How to Tune a Drum Set

The best way to know how to tune a drum set for metal, rock, jazz, blues, or other music genres is to listen to the same kind of songs from professional musicians and artists. Listening to songs will enable to realize what type of sound should the individual drums have.

Basic Parts in a Typical Drum Set

Before starting off with tuning the drums, you should first know the basic parts in a typical drum kit, which are to be tuned. A normal drum set consists of a bass drum which is also known as the kick drum; a snare which is generally placed on the left hand side of a right-handed drummer, beside the hi-hats; the rack toms that are set above the bass drum; and the floor drum which is at the very right side of a right-handed drummer. These are the drums which are to be tuned. Other parts not to be tuned consist of the hi-hats and cymbals.

Tuning the Drums

For tuning the drums, you would necessarily need a tuning key. Unlike in the guitar or any other stringed instrument, you do not have to tune the drums to a particular musical note. They are just supposed to be tuned according to the music type being played. Nevertheless, some drummers prefer tuning their drums to specific notes.

For the drum kit to sound good, all individual drums are to be tuned in accordance with each other. This generally means that the kick drum should have a bassy and a very powerful punchy sound, and the snare drum should have a tight tone. If you are using two toms, the smaller one should have a slightly higher tone than that of the bigger one. The lowest tone should be of the floor drum. If you have a drum kit with bottom heads on the toms and the bass drum, you simply need to tighten them suitably. However, the tuning of the bottom heads would not affect the tone of the drum.

You can start with any drum for tuning. Considering that you would start tuning the snare, use the tuning key to tighten the lugs on the top head of the snare. Remember that first you just need to tighten the lugs roughly. Tighten a lug and then move on to the next lug which is right opposite to it. This would distribute even tension and contribute to proper tuning. Then tighten another lug next to the first one that you just worked on, and tighten the lug right opposite to it. Work on all lugs in the similar manner, and then tighten the bottom head which is to be tightened a bit more than the top one. Use the same manner to tighten the bottom head.

Now you need to get an appropriate tone out of the snare drum. Adjust one lug and check the tone by playing on the area of the head right next to the lug. Once you get the expected tone, adjust all lugs accordingly by checking the tone individually. A same tuning pattern has to be followed in tuning the toms as well as the floor drum. Just make sure that the tone is correct and accordingly low on every drum, excluding the snare. While tuning the bass drum, use the same tuning technique used for the snare and toms, just make sure that the tone is quite bassy and powerful, and goes well with the sound of the bass guitar.

If you are thinking about tuning a drum set, you simply need to have the desired tone in mind, and tune accordingly by following the standard steps mentioned above.