Drummer's Review Guide To Tom Tuning
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- Опубліковано 3 чер 2019
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In this special video we take a look at how we approach tuning for all of the toms we feature here at Drummers Review. Filmed at Middle Farm studio, April 2019. For more info, including a comprehensive guide to tuning ranges for different sized toms and tuning suggestions for different kit configurations, head over to www.drummersreview.com.
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If Nolly would explain how to cook pasta, how to change tires from a car or how to pick the right outfit for the beach, I would listen, too. ;) Great content, guys. Thanks for all the work.
How to pick a fight with Nolly
@@ssonicdeafmonkey 😂😂😂 good one,I could fall asleep listening to him he just has one of those voices, very monotone.
@@claystaggs8908 couldn’t disagree more, he has dynamics and color but just a soft timbre. Gentle docile tones
Used this approach on my own kit. Got a 10,12 and 16" so I tuned to an D, A and C. Sounds amazing !!!
I also tried the perfect 4th method. It will give you a shorter, more attack focused sound with less overtones.
To achieve the final pitch you just have to tune the resonant head to that exact pitch and the batter head a perfect 4th lower.
So in my case this would mean:
10": D (Reso), A (Batter)
12": A (Reso), E (Batter)
16": C (Reso), G (Batter)
This is hands down the best video on drum tuning I've ever seen. And I've seen quite a few!
dunno if its ever been said before
but your man nnolly
seriously takes care of his skin
Excellent video! I’ve watched tons of drum tuning videos, and this one takes the cake. Thank you!
As others have posted, best tom tuning guide I've seen!
Just tried this method on a 10" tom (Gretsch Catalina maple) and it produced a beautiful sounding D. I experimented a bit with the method of loosening & retightening the lug. Since there are so many frequencies coming out of the drum before it starts to sing, I was having a tough time discerning the change of each lug at the lowest possible pitches. I found the following helped my ear a lot: I fired up Adobe Audition, but you can do this in any app that performs a real-time FFT and displays it on the screen. In Audition, there is a real-time frequency analysis window in the Advanced Mixing Workspace view. It does require some zooming in/out to make it display in a useful way for drums (zoom to 0-1kHz/logarithmic view, adjust FFT size to as high as your computer can handle and still update really fast). By tapping and adjusting each lug just as shown in the video, I could also watch the FFT window and actually watch the peak move left as I loosened and right as I tightened. This helped ensure I didn't tune it too tight, I could literally watch the fundamental and overtones coming out of each head, to and to a large extent for each lug. I don't think I'll need to be this exact in the future but it was super helpful in training my ear for what tones to be listening for (e.g., the "chasing" mentioned in the video), I recognized where my ear/brain was getting confused. Oh, and the other thing that was helpful was actually watching the video while Nolly taps on the drums and adjusts the lugs and watching the FFT respond, so I could see precisely what I needed to replicate.
First, those tom roll downs he plays in the beginning clip are just squeaky clean, well done. Second, thanks for putting so much time and effort into educating the community. From the production to the actual content your videos are of the highest quality, and I always end up learning more than I could've imagined. What a wonderful channel!
This is by far the best tuning guide I've ever come across, I keep coming back to it, same with the snare tuning video. When can we expect a bass drum tuning video? Need the pro tips for that thunderous kick sound ;)
I agree. I've tried several different methods and having a 'system' like this as helped me be more consistent.
Finally got around to trying this...and it really works. Not groundbreaking per se, but explained in a way that makes perfect sense. And since implementing it, I've recorded the best sounding drums I've ever done. And nothing has changed apart from the tuning! Well, other than I no longer have to use any sort of dampening on my toms - which I previously thought was impossible.
YYYYYYYEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!!!! I’ve been waiting for this!!!!! Thank you guys!!!!!
Ah, finally....Been waiting for this one. Well explained. Thank you.
I refer back to this video often! Very well done!
After watching this video and really taking the time to try this method, I can happily say that this is the best my kit has ever sounded.
