TUNING TALK / JOHN BONHAM'S DRUM SOUND
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- Опубликовано: 13 авг 2024
- This is a video for the die -hard Bonhamites, and for those interested in my philosophy about drum tuning.
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I’m so glad this channel exists
Thank you Safwan!
Same
Truly wise advice here. Watch it a few times.
Thanks Terry!
Misty mountain hop sound and first album is amazingly similar
You've helped me immensely with tuning larger drums for different rooms. I've always played smaller drums(20 12 14) and struggled to find my sound on larger drums. Thank you so much!!!
George, this is exactly what I’m trying to convey when I comment on all your videos, one felt strip or crunched up news paper here or there is not going to make you sound like Bonham it’s the combination of all the things you mentioned the feel the touch your attitude your perception of the drums the way you manipulate the kit these are all gifts you have George that’s why today without video I would not be able to distinguish between you and the real thing I’ve said that on many of your videos, now does it help to have a beautiful 3 ply vintage Ludwig Thermo with reinforcement rings with Remo ambassadors all the around ,,,YEAH but you still have to know what to do with them.
Ya, i saw a pic and thought dam thats a clear head on his snare and said i must be wrong. I recently restored an early 70s green sparkle and they sound really nice. I agree its about the person playing them also. But still that snare of yours is awesome. Thanks for the video George
Thanks Mark, man that's wonderful! They sound and feel so good to play.
The fundamentals of tuning is so simple, but it takes quite some time to develop the link between ear and adjustment. Ive found that once a sound is achieved thru tuning, I take a tunebot measurement on reso and batters and head type at the time then file them away. I started playing in 1976 and I dont think I really grasped HOW to get the sound I wanted with very little effort. It seemed to take me forever lol.
It takes time. Drummers like you-Bonham and the like grasped that relationship waaaaay earlier than I did. Thanks George! Great video.
George you made my day!!! Thanks for taking the time and showing us the art of tuning on an kit!!!
I always loved the way his kit sounds on D`yer Maker.
Oh yea, just incredible.
His best snare sound. So fat!!
George, I think you can give me lessons haha.
Never !!😂
Thank you for another great video. I was so surprised to find another musician like myself that's way into jazz and into Bonham. I had the great experience of studying with Duffy Jackson, and he looked at me like I was from mars when I told him Bonham was a early as well as still a huge influence. My first time hearing you was on the Ben Paterson album "For Once In My Life". You always sound incredible no matter what you're playing!!!
I see young drummers at gigs I play at that mute the heck out of their drums........duct tape, gel pads and all kinds of stuff. I play Ludwig Classic Maples with no muting at all and a small cushy pad my wife made me in my bass drum. I get lots of compliments on my drum sound and then I see these guys batter and reso heads just covered with stuff.
Same here... I'm a youngster myself but since most of the time I'm playing on a back-lined kit, I see more often than not that the toms and kick are tuned low and muffled to hell.
Well in my experience all those folks are terrified of my drums being wife open with the exception of my bass drum. The first thing they do is ask if they can tape them. It's like...
No'sir.
Thanks for this video! Your way of find a note for every drum is fantastic! I think this is one of best RUclips channel. Again, thanks, and big hugs from Brazil!
Thank you kindly!
Thank you soo much for this video. I was about to give up on getting that sound, but now I have my answer
Keep trying, and find your sound in the process!
Thanks George help me a lot! I have a DW performance series kit and they are a little tricky to tune. I got them sounding killer now! Really like your videos! Thanks for sharing your knowledge
That's great!!
Tunebot frequencies that got me close to this on my classic maples:
13" rack tom - Batter 224 Reso 238
16" floor tom #1 - Batter 170 Reso 184
16" floor tom #2 Batter 120 Reso 132
Many thanks for doing this video, I found it most helpful as it was presented with clarity, genuine knowledge and modesty. You have been keeping your broader musical talents to yourself for much of the time of your you tube output. Obviously your drum skills are well known and appreciated by anyone who watches you on here (or live, no doubt) but it now seems that you have perfect pitch, the skill to be able to recognise a musical note just by hearing it. My grandmother had this and was asked to begin the hymn singing in chapel when the organist was too ill to play. Musicality often runs in families and you have been truly blessed and I thank you again for sharing your time in order to help others find the pleasure and satisfaction that playing music can bring. Cheers George.
