I hear you with the sympathetic snare rattling being annoying. That tends to happen when you have complementary frequencies happening between drums that resonate with each other. I’d suggest shifting one of the drums farther away in pitch from the other and that should do the trick.
@paolotonolo1140 well, this younger generation has the privilege of RUclips which makes the learning curve much shorter where one can watch and learn. Personally, I learned from listening to albums and trying to figure out what the drummer was doing.
I've been a big fan of your videos for several years. Tuning drums has always given me trouble. After seeing this video, I can't wait to see how I'm able to make my kit sound. Thank you so much!
Jeff, I am so grateful for you. Your videos are like nothing else on RUclips. You provide practical, concise, no BS advice. Whether it’s tuning drums or learning a new drum fill, your videos are always a pleasure to watch. I really appreciate how you make complex ideas so clear and easy to understand. I’ve been a fan of your content for a few years now and I really enjoy the topics you bring to the table. Thanks for another great video. I look forward to the next!
So many clips about tuning on RUclips, but this one's best. For me the perfect balance of technique, background knowledge and sharing valuable tuning experience. Thank you Jeff, and best regards from Cologne/Germany
This video is ridiculously well done. I remember years ago, even when there were a ton of drum tuning videos on RUclips, how overwhelming the process felt. This process is very straight forward and you explained everything wonderfully. 👌
Great video on tuning without a tuner. 🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽 Great practical advice. Use your ears and sense of feel to get the sound you like vs getting a dialed in pitch. And also not to sweat it if you don't have it dialed in perfect - law of diminishing returns.
Them: “How did you tune your drums so good?” Me: “My drum dial” Them: “huh? No thanks” Them again: “But how does it sound so good.” I’ve had this conversation hundreds of times
Tunebot is far better than drum dial as drum dial measures tension NOT frequencies and frequencies are what we hear! Having said that I agree with you about people somehow refusing to accept that tuning devices for drums ACTUALLY WORK!
Great job, Jeff! Same steps I learned way back. What I find is that new heads make a ton of difference. So when I find my drums hard to tune, typically they just need new heads. And the snare drum is especially sensitive to having a beat up old head and obviously wears quicker than the rest. Snare wires are also tricky sometimes - any good tips for setting that up?
For the snare wires in particular? Hm… I just make sure they’re centered on the drum and not too loose/tight but just snug enough. That’s all I’ve got, haha.
I agree with the notion of diminishing returns if using your ear to fine tune obsessively, although using a Tunebot is a different story! You see using the calculator app that goes with it gives you exact frequencies to not only match the lugs but the desired relationship between the two heads. All this can be done taking 5 minutes per drum once you are experienced with using it. It's accuracy for getting repeatable results every time can not be matched by the human ear. The drums just sound better, I would say perfect with good quality heads and bearing edges. Also in my personal experience with gretsch renown maple drums and evans heads I can belt away on them daily and a week or 2 later measure the frequencies and they might have only changed by 3 to 5 hertz! So my point is it IS WORTH GETTING A TUNEBOT.
Well said Ben! I can definitely see the merits of using a Tunebot, especially when it comes to getting repeatable results like you mentioned. Having tried one in the past however, it just wasn’t for me. But maybe I’m old-school and just stuck in my ways. :)
@JeffRandallDrumming Thanks for your reply Jeff, just out of curiosity did you also use the app that works in conjunction with the tunebot itself? I feel like some people don't realise that the app is what actually gives you the recommended settings based on your preferred pitch and sustain. Without using this it's still a great tool to record and store your own favorite settings. To me though the calculator app that goes with it gives the perfect mathematical formulas for the intervals between both the 2 heads and between the drums themselves!
WD-40 actually has a white lithium grease, sold as spray. I prefer that because you can spray the inside of your lugs and that way your hands don't get greasy.
No. 6. Buy a Tune-Bot. After 50 yrs of drumming, my set has never sounded so "fat". By controlling the amount of resonance, dampers are not needed. Best $69 I've ever spent!
That`s a very bad thing to do to your heads. Don`t ever press the heads with your hands, fists or whatever because the amount of force is many times greater than the stick hit and will actually deform the plastic in certain areas and basically the head will start to sound bad way sooner. So don`t do this. Just put the head on, put the rim and lugs and tune the head normally, that`s it.
Hope this helps you out! I'm around for one-on-one online lessons if you need more help. www.jeffrandalldrumming.com/book-a-lesson
60 years of playing and still learning. Thank you for this advice. One of my biggest pet peeves is the snares rattling when other drums are hit.
I hear you with the sympathetic snare rattling being annoying. That tends to happen when you have complementary frequencies happening between drums that resonate with each other. I’d suggest shifting one of the drums farther away in pitch from the other and that should do the trick.
65 here as well ..funny how ae still watch these tuts lol
@paolotonolo1140 well, this younger generation has the privilege of RUclips which makes the learning curve much shorter where one can watch and learn. Personally, I learned from listening to albums and trying to figure out what the drummer was doing.
As a guitarist that wanted to learn drums this was always the worst part of getting a kit to sound good from scratch. Huge props for this video
I've been a big fan of your videos for several years. Tuning drums has always given me trouble. After seeing this video, I can't wait to see how I'm able to make my kit sound. Thank you so much!
As always, great job, Jeff. Though I've been drumming for over 60 years, I always get something valuable from watching your videos.