I’m usually not much for more complicated tuning methods but I simply cannot stress how effective this technique is for me after trying it. I took my 12” Tom and tried this out recently and I literally have never heard my Toms sound better. You absolutely must try this and thanks so much guys for posting this amazing video tutorial!
Top tiers video as usual! A video on your method for tuning kick drum would be a must!
This was a really helpful and musical approach to tuning.
Thanks for the information.
This is very similar to the method I have been using for probably a decade, I was tuning the resonant head to the note I wanted (technically an octave higher) and then the batter head 5 semitones lower. But I saw this video and I had to try this method, and it works!
I might try doing this from now on because sometimes my batter head would be just a bit too low so sometimes I’d hear that wobble of the note, this seems like it fixes that by having a better balance between the two heads.
Cheers!! 🍻
I've known about this video for a while, but it was only today that I put it into practice. I can absolutely confirm that this method works! We have a lowly Mapex Meridian Birch kit at work, and I could never get the rack toms to have any sustain to their note, as it would just die out really quickly. From the spare time I had today, I tried it out on the second rack tom (the 12 inch) and got the best sound I've ever gotten from it. Okay, it's not going to easily compete against higher quality kits, but the sound is more than useable under the mic considering how cheap the kit is. Thanks, Nolly!
Man I love his drumming!!!!!
Followed it step by step for my 10 12 14. Sounds good. As you say the dimensions are not spread enough to get a wide tuning range but I think these settings are the best you’ll get. Thanks for the well put together video and supporting info.
Cool, i usually make them the same, but since I’ve only recently started getting into studio recording, imma try this method out and see how it goes.
One of the most helpful tuning guide! Great explanation! I would be really happy if you make a bass drum tuning guide!
the way the drum really starts to sing around 4:25 is so pleasing. yamaha RC drums always a treat
true
The science is convincing. Thanks Nolly!
Thanks you for letting us view the comprihensive drum tuning guide on your website.
Both toms sound great...But that floor tom is just gorgeous!
Greatly appreciated! Thanks and Blessings!!!
Great job guys!!!!
Always struggled with Tom tuning and this got me the results I’ve always been looking for. My favorite part is you can tune multiple kits the same to compare the sound of the kits independent from tuning... I did this and discovered that I prefer my $700 Yamaha stage customs over my mapex Saturn Vs which cost 3x the price. Lol. So now I can sell the saturns and this tutorial just saved me a lot of money!
Some great tips in this video.
Oh wow! I'll have to try that!
I don't own my own kit, but I definitely dig this guide, if ever I get my own kit, then this would be a nice guide for me to use.. 🥁🤘
Thank you so much for that guide, I finally managed to get a good tuning out of my drum 😍
Good you also do it for the bass drum?
Great job!!!
That floor tom sounds amazing
Cool video! It's actually quite the same method the tune-bot producers use for their High-Resonance Setting. If I check your final tom hit on the 10" tom, you get very nicely to the D3 you wanted with 146Hz.
If you are into math: The tune-bot producers says, to reach a fundamental pitch you have to go by 1.6 up to 1.9 of that fundamental frequency you want. By going one half step down from D4 (one octave higher) to C#4 as you do, you are on a ratio of 1.875. Then you are going a minor third down for the batter (ratio is 6/5), so you tune to 1.875/(6/5) = 1.56 the fundamental. For the high-resonance tuning the tune-bot says use 1.85 and the other head 1.5, which is quite close to what you use.
Very nice to the point video. Love the note references. I used a similar method for 8 10 12 14 16 toms on a Sonor s classix great results but again tweaking any drum that wasn’t happy. Once I got my DW collectors ssc 10 12 14 20 the shell notes are B D# A G# kick I tune the reso’s 10 b 12 e 14 A# and then tune batters to where they sound good open note even intervals which is around 6 semi tones between. 10 batter is tuned A open note is c# 12 batter is d open note is g 14 batter is A-A# open note is C-C# so toms are 6 apart and floor is close to 7 apart. Bass drum reso is d# and batter is F so 2 semi tones apart and open note is G six semitones lower then floor. The bass drum for a 20 sounds like a monster it’s a vlx+ dw pillow just touching reso barely and power stroke batter that’s it. The kit is very in tune with itself. I tried this on my Gretsch renown same sizes and got very similar results. Love all of your videos thank you for the information and knowledge.
