How To Tune Drums

Hey Steve here,

You probably found this site ‘cos you want to know how to tune drums and get ‘em sounding great? I know the feeling ‘cos I found it hard too when I was learning to tune drums years ago, it can be really annoying!

I hope you’ll read this whole page as it should help you out a lot! I’ll tell you how I finally got good at drum tuning a little later, but for now check out the method below.

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HERE IS A GOOD BASIC METHOD TO GET YOU STARTED:

1. Clean down the shells with a cloth. Place the resonant head (bottom) on the shell. Put the hoop on and lightly tighten each lug with your fingers.

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2. Take 2 drum keys and place them on opposite lugs. Turn both at the same time by 1/2 a full turn. Do this for all the lugs. Then go around and do the same thing, tighten all the lugs in this way 4 times. This applies if you’re tuning snare drum or tuning drum set.

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3. Now lift then drum up and lightly hit the head. Listen for a clear note (no buzzing or distortion). If it is clear move on to step 4. If it isn’t, tighten each lug another 1/4 turn and hit the head again till it sounds clear.

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4. Now put the drum back down with the resonant head facing up. Lightly tap 1.5 inches in front of each lug with a stick and listen to note each lug gives. Slightly adjust each lug so they all sound the same.

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5. Next we’ll seat the head. Place your palm on the centre of the resonant head, then place your other hand on top of that. Lightly push down so the head moves 0.5 inches. Do this 3 times. You will hear a “cracking” sound as the head forms to the shape of the edge of your drum shell.

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6. Put the drum on it’s stand and detune each lug by 1/4 a turn using the two lug method from earlier. Hit the head and listen if it sounds buzzy and distorted, you want it to sound that way. If it doesn’t, go around all the lugs and loosen them by a 1/4 turn again.

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7. Now, tighten each lug by a 1/8 turn until it gives a clear sound again when you hit it. Even out the lugs so they all still give the same sound like you did in step 4.

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8. Turn the drum over and repeat all the above steps for the batter head (top head).

Below is some advice that might make this all much easier for you.

HOW I GOT GOOD AT TUNING UP MY DRUMS:

When I started drumming my drums sounded reaaaally bad! My band would nag and moan at me, and I didn’t enjoy playing them at all when they were out of tune. I’d waste hours at a time trying to tune them up and I got nowhere (except getting super frustrated).

Before I really cracked it, I tried taping cloth to my drums and tightening them right the way up, which didn’t help of course. I tried asking my drumming pals for advice, but they weren’t much better than me! I also bought a couple of books on tuning drums but found it hard to grasp what I was reading ‘cos I couldn’t SEE or HEAR what they were teaching me.

Eventually I did find something that worked for me. Without doubt the best thing that I tried (and I had tried a lot of stuff!), that really helped me learn how to tune drums properly and in the quickest time was the ‘drum tuning system’. It guides you by the hand, step-by-step and shows you everything you need to know. You can click here if you want to check it out.

Now that helped me the most ‘cos I could see and hear exactly what to do and where I had been going wrong. A small downside is that it did cost me a little and I did have to wait for it to come through the post, but I saw it as a good investment at the time. It’s helped me learn an important skill and it set me on my way to being a pro drummer It’s like driving a car, you have to spend some money on proper lessons if you don’t want to suck at it!

So, if you’ve followed the previous steps and got a drum sound that is reasonable, you’re ready to move on. Fine tuning drums is the next step to getting that killer sound. You can click here see what I used to get good at this. This works if you want to learn how to tune a bass drum, how to tune a snare drum, or tune drums in general, this is the best thing i’ve used. Let’s get started.

1. Check that the batter and resonant heads still give a clear resonant sound when you hit them (no buzzing or crackles). If they do, move on the the next step. Otherwise, tighten up the lugs a little until they give a nice clear sound.

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2. You now have roughly the lowest tuning this drum can reach. Keep going around the batter head tightening every lug in 1/16th turn increments. Hit the head after you tighten each lug. Evetually you will hear the drum sounding a bit dead or lifeless. At this point detune the head in 1/16th increments until it sounds open again when you hit it.

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3. If you want a high pitched sound, turn each lug on the resonant head in 1/8th increments. Hit the batter head after you tighten each lug and listen to the sound. Evey now and then tap lightly an inch in from each lug and adjust them so they are all still in tune with each other. Eventually, the drum will start to sound dead again. If you still want a higher pitch, you must go back to the batter head and continue tightening it as you did in step 2. Otherwise, detune the resonant head until it sounds open again.

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4. Keep switiching between the two heads until you get a pitch you like. Make sure the drum sounds open and full of life, and keep checking the lugs are still in tune with each other.

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5. This is totally optional but you can put some dampening (moon gel or a small piece of cloth) around the edge of the drum. I’d only do this if there were a lot of really high-pitched overtones.

I found that once i’d learned how to tune a drum set I could experiment a little more and get different sounds. Getting some good instruction really helped me learn this whole process a lot easier. I think I learn better when I can see and hear what someone else is doing instead of just reading, especially when it comes to something practical like this.

If you are anything like me when I was learning to tune my kit, you’ve tried but haven’t really got a great sound for your effort. There are things that can help you learn much more easily and quicker – click here to see what I used to master tuning.

Learning how to tune drums can be a real pain, but it doesn’t have to be that way. As a beginner, one of the worst things you can do is to spend hour after hour non-stop trying to tune up your drum kit. After that amount of time concentrating, your ears and brain will start getting tired and you’ll lose your ability to focus. Then you’ll get frustrated as you aren’t getting anywhere. I should know ‘cos that’s what I used to do

I personally think the best way to learn how to tune a drum set is to take it slow and just work on one drum. Perhaps do a 30 minute session and then take a break. When you are starting out you’ll make mistakes and you probably won’t get it right on your first few attempts…nobody does! Tuning drums is a science and an art which takes some time and determination to master. If you’re willing to spend half an hour each day practing on your snare drum or tom toms you will get there much quicker and achieve more than trying to master drum tuning in just one day.

Getting some good advice on how to tune your kit, or a good teacher, is essential. Sure you could just get lucky by pottering around by yourself but why not make it easier for yourself by learning from someone who REALLY knows how to do it. That’s what I did and it made the whole process a lot quicker and more enjoyable.

When you know HOW to tune drums the right way, you can get a kit in pretty good shape within minutes, then dial it in for a more precise sound.

So, to sum up.

1. Take your time and you’ll learn more.
2. Do 30 minute sessions each day working on your snare drum.
3. DON’T spend hours at a time trying to get it perfect. You’ll just get frustrated.
4. Learn from someone who truly knows what they are doing. It’ll save you loads of time and energy.

The drum tuning system got me on the right track quite quickly, and it leaves nothing out. It does cost a bit, but i’ve found nothing better. Click here to take a look at their website.

Thanks, Steve.