*Subscribe or I will steal your snare wires:* bit.ly/2AyH1Fb The snare drum battle...How to tune your snare drum? Why does your snare drum sound bad? How can you make your snare drum sound better? Why does it sound like the snare from Metallica's St. Anger??? I get it...drum tuning can be a complex issue. Especially when you have a drum that sounds bad. In this video I will show you how to win the snare drum battle...how to make ANY snare drum sound better. It just takes some simple troubleshooting. Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!
Stephen Taylor In all the years I’ve played, I’ve never replaced my snares, so I feel completely ignorant. Would you be willing to produce a video on just replacing snares? Thanks for this troubleshooting vid!
Stephen Taylor Hey Stephen! Any advice on how to tune a 12” snare drum? I’ve been having a lot trouble to get a decent sound from it. I used the same principle as on the 14” or 13” but apparently doesn’t work on a the 12” :(
Solid info. Thank you for sharing. My favorite tip is to not be afraid to tweak the tunings. I used to get worried I’d not be able to get back a sound I liked and would be afraid to mess with it. Over time I’ve found that it’s easier to dial the sounds in when I’ve let myself try different things. I really appreciate the idea of separating tuning time from practice time too. 👌
One thing I like to check, which can go unnoticed, is whether the snare wires are centered correctly. If they are off center than the edge of one side could be putting pressure on the resonant head which will throw off the tone and could damage the head overtime. As far as experimenting with the snare drum, I had someone ask me to help tune a "budget" drum set and while I was able to get the toms and bass to sound good, the snare drum was wonky. It had new Remo batter and resonant heads (I didn't think to check if either head was warped) but an experimental trick that worked well was to vary the tension of the lugs that were closer to the snare wires. So the lugs that were further away from the wires (in this case at 12 and 6 o'clock) were really tight but the lugs closer to the wires were slightly looser. The biggest challenge with the whole set is that being a "budget" set it had fewer lugs on the snare and toms than a more expensive set typically has.
AND NEVER COMPROMISE YOUR SNARE SOUND because your toms are picking up a little snare buzz. I see people do this all the time. They have a beautiful snare they paid a lot of money for that sounds terrible. 9 out of 10 times when you ask what's up with there snare they even tell ya they had to tune it like this to get away from snare vibration on the small toms.!!! WE as drummers spend most of are time on the snare,hats, and kick.Dont compromise your snare sound.!!!
Another thing that people don’t know about sympathetic buzz is that most of it is essentially inaudible to the audience, so it’s usually not as much of an issue as people think
Great suggestions for snare troubleshooting! I have fought with many snares over the years, before finding things that work. Even after all that, I still learned a couple of more tips from your video. Thank you!
Snare is allways the hardest drum to tune. Good tips that I use also. I'll add two that I learned from other famous drummers. On from Gavin Harrison. He uses two drum keys at the same time on opposit lugs to keep the skin flat on the drum while tightenning before fine tuning. And another one, tighten the lugs on each side of the snare wires just a little more so the snare wires touch the skin and the strings don't touch the edge. That one really helped me with my snare wires.
You always seem to touch on topics I've struggled with, or currently struggling with. I would go to my drums with the intention of tuning my snare, and adjusting my set up. The toughest pt for me was actually doing it. I'd have all the best intentions, but when I'd get to my kit, I'd go straight to practice, while telling myself it get it next time. Now that I have to take time off from playing (spinal fusion) I can tune everything up great, but see the kit, and get upset I can't play em. I had been using a Tune Bot for my toms (great device), but I always adjust my snares by ear. Well, this vid inspired me to go fine tune my snare. I can't wait to get behind the kit again🥁
I only recently learned that even if you've tuned the lugs of the snare reso head evenly, doesn't mean the snare wires are sat level across the head. This was why I got such crazy, ugly overtone any time I hit the batter off-centre; the very centre of the batter was the only place the drum sounded at all focused. What helped this was loosening the four lugs that sit either side of the snare wires; this was because when the reso was tuned evenly, the snare wires made closer contact in the centre than they did near the edge of the drum. Loosening those four lugs brought the surface of the reso head into closer contact with the snare wires near the edge, and alleviated some of the crazy buzzy tone I was getting. Ultimately, this made the drum sound more consistent across the batter head, and I would say made it a little more articulate. I wonder too if something that contributed to the problem was having an Emperor X batter head; it has a thick centre dot which gives you a more focused sound than a standard Emperor. I've now changed over to the latter to see if I can get greater tone and articulation out of what should be a much more open-sounding head; it has no dot. I've played the new Emperor just once so far, during a drum tracking session, and right away it just sounded more like a snare should to me. Which is a slight bummer as was thoroughly impressed by the longevity of the X! So I guess another biggie is: are you using the best-suited heads for your drum / for your playing style?
@@beatlesrgear no worries! One thing I'm wary of is that it might rob your snare of some tone depending on how loose those lugs are compared to how tight you tune the rest, but it's worth trying out. My 10-lug sounds pretty good so far, I don't know how well this would work on drums with fewer lugs.
Hey, very good. I do all of this process you told us. Unfortunately a lot of people don't do it or don't know about those tips. Awesome video and great tips. I always check how my snare sounds before a gig. And when on the stage a check it again and I do some additional adjustments to sound good inside that ambient. Drum clip is one of the dampers that I use it for help me. Big fan of you. You Rule 🤘🏻😁🥁
I always subscribed to the crank the reso head table top tight for sensitivity and articulation, although recently while reading about some old jazz players I found out that they would always tune their bottom snare heads considerably looser than the batter. I realize that back in the day there was no amplification and all drums had calf heads so it's very subjective to today's playing..but I have found it honestly makes the drum and shell sing more. Steve Maxwell also explains this technique in a video...not saying it's for everyone or every drum, but experiment and see what you find.