Great video thanks. What app are you using? I like the way the pitch fades in and continues once you stop pressing! Thanks.
thanks guys, how about a video on tuning concert toms?
I think that this is a great video, and I also would like to see how you do for a 12 tom and 14 floor setup!
Yeah I'd like to hear what they recommend for this too. For me personally, I like a perfect fifth interval for a 2-tom setup, A#, D#. For a bop tuning, I'd take each one up a perfect fourth to D# G#.
I think it's in the article on their website? drummersreview.com/gear-reviews/drummers-review-guide-to-tom-tuning/
e.g., 2 up, 1 down:
* 10, 12, 14 - D, A, E
My drum teacher thought me the rezo head half pitch higher then batter head. But I found out for a full rock sound it's best to have both heads tuned exactly the same. It really thumps.
This is an amazing tuning guide, and this method WORKS. What I'm so curious to know is - what is it about the combination of a C# and an A# that makes a final note of D? If you play those two notes together on a keyboard, it doesn't make a D. I'm not music theory guy, but I do know drums...thank you Nolly!
A polarising mode of tuning toms with different heads at different pitches. That's why the pitch bends down cos the top, slacker head is the last thing heard. Kind of like having a longer slacker vocal chord vibrating against a shorter tighter vocal chord. The comparison should be made with a tom with two identical heads at the same pitch, then the drum is liberated to produce its free-est tone. ! Also turn the drum on its side to tap both ends to compare same notes, then hit when holding in mid air compared with on the mount. Tuning out of the dead spot of the mount might also be further required! The Yamaha 9000 is a great benchmark for sure using thick birch, like original Tama Superstars. Keep up the comparison videos.
I like your method man. What would you Tun a kit of 10,12,16 to? I tried th 10 and it sounded the best I’ve ever gotten on that size drum. Thanks
great tutorial where did you download your pitch pipe from?
Fantastic video.. and now I want a Recording Custom! :'(
I use this same system, although it gets a little complicated when you tune the really high notes I.e. for jazz
Hey guys! I really like this system of tuning. I found for me to get a consistent G out of a 13” pearl decade maple kit I ended up tuning the resonant head a whole step down and the resonant a minor 3rd below that. However, I found this to be on the high side for me even when I went for the F# below that. Likewise, the drum it self seemed perhaps to resist this tuning never coming alive though resonating fine it seemed a bit subdued compared to others I’ve used the same head combination but different tuning methods. Do you have any suggestions or pointers that might help me bring about a deeper more “tympanic/vintage” type sound from this drum? Regards.
My method is to set the drum top down so that the batter head is muted. I tune the bottom head to my target pitch, but an octave higher than I want the tom to sound. Then I usually drop the top and clear it and just slowly bring it up to the target pitch. This usually creates about a 4th between the top and bottom. But what it does alow you do do is simply stop at any point that you think the druo sounds good. You can stop lower for a less resonant sound or go all the way to the target pitch for a really long sustain. The reason I teach people this to start is that it always gets a good sound and it's really easy to do. You don't have to think about different nots on different heads as much.
Any advice on tuning a 22” bass drum? Is there a certain note/interval you think sounds best?
can you do this for the Bassdrum too? that would be nice!!! :)
What notes would you recommend for a 1 up and 2 down tom configuration: 14x12, 16x16 and 18x16?
I would love to get your thoughts on a kit with sizes 10,14 and 16 inch toms. Top and bottom pitches if you could. Thanks.
How about tuning the bottom to a perfect fourth or fifth from the top head?
Can you give recommendations about pitches for another sizes, what relativity to each other. Thanks!
Is there any link to the pitch list that Nollu mentions at the end of the vid?
