I Need Tuning Help!!!!!!!

I have a Pearl Rhythm Traveller kit that has up till recently been set up as an electronic kit. I bought some cymbals and decided to set them up with the real heads.

Since they are so shallow, the methods for fundamental tuning pitch don't seem to work.

The middle and low toms both have a rather high pitched ring...if I tune them up to match the strike to the ring, they are way too high sounding. If I tune an octave low of the ring, the heads are too loose to produce the proper bounce.

What am I doing wrong???

Try getting thicker heads like Remo Pinstripes or Evans G2's.

Just tune to a pitch that is related - you don't need to go down a whole octave. If the heads are tuned to a complimentary, harmonic tone - they'll still active the shell.

Remember, with a kit composed of smaller depth shells, the tone is going to be produced primarily by the heads anyway - the shells have a lesser role because there's phsically less of them.

good luck.

See link - You have to forget conventional tuning methods with a shell depth that shallow. I'd suggest a head like the Powerstroke3 or Aquaraian Studio-X with a builtin muffle to it. 2-ply heads like an emperor or g2 are not always that muffled, they can actually have quite a bit of overtone to them when tuned high. The fundemental of the shell is somewhat meaningless in this case.

The depth of the shell will always give you more of a high-pitched ring with those. Just remove both heads, tune the bottoms to the pitch you want, then put the batters on and repeat.

The nice thing about those is that the tone will be inherently short, but also very resonant for the short duration, sort of naturally gated with the right heads and a tweak here and there.

Thanks guys!!! :D