Many thanks Trev, really appreciate that, although I don't have perfect pitch, but I have good pitch memory.
Thank you for the cool 😎 tips and tuning
I will try them on my Ludwigs green sparkle keystone Bonham Kit .
Just (finally) received my Amber Vistalite Bonham kit ...came here to get some really needed information......
I just came across one of your videos for the first time, and wondered if you had a tuning video. Two days ago you uploaded this. 😁
👍
Capital timing!
Hi George, I definitely prefer the higher tuning on those large size shells, All my three ply Ludwigs have the Emperor / Ambassador combo and this works so well. I also fitted a Kelly Shu flatz mount inside my 24" kick and fitted a Ba19 and the sound is amazing - no damping at all
Great! Yes, the toms isolated have an ominous sound (like let's get ready to ROCK!). I was thinking that the first two toms sounded like something from Ben Hur when Heston and the other slaves were rowing at 'ramming speed'.
THANKS FOR SHARING GEORGE !!
Good stuff! Thanks for your lessons.
Snare is spot on brother
Thank you!
I recently picked up a 70s silver sparkle ludwig kit off the original owner for $250.
A gift from the gods. Nice video
Nice video!!!!
Appreciate your organic, ear-led tuning method. IMO, Bonham used Ambassador weight heads until he worked with Jeff Ocheltree - JB's brighter, open drum tone pre-1977 to my ear plays this out....also think you pretty much nailed Bonzo's SD tone & pitch for Zep's '75 EC show...Thx 🥁
Thanks for sharing! Great vid, great advice 🤘
Great info. Thank you.
VERY COOL ...THANK YOU!!
CAUTION Highly addictive content!
Jazz drummer with a baseball cap, gives advice on how to tune your drums if you play Led Zeppelin, while humming Richard Strauss.
😂👍🏻
But is that a period correct tuning key?
Lol!!
Great vid!
Still hoping you'll check out good morning little school girl.. Johnny Winter..live version
Haha, why yes of course! 😆
Ooh, man that's a killer version.... I actually have the album, hadn't listened for many years! Captured Live is also a great album. Bobby Caldwell, some great foot work there!
@@BONHAMOLOGY ruclips.net/video/SCFG6Z6_be4/видео.html
New subscriber, great channel mate. Greetings from the U.K. 🇬🇧 👍🏻
Thanks!! Cheers.
Excellent advice. Great tutorial.🥁
Thankyou George nice job as always
I couldn’t tune my Vistalites with silver dots. So I got clear pinstripes and followed your advice. They sound AMAZING!
Great stuff indeed
Ton of good tips!👍
This guy is the real deal. He has done a few Moby Dick live solo videos that sounded exactly like the Man was there himself.
Thanks!
this is amazing
Sheesh that kit sounds amazing!
I like your way of thinking.... 🙏🏻
🖖🏻🇫🇷😎🇫🇷😎🇫🇷🖖🏻
I have a 12 inch hoop that maybe came from a old rogers kit, but anyway, it makes the tom have a different sound even with coated remo heads. Doesn't anyone use a drum tension tuning lug key thing anymore?
The guy I played with before covid is a personal friend of Carmine appice . I played his cactus blue badge bass drum it had shredded newspaper in it
Nice!!
You should post your tunebot settings.
Modern technology has afforded us tools to quickly and accurately tune..consistently
Very informative about tuning but I wanted to see you play more. You sound good.
Thanks... there are a lot of videos here of me playing, I figured I should talk a bit on this subject.
@@BONHAMOLOGY okay I will check more out man. You capture the feel of bonham which is hard to do. Keep up the good work!
Thanks man
that 402 sounds perfect to me.
Perfectly said in every way
Hello from Australia! What heads are used for the Tom Tom resos and bass drum batter? Any felt strip? Thanks
Thanks for focusing on this subject. I would love to hear your opinion on bass drum reso side tension vs batter side. Also bass drum beater height. Thanks again.
Hi Jason,
I use the old Remo coated BASS DRUM head that came with the drum when I got it. It looks OLD! The front head I believe is an original smooth white Ludwig Weathermaster. I don't use the beater extended up real high, but I think Bonzo may have. In some pics it looks long, but its hard to tell. I don't aim for the center of the head.