Hands down Best tuning video on RUclips
Jeff, I am so grateful for you. Your videos are like nothing else on RUclips. You provide practical, concise, no BS advice. Whether it’s tuning drums or learning a new drum fill, your videos are always a pleasure to watch. I really appreciate how you make complex ideas so clear and easy to understand.
I’ve been a fan of your content for a few years now and I really enjoy the topics you bring to the table. Thanks for another great video. I look forward to the next!
Great tips, thank you. Especially on the snare. Thats a great point about resonate side of snare, its about feel over tone.
All of your techniques are precisely the method I have been using for years. Good video! These are great techniques for newer drummers to incorporate.
So many clips about tuning on RUclips, but this one's best. For me the perfect balance of technique, background knowledge and sharing valuable tuning experience. Thank you Jeff, and best regards from Cologne/Germany
This video is ridiculously well done. I remember years ago, even when there were a ton of drum tuning videos on RUclips, how overwhelming the process felt.
This process is very straight forward and you explained everything wonderfully. 👌
Good Job Jeff, very helpful
Thanks for this video Jeff! Definitely learned some additional tuning steps. This was really helpful! Straight forward instruction. Much appreciated!
Great video! Very clear explanations/demonstrations! Thank you!
Always A+ content from you. Thanks Jeff!
This really helped me out so much. Thanks Jeff.
Awesome job
Great video man! You’re very good at explaining everything. Really good playing too!
Great content Jeff, I think the top to bottom relationship is excellent knowledge to check and set. Love the snare tips. Bass boom is a good thing...
Excellent content as always 👌
WELL DONE.. !!!
Thank you for this Video... I found it VERY Helpful.
Great video!!!
Been waiting for this video from you!
I’m certainly not a beginner, but this is a great video! I am a big Jeff fan….love your videos!
great tutorial!
very good demo
Great video on tuning without a tuner. 🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽 Great practical advice. Use your ears and sense of feel to get the sound you like vs getting a dialed in pitch. And also not to sweat it if you don't have it dialed in perfect - law of diminishing returns.
Thanks so much for this!
Absolutely my friend!
🙌🙌 great stuff 🙂
More than excelent!!! Thanx!!
Hey Jeff, I love your videos, no matter the topic. Looks to me like you are using coated Emperors on top and clear Ambassadors on bottom.
Them: “How did you tune your drums so good?”
Me: “My drum dial”
Them: “huh? No thanks”
Them again: “But how does it sound so good.”
I’ve had this conversation hundreds of times
Still great to be able to tune manually though, you really never know when you’re gonna need that skill
Tunebot is far better than drum dial as drum dial measures tension NOT frequencies and frequencies are what we hear! Having said that I agree with you about people somehow refusing to accept that tuning devices for drums ACTUALLY WORK!
Great job, Jeff! Same steps I learned way back.
What I find is that new heads make a ton of difference. So when I find my drums hard to tune, typically they just need new heads. And the snare drum is especially sensitive to having a beat up old head and obviously wears quicker than the rest.
Snare wires are also tricky sometimes - any good tips for setting that up?
For the snare wires in particular? Hm… I just make sure they’re centered on the drum and not too loose/tight but just snug enough. That’s all I’ve got, haha.
I agree with the notion of diminishing returns if using your ear to fine tune obsessively, although using a Tunebot is a different story! You see using the calculator app that goes with it gives you exact frequencies to not only match the lugs but the desired relationship between the two heads. All this can be done taking 5 minutes per drum once you are experienced with using it. It's accuracy for getting repeatable results every time can not be matched by the human ear. The drums just sound better, I would say perfect with good quality heads and bearing edges. Also in my personal experience with gretsch renown maple drums and evans heads I can belt away on them daily and a week or 2 later measure the frequencies and they might have only changed by 3 to 5 hertz! So my point is it IS WORTH GETTING A TUNEBOT.
Well said Ben! I can definitely see the merits of using a Tunebot, especially when it comes to getting repeatable results like you mentioned. Having tried one in the past however, it just wasn’t for me. But maybe I’m old-school and just stuck in my ways. :)
@JeffRandallDrumming Thanks for your reply Jeff, just out of curiosity did you also use the app that works in conjunction with the tunebot itself? I feel like some people don't realise that the app is what actually gives you the recommended settings based on your preferred pitch and sustain. Without using this it's still a great tool to record and store your own favorite settings. To me though the calculator app that goes with it gives the perfect mathematical formulas for the intervals between both the 2 heads and between the drums themselves!
WD-40 actually has a white lithium grease, sold as spray. I prefer that because you can spray the inside of your lugs and that way your hands don't get greasy.
Good to know!
3:37 Jeff the chiropractor
High temp grease on rods...I'm out😂
What drum key is that btw?
No. 6. Buy a Tune-Bot.
After 50 yrs of drumming, my set has never sounded so "fat". By controlling the amount of resonance, dampers are not needed. Best $69 I've ever spent!
I just dont seem to get it. No tutorial or explenation has ever helped me😢...
Anyway, your drum sound is great advertising for Rogers drums.
Anybody else’s stomach drop when he put pressure on the snare side head?? 🥴
Tuning drums, it's simple....witchcraft, smoke and mirrors.
That`s a very bad thing to do to your heads. Don`t ever press the heads with your hands, fists or whatever because the amount of force is many times greater than the stick hit and will actually deform the plastic in certain areas and basically the head will start to sound bad way sooner. So don`t do this. Just put the head on, put the rim and lugs and tune the head normally, that`s it.