This video is extremely helpful. These are a lot of good tips and some different ways to troubleshoot. I struggle with this all the time . Hopefully after watching this I can fix some of the things I’ve been having trouble with tuning my snare. Thanks for your help man. As always
Some drummer once told me the batter head and reso head should be tuned to the same pitch. I know every drummer has their own way of tuning but this has actually worked for me!
hello STEPHEN good video like always. I JUST change all heads on my snare and sounded to laud snare i think that what you said was right about the snare wire to tight.. thank you and i will adjusted....
Great video! I'd like to add that I invested in a Tune Bot a couple of years ago and it has vastly improved my tuning, especially of my snare drum. Highly recommended. Thanks and keep up the great work Steven!
HI Stephen! Good piece of information as usual. How can I fix the issue when the snare vibrates when strike the toms or bass drum??? Also you mentioned to a date when replacing a head: it is a matter of time or the time you played??? If it is just the calendar time: how often would you recommend changing the heads??? Regards!!!
Lot drummers like that sound of snare and tom including me best thing to do is loosen two lugs either side of snare wire reso at both ends only a little looser also your high tom nearest snare d tune one lug abit nearest one to your snare but tom snare buzz part of sound also tighten snare wires alittle if ratterly but not to much will choke snare best one is loosen two tension rods on reso let me know if it works but make sure reso head is table tight
I'm having an issue right now with my hipgig snare. The throw on it is making noise in the OFF position. It's not the snares touching anything .......... it's the linkage vibrating against itself. The only solution is to replace the throw with a different style. I think I'm going to go with the DW mag with the 3 position butt. That thing looks really nice....... and the quick shift butt positioner looks like a great upgrade
TIP #11: Have realistic expectations!! If you are listening to your drums in your bedroom/garage, they will NOT sound like a drum that has been recorded/ mixed/ produced/ reproduced through a speaker within the mix of a song. If you are micing and the drums are being evaluated/ listened to through a mixer/ headphones (practice), a PA or via playback (recorded) then you can get CLOSER to that sound that has been mixed into a song. Awesome work Stephen!! Thanks!! 👊🏼🦁
Thanks for the video. mostly basic, but the pearl was to check for warped heads, even if they are new. One I can offer is I had a snare that's bottom head would not stay in tune. It was a brand drum, I typically just use the stock resonate heads. The drum initially sounded great but the resonate head kept getting loose on one side, so I would crank it up until it sounded good again. I took it home from rehearsal, determined to find out why it sounded like crap, put new snare on it, then noticed the bottom head was loose! started cranking it down when finally the lugs bottomed out! Took the snares and the head off and discovered the head had been slowly slipping out of the ring! New resonate head and all was right with the world. Another good reason to change out cheap stock heads, even if the drum sounds good with them! ( Also this fooled me because I had an older Mapex snare that would always get loose on the left side, until I added lug locks to it. I thought I just had the same problem again.)
When you discuss the lugs, I assume you actually mean the tension rods. That being said, you may want to check the lugs themselves. I once had a lug that was loose. When I took the head off to tighten it, I found one of the screws AND holes were stripped out. Once I replaced the lug it solved the problem. Nothing wrong with the tension rod, BTW.
I got a snare that belongs to a tama starclassic. I love this snare to death. I bought a remo ambassador snare side for the bottom, and I currently have a remo black x for the Top. I also changed the wires. The way I tune is I crank the bottom tight, maybe about 3 to 4 turns and make sure all lugs are equal to the same pitch, on top I finger tighten all the lugs then go around the lugs counter clockwise but with 2 keys to make the process quicker! I definitely gotten the best out of it
I thought only i have troubles, but you are showing me, everyone have same trouble... Frustration, snare, a hate my playing and more... Like you man! 😎
First thing I do when I purchase another snare drum (new or used): take the batter head off and check to make sure all the lug screws, snare throw-off mounting screws, and snare butt end mounting screws are good and tight. Then as Steve does, I back off the tuning on each lug to finger tight, then tune the head to same level at each lug (even tuning all the way around) like tightening head bolts on a car engine, that is: across from each other: lug at 9:00 o'clock position across from the lug at 3:00 o'clock position and so on in the same fashion for each lug. From that point tighten in even increments (like a quarter turn) on each lug until desired tuning is reached (for me on most of my snare drums: batter head at E sharp or F, snare side head either the same or slightly lower). Tighten snares to just enough to not have excessive snare rattle yet enough to hear snare response and some head overtones. Oh and I used to be fussy about hearing the snares respond in sympathetic vibration to the toms on my drum set and especially a bass guitar..not so much anymore it only means my snare drum is sensitive and responsive. That works for me, anyway.
Something else that, while rare, can also be an issue is a rim that's not completely level/true. One of my older snares had a ring that was far tougher than any other to try and quell. After laying it on a glass counter top at a music store while shopping for a new head, I noticed it rocking ever so slightly... A new hoop did the trick.
Nice video! Some that I have came across -Snare sounds nasty and metallic: snares are probably too tight -Snare sounds liveless without muffling: check if the head fits very narrowly around the drum. If yes, try a ‘classic fit’ drumhead. - Snare is weird to tune, some lugs need to be very loose and others very tight: the hoop is probably out of shape.
