Tuning Drums

[Seth Munson]

So I dont really tune drums right now as it is because I always sample replace everything, but I want to start recording live drums and pull samples from the drummers kit. my only problem is I cant stand loud noises/sounds, it really hurts my head and usually screws up the rest of the recording day for me.

whenever I am in my live room I am wearing ear plugs, I cant really tune drums with plugs in because its not the true sound. So what sounds awesome with the plugs, actually sounds like shit in reality.

I have considered (although I have not tried yet) setting up mics and tuning with headphones on, but doesnt that take a lot, A LOT of time? tweaking the drum some, placing the mic just right only to realize it needs more tweaking and repeat that process x20 times, seems like it would take way too long.

What are your guy's opinions on this and what do you guys do about it?

 

[AerialThesis]

I suggest hitting less hard on the drums

 

[AudioPhile777]

You don't have to hit the drums hard to tune them...

 

[AudioGeekZine]

get the drums to sound great THEN put the mics on.

 

[Seth Munson]

Im not much of a drum guy, so I was just assuming that tuning while hitting them softly wouldnt sound anything like a full force hit. Most of the bands I record are Hardcore and they hit the drums hard as fuck on almost every hit, so I guess I was just assuming I would have to tune them to what a "normal" hit for the drummer would be.

thanks for the info guys! I learn something new here everyday

 

[Trevoire520]

You don't need to smash the fuck out of them. But you probably won't get it all the way there by tapping it. Just hit it medium-hard and you should be fine.

 

[::XeS::]

http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/id5.html

 

[greyskull]

i do get ya...
let the drummer set his kit up how he wants it.
THen get him to move it so it's less of a nightmare to get mics in if needs be. (although you may ruin his carefully positioned octabans and 500 splash cymbals)

Unless I know that the drummer REALLY knows their shit tuning wise I do it my self.
Tend to tune top heads pretty damn low. I don't hit hard when tuing just tap around the edge and the centre, enough to know where the pitch is at.
Then once the sound is great in the room, stick the mics on and have a listen in the control room.
All sorts of horrible problems will probably now rear their ugly head. rexamine ringy snares, loose lugs etc and add/remove moongel as necessary.

Also if you can, put the moongel near the mic, so that some of the overtone gets kill there. seems to help me.

 

[FireStorm Studios]

I use a drum dial to tune drums. You spend more time looking at the dial than you do hitting the drum.

 

[Machinated]

drum dial is really useful IMO, but use your ears too - determine what pitch you want and always check with your ears of course.

I reskin/tune the drums before its set up, and then again when the drummer has things where the wants them and also adjust tunings to make sure the kit is coherent with itself and ALSO to make sure that hitting certain drums doesnt make others ring (snare bottom is ALWAYS a bitch for this, and floor tom is also a bit annoying with the kick sometimes).

tape and moongel can both have their uses there.

and dont kill too much ring, its about having the right kind of ring in the sound

 

[digitaldeath]

+1 for the Drum Dial, amazing piece of kit.
Get the kit setup at the start of the session and take the time to work with the drummer to tune the kit to their liking. No need to hit the shit outta the drums, just tap them with a drumstick, particularly near the lugs of each drum (about an inch or two away from the rim), work around the drum and be sure to tap at the centre every once and a while to make sure it's sounding good. Drum racks can be a nightmare as toms will rattle etc. If using triggers, try to avoid a drum rack (just my opinion and experience).
Be sure to tune the snare with the snares off first, pop them on and adjust the tension to your liking.
Once the kit is tuned and you're happy, take the Drum Dial readings (even the tunings out if you need to) of the entire kit.
This can really save your ass if you're tracking drums over a few days! With the Drum Dial, you can pop the kit back into the original tuning in no time!

 

[AudioGeekZine]

I hate how the engineer is required to own a drum dial not the drummer. Finding a drummer that changes has changed his skins this decade is rare!

 

[Machinated]

drummers not changing their skins is annoying as hell!

but i think every engineer should be able to tune guitars, drums and vocals and 99% of the time i wouldnt trust them to do it themselves anyway without me really showing them

 

[schnykeees]

drummers not changing their skins is annoying as hell!

but i think every engineer should be able to tune guitars, drums and vocals and 99% of the time i wouldnt trust them to do it themselves anyway without me really showing them

agree 100% and tuning vocals goes alot further than just throwing autotune on your insert

 

[AudioGeekZine]

hmm a vocalist that could tune themselves would be nice.

 

[Sloan]

there's good drum tuning guide on the PEAVEY website - CHECK IT BRAH

 

[KHE]

http://www.peavey.com/support/technotes/misc/drumtuning.pdf

 

[drdan]

The Evans drum tuning videos are amazing. They are on youtube and really helped me improve the drums sounds at the studio.

 

[acappa]

Which is your choice? Tension watch or Drum dial??

 

[visceral]

There are instructions floating around the net for building a drumdial at home. I is super easy (i built one for myself). Just go to harbor freight and get the $10 dial indicator...drill a hole in the center of a hockey puck, insert the dial indicator in the hole and voila! You now have a drumdial for about $15. It is super accurate. The needle will move with the slightest turn of a drum key.