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Home > Big Drums: Does Size Matter?
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Tune Your Toms! by Wm Judd
Introduction
I use Gretsch toms fitted with Remo, white-coated Ambassador Heads, top and bottom. Later on I will talk about some of the different heads available and their effect on the sound of your toms. Based on my experience, drums are difficult to tune to a precise note because the sound of a drum varies depending on how hard it is hit. So I started tuning individual drums to the point where they produced what I considered their best sound. I found that by doing this to each drum in my kit, the different sizes of the drums would cause each drum to "find its own space" within the whole of the kit. What follows is what works for me. I urge you to employ an "Absorb What's Useful, discard the rest" attitude to the information I will provide, since not everything will work for everyone.
Part 1-Mounting the skins
Start by removing both heads from your drum. Working on the bottom head first, take a new, white-coated Remo Ambassador drumhead, place the head on the shell and rotate the head slightly a few times (using the same motion used when steering a car). This will help seat the head properly on the shell. Now place the rim on the drum and tighten the lug nuts to finger tightness only. Now take a drumstick and lightly hit the drum. It will sound like a piece of typing paper. This sound is one extreme. Use a drum key and working diagonally across the drum, tighten each lug 1 half turn. Now grip the bottom of the rim with your fingers and place your thumbs on the top of the head, about 1 inch in and on opposite sides of a lug. Press in, gently at first until you develop a feel. You will hear the glue in the rim portion of the head popping, as it breaks loose. Repeat this process for each lug on your drum. Now again, tighten the lugs as before and repeat the thumb procedure. This time, take a drumstick and hit the drum fairly sharply. You should hear some tone in the sound now. Keep tightening the lugs, and hitting the drum (at this point, you probably don't need to loosen the glue in the rims anymore). As you gradually tighten the drum, you will hear more sustain in the tone. Keep going until the sustain starts to taper off and the drum starts sounding choked. This is the other extreme. Now all you have to do is start backing off on the tension until you reach the point where the drum has the longest sustain of the primary pitch. Don't worry about any high pitched after ring; we will fix that later. Also, don't worry about the primary pitch just yet. Again working diagonally across the drum, tap the drumhead lightly at its edge, near each lug. You want each lug to sound the same. If you work on lugs next to each other, it can be more difficult to distinguish tonal differences. And don't drive yourself nuts trying to match each lug, just get them as close as possible. After you finish the bottom head, repeat the entire process for the top head (leaving the bottom head on of course). Do this to all of the toms in your kit.
Part 2-Assemble your kit
The drums should now have a basic, acceptable pitch interval. Now the fun begins. Take one sheet of toilet paper. Fold it over twice (so it ends up being ¼ of its original size). Cut off a 2-inch strip of high quality duct tape and press the toilet paper into the center of the sticky side. Make sure that there is adhesive showing on all four sides of the square of paper. Take the paper/duct tape concoction and apply it to the top head of one of your toms, towards the side away from you. Now hit that drum, and notice that the primary note jumps out at you while the after ring is greatly diminished. This is because when the drum is struck, the paper actually loses contact with the head for a split second allowing the primary pitch to ring. The paper then returns to contact with the head and muffles the after tones. Do this procedure to the rest of your toms. At this point, you will probably want to fine-tune the pitch intervals between your toms. Do this by adjusting only one lug on the top of each drum, again using a lug on the side of the drum opposite you. Trust me, changing one lug is all it takes to bring about the desired change in pitch without taking the drum out of its "sweet spot". Don't be afraid to experiment with the pads; some drums need 2, some respond to a pad on the bottom head as well.
Part 3-Random Thoughts
I generally don't like heads that are reinforced in the center and thinner around the edges (although I once achieved awesome sound on a Sonar kit using a combination of Pinstripe heads and this product called Deadringers up top, over coated ambassadors on the bottom. I think that there are some products on the market now that feature a thin second ply around the outer edge of the head. These would probably work well, although they would undoubtedly be pricier then coated ambassadors and a roll of duct tape.
I have owned both thick-shelled drums and thin-shelled drums. I much prefer the thin-shelled variety. I hit pretty hard, and have yet to damage a drum shell.
Sometimes a good sound can be achieved by substituting uncoated ambassadors on the bottom of the drum, or by tuning the pitch of the bottom head a touch lower then the top head.
If you are looking for sheer volume, take the bottom heads off. Drummers have debated this theory for years and I want to set the record straight; single head drums seem louder to an audience then double head drums. Whether or not they actually put out more decibels is a question that would require an acoustical engineer to answer. I suspect that the sound projection of single headed toms is more focused. In any case, they seem much louder.
Have fun with your drums!
About the Author
Drummer and Teacher Wm Judd has performed thousands of gigs since his first lesson in 5th grade. He has studied with the Bay Areas best drummers including John Xepoleas, Gaylord Birch, Colin Bailey, George Marsh, Dave Black, and David Garibaldi.
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