Hi StephenThanks mate for these great tips. It's come at a great time as I'm struggling with finding that snare tone I love! Your video's are awesome man! I find myself captivated! Thanks again. :)
Stephen, I've had a Ludwig Super Sensitive for about 45 years now, and I'm pretty adept at knowing what to do with it. But just last week, I needed to back off the tuning on my reso head just about an eighth of a turn--it was actually too tight (no small feat for that drum!), and was giving the drum a sort of stiff sound, for lack of a better word. After I did that, though, the drum got the weirdest ring suddenly. (Of course Super Sensitives are famous for their ring, and it's one of the reasons I love the drum. But this sounded more like someone having an asthma attack than a snare drum ring.) At that point, it dawned on me that the problem was the batter head now. I'd been playing that sucker (an Evans G14--a pretty good head for that drum) for about four months, I realized. It had a big dark spot in the middle, and was actually pretty dead. I replaced it (this time with an Evans Blue Hydraulic, which is also a surprisingly good head for that drum), and whaddya know? I was back in business. Please don't be mad at me, though. This took place in the middle of my practice.
I'd be sort of against gluing anything to the head. Most of the strange overtones people often use moongel for can usually be solved by using a die cast hoop. One dampening method I tend to use comes from Rob Knopper. Get a handkerchief and some binder clips that can clip on the rim and that's one cheap variable damper right there. Since the handkerchief is not attached to the head, you have a sort of gating effect once you hit the drum, as the fabric will jump, then land on the head and dampen it. Plus, you can get various dampening levels by varying how much of the head you're covering.
Good info. I would like to add the type of stick can effect the sound quite a bit. Like a ride cymbal, a wood tip compared to a nylon tip will have a big difference. A small tip versus a large, etc. And how you hit the drum. Lots of variables however it starts with the drum, heads, tuning and snare wires.
Also, make sure to check for bent/out of round hoops and bearing edges. If you're finding yourself having to put significantly more or less tension at some lugs to get the same pitch as others, this is likely your issue. To check for this, take the hoop of the drum and set both of them on a flat surface. If the hoop is able to wobble when pressure is applied on top, then it's bent. Bent hoops are very easy to fix for the most part though, because they are flexible enough to be bent back by hand when propped against something. Adjust it until it lays flat on the surface. As for the bearing edge, place a flashlight within the drum and rotate it on the surface. If light is able to make it's way through, then it's warped. This applies everywhere except around the snare bed on the reso side because of the natural indentation there. Unfortunately, a bad bearing edge is more difficult to fix because in most cases it has to be recut, which is only really a feasible option for wood drums. Anyway, I hope this helps anyone who still can't seem to find out what the heck is wrong with their snare
I'm a newb. I was very frustrated w/ sound of Tama Superstar snare w/ new UV1 batter and evans std snare side. Just nasty unpleasant overtone. Even bought the drum bot thing & got batter perfectly in tune w/ self and reso a 5th up. Still ugly. Ya know what solved the problem? detuning the 3 batter side lugs facing me. Now have resonance that is musical. Am I crazy? It sounds good w/ no muffling or a Stephen Clark 'jangly thing'. Maybe bearing edge not level so even tuning isn't solution?? Love your channel man, keep it up.
Pro tip: Instead of moon gels or drum dots, go to target and pick up some sticky hands. Not only are they cheaper, but you get 6 of them in the pack. I don't even use a full hand for my entire kit. So if they get too beat up, I can just replace them with plenty to spare. Also, you can cut them to whatever size to suit the need for the specific drum. www.target.com/p/6act-jumbo-sticky-hand-spritz-153/-/A-15433979
@@StephenTaylorDrums Thanks! I'll be checking the bottom head soon (like you mention, I only checked the top head). The snares buzz forever and it's really dirty sounding, so hopefully tightening the the snares and tuning the bottom head higher will clear it up!
I bought a Lugwig Vistalite snare about a year back and I'm sorta fighting to get it to sound good. When I bought it, the original heads and snare wires were still on. I replaced the snare wires with a 30 strand one and I think I made the wrong choice. Doesn't sound terrible, just not quite right. I've tried some of the things you've mentioned, but I still have some other options to explore. I also bought a Gold Matte 14x7 George Way snare that I'm super happy with, but I like to keep it tuned lower and it mostly stays at home. It's interesting to compare the differences between the two. Thanks for the suggestions.
bryan macneil you should be able to get that vistalite to sound great. I believe Tim Buell has one of those and his sounds amazing. You may have made the wrong choice with the 30 strand. I’ve done that before too. I would try the normal strand size and see the difference. Doesn’t hurt to have one of both hanging around for future use.
@@StephenTaylorDrums I'll be going to the music store this weekend, so I think I'll grad another strainer. The old one was really warped, but it actually sounded surprisingly decent before changing it.
ive heard of tuning each drum to a specific note. Ive never done this. When you say dont tune the snare too high or too low, but to take some time to figure out tuning within its range, is that similar to tuning to the note its "supposed" to be?
EricAshAdam drums do sort of have a fundamental note. If you take both heads off and tap the side of a drum you can hear that but it’s not really “supposed” to be tuned to that note. You can tell what the range is because if it’s too low then there will be some distortion type sound from the head and if its too high it will sound choked
Bahaha... Nobody likes a dead head! What a beautiful snare you had there. I really like what you said about tuning outside of practice hours too and will do just that. Another great show, thanks. 👍
Wait a minute at the 4:08 you mean the side with the snare wires goes on the bottom, well wish I would have seen this video 40 years ago. Who knew, no wonder I’m not a gigging drummer. Lol. Just having some fun another great video ST.
