@bdp24
+1 Drum set are tuned in a different way to every other instrument. It is extremely complex. Being able to get the right sound for the room or venue is an art.
The only way to learn to “tune” a drum set is to tune a drum set so many times that you train your ears to know what to adjust.
I have a Pearl reference kit and it is amazing for large venues but too resonant for a practice room. I have found Evans controlled resonance heads along with Evans ringed batters to work best for this kit in a small room. I find Evans dry heads with perforations work for the snare is a small room.
I have a drum drum tuner also but frankly by ear is the best and fastest.
Trick is
1) Choice of heads (the sound of the stick hitting the head is very important as well as longevity of the skin) Drum heads have an incredible range of sounds.
2) tuning to the drum shell
3) relative tension between the heads - create down pitch or up pitch and decay rate ( tuning both heads to each other and to the shell results in longest sustain)
4) Generally Major thirds or descending fourths works as a starting point.
Snare tuning is a dark magic art that requires a decade or more of training.
Finally - what the drummer hears from the throne is very different from what is projected to a listener.
Drum set tuning is the most difficult instrument to “tune”.
Cymbals are just as complex - choosing those is also an art.
The complex harmonics of drums mean that drums are the most important instrument to get right in order for a band to sound good.
It gets much worse for the drummer....how you hit the heads and how much rebound you allow the stick can change the tonal character of the sound too - not only loudness.
+1 Drum set are tuned in a different way to every other instrument. It is extremely complex. Being able to get the right sound for the room or venue is an art.
The only way to learn to “tune” a drum set is to tune a drum set so many times that you train your ears to know what to adjust.
I have a Pearl reference kit and it is amazing for large venues but too resonant for a practice room. I have found Evans controlled resonance heads along with Evans ringed batters to work best for this kit in a small room. I find Evans dry heads with perforations work for the snare is a small room.
I have a drum drum tuner also but frankly by ear is the best and fastest.
Trick is
1) Choice of heads (the sound of the stick hitting the head is very important as well as longevity of the skin) Drum heads have an incredible range of sounds.
2) tuning to the drum shell
3) relative tension between the heads - create down pitch or up pitch and decay rate ( tuning both heads to each other and to the shell results in longest sustain)
4) Generally Major thirds or descending fourths works as a starting point.
Snare tuning is a dark magic art that requires a decade or more of training.
Finally - what the drummer hears from the throne is very different from what is projected to a listener.
Drum set tuning is the most difficult instrument to “tune”.
Cymbals are just as complex - choosing those is also an art.
The complex harmonics of drums mean that drums are the most important instrument to get right in order for a band to sound good.
It gets much worse for the drummer....how you hit the heads and how much rebound you allow the stick can change the tonal character of the sound too - not only loudness.