How do YOU tune a snare drum?

I know this has been done before, but I'm bored.

Lets's discuss all matters snare drum. Wires and heads too, since that's every bit a part of tuning as putting a key to a lug.

Mine? First of all, I ALWAYS use coated single plies on the batter. They just sound the best. Don't really matter what brand, they all sound the same. On the snare side, I've pretty much gone to diplomat weight snare sides [i suppose Evans 200's are the same].

I always use a decent wire. The shallower the depth, the less wires. On a 4.5-5" drum, I'd probably use 8 or 10 strand Puresound Customs. On a deeper drum like a 6.5, I'll use 16's to 20's. Currently on my two favorite snares, a 5" Acro and a 6.5" Tempus, I'm using Canopus Vintage Wires on the two. Chrome [bright] on the Acro, and Unplated [dry] on the Tempus. I always attach wires with 5/8" grosgrain ribbon. I ditch whatever comes in the package. Using good quality wires will allow you to use less of them to get the same sound you'd get from a higher count generic snappy snare. Using less wires is important because ideally you want the width of the wires to be less than the width of the snare bed. Closer to half or 2/3 the width. They'll work better this way, and won't choke out the reso head as easily.

As for tuning the heads... I tried the drum dial thing for about a month once. I quickly found out that I can get the same results by just using a mallet or stick, and a drum key. AND, I could do it in about 1/10th the time.

When it comes to the snare side... I crank that bastard until it screams. Then I tighten it some more until it passes out from pain. So basically, I tighten it until I think it can't be tightened any more, then put another half turn on all the lugs just to be sure. You'll feel like you are going to break the head, or a lug or a tension rod... but I've never broken anything this way. EVER. Tightened this way, the snare side will be ultra sensative. The wires will sing on it. I use a firm mallet to tap tune each lug to the same pitch.

On the batter side, it generally only takes about 1.5 turns to get it snug enough for a deep pitch. A half crank on all the rods will make it crack. One crank and it will sound like a marching snare. I use a stick to check the pitch of all the lugs on the batter side.

If I put any muffling on it at all... it's only a piece of moongel. Anywhere from 1/4 of a piece to a full piece. But usually a half is what I use. If the snare has an internal muffler, I don't use it.

very well.

medium tension up top, tight at the bottom, loose snares, very very sensitive... it is a Tama hammered steal 12'' by 3.5'', beautiful drum... very dry, and raw sounding.

I don't tune them, I tension them.

snare side first, pretty taut. add snares (whatever's on there, frankly) usually medium tight, I don't mind if they flop about a bit sometimes.

batter head (1-ply coated) gets cranked until it sounds idiotic, then I back it off and tap around with a stick, fork or twig (whatever's in hand) until I'm reasonably sure it's pretty even all around. play for a minute, if it isn't offensive I'm good to go.

Medium to medium tight up top, single ply coated unmuffled. I like some ring but not to the point where it starts taking over the drum sound.

About one to two steps higher on bottom, 3-mil snare head. Enough to get some good rebound and feel and brighten up the snare sound.

16 strand bronze snares, tensioned a little sloppy.

Compliments:

interesting stuff about the wires Chees-o.

Heads:

top: evans J1, coated Ambassador

bottom: lightweight whatever

Muffling:

none

Tension:

i find i crank the snare side until i'm afraid of it breaking and shards of plastic film and wire will fly in my face. then i back off a little (1/4 turn) on all but the lugs by the snare bed.

batter is usually way up there, too. i'm not much of a deep sounding snare guy. i like crack! this goes up until it snap crackles and pops like Rice Crispies and pop-rocks. let that sit for a while, then bring it way down, then tune up to some high pitch, and mak sure it's even pitched all around.

Wires:

the wire tension get fiddles with quite a bit.

If i'm un-mic'd and trying to cut through amps with back beats, i'll back the tension way off until the snares are just touching the head. this is to let the drum breathe more after each stroke.

If the tune has more air to it, i'll tighen up the wires so they don't rattle so much, but their still a bit loose.

If i'm playing bop/swing then the wires are pretty tight into the head. This dries out the drum a little and adds a bit a articulation.

If i'm playin' the bossa/smooooth stuff, i drop the wires off.

There's also one tune that i've been playing for a while that has a quieter section without wires and a more aggro section with wires (To Kill Ya, by the Aqua Velvets). i usually tension the wires to just slap the reso head on a hard it, but they hang loose on lighter hits.

Wishes:

i'm interested in getting a nice low mellow tuning for my maple dw, but i gotta fix the lugs first. grrr.

I tune my snares differently

I have various models so here they are and their respective tensions.

6x13 Pearl Joey Jordison Model: Batter/Snare Side is tuned fairly tight,almost to the point of choking,then i back off 1/4 turn. Remo Black Suede/Ambassador Snare Side

6x14 Pork Pie Acrylic: Both heads tuned med-tight to allow the full characteristics of the acrylic shell to sing through. Evans Power Center/Remo Ambassador Snare Side.

6x10 PDP Steel Shell: Both heads tuned tight to acheive bright poppy timbale tones and crisp snare response. Ambassador Batter/Snare side.

5x14 Riolo Custom Maple Shell: Med-Tight with a Remo Emporor X Batter for a tight controlled,clean sound without a bunch of screaming overtones.

Snare wire tension for each snare depends on the song.

tight....

im still trying to figure out my snare though, actually the whole kit. Its my first nice kit and tuning it is making my head spin!