I've got a ten lug and a eight lug, Ludwig snare. There both great drums. Also there the metal type drum. Is there a big difference in the sound. Professionally speaking
Was just about to play a show when discovering that the top head of a different at the theatre had a puncture wound, and of course, there wasn't time before the curtain rose :D Yikes ! Lol ! ...Thankfully, the keyboard player had one, last piece of Gorilla Tape ! Unfortunately, every time that I hit the snare, the edges of the tape came up, Lol ! Thankfully again, the drummer for the next show had another snare :D Good times, Lol ! :D
Thank you so much for this video ! My little piccolo snare that I lovingly-inherited from a friend sounds like C-R-A-P ! LOL ! It needs a drum ER visit. A complete gutting and reconstruction. :D
You mentioned a problem I am having but unfortunately not the solution. What is the best thing to do if I am getting snare sound when playing the toms? Should I muffle the toms or is there something I can do with the snare? Thank you!
I'm sure you've heard of de-tuning a couple or three of the lugs on the top head to lessen over tones on the snare or sympathetic ring from a tom. I'm just wondering if you've ever tried it, or recommend it or not. I have done it before, and it does work, but I ended up trying different heads to rectify the problem. I worried about warping the rim or drum from the differences in tension. I still do it in a pinch though.
I don’t think it will warp the head or rim unless it’s an extreme difference. There really are no hard rules to drum tuning...if it’s the sound you need it doesn’t matter how you got it. But...I have found that detuning just a couple of the lugs can kill the tone of the head. So I always just watch for that. But I’ve used that method before as well. If it works, do it.
It may depend on the thickness of the rim, how long you do it etc. I recently replaced all the rims on my 80s drums (bought in 1981) and they where all warped and screwy. I had done a lot of those techniques in the past and was also a very hard hitting metal player. I would advise against it, but on the other hand... 37 year old drums...
for the 9th thing when making the bottom head tight...what about the 4 lugs around the snare bed do they get the same tightness or tighter or looser? or ?
I usually match them to the others. If you want to quickly adjust the snare response you can mess with those four. Tighter for more snap and looser for the opposite.
*Subscribe or I will steal your snare wires:* bit.ly/2AyH1Fb
The snare drum battle...How to tune your snare drum? Why does your snare drum sound bad? How can you make your snare drum sound better? Why does it sound like the snare from Metallica's St. Anger???
I get it...drum tuning can be a complex issue. Especially when you have a drum that sounds bad. In this video I will show you how to win the snare drum battle...how to make ANY snare drum sound better. It just takes some simple troubleshooting.
Leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts!
My snare has no wires.
Fat Samurai Productions then you have a tom.
Stephen Taylor
In all the years I’ve played, I’ve never replaced my snares, so I feel completely ignorant. Would you be willing to produce a video on just replacing snares? Thanks for this troubleshooting vid!
@@CumulusSkies Here's a couple that may help: ua-cam.com/video/frWvot8xYT0/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/EHd9iaV0uBI/v-deo.html
Stephen Taylor Hey Stephen! Any advice on how to tune a 12” snare drum? I’ve been having a lot trouble to get a decent sound from it. I used the same principle as on the 14” or 13” but apparently doesn’t work on a the 12” :(
Solid info. Thank you for sharing. My favorite tip is to not be afraid to tweak the tunings. I used to get worried I’d not be able to get back a sound I liked and would be afraid to mess with it. Over time I’ve found that it’s easier to dial the sounds in when I’ve let myself try different things. I really appreciate the idea of separating tuning time from practice time too. 👌
Yes! That fear...gotta get past it. It's a real thing
I really like your presentation on your videos. I find myself glued to them! Great information Stephen!
SCDrummer thanks so much, that means a ton
This truly helped me fix how my snare thanks Stephen
One thing I like to check, which can go unnoticed, is whether the snare wires are centered correctly. If they are off center than the edge of one side could be putting pressure on the resonant head which will throw off the tone and could damage the head overtime.
As far as experimenting with the snare drum, I had someone ask me to help tune a "budget" drum set and while I was able to get the toms and bass to sound good, the snare drum was wonky. It had new Remo batter and resonant heads (I didn't think to check if either head was warped) but an experimental trick that worked well was to vary the tension of the lugs that were closer to the snare wires. So the lugs that were further away from the wires (in this case at 12 and 6 o'clock) were really tight but the lugs closer to the wires were slightly looser. The biggest challenge with the whole set is that being a "budget" set it had fewer lugs on the snare and toms than a more expensive set typically has.
As a guitarist who has a cheap kit in the house for trying my arm, but doesn't like the snare sound...this video is just great!
so glad my local music store that teaches lessons would tune my snare when i got new heads. learned so much.🍻
Hi Stephen . Thanks for this valuable lesson. I had a hard Time trying to tune my snare drum and your tips are a lifesaver.
Good tips! Going to make my snare sweet again thanks to you!
Student says "What's the issue with my snare?" Teacher says "Uh it's a CB snare dude."
AND NEVER COMPROMISE YOUR SNARE SOUND because your toms are picking up a little snare buzz. I see people do this all the time. They have a beautiful snare they paid a lot of money for that sounds terrible. 9 out of 10 times when you ask what's up with there snare they even tell ya they had to tune it like this to get away from snare vibration on the small toms.!!! WE as drummers spend most of are time on the snare,hats, and kick.Dont compromise your snare sound.!!!
Probably the best advice for snare tuning. Good stuff!
