The Tech Question of the Month :#3 Tunning

[roddswett]

May's edition is here and it's a long one. This month is about tunning. Divided in 3:

a)Snare:
We all know the basic "secret" for getting the SC pop out of the snare: tune as hard as you can, before it chokes.
But what resonant head? higher/same/lower in pitch?
What about the tension of the snare itself?

b) Toms: Do you use any kind of device for consistent tunning night after night, AKA DrumDial or Tama device? if so, what are the readings for each tom as well as the snare drum?
OR Do you prefer just "ears", and if so what is the relation (higher/same/lower) between batter and resonant heads?
OR Do you prefer a "note (C, D, B, etc.) " or special interval between toms? (like playing Horse RacingTrumpet call tune with toms from higher to lower toms?

c)BD:Same.

[Spec A!]

There are so many different methods out there for tuning, I as well am curious how you go about it. AND - does STEWART go back and readjust?

[zilboy]

I remember Stewart's first interview in Modern Drummer ('81 or '82?) in which Jeff goes into detail about the tuning. For toms: tight top; general pitch on the bottom. Of course, this was for the Imperialstars, which had thick shells made of ???. They were thuddy, whereas, when Stewart switched to the Artstar II in the late 80s, they were Maple and sounded more ringy. Even his Starclassics sound way different than in the old days.

[Spec A!]

Oh you mean this article?

[Spec A!]

FWIW Jeff- your words in that article, describing STEWART's sound and how he achieves it, how he plays? Those words are what helped me shape my sound and playing, so thank you.

[TheEqualizer]

Thanks for posting that article. I don't recall having seen that.

[Spec A!]

All scans of it (including 1990 MD interview) - http://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o132 ... 2QQtppZZ24

[zilboy]

Oh you mean this article?

Yeah, that one!

[drummike]

I think the Imperialstars were nine plys of Phillipine Mahogany, plus they had the colored wrap around the shell. I liked the sound Stewart and Jeff got from those drums. But when I decided to assemble a 80s style Tama kit, I went for the Superstars in Mahogany stain, like the ones pictured on the Zenyatta lp. I don't think they have the heavy sound of the Imperialstars, but they do sound pretty nice.

[Spec A!]

LOVE that kit from Zenyatta. it's on a pedestal for sure.

[drummike]

I just need a drum stool with a back on it so I can lean back and put my feet up on the toms, lol.

[roddswett]

I have just found this at drumcool.com February 2012:

Q: How do you tune your drums?

A: Until the thing’s about ready to pop. Because I discovered two things – first, the response is much better. And also, when you have the drums tuned to a high pitch, there’s still in that sound a lot of low end. Your ear responds to the high end, but the low end is still in there, and since it still exists, through equalisation of the PA you can can roll off a lot of the high end and roll on a lot of bass, and you can get that thick boom, but still have that attack, that cut.

You know, the classic scene of the soundcheck where you get the drummer checking each drum separately, with nothing else playing – Booom! Booom! Booom! – sounds great, and then as soon as the rest of the band kicks in, you can”t hear them. But tune them high, and they’ll cut through anything.

I guess it’s the same for the whole band: nothing happens unless it gets through the PA. The classic scenario is that while you’re playing the gig you have no idea if the PA mixer is doing his job or not, you only find out when your friends come backstage, you don’t know at the time. The monitor guy better have his shit together, because you sure as hell know how well he’s doing his job.

I tried using in-ear on tour and I hated it, would never do it again. Everything sounds small and undramatic and I like to feel it. I actually just use stage monitors and wear earplugs that just reduce all the volumes of all the frequencies down, but I can still feel it. The in-ear monitors, well, you”re right there, it’s clear but you just don”t have the feeling of magnificence, it doesn’t have the power.

Of course, you have to be careful. I’ve got slight hearing loss, I’ve got a notch at around 4KHz, probably right about where my snare drum is. Of course, my snare drum is tightened so tight, it’s tuned to bring a bird down from the sky. I always dread every soundcheck, the moment when I get up on the drum riser and…CRACK! Owwww! and eventually the mucous on the hair follicles on the audio membrane in my ears begins to freeze up. So now I wear these very fancy ear plugs. They’re custom-moulded to my ear canals and give an even attenuation of all the frequencies so I still hear everything, just not as loud.

In fact, sometimes I’ll come off stage at a gig and pull my earplugs out, the audience are still making a noise “OK, let”s give them one more” and I’ll forget to put them back in and count it off, one, two, three, four, CRACK! OWWWWW! And there’s blood gushing from my ear. But I”m very fortunate. Andy Summers has tinnitus, Jeff Beck has it, Pete Townsend has it, it really is a problem. Fortunately I don’t have it: I got away with it. Andy didn’t. But then his ****ing amplifiers were so loud…
MD

[ltwoman]

Thanks for that excerpt,roddswett.

[jeffseitz]

[quote="drummike"]I think the Imperialstars were nine plys of Phillipine Mahogany, plus they had the colored wrap around the shell. I liked the sound Stewart and Jeff got from those drums. But when I decided to assemble a 80s style Tama kit, I went for the Superstars in Mahogany stain, like the ones pictured on the Zenyatta lp. I don't think they have the heavy sound of the Imperialstars, but they do sound pretty nice.[/quote]

The Superstars sound great at a light to medium physical approach. This is why Stewart switched to the Imperialstars.

[drummike]

[quote="jeffseitz"]The Superstars sound great at a light to medium physical approach. This is why Stewart switched to the Imperialstars.[/quote]

Light to medium pretty much defines my approach at the moment, but the time may soon come when I have to put together a set of Imperialstars. For the time being though, these old Superstars sound great and are fun to play, and I love the wood grain.