OCTOBAN TUNINGS FOR THE WALL OF DRUMS FOR "THE FINAL TOUR" 2023
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- Howdy All. Here's a quick video I shot using my
GoPro HERO9 Black 5K Waterproof Action Camera
sweetwater.sjv...
that discusses the "OCTOBAN" tuning profile, and setup on Mickey Hart's "Wall Of Drums" for Dead & Co.'s "The Final Tour" 2023. During last year's tour I shared some "tuning tips for octobans", so I figured I'd share the new setup for 2023 as it's a completely different setup, and tuning profile. The goal, however, was still the same. Tune the octobans so they sound good alone, sound good in groups of 4, and as a whole set. All while making sure they are melodically relevant to the key of D which is the fundamental key of "The Beam" that Mickey uses during Drums and Space.
For more in depth tuning lessons, please stream my step by step drum tuning lessons at www.kennysharr... as streaming my lessons helps to support my channel, AND gives you a wicked set of tuning skills to boot. #drumtech #tourlife #tourlifestyle #drums #drummers #drumlessons #octobans #deadandcompany
Side note: The "octobans" used on "The Wall Of Drums" are actually DDRUM Deccabons. You can check them out here at Sweetwater music as shopping via my SW links helps to support my channel.
ddrum Deccabon Fiberglass Set - 10-inch/12-inch, Satin Black
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ddrum Deccabon Fiberglass Set - 14-inch/16-inch, Satin Black
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ddrum Deccabon Fiberglass Set - 18-inch/20-inch, Satin Black
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ddrum Deccabon Fiberglass Set - 22-inch/24-inch, Satin Black
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I so appreciate you posting this update video in addition to the original video on Deccabon tuning for the previous tour. Seriously, thank you so much!
I have a couple follow-up questions for you after watching both videos. What would you say is the "fundamental pitch" for each size drum (i.e. the pitch where the drum is most resonant)? And how much "wiggle room" would you say exists around each drum's fundamental pitch for us to play with (i.e. "tune up" or "tune down") to match the key / color of the pieces we are trying to play?
So like, for example, in both videos you mention that you landed on the range of drum tunings that you did based on the key of the piece that was being played and this was done intentionally, in both cases, so it sounded like the drums actually fit in with the rest of the music the band was playing. Makes total sense.
For the '22 tour video, you mention in the comments that the tuning from 24" -> 10" followed a B Maj scale (B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A# and B).
For the '23 tour video, you state in the video itself that you decided to change things up (new tour, new music, new keys, new tunings). The tunings you indicated for the 24" -> 18" followed the pattern of a B Min scale (B, C#, D and E). For the 16" -> 10", you say that you went with a F Maj scale (F, G, A, Bb) although if you listen to the audio it sounds like the 10" was likely tuned at B natural and not B flat (it sounds like there is a "whole step" between the two highest drums and not a "half step")... but like this is a super pedantic nuance to even call out so let's just say that the 10" in both tours was "somewhere around a B". Ok awesome.
Now comparing the two tuning schemes, it looks like 24", 22", 18" and (maybe) the 10" drum tunings all stayed the same (B, C#, E, and B "ish" respectively). The other drums had a variance in tuning year to year of no more than a half step and in all cases the drums that did change tunings were "tuned down": 20" (D# -> D), 16" (F# -> F), 14" (G# -> G) and 12" (A# -> A).
So now given all of this info (and hopefully getting to the point), I see two potential realities that we could be living in here....
Reality #1: The fundamental pitch of the 24" -> 10" drums follows the pattern of a B-Major scale with "wiggle room" to adjust the tuning + / - one half step around the individual drum's fundamental pitch. This would give a total potential playing range of A# to High C Nat for drums these size.
Reality #2: The fundamental pitch of the 24" -> 10" drums does not follow the pattern of a B-Major scale but rather follows the pattern of some other close by major scale (e.g. C Major or above if you think the fundamental pitch could go higher, B-Flat Major or lower in the opposite case). The tunings you went with obviously didn't align to whatever scale we should be looking at, however that likely didn't matter in the end because we know the pitches you did select had to have fallen into the "wiggle room" for each drum (we know this because your drums sounded great both years). So given all of this, the "wiggle room" in this scenario would have to be at least +/- one whole step from the fundamental, maybe even greater.