Another thing that people don’t know about sympathetic buzz is that most of it is essentially inaudible to the audience, so it’s usually not as much of an issue as people think
Hey! I resent (and resemble)that remark at 10:10. "Old Dead Head". I'm still young at heart. ;-)
My favourite muffle is an old beaten up hockey puck. Carry it to every jam space and gig.
Thanks Stephen!
Great suggestions for snare troubleshooting! I have fought with many snares over the years, before finding things that work. Even after all that, I still learned a couple of more tips from your video. Thank you!
Snare is allways the hardest drum to tune. Good tips that I use also. I'll add two that I learned from other famous drummers. On from Gavin Harrison. He uses two drum keys at the same time on opposit lugs to keep the skin flat on the drum while tightenning before fine tuning. And another one, tighten the lugs on each side of the snare wires just a little more so the snare wires touch the skin and the strings don't touch the edge. That one really helped me with my snare wires.
You always seem to touch on topics I've struggled with, or currently struggling with. I would go to my drums with the intention of tuning my snare, and adjusting my set up. The toughest pt for me was actually doing it. I'd have all the best intentions, but when I'd get to my kit, I'd go straight to practice, while telling myself it get it next time. Now that I have to take time off from playing (spinal fusion) I can tune everything up great, but see the kit, and get upset I can't play em. I had been using a Tune Bot for my toms (great device), but I always adjust my snares by ear. Well, this vid inspired me to go fine tune my snare. I can't wait to get behind the kit again🥁
Frickin awesome.good stuff
My reso head was way to loose this entire time and it was driving me mad, thanks you!🤘
Hi Stephen, really dig your videos mate. Look forward to every one. Cheers your mate in Australia
Thanks Julian!
Much love, man. Tuning my ddrum amx dominion snare while watching this
Love it
Hey Steve what about aluminum shell drums and other shell type drums
YUSSSSSS!!! THANK YOU! I needed this.
Wonderful video! 👍🏽
I only recently learned that even if you've tuned the lugs of the snare reso head evenly, doesn't mean the snare wires are sat level across the head. This was why I got such crazy, ugly overtone any time I hit the batter off-centre; the very centre of the batter was the only place the drum sounded at all focused.
What helped this was loosening the four lugs that sit either side of the snare wires; this was because when the reso was tuned evenly, the snare wires made closer contact in the centre than they did near the edge of the drum. Loosening those four lugs brought the surface of the reso head into closer contact with the snare wires near the edge, and alleviated some of the crazy buzzy tone I was getting. Ultimately, this made the drum sound more consistent across the batter head, and I would say made it a little more articulate.
I wonder too if something that contributed to the problem was having an Emperor X batter head; it has a thick centre dot which gives you a more focused sound than a standard Emperor. I've now changed over to the latter to see if I can get greater tone and articulation out of what should be a much more open-sounding head; it has no dot. I've played the new Emperor just once so far, during a drum tracking session, and right away it just sounded more like a snare should to me. Which is a slight bummer as was thoroughly impressed by the longevity of the X!
So I guess another biggie is: are you using the best-suited heads for your drum / for your playing style?
Thank you, Dominic! :)
I learned some valuable information from you today. Cheers! :)
@@beatlesrgear no worries! One thing I'm wary of is that it might rob your snare of some tone depending on how loose those lugs are compared to how tight you tune the rest, but it's worth trying out. My 10-lug sounds pretty good so far, I don't know how well this would work on drums with fewer lugs.
Hey, very good. I do all of this process you told us. Unfortunately a lot of people don't do it or don't know about those tips. Awesome video and great tips.
I always check how my snare sounds before a gig. And when on the stage a check it again and I do some additional adjustments to sound good inside that ambient. Drum clip is one of the dampers that I use it for help me. Big fan of you. You Rule 🤘🏻😁🥁
I always subscribed to the crank the reso head table top tight for sensitivity and articulation, although recently while reading about some old jazz players I found out that they would always tune their bottom snare heads considerably looser than the batter.
I realize that back in the day there was no amplification and all drums had calf heads so it's very subjective to today's playing..but I have found it honestly makes the drum and shell sing more. Steve Maxwell also explains this technique in a video...not saying it's for everyone or every drum, but experiment and see what you find.
Thanks for the info Stephen. God bless you greatly bro.
This video is extremely helpful. These are a lot of good tips and some different ways to troubleshoot. I struggle with this all the time . Hopefully after watching this I can fix some of the things I’ve been having trouble with tuning my snare. Thanks for your help man. As always
Gary C. Glad it helped Gary!
So practical
Instruction unclear, make st anger snare instead
I still think Lars used a cranked up 10mil single ply as a snare side head, although I am sincerely answering a joke comment. 🤣
It's funny how much effort it takes to make a drum sound as bad as Lars's snare on St. Anger.
Some drummer once told me the batter head and reso head should be tuned to the same pitch. I know every drummer has their own way of tuning but this has actually worked for me!
If it’s the sound you’re going for, then it works for sure
hello STEPHEN good video like always. I JUST change all heads on my snare and sounded to laud snare i think that what you said was right about the snare wire to tight.. thank you and i will adjusted....
I've been playing the factory heads for a year and a half, my drums sound terrible. I guess I'll get new heads, thanks Stephen.
Oh, you’re ears are going to thank you then lol
Great tips, Stephen! I'm going now hands-on troubleshooting my snare :)
Great video! I'd like to add that I invested in a Tune Bot a couple of years ago and it has vastly improved my tuning, especially of my snare drum. Highly recommended. Thanks and keep up the great work Steven!