Love your videos. Such great info! But I thought if the first tom is same or close to snare it’s going to set it off. If snare is D. And the tom is D. And it causes excessive buzz. Is it better to raise or lower the tom. ? ESP if I like the snare at a D. I guess I could lower snare to a C note. If I like the tom at D. Wow. A lot of letters.
Any thoughts on buying an English,Premier Yamaha for $300? It has hydraulic Evans heads on it,so I can’t get an accurate feel for its capabilities...only liking coated batter heads when it comes to sound. The hydraulic heads look awesome,but sound dead,unless on a bass without a pillow.
Was curious what you had for recommended 1U-1D tuning and it seems backwards to me. Recommended interval for 12/16 is fourth apart and 13/16 is a fifth? Shouldn't it be the other way around considering the tuning range of each?
I know bass drum is pretty easy. But I would love to get Nolly’s perspective and approach to bass drum tuning.
When you says the reso should be 1/2 lower tha fundamental, are you saying in the same octave or in the upper octave, and it will be not "1/2 lower" but a "Major 7 upper"? So, for a D3 10"Tom, the Reso/Batter should be C#3/A#2 (138,5/116,5Hz) or C#4/A#3 (277/233Hz)?
What would be a good pitch for a 14” floor tom and a 12” rack tom?
I'll usually tune the resonant head a Perfect 5th higher than the batter head on both toms and snares. Ross Garfield, the Drum Doctor, legendary studio drum tech for Nirvana, Chili Peppers, Metallica, tunes the resonant head a minor 3rd to a Perfect 5th LOWER than the top head. Both methods produce a similar decay/pitch bend but I think the resonant head being tuned higher than the batter sounds better in the microphones.
Tighter reso head will give a pitch bend high to low. Dee ooo deee ooo. Reso head tighter will give the reverse effect, low to high. That ones not easy to spell out.
What note reference would be best 12 14 16?
I was unsuccessful finding that guide to tuning ranges for different tom sizes on your website. Please help.
How do you do this to make the 10x8 to 12x9 to 16x16 to sound like a chord tune the note D-F#-D?
Is it the same principle for Kick ?
Since the question was asked, I use a Tune-Bot for amazing results every time. I was never very good at tuning but now my drums sound professionally tuned.
I enjoyed the video nonetheless. You can never have too much knowledge when it comes to this kind of thing.
My stage yamaha kit from the 90s sounds just like this.
Would love to see the fine tuning piece, this is what drives me nuts. Getting these overtones to be in tune.
hi Nolly
I have a tama superstar hyperdive maple duo snare that I am having trouble tuning
can you help me? thank you
What pitch tuning app is being used?
What pitch app is he using?
Is that a Behringer b5?
I've always hated the flappy sound of a floor tom tuned too low, but they also sound terrible when tuned too high. Heard that same flappy sound here, so if it's good enough for Nolly then I guess I can be ok with it lol
This is how I quickly discovered my PDP (Pacific drums and percussion) kit was rubbish. The toms and kick would not tune out a "boing" sound. Turns out all 13 shells had badly cut bearing edges. I'm really sick of bad quality control.
To be honest, unless you're buying from Tama or Yamaha's low end line, all other mass produced kits tend to have bad bearing edges. There's videos of people testing out new Gretsch mid range kits with the same problems. It seems the best bet is to buy a cheaper kit and find a local drum repairer that'll true up the bearing edges for you. And keep doing this every few years because you may hit the edge accidentally. Short of S-hoops, the bearing edges can't be protected all that much.
I didn't found in drummersreview.com that guide to tuning range with different configurations, but anyway, I use the same approach in my toms, with the reso head 3 semitones higher than the batter,and it works well for me. Regarding the intervales between toms, when I use 4 or 3 toms, I use a third or a fourth, when I use 2 toms, a fourth or a fifth (maybe it's depending on the mood, I don't know, but all of them works well for me).
Gotta love the drummers talking about "perfect" 5ths. As if they would tune that accurately.
do the drums sound good though?