Batter: Remo coated Ambassador

Resonant: Evans 300 hazy

Wires: Ludwig L1930 (thin 20 strand) mounted with Ludwig string

Am I the only one who doesn't crank the crap out of their resonant head? I always tune the resonant head lower than the batter head. Usually somewhere in the vicinity of an A, but sometimes higher if the batter head is worn out.

In theory, a resonant head should be tighter than a batter head for it to work optimally. The batter has the benefit of a stick striking it to vibrate it. All a reso has is air. Significantly less force. A tight head vibrates better than a loose one does.

Well said,Cheese! When one stops and thinks about it,your theory makes perfect sense!

Say whaa?? I think, in theory, you would get the most sympathetic vibration from having the resonant tuned exactly the same as the batter.

I've always found that the tighter you tune the resonant head, the more choked it becomes. Starts off "toonk", then turns into "tink", and finally nothing but a "tick" where it's not even making a note anymore. Listen to the sustain of a resonant head and how it gets shorter and shorter the higher you tune it. It's such a thin head, it only needs a tiny amount of tension to get up to pitch compared to a batter head. When the resonant is too tight, the snares have to be cranked tighter to settle into the bed, choking it even more. I'm not saying you can't get a good sound with it, I know you can and I have many times. I just prefer to tune it lower because that's how I get the sound I want.

Depends on the gig I suppose. Christmas party at Cern say. If that baby don't hit the numbers just right, you won't get asked back.

now I want to try messing with my snare tomorow

usually just a coated single ply for my 14x4 maple with triple flanged hoops. Currently using the J1, no muffle. I tune with two keys across from another until I find a sound I like. I then use the Drum Dial to get a reading and balance all the lugs. Right now it's 87 batter, 82 reso. Snares medium to loose so a lot of action can come from the drum. I usually don't muffle but occasionally depending on the room, usually with just a cymbal felt lightly taped to the rim.

Well, the responses so far indicate a predictable and fairly obvious result: there is no one-size-fits-all tuning scheme that works for every drum and every style of music.

And Cheese, your notion that "a tight head vibrates better than a loose one does" is at best counter-intuitive. As el zilcho indicates, you get the most vibration out of a reso head that is tuned the same as the batter; tuning batter and reso differently reduces vibration, and raising the tension enough will progressively choke the drum, not "increase vibration."

Which is not to say your observations are wrong, just that there may be another explanation.

In any case and in my experience, the crank-the-reso-until-it-bleeds manner of tuning works with some drums and not others. My bronze sensitone sounds like {censored} tuned this way, and it doesn't gain sensitivity this way, it loses it. It sounds best to me--and responds best in an objective sense--when tuned with the reso around A and the batter around C#. But I have had good results with the tight-reso method with other drums.

For the record, I use coated Ambassador batters exclusively. (Once again, with all due respect Cheese, all single-ply batters do not sound the same--quite the contrary, and I've tried most of them though not yet the Attack model.) The Ambassador batter is not necessarily better than others, it just gives the sound I want.

I use Diplomat resos on some snares (ones that need drying out) and Ambassador resos on the rest.

And after having tried several (but not all) aftermarket snare wires I've settled on the Pearl ultrasound SN1420I, a 20 strand model with unplated wires and bronze end pieces, as the one to beat on my particular snares.

But as we have seen, my methods--and the sound I want--are not universally applicable and that's probably a very good thing!

Edit: Oh, and I'm going to try grosgrain ribbon with some new wires I'm installing soon, sounds like a great idea! The cords are too fumbly and the plastic thingies are too stiff. I think Gatzen recommends something similar.

I find that loose resonant heads tend to make my snares (7x13 and 7x14) sound mushy and poorly defined. The snares tend to buzz more and it becomes more of a DONK than a CRACK. On my old 5x14 steel snare I liked it a little looser to open up the snare sound a bit more. I typically don't like a ton of sustain out of a snare drum.

Depends upon which one of my snares I'm tuning. . .

For the bigass Pearl Maple 8x14 freefloater, I tune the reso at least two full turns of the key tighter than the batter (Coated Ambassador on the batter, clear Ambassador for the reso).

For my 6x14 Supraphonic, both heads are tuned almost to the same pitch, w/ the reso being maybe a quarter turn tighter. . .i like the "thonk" it gives. .. you can hear this one on this clip [YOUTUBE]Zka96-CxVbA[/YOUTUBE] and on this one [YOUTUBE]c_G7MAaT9P0[/YOUTUBE]

for my 5x13 Gretch hybrid "freefloater" (maple bearing edges w/ a brass insert in between), both heads are cranked tight and as close in pitch as possible. . .cracks like an old lady's bones on an icy sidewalk. ..

for the 5x14 ludwig club. . . tight batter, loose reso for a more classic tone (to my ears)

for the vintage Pearl steel (read "late 70s early 80s POS") . . .well. . .i'm turning this one into a table lamp, so . .. nevermind. . .

Q: "How do YOU tune a snare drum?"

A: Usually with a drum key.

I'm holding out for a 11x16.

el zilcho -

On my current main SD, (Pearl D. Chambers 6.5x14) I think it almost always sounds better with the reso lower than the batter. Coincidentally, the last time I checked it with the local shop's Drum Dial, the values were close to yours - around 85 (DeJohnette batter)/80 (Hazy 300 reso)/no muffling.

I have an written an article and created a video lesson to show/explain how I tune a Snare Drum.