Sounds Like A Drum there must be something wrong with me because i love the first two choked sounds. Is there a context where that tuning would make sense? Or should i buy a new pair of hears ^^
Dude this channel stopped me from buying a new kit without needing to because it was how I was treating the instrument and not the instrument itself, so thanks guys you are awesome
If I've learned nothing else in my life, I've learned from this channel that I don't need to put snare heads on with an impact gun to get a great sound. My lugs and I thank you.
In choosing your own words to describe the tuning of your gigging snare so that it is not a one dimensional instrument, you Sir, make your tutorials fun, musical, inspiring, and all that kind of stuff...... and, if I might add, highly accurate and beneficial. Cody, I, a very shall I say "Vintage Drummer," I certainly do appreciate your knowledge and experience! Thanks and Blessings!!!
I've been chasing this issue forever. Naturally fell victim to all 3 situations. Love it when an issue that has been dogging me for so long is addressed spot on. Looking forward to resolving this once and for all. Thank you for the insight.
Really great video. I like that you went with a topic that kind of challenges the audience to consider how they are getting their sounds. I've learned so much from y'all.
Such a great demonstration of the various ways choking can happen. One instance I’ve had of the choking effect being subjectively positive was when I cranked my 5x14 Acrolite just right to get that hip hop tone you described when the batter was choked. Now id almost consider this a special effect tuning and not a broadly usable one but man it was so satisfying. But that’s an outlier. Your point about back line snares being choked on the snare side is a really good one. I’ve seen so many snares that just took a little love on the snare side to let them breathe again. Great episode
I really love this channel. I used to think my snare sound was the shit! It was tuned high and from where I was sitting, it was awesome (before i really knew) but when I heard recordings, it was totally different to what i thought. All attack, no body, and I was choking the crap out of it. Cut to years of me trying out multiple heads and I settled with coated G2's and Ambassadors. Then a five years ago I went into record, got a whole bunch of heads delivered and one of those I thought was going to be crap (mostly because of other people's opinions). A coated Powerstroke 3. Didn't use it, then i had to change my snare head a few months later and I had to use it. It changed my life. It suited my style and my snare drum really really well. I have a 6.5" deep Maple Pearl Free-floating snare with 42-strand snare wires. It has the crack i want, the body I want, the control I want and in the sweet-spot, it is glorious.
Thank you! I've always heard that cranking the snare side head and wires was the way to get a sensitive, articulate sound, and wondered why that never seemed to work for me. Love these ear training types of videos that explore how to improve from a given situation.
andwhatshouldbe it’s not Rocket Science. Tune your snare first. To get the tone, and attack you want. Then start from Loose snare wires and bring Tight while striking to your Preference. Wires too tight will Kill the tone of your drum.
After 50 years of playing, I've come up with a fairly fool proof way to get a good versatile snare sound from any snare drum. My snare playing is somewhat busy with plenty of ghost notes and one stick roles to stretch the feel I'm going for. (this style of playing isn't for everyone). When overhauling a snare I always put the snare side head on first and tighten it fairly high, but low enough where there's still good resonance across the dynamic range. Top head is basically the same, though usually a little lower pitch than the snare head. There's always a little back & forth tuning as you get the two heads to play well together. As for snare wires.... I put them on and tighten them until they start to choke the drum, then back them off until the wires & head are opened up , but still crisp. This consistently renders a drum that offers good dynamic expression, good crack on rim shots, manageable overtones, and clear articulation. Not a sound well suited for heavy rock music, but a good sound that works well in most situations!!!
Glad you mentioned the feel of the drum. That's huge. If it feels bad to play - something is probably at an extreme. I never understood why people would crank the bottom head. I remember reading or hearing some tech saying "Bonham would crank his snare side head." Really? I doubt it. For me when in doubt, tune everything medium. All drums, both sides. :)
Bonham used a regular coated ambassador as a snare side head, so he would have to crank it to get it to function. ...THIS WOULD MAKE A GREAT EPISODE!!!!
The snare side needs to be tighter Than the Batter side. It makes the wires more sensitive which you can adjust tension easier. Also tuning the Batter head to pitch/Tone of the drum you want is easier. Keep your wires looser more Tone, crack, pop you get Out of the snare. (Don’t over Loosen) also some snare drum’s sound better with 1 vs 2 ply Heads and Visa versa.
The best sound I've gotten (so far) was intentionally choked the snare heads, then backing them off by 1\2 turn or so. This seemed to eliminate sympathetic buzz and give me decent wire response. Lower tuningsare tending to give me an unbearable amount of shell ring.
Here’s a good one. I tune my Tama B/B drums to perfection in a smaller room that I would normally set the kit up in. I move the entire 3 piece kit, 10/16/22 to my living room which is 5X the size of my practice room and both toms sound choked. It was an attack heavy sound with no resonance and an extremely short note. So I drop the reso head in the 16 and the sound is better. I drop the batter down maybe 1/8 turn and suddenly the drum is resonant and full of bottom end. So at the higher tuning which was a middle tuning in the smaller room there was this activation in the high frequencies from the toms that caused a cancellation from what I could tell. The 10 also followed the same pattern. The bass drum needed a slight adjustment but nothing major. Another thing I found was the B/B drums could handle a slightly tighter reso head with coated heads. With clear heads the reso head needed to be lowered or the drum sounded choked. My Bubinga Elites on the other hand can take coated and clear heads, double or single play batters with tighter or looser reso heads in every room I’ve payed them in. This is why I always preface tuning advice with HEAVY consideration of the room the drums are in. Same drums and heads can be 2 different beasts in different rooms.
