How do you tune your drums ?

[Plendakor]

.

 

[~BURNY~]

I tune them so they sound good to my ears. Never really seen the point of tuning them to a song key.

 

[botus99]

Definitely to the key of the song. BUT I'm not set on what drums for what notes of the scale, really. I usually have the kick and floor tom tuned to the root and the snare to the 5th IIRC

 

[The StabbinCabin]

+1 with Burny, although I like the idea of stuff like the Tunebot. I've seen shells that are like pressed to be tuned to a certain note so who knows. Dave with Room Sound did a really good job with his samples that are tuned to notes- so it sounds pretty even when you move around the kit. Knowing exactly what something is tuned to kind of makes it easier to make decisions of what sounds best for the song or whatever.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

I use this:

http://www.tune-bot.com/

And this:

http://idrumtech.com/


Results are very good.

 

[greyskull]

To whatever sounds best for those drums

 

[mickrich]

To whatever sounds best for those drums

Exactly.
Kick is usually dampened and you can tune wherever you want within reason, usually just above where the head starts to ripple for me.
Snare usually has a bit of a range where it can be tuned to too.

I treat toms as small circular rooms.
I put the drum down on carpet with resonant head up then loosen all lugs and bring them all up until I start to hear a clear note. If there are any "beats" or overtones I keep adjusting until they are gone then with this note in my head I criss cross around the lugs and tune each one down and back up to pitch quickly until there is a perfectly clear and "singing" note. This means there are no standing waves or phase cancellation in the tom. Once the bottom head is tuned this way I flip it over and tune the top head up until it punches.

This really works and on a good kit the toms will naturally be chromatic so there are musical intervals. I never dampen toms and can tune a kit better than any drummer I have ever met. I have had session drummers with DWs in the studio with gaffa tape and moon gel all over the kit. They are always amazed at how their kit sounds when properly tuned with no dampening.
In my opinion a tom can only be tuned to its natural resonant pitch. If you want to go higher or lower you need smaller or bigger toms.
A custom DW has the resonant frequency stamped inside the toms but with practice it is easy to find.

My Sonor S Class Maple has a nice low resonant frequency which makes it fantastic for recording. Pearl Masters are the worst sounding high end kit in my experience and I always find it hard to tune them. The toms ring constantly. I have had a few mahogany masters in and they are impossible to get a good punchy sound from.
Best kits I have recorded are my Sonor, DW, Yamaha absolute or recording custom and Tama Starclassic. Had a TAMA Hyperdrive in recently and it was totally shit. Ended up sample replacing with samples of my Sonor.
Also Emperors for me on the toms. Clear or coated are both great. Just the right balance of attack and decay.

 

[Fox Mulder]

I'd get them to a fundamental frequency that serves the mix well.

 

[slo77y]

i tune the drums good.