful you don't want to kill all the body of the drum (or do ya?) I use something like THIS Mike

 

 

I'm just looking for proper tuning right now - if the drum is ringing too much, should I tighten it more, or loosen it? Do I tighten/loosen the batter head, or the resonant head?

[agogobill]

http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/id6.html

[Noise...]

I still can't get it to sound how I want. It just sounds like a big tom.

 

Any suggestions?

[turdadactyl]

If you want to get rid of ring on a kick, try the aforementioned blanket/pillow solution. Put a blanket (or towel) inside the drum, not touching the beater-side head.

[Noise...]

Isn't there just a way to tune a kick so that it has a nice, punchy "thump" and no ringing? My Gretsch kick sounds that way and doesn't have anything inside it.

 

However, I can't go by how my Gretsch is tuned, because I don't know how it's tuned. The shop I bought heads for it at offered free tuning and setup for all drums, so I just had them do it. They did a great job, but I have no idea how my drums are tuned.

 

Is there just a default kick tuning to use as a basic setting to work from? Should the batter head be fairly tight? The way it is now, it just sounds like a big, resonant tom. I want it to sound like a punchy, deep kick.

 

Can anyone help?

[sharnrock]

detune the batter head until you get the attack or thump you want, then tune the resonate head to the pitch that you want.

[Noise...]

detune the batter head until you get the attack or thump you want, then tune the resonate head to the pitch that you want.

 

Thank you.

[qwertyMan]

It also depends on what heads you're using. If you're using an el-cheapo head, then any way you tune it, you're kick will probably sound like a big tom. If you're using a good kick head, and have tuned it properly, and it still sounds like a big tom, try putting a small pillow or towel in the drum.

[Noise...]

It also depends on what heads you're using. If you're using an el-cheapo head, then any way you tune it, you're kick will probably sound like a big tom. If you're using a good kick head, and have tuned it properly, and it still sounds like a big tom, try putting a small pillow or towel in the drum.

 

They're cheap-o stock heads on a Pacific EZ. You probably can't get cheaper.

 

[theDan]

 

Isn't there just a way to tune a kick so that it has a nice, punchy "thump" and no ringing? My Gretsch kick sounds that way and doesn't have anything inside it. However, I can't go by how my Gretsch is tuned, because I don't know how it's tuned. The shop I bought heads for it at offered free tuning and setup for all drums, so I just had them do it. They did a great job, but I have no idea how my drums are tuned. Is there just a default kick tuning to use as a basic setting to work from? Should the batter head be fairly tight? The way it is now, it just sounds like a big, resonant tom. I want it to sound like a punchy, deep kick. Can anyone help?

 

 

If you want to get it to sound like your gretsch set you can just feel the head about an inch away from the lugs and press down to get a feel of the tension, then try to replicate that tension over to your other bass drum.

[Noise...]

If you want to get it to sound like your gretsch set you can just feel the head about an inch away from the lugs and press down to get a feel of the tension, then try to replicate that tension over to your other bass drum.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try that now.

[Nick the DSM]

um, tune tighter, dude. maybe thrown in the towel or blanket, a pillow muffles it too much for my taste.

[Jarick]

 

detune the batter head until you get the attack or thump you want, then tune the resonate head to the pitch that you want.

 

 

Don't you hate it when someone posts a great response above you?

 

I'll try to elaborate:

 

Beater head controls attack and rebound

Resonant head controls pitch and boom

Muffling controls overtones and sustain

 

Obviously there is some interplay, but I typically tune both heads really low, tighten the beater head until I get the rebound that I like, then tighten the resonant head until it hits the pitch I want, then throw in a towel if the heads are too noisy/ringy.

[2xBass]

Some heads are just more ringy than others, what kind you got?

[Noise...]

Some heads are just more ringy than others, what kind you got?

 

Like I said above, they're just the cheap-o stock heads that aside from being cheap stock heads, they're also old and beat to shit.

 

I've tried everything - I'm thinking it's just that the heads are shit.

[dajini]

I've got the {censored}tiest heads imaginable on my {censored}ty bass drum... sounds decent enough when I tightened the batter side head to the point where it gave me the best rebound for faster playing, and the resonant head a bit past where all the wrinkles go away, and also stuffed a pillow horizontally inside so it touches both heads.

[boxofrocks]

Took me awhile to find the perfect tuning for mine, this is what I did...

Push down in the center of the batter head with your hand, with lugs finger tight turn each key till wrinkles move, stop, go all the way around like that, let go and wrinkles go away. Give it one or two full turns all the way around.

Next. Go to reso side and do the same without the extra turns.

[Noise...]

Took me awhile to find the perfect tuning for mine, this is what I did... Push down in the center of the batter head with your hand, with lugs finger tight turn each key till wrinkles move, stop, go all the way around like that, let go and wrinkles go away. Give it one or two full turns all the way around. Next. Go to reso side and do the same without the extra turns.

 

So the batter head will actually be fairly tight? I've only been tightening it about 1 1/4 turns past finger tight on each lug.

 

I'll leave the reso side looser and try tightening the batter head up.

 

Might as well learn on a beater kit.

[drumtechdad]

I like to find the lowest real tone the reso will play. Start from finger tight and raise the tension in very small increments, 1/8 turn or less. When the head turns from a flappy, papery sound to a real note, stop.

 

Then start at that point or a little higher on the batter, and keep increasing the tension until you get the attack/fatness ratio you want.

[boxofrocks]

So the batter head will actually be fairly tight? I've only been tightening it about 1 1/4 turns past finger tight on each lug. I'll leave the reso side looser and try tightening the batter head up. Might as well learn on a beater kit.

 

Yeah I have my batter a couple turns tighter than the reso so I get the attack I want. Then the low tone comes from the reso, so I tune it as low as I can without sounding like crap, just like drumtechdad said. In small rooms, I put a pillow against the outside of the reso head while practicing, playing live in big rooms, everything goes wide open...

[devinw]

Evans EMAD. Tune 'er JAW (just after wrinkles)!