Thanks George, again a fine video. Just need to ask you a few things if you don't mind. Firstly, you demonstarted raising the pitch when required etc, and you proceeded to tighten the batter heads only. Isn't the pitch normally set by the reso head? At least this is how I've always understood it. You achieved this perfectly by simply tightening the top batter heads, amazing... But then for this to happen smoothly you would need to have the reso heads set to a specific tension, right? This brings me to my last 2 questions, how do you set the reso tension? Your snare reso was set to a 'G' note, what notes are your toms set to? Can you please tell. Thanking you in advance.
The pitch will adjust with the top head for sure, but the bottom will also make a change in pitch, although I am not sure which is more pronounced. I'll check those pitches and get back to you. Thanks!
@@BONHAMOLOGY Thank you George!!
Ludwig is my choice of drum kits 🥰
Ashen I was a kid Ludwig wasnking
Hey George, I was looking to get the 1.6mm hoops for my snare but could only find double flanged and not triple flanged. Do you have triple flanged 1.6mm hoops on your 10 lug snare? Amazing videos by the way, your kit sounds closer to Bonham than anyone I've ever heard.
Yes. Thanks!
Thanks George, very helpful. I broke my hazy reso head on my Supraphonic the other day trying to tighten it up higher than my batter head. Gonna keep practicing (& tuning!)
I saw that!! Sorry! A casualty of the ongoing quest! That's the definition of trial and error though.
What kills me with heads is modern Ambassadors are too heavy for me and Diplomats are a hair too thin.
Apparently ambassadors used to be thinner (but not as thin as modern diplomats) so I currently use smooth white diplomats right now and it's very LZ1, with that shimmery top end that he really only got on the first album.
Really I'm more chasing that early Kinks, and Mitch Mitchell tom sound but it still has a strong Zep 1 vibe.
Yes, I am pretty sure he was playing that Slingerland 22,13,16 and maybe thinner heads, like Ambassadors ...cool that you're using the Diplomats
I noticed no felts on the tops of the crashes. Is that to not muffle the sustain on them?
Yes, but I'm not real insistent about it. Its kind of the Bonham style so I just do that too with this kit.
BONHAMOLOGY i emailed you a few weeks back too
KICK DRUM TUNING PLEASE!?..
Hi George great video! Can you please make one on only the kick drum? I know you have done video on the Tom's and several on snare sounds but nothing on the Kick.. If you have can you please reply with a link to that video and if you haven't can you please make one?.. I'm sure I'm not the only one waiting... haha... Peace V
SNARE AND KICK PLEASE !!
Thanks for the insights , I can hear pennies dropping for miles around ! Just one question : who’s the drummer over your right shoulder ?
I think it’s Elvin , he has that animated look ! Don’t care if I’m wrong , it’s a great photo anyway ! Thanks again
Yes, that's Elvin ! I got it from Donn Bennett, it actually belonged to Elvin, and its printed on canvas.
Thanks for answering , it’s a great image . I was listening to a Coltrane LP back in the 80s , and on one track I would have sworn that he had mastered perpetual motion ! Is it a Ludwig set in the photo ? And please don’t move your kit ! Have a great Sunday
@@korolev-musictodriveby6583 It's a Gretsch kit, the yellow nitron finish. I love that pic, captured the essence. Then again, most pics of Elvin do!
BONHAMOLOGY - So THAT’S where Tony got from ! Thanks, again , for replying !
Do you think I’m Stairway to Heaven, his 14 was also tuned to an A?
Could you do a video on how to tie the snare wire on with the white cord?
Great work! Do you use an emperor or ambassador on the snare batter?
Thanks.
Great video ,been watching all of them and was wondering if you could help,I’m trying to tune my drums(new to acoustic,been playing e drums) having a hard time tuning and was wondering if you could tell me the notes of your toms when you’re playing misty mountain hop and dazed and confused on this video
I don’t like those gadgets for tuning drums.i play by ear whether I’m changing drum heads I know what a snare drum or tom’s should sound like. It’s more natural to me 🥁
I'm with ya!
The first LZ album didn't have the big Ludwig kit. It was a smaller kit. Possibly Slingerland.
Correct
George, what heads do you use as resonant on toms?
I have a mix, the 14 and 18 toms have Ambassador coated, the 16 has an old Ludwig clear Weathermaster Med. The snare has a clear Ambassador reso head.
I'll try the Ambassador coated as the top + resonant head on toms, that's what I wanted to hear, thank you.