@@ConnorMcCollTGN in this video? yes, i think personally, they sound good. my own drums? meh, still WIP. i dug myself through almost the whole evans tom head catalogue and i did not really find heads i really liked. the generas (all of them) are cool but back to remo pinstripe clears for now.
The last ones i put on were the evans hydraulic which I passionately hated. "Wet sound from the 70s" my ass. Fuckers sounded like shoeboxes.
I really like the evans reverse dot coated snare head though.
I usually tune my 12" tom to the pitch i have in mind and then a fourth down for the 13" an a fifth down from there for my 16" FT although i do not tune it dead on. i try to keep it musical in the way i hear it in my mind. i might get a drumdial a try some time.
Edit: went back to 2play clear remos, lifes good. Still like evans on snare though. Getting really fat tonez with cuts at 700-800/1000-1200 and boosts at 100-280ish
Ezekiel Hugentobler If you have quality drums and heads it’s VERY possible to tune to accurate intervals between heads.
@@Assimilator702 the joke is that the difference between a "perfect" 5th and an equal tempered 5th is less than 2 cents.
@@-........ I thought "perfect" is simply referring to the note interval, not the tuning accuracy. Am I just missing a joke somewhere?
Where is that list? I need it
I would love to know what you think the corresponding notes are for a 8”,12”, 14” and 16” head, top and bottom.
I didn’t see where you referenced your guide.
What has been your experience in tuning drums with die-cast rims?
They can be tougher to balance out since each lug has more effect on its neighbouring lugs due to the increased hoop stiffness. It highlights any deficiencies in the drum shell roundness and bearing edge execution as a result, especially on smaller drums. Once they're in tune they tend to hold a little better though
I'm curious if you've had trouble with this method on any DW drums or Gretch drums. I used to use a very similar approach and thought it to be the "best" method, universal to all drums. Then I got my first DW Collector's Maple kit and the method did not work at all. It produced a thin, boxy, dead tone with overtones. At first, I was scared, thinking I'd just invested a lot of money into drums that sound terrible. Through experimenting I found that DW toms need the bottom head to remain quite low in order to sing properly with no need to hold to an interval with the top head. As long as the bottom head is super loose, DW toms will sound great. I find it strange that John Good & co. do not make this known. I feel many of the DW haters out there just don't know about this tuning quirk. ....Whenever I've played a Gretch kit, neither approach has worked. Gretch toms seem to resonate out of control with wild overtones no matter what I do to them. And the 5-lug drums just make me go cross-eyed. Would love to see a video of your method not working on a certain kit and getting a walkthrough on what you did to find a better way that worked for that kit. Cheers!
I think it could be not a matter of being a dw, but what dw. I mean, dw uses different shell constructions (hvlt, vlt, x shells, vlx...), and this can inffluence the final pitch resulting on two pieces of the same sizes and woods, and their general sound. Or maybe it's about the bearing edges, I don't know. The point with dw is that unlike many other brands, they use a variety of shell constructions and sometimes it can be a little tricky to chose the one that fits you if you don't know well how it works and there's no one there to advice you properly. I don't own a dw collectors but I've played and tunned a few, and I've found differences among them, even being the same woods and sizes... I've found some of them quite easy to tune, and others a little harder. I don't know, it's just a thought, maybe I'm wrong.
About Gretsch, well, I've never tunned one so I don't know how easy/difficult can it be to get a nice sound out f them, but I agree in disliking that 5 lugs system...
@@isihernandez9752 The different grain orientations do not affect what I'm talking about. I have noticed that older DW backline kits as well as floor model DW kits that have been on a sales floor for a long time (kits that have been abused) tend to be near impossible to tune because they have gone out of round. DW shells are thinner than most and even with the reinforcement rings, they can warp under improper care. Thanks for weighing in!
@@pheachshorbet916 well, I don't know, it was just a thought because I've played and tuned a few and not always I've found what you said. But except for one or two of them, owned by friends of mine, they were at studios or backline in gigs, so I don't know much about them, their construction or the state of their shells (apart from the exterior finish).