Cross & Hammer Drumming those tuning aids are GREAT for helping you train your ear and learn what an in tune drum sounds like.
HI Stephen! Good piece of information as usual. How can I fix the issue when the snare vibrates when strike the toms or bass drum??? Also you mentioned to a date when replacing a head: it is a matter of time or the time you played??? If it is just the calendar time: how often would you recommend changing the heads??? Regards!!!
Lot drummers like that sound of snare and tom including me best thing to do is loosen two lugs either side of snare wire reso at both ends only a little looser also your high tom nearest snare d tune one lug abit nearest one to your snare but tom snare buzz part of sound also tighten snare wires alittle if ratterly but not to much will choke snare best one is loosen two tension rods on reso let me know if it works but make sure reso head is table tight
I'm having an issue right now with my hipgig snare. The throw on it is making noise in the OFF position. It's not the snares touching anything .......... it's the linkage vibrating against itself. The only solution is to replace the throw with a different style. I think I'm going to go with the DW mag with the 3 position butt. That thing looks really nice....... and the quick shift butt positioner looks like a great upgrade
TIP #11: Have realistic expectations!! If you are listening to your drums in your bedroom/garage, they will NOT sound like a drum that has been recorded/ mixed/ produced/ reproduced through a speaker within the mix of a song. If you are micing and the drums are being evaluated/ listened to through a mixer/ headphones (practice), a PA or via playback (recorded) then you can get CLOSER to that sound that has been mixed into a song. Awesome work Stephen!! Thanks!! 👊🏼🦁
Big Kick LEO yes!
There's also one extra thing to that. A drum that's separate from other drums will sound completely different than when it's on the kit.
@@crimsun7186 I would agree, especially if in a different part of the room. But I would argue those differences would often be more subtle. 🤔
Thanks for the video. mostly basic, but the pearl was to check for warped heads, even if they are new. One I can offer is I had a snare that's bottom head would not stay in tune. It was a brand drum, I typically just use the stock resonate heads. The drum initially sounded great but the resonate head kept getting loose on one side, so I would crank it up until it sounded good again. I took it home from rehearsal, determined to find out why it sounded like crap, put new snare on it, then noticed the bottom head was loose! started cranking it down when finally the lugs bottomed out! Took the snares and the head off and discovered the head had been slowly slipping out of the ring! New resonate head and all was right with the world. Another good reason to change out cheap stock heads, even if the drum sounds good with them! ( Also this fooled me because I had an older Mapex snare that would always get loose on the left side, until I added lug locks to it. I thought I just had the same problem again.)
Man that was way better than I was expecting. I think I'm pretty awesome at tuning and I still found this useful.
Matt Musician X thanks Matt...so glad it helped.
SUMMARY
Check:
1. Snare wires
2. Lugs
3. Heads
4. Shell, hoops, etc.
5. Tuning
6. Muffling
You're welcome.
You're the man Steven! Super useful as usual.
One of my biggest mistakes when I was a beginner was not thinking about my reso heads.
When you discuss the lugs, I assume you actually mean the tension rods. That being said, you may want to check the lugs themselves. I once had a lug that was loose. When I took the head off to tighten it, I found one of the screws AND holes were stripped out. Once I replaced the lug it solved the problem. Nothing wrong with the tension rod, BTW.
I got a snare that belongs to a tama starclassic. I love this snare to death. I bought a remo ambassador snare side for the bottom, and I currently have a remo black x for the Top. I also changed the wires. The way I tune is I crank the bottom tight, maybe about 3 to 4 turns and make sure all lugs are equal to the same pitch, on top I finger tighten all the lugs then go around the lugs counter clockwise but with 2 keys to make the process quicker! I definitely gotten the best out of it
I thought only i have troubles, but you are showing me, everyone have same trouble... Frustration, snare, a hate my playing and more... Like you man! 😎
Yep, we all struggle with the same things
If he's a doctor... lots of people will live. 😂
Damohs Channel 👊🏻💪🏻🙏🏼
@@StephenTaylorDrums You should do a TV series call Drum Doctor or something like that.
First thing I do when I purchase another snare drum (new or used): take the batter head off and check to make sure all the lug screws, snare throw-off mounting screws, and snare butt end mounting screws are good and tight. Then as Steve does, I back off the tuning on each lug to finger tight, then tune the head to same level at each lug (even tuning all the way around) like tightening head bolts on a car engine, that is: across from each other: lug at 9:00 o'clock position across from the lug at 3:00 o'clock position and so on in the same fashion for each lug. From that point tighten in even increments (like a quarter turn) on each lug until desired tuning is reached (for me on most of my snare drums: batter head at E sharp or F, snare side head either the same or slightly lower). Tighten snares to just enough to not have excessive snare rattle yet enough to hear snare response and some head overtones. Oh and I used to be fussy about hearing the snares respond in sympathetic vibration to the toms on my drum set and especially a bass guitar..not so much anymore it only means my snare drum is sensitive and responsive. That works for me, anyway.
Something else that, while rare, can also be an issue is a rim that's not completely level/true. One of my older snares had a ring that was far tougher than any other to try and quell. After laying it on a glass counter top at a music store while shopping for a new head, I noticed it rocking ever so slightly... A new hoop did the trick.
Nice video! Some that I have came across
-Snare sounds nasty and metallic: snares are probably too tight
-Snare sounds liveless without muffling: check if the head fits very narrowly around the drum. If yes, try a ‘classic fit’ drumhead.
- Snare is weird to tune, some lugs need to be very loose and others very tight: the hoop is probably out of shape.