I can get a Bonham like sound out of some Evans G2 heads
What heads do you use on your kick drum?
I use the old Remo coated BASS DRUM head that came with the drum when I got it. It looks OLD! The front head I believe is an original smooth white Ludwig Weathermaster.
@@BONHAMOLOGY My 3 ply - 70's Slingerland 80N 24'' bass drum came with original smooth white Slingerland heads. It's sound OK to me but won't those heads be tired ? Tempted to try a new pair of Ambassador Smooth Whites but could be wasting my money ?
Do you think Bonham had people hit the drums while he stood in the seats so he could get a reference?
Hey Bob. Not sure, but its very possible, considering he was obviously concerned with his sound. Maybe Mick Hinton would play them here and there for soundchecks, and Bonzo would listen. Good question for Jason!
In the bar days in the mid or even early 1960s Bill Ward from Black Sabbath recounted that bonham asked Ward to sit in front of the kit and tell him if the kick felt like it was punching him, it obviously did. So if he was that concerned about a small bar gig in Birmingham then yes absolutely he almost definitely did that.
Moiist!
Damp?
Leme 'splain something here. I watch a lot of tutorials of guitar players showing how to play stuff like YES, Rush, and obviously a lot of Zeppelin and they turn what should be a 10 minute video into a 45 minute video because they are trying to teach the most basic aspects of guitar playing...
On a Rush lesson.
One must read and write before studying law. These bands are obviously not Blink 182 so I would skip all the stuff about "finger tight" or "till the wrinkles disappear" only to save yourself the drama. While we understand and greatly appreciate these sorts of breakdowns, you can't kill yourself by having to get down to things like holding your key up so we can see what color it is.
I think it's best for people to crawl before they try to walk.
Are your drums wrapped or painted?
Neither. They are a Maple Thermogloss finish...it's a heat coated finish over the natural maple wood.
avec ta casquette tu ressembles à Lars Ulrich 🤣😉
Oh no!!! 😂
g#
Your drums do sound nice but you did mention about people who use " Torque Wrenches" Supposedly. I personally have 2 sets. A 1970 Ludwig Bonham size kit just like you and I have a 1970 Slingerland set with the same sizes in White Marine Pearl. My Ludwigs were custom Mahogany Lacquer. I personally like the Slingerland sound much better. I tune all of my drums exactly the same way. I use a Tama Tension Watch and I tune the bottoms tighter to a certain number of tension and I write them all down on paper. Then I tune all of the tops/fronts a little lower than the bottoms and write them all down. I have never and never will put a hole in the front of any Bass drum ever. That is for the morons in the world to do. I don't care if they have been playing for 50 years or not. I have the tension numbers from every drum from a 6" concert tom all the way around to a Bonham kit, which is all I ever play is those sizes. My Slingerland kit has a 9x13 mounted tom instead of a 10x14 for the first time in my life. I also use only Remo coated ambassador heads on the top and the bottoms of every drum except my Bass Drum. In the front of my 14x26 I use a Remo Power Stroke 3 coated ambassador head to avoid any ringing. I don't use any muffling on any drum ever. They are all wide open. I do use a little piece of those Blue Gel Pads on the top of all of the drums only if it has a little bit too much of a ring. The main reason that I tune all of my drums with the Tama Tension Watch is because whenever I need to change a skin, I can change it and tune it exactly to the same tension and it will sound identical, until it stretches and then I keep tightening it until it stays in tune perfectly with the correct number of tension that I write down for each drum. My 14x26 Slingerland/Ludwid bass drums always sound exactly like Bonham at the 1970 Royal Albert Hall all the time. That is the way my drums always sound. They never sound different, because I tune them the same way every time. Also, I don't break skins, so when I want to change my skins, I change all of the tops and never mess with the bottoms. That's my system. I believe Bonham did the same thing because his sound NEVER CHANGED ON ANY SET EXCEPT THAT SHITTY STAINLESS STEEL SET. EVEN MY 1972 RED VISTILITES SOUNDED JUST ABOUT THE SAME, BUT, I WOUND NEVER PLAY THEM OUT LIVE BECAUSE NOTHING BEATS THE SOUND OF A VINTAGE 3-PLY MAPLE KIT... Joseph
I’d be happy to edit this for you. Also. Consider not using the ambient mic.
We don't deserve this
Haha, yes you do!
Snare is spot on brother
Thanks!!