Anyway, if they've lost their proper round shape, yes, it's almost impossible to tune them properly, you're right, but that could explain about those drums that have been abused that you mention, not the brand new? that you bought. In that case it's supposed to exist a warranty and you could ask for a replacement or a refund, isn't it?
As far as I'm concerned, I own a 20 years old Mapex Orion, maple thin shells (5.1 mm on toms slightly thicker on bass drum... maybe 7 mm, I don't remember right now), with 45° bearing edges and no reinforcement rings. A very standard and normal construction, as you can see, but high quality that gives me the sound I like and need, with 0 problems so far. I mean, never ever a problem in 20 years of playing and gigging, mostly rock (I'm careful and don't abuse it anyway). I bought them brand new with a warranty for life concerning the shells, but so far, 20 years later, they're still in a perfect shape.
Keep in mind DW drums have a much finer threading than standard rods. Not sure this would cause an issue, you just have to turn the rods more times to get same tension as a standard rod. Side note, their rods are machined stainless steel, really nice.
1:45 "...the actual pitch that the tom gives when struck is not that closely related to the individual pitches of each head"
To me this is the most important part. It seems that the inexperienced drum tuner (raises hand) assumes that you simply want the batter and resonant head to be at exactly the pitch that you want the tom to produce- and that you're expected to use tons of muting tools (gel, rings). So it's interesting magic seeing you get the tone by tuning the heads almost an octave above, and a few semitones apart.
So for instance he recommends tuning a 13” Tom to an (F#, G) would you tune each lug on the batter to an F# & each lug on reso head to a G?
Greg Elchert what about a 16 & 18” floor Tom?
Hi, what would the guide be for 1 up 2 down: 12, 14, 16? Thanks.
They have an example for 2/2 that goes D A E C, so in this case you could just take out the 10" tom and go A E C.
Literally what I wanted to know so thanks!
Very nice video. Is it a chart for 10-12-16 inch toms. Like which tone for reso and batter for the 10 inch and so on. What app do you for find the tone?
So reso for the 10 is c# and batter a#?
You talk about sorting out the pitch wobble later on, but don't cover it in the video. What's involved here?
Just going around the lugs a couple more times to get the pitches completely even.
Oh 1 forth lower than the other
Bass drum tuning, pleeease! You already skipped that in your CreativeLive lesson (;_ ; ).
To be honest...just go as low as possible, go a little up on the batter and even a little higher on the reso.
And boom, done
Finger tight, quarter turn past. Dampen. Done. lol
Why does Nick keep playing rim shots on the toms🤦😤
Just to be certain; when you tuned the batter head, it sounded liked it’s way looser than the reso. Is it a minor tenth instead of a minor third scenario we’re looking at?
Yep, it's in the octave lower
Adam Nolly Getgood I have applied your method on my 2007 Tama superstar custom (24;12;13;16;18) and it worked fine with only a minor third. I will try the minor tenth soon.
@@simaojoseph I think you misunderstood something. Its 3 steps down from the reso head pitch, and 4 steps down from the target pitch (D)
@@kimseniorb have you read my previous reply?
When did Michael from Vsauce become a drummer?
I'm joking.
Jeff Ocheltree was never been John Bonham’s tech lol
Floortom is tuned too low in relation to the racktom. It lacks tone IMO...
Thanks for the excellent video and your list of recommended tunings(drummersreview.com/gear-reviews/drummers-review-guide-to-tom-tuning/). It's the best help I've found on the web for tom tuning. Do you use different batter-reso intervals for deep vs. shallow toms? When I follow your advice and tune my 7" deep, 10" diameter rack tom with 3 half-steps between batter and reso, it works *perfect*. However, when I do the same on my 13" deep, 13" diameter floor tom it doesn't sound great and I don't get the desired overall tone. The overall tone is about a half-step above the tone of resonant head.
So DW isn't that crazy to say that we should tune in pitch. I'll be damned!
Sound same as hitting plastic
How come the old guy don't talk.
Worst drum tunning