Snare buzz... “Hey bro, have any poker cards?”
Hi StephenThanks mate for these great tips. It's come at a great time as I'm struggling with finding that snare tone I love! Your video's are awesome man! I find myself captivated! Thanks again. :)
Stephen, I've had a Ludwig Super Sensitive for about 45 years now, and I'm pretty adept at knowing what to do with it. But just last week, I needed to back off the tuning on my reso head just about an eighth of a turn--it was actually too tight (no small feat for that drum!), and was giving the drum a sort of stiff sound, for lack of a better word. After I did that, though, the drum got the weirdest ring suddenly. (Of course Super Sensitives are famous for their ring, and it's one of the reasons I love the drum. But this sounded more like someone having an asthma attack than a snare drum ring.) At that point, it dawned on me that the problem was the batter head now. I'd been playing that sucker (an Evans G14--a pretty good head for that drum) for about four months, I realized. It had a big dark spot in the middle, and was actually pretty dead. I replaced it (this time with an Evans Blue Hydraulic, which is also a surprisingly good head for that drum), and whaddya know? I was back in business.
Please don't be mad at me, though. This took place in the middle of my practice.
I'd be sort of against gluing anything to the head. Most of the strange overtones people often use moongel for can usually be solved by using a die cast hoop. One dampening method I tend to use comes from Rob Knopper. Get a handkerchief and some binder clips that can clip on the rim and that's one cheap variable damper right there. Since the handkerchief is not attached to the head, you have a sort of gating effect once you hit the drum, as the fabric will jump, then land on the head and dampen it. Plus, you can get various dampening levels by varying how much of the head you're covering.
Yea, I'm not a fan of gluing anything to the head either. That's why they make a myriad of drum muffling devices.
Thank you this video helped a whole lot. My snare never sounded so good.
Good info. I would like to add the type of stick can effect the sound quite a bit. Like a ride cymbal, a wood tip compared to a nylon tip will have a big difference. A small tip versus a large, etc. And how you hit the drum. Lots of variables however it starts with the drum, heads, tuning and snare wires.
Blake Curtis absolutely, type of stick, type of head, and your personal playing style vastly affect the sound of your drums and cymbals
@@StephenTaylorDrums Berd' up!
What about the factory reso heads? Should they be replaced as well?
Also, make sure to check for bent/out of round hoops and bearing edges. If you're finding yourself having to put significantly more or less tension at some lugs to get the same pitch as others, this is likely your issue. To check for this, take the hoop of the drum and set both of them on a flat surface. If the hoop is able to wobble when pressure is applied on top, then it's bent. Bent hoops are very easy to fix for the most part though, because they are flexible enough to be bent back by hand when propped against something. Adjust it until it lays flat on the surface. As for the bearing edge, place a flashlight within the drum and rotate it on the surface. If light is able to make it's way through, then it's warped. This applies everywhere except around the snare bed on the reso side because of the natural indentation there. Unfortunately, a bad bearing edge is more difficult to fix because in most cases it has to be recut, which is only really a feasible option for wood drums. Anyway, I hope this helps anyone who still can't seem to find out what the heck is wrong with their snare
This is all very interesting. New to this world, this is all very helpful. Explained perfectly.
So glad it helped my friend!
I'm a newb. I was very frustrated w/ sound of Tama Superstar snare w/ new UV1 batter and evans std snare side. Just nasty unpleasant overtone. Even bought the drum bot thing & got batter perfectly in tune w/ self and reso a 5th up. Still ugly. Ya know what solved the problem? detuning the 3 batter side lugs facing me. Now have resonance that is musical. Am I crazy? It sounds good w/ no muffling or a Stephen Clark 'jangly thing'. Maybe bearing edge not level so even tuning isn't solution?? Love your channel man, keep it up.
Awesome vid
Thanks!
Brother you always give information on drum. Love the channel
Dewayne Sloan thanks Dewayne!
You mentioned to check whether the snares were too wide or too narrow for the drum. How do you make that determination?
Pro tip: Instead of moon gels or drum dots, go to target and pick up some sticky hands. Not only are they cheaper, but you get 6 of them in the pack. I don't even use a full hand for my entire kit. So if they get too beat up, I can just replace them with plenty to spare. Also, you can cut them to whatever size to suit the need for the specific drum. www.target.com/p/6act-jumbo-sticky-hand-spritz-153/-/A-15433979
Blu Tak works too. It also makes cymbals sound extra dry.
Stephen, I like your mid tuned snare Sound. It has a beefy tone.
Fantastic video... I will try tightening the bottom snare
mthomas73 glad it helped my friend
Very helpful vid! Thanks
Clutch timing! I got weird snare issues right now so this is really helpful!
Zadamanim glad it hit you at the right time!
@@StephenTaylorDrums Thanks! I'll be checking the bottom head soon (like you mention, I only checked the top head). The snares buzz forever and it's really dirty sounding, so hopefully tightening the the snares and tuning the bottom head higher will clear it up!
Should I upgrade my Tama power craft ll ?
really man
thank you all those long videos that don’t say anything you covered it all I think
Amazing job
I’m gonna change those damn snare wires
Ye boi Hugo glad it helped...let me know how the new wires work oht
Great tips Stephen, can't think of anything else to add!
Mark Richer thanks Mark!
Any chance get in on with it my glass eyes gone to sleep
I bought a Lugwig Vistalite snare about a year back and I'm sorta fighting to get it to sound good. When I bought it, the original heads and snare wires were still on. I replaced the snare wires with a 30 strand one and I think I made the wrong choice. Doesn't sound terrible, just not quite right. I've tried some of the things you've mentioned, but I still have some other options to explore.