So based on your experience tuning these drums daily, which world do you think we're living in? If you noticed that there wasn't a whole lot of room to play with before the drums would start to sound dead, that implies to me that Reality #1 is likely the correct one. If you noticed that you had quite a bit of flexibility to shift pitch, then that suggests Reality #2 is correct. And if that is the case, do you find you have greater capacity to increase the pitches of each drum OR decrease the pitches? More upper end flexibility implies we should be looking at C Maj as a starting point. More lower end flexibility implies B-Flat Maj.
To reiterate, I think your drums sound heckin amazing! None of this is meant to be critical of what you've done here or the choices you made. I see you as honestly kind of a subject matter expert on how to tune these beasts and getting this far into the weeds on all of this is my attempt at trying to pick your brain, learn something in the process and (hopefully) leave some useful info here for the next person to peruse and learn from.
I super appreciate the content that you post! Thanks in advance for taking a look at all of this!
Thank you so much for watching, and commenting. The reason I went with the B or B flat scale is I found the drums at the top range choked out at C, and one couldn’t reach the desired pitch without being way too tight. This scale had the best attack vs tone for the situation. It also blended well with the other instruments. As far as the top drum not being a B I used a live mic at a distance, and pitches shift with distance. In addition it was hot. Really hot so the head might have dropped between tuning, and getting to shoot this vid on the fly.
@@KennySharretts Ok so there you go... it's looking like the most likely scenario is that the fundamentals for these drums live on a B Maj scale. The fundamentals could also live on a A Maj scale, but we can definitely rule out the theory that they live on the C Maj scale or something higher.
Dude you are the best! FWIW after posting this mini essay the other night (sorry about that) I got inspired and shot an email off to DDrum to see if they could confirm. Haven't heard back yet but when I do I'll drop another note here.
Indeed. Know that the lower drums seem to have a bit more range than the upper drums, so they can easily be tuned in C or above, but that top drum did not seem to like C at all. It can be done, and go higher, it’s just very dry/choked. I find the application/tone you are going for tends to dictate pitch.
My Girl and NBC! Solid!🤣
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Got another question for you... this one will be WAY less cerebral than my first question I promise!
In some of your other tuning videos, you show a trick where you apply a piece of folded duct tape to the head of a given drum (either to the top or the bottom) and as a result are able to produce better sound from the drum. Would you recommend the duct tape trick for the Deccabons as well? And if so, should we put the tape on top of the drum head or underneath it?
You could do that, but mostly I leave them open or would use a dot head. If I did underside would make most sense, but creates a conundrum on reaching it for the longer drums.
hey i need some help i just bought 4 rl Octobans 6 INCH - 14”,16”,18”,20” i have no clue how to TUNE THEM ??can you give me a idea ive never has them before
For octobans, unless your ear is perfectly refined, I'd recommend getting both the tunebot and drumdial. In these drums, since the depth determines the note (assuming same head tension for all), you can use the drumdial to tweak the tension until the note you want is reached (check with tunebot). You'll get a lower pitch using a 2 ply head like an emperor but they tend to be very stiff on small drums, so I'd put either a controlled sound or an Ambassador on them and go to town.
Kenny tunes to notes typically so you'd have to experiment a bit. I have the same monumental task for myself haha.
@@DoubleD_93 i have both I've tried the tune bot but i must be doing something wrong I'm gonna book a session with him= i played for 22 years then gave it up so now i just bought everything new all Mapex and all Zildjian- i had a problem with the Mapex falcon double pedal so i asked ,can you believe some one said i should have bought a cheap single pedal to start with?? and instructor would tell me that ?? listen i said I'm over 60 who knows how long i got its my money i bought the set i wanted because i have the now$ its 15 piece with 11 crash and one ride and a high hat all new . this is where i start its like all new everything back when you tuned by ear and played now its how you set the snare the angle make Shure the floor tom is up to the top of your leg ALL THIS DETAILED STUFF i just set everything up to me and I'm all set ,i never had octobans so its a puzzle to me so i guess i would just ask for some help thank you
they are all new with new heads ATTACK HEADS SO ILL LEAVE THEM ON
What is the name of the big drums 😃
Technically they are a 20”, 24”, and 28” Remo Acousticon Surdos. Spiritually they are Left Eye, Right Eye, Home Base. Thank you for watching, and commenting. Watch me rehead Right Eye at
www.kennysharretts.com/ppv-only-page?wix-vod-video-id=fdc182ced1584b63825ea53912303c27&wix-vod-comp-id=comp-kn2dgsdc