I also bought a Gold Matte 14x7 George Way snare that I'm super happy with, but I like to keep it tuned lower and it mostly stays at home. It's interesting to compare the differences between the two.
Thanks for the suggestions.
bryan macneil you should be able to get that vistalite to sound great. I believe Tim Buell has one of those and his sounds amazing. You may have made the wrong choice with the 30 strand. I’ve done that before too. I would try the normal strand size and see the difference. Doesn’t hurt to have one of both hanging around for future use.
@@StephenTaylorDrums I'll be going to the music store this weekend, so I think I'll grad another strainer. The old one was really warped, but it actually sounded surprisingly decent before changing it.
ive heard of tuning each drum to a specific note. Ive never done this. When you say dont tune the snare too high or too low, but to take some time to figure out tuning within its range, is that similar to tuning to the note its "supposed" to be?
EricAshAdam drums do sort of have a fundamental note. If you take both heads off and tap the side of a drum you can hear that but it’s not really “supposed” to be tuned to that note. You can tell what the range is because if it’s too low then there will be some distortion type sound from the head and if its too high it will sound choked
I got the SLP Bubinga.
Do you think he would include the resonant factory head as being a head you definitely need to replace too? What do you guys think?
Hey Stephen,
This might b e a really silly question. But how do you check if drum heads are warped?
The drum head should sit flat on a table. If it wobbles around the hoop of the hesd its warped. 👍
Great tips, but how does one get a sense of whether a snare is too wide or narrow without buying a bunch of snares and putting on each one?
Bahaha... Nobody likes a dead head!
What a beautiful snare you had there.
I really like what you said about tuning outside of practice hours too and will do just that.
Another great show, thanks. 👍
Great vid , one question, how do you know when your snare wires don't quite fit ,as you stated to small or to large
Wait a minute at the 4:08 you mean the side with the snare wires goes on the bottom, well wish I would have seen this video 40 years ago. Who knew, no wonder I’m not a gigging drummer. Lol. Just having some fun another great video ST.
Lynda White lol, love ya Lynda!
I've got a ten lug and a eight lug, Ludwig snare. There both great drums. Also there the metal type drum. Is there a big difference in the sound. Professionally speaking
New diet system? Buy a cheap snare drum and don't eat for a week. The best I've ever heard. Only works for overweight drummers though.....
Stephen Taylor..... a man blessed with a talent for teaching and a sense of humour. Best combination to get someone listening!
wikus lombard ha! How to lose weight and go insane simultaneously
Drummer fasting plan. Don't eat for days and pray a lot! LOL! :)
Lol ! 'Ramens-Only' for a full week :D
Was just about to play a show when discovering that the top head of a different at the theatre had a puncture wound, and of course, there wasn't time before the curtain rose :D Yikes ! Lol ! ...Thankfully, the keyboard player had one, last piece of Gorilla Tape ! Unfortunately, every time that I hit the snare, the edges of the tape came up, Lol ! Thankfully again, the drummer for the next show had another snare :D Good times, Lol ! :D
Thank you so much for this video ! My little piccolo snare that I lovingly-inherited from a friend sounds like C-R-A-P ! LOL ! It needs a drum ER visit. A complete gutting and reconstruction. :D
You bet!
Remember when rdavidr made a vid with the snare with a hole in the reso head? Yeah, that’s a St. Anger snare.
Nice tips!
Thanks man lots of help!
Josiah Casey you bet Josiah
You mentioned a problem I am having but unfortunately not the solution. What is the best thing to do if I am getting snare sound when playing the toms? Should I muffle the toms or is there something I can do with the snare? Thank you!
Did another video on that: ua-cam.com/video/EHd9iaV0uBI/v-deo.html
Thank you!!!
Just what i needed you legend
Tom Fletcher glad it hit you at the right time Tom
Great info! Thanks...
You bet John
P.S. While playing the show on Saturday, thought that the bottom head had split before the intermission. Yikes ! Lol ! :D
question Did you ever play latin music"?
I've never been THAT stressed out over my snare sound.
What do I do if my snare sounds like it’s echoing
I'm sure you've heard of de-tuning a couple or three of the lugs on the top head to lessen over tones on the snare or sympathetic ring from a tom. I'm just wondering if you've ever tried it, or recommend it or not. I have done it before, and it does work, but I ended up trying different heads to rectify the problem. I worried about warping the rim or drum from the differences in tension. I still do it in a pinch though.
I don’t think it will warp the head or rim unless it’s an extreme difference. There really are no hard rules to drum tuning...if it’s the sound you need it doesn’t matter how you got it. But...I have found that detuning just a couple of the lugs can kill the tone of the head. So I always just watch for that. But I’ve used that method before as well. If it works, do it.
It may depend on the thickness of the rim, how long you do it etc. I recently replaced all the rims on my 80s drums (bought in 1981) and they where all warped and screwy. I had done a lot of those techniques in the past and was also a very hard hitting metal player. I would advise against it, but on the other hand... 37 year old drums...
Awesome homeboy.Who Dat from New Orleans
Chris Melito who. DAT!!!
What is this scale
When you say lug i think you mean tension rod?
Correct
for the 9th thing when making the bottom head tight...what about the 4 lugs around the snare bed do they get the same tightness or tighter or looser? or ?
I usually match them to the others. If you want to quickly adjust the snare response you can mess with those four. Tighter for more snap and looser for the opposite.