Betula Obscura Yes I know that and you can see I understand that if you read my comment. My point was this was the first time I had quality drums that were perfectly tuned in one room sound unplayable when changing rooms. Usually they sound different but are still playable. In this case every tuning technique had to be tossed out the window and I did things I normally wouldn’t do for example tune the reso and batter heads much lower than I would have preferred. I’ve brought my drums into huge VFW halls that needed less tweaking to sound good which is why I was so surprised this happened in my own house which is a considerably smaller space.
Lucky for me I use the massive 14X8 LUDWIG SUPRALITE snare. Not ONLY does it have a huge tuning range. I also am able to tighten both the batter and snare head to maximum tension without it choking. Getting a nice high end tone, while retaining a controllable ring. 🤘🏻🥁
Finally got my hands on some UV2s and currently have the same snare batter/reso setup as you put on the Pearl, but for me, I think I still prefer the HD Dry Batter and will be trying the ST Dry soon, but I can’t say enough how great the UV2s sound on all the toms. Btw, I also use twisted 20’s snare wires (40 wires twisted into pairs of 2 for the size of a 20 strand) to get that snare wire articulation without having to get out of that nice deep/phat sounding sound. But really just experimenting and practicing tuning as much as possible, even with the same heads over and over, has taught me much of what I learned, I just had to first only learn the very basics of how to tune and go from there based on what I’m experimenting with and what sound I want. I can definitely say, my drums sound a lot more open than they used to and I don’t need a pillow or big blanket in my bass anymore either. I’ve learned how to really get that where I want it and still get the BOOM I want and the feedback to the pedal and have that bass drum completely wide open now. So, just keep practicing and eventually you’ll either learn it from someone else or you’ll figure out a method all on your own or a combination of the two, like I did.
@8:25 would be my ideal sound maybe for a smaller snare drum but for big snares for me would be no lower than -5 on tha pitch which it's a sound similar to The Meters used in songs like Cissy Strut :)
I have had all of these problems before. The best additional advice i can give drummers is to try a more.....exotic head. I found a evans hydraulic snare head (black) was very effective when tuned up higher. Got me that crack on the rimshot and a nice roomy center hit with few if any over tones. It did require fiddling with my snare side a bit, but the sound worked well for my blues/classic rock style. Personally when tuning, i like to get the heads very similar in pitch first, the. Move the batter up or down. Works well on my finnicky side snare. The Sounds like a drum method works REALLY well too though.
Interestingly enough, we've found that the use of more "exotic" heads to be a bit counterintuitive when it comes to allowing the drum to speak and project, particularly at higher tensions where choking becomes an even more common issue. A lot of this has to do with the added mass. That said, if you find something that works for you, excellent! I've used a coated black Hydraulic head on that Starclassic B/B and cranked it up and it sounded stellar but was super susceptible to choking out. -Ben
Ok. I think I need snare help. Birch 20 ply and I changed batter heads 3X! Using a 2 ply with reverse dot. I keep stripping the lugs while tightening the head! I've NEVER had this happen! It ONLY sounds good when very tight.
Hey! Thanks for making this video. I'm actually SO against the choked sound that I feel I get so far from it that I often produce a sound that most drummers do not like. Many times in kit sharing scenarios, i've offered for people to use my snare and they have made very ugly faces when they test it out. lol My snares tend to be lower, "boingy-er", and much "sizzly-er" than the norm. I think the difference is, I am always going for enhancing the final mix from the audience/listener's perspective rather than satisfying myself from the player's position. What's funny is, I generally dislike both Pearl drums and Evans heads because I feel they often have a choked sound. You can overcome it with tuning, but yeah... DW and Remo for some buttery, lively tones. :)
Hello guys! Can you make a video on tuning cheaper snares for example a Ludwig Breakbeats? Through many headaches i finally got him to do it's job and i'd really like to hear your thoughts on it. Love your channel! Keep up the good work!
We’d love to address some topics like this, though it will require getting our hands on the drums and we need your support to help make things like this possible. Please consider joining our Patreon: www.patreon.com/soundslikeadrum
Yes recently i changed my aluminum starphonic reso... to a remo hazy ambassador..ive NEVER used any brand or type but evans 300 on all my snares..i just assumed a remo 3mil would tune the same as the 300 evans 3mil..well hell no !! I either got horrible wire clarity at lower ..then brought up alil it kept choking ..ive never ran into any of this with all the evans ive used in last few years..they tune up easily most every time..is there a reason the remo gave me such a hard time vs evans...is it due to the rim differances..cause they r both 3mil thickness..i just cant believe the change in the tunning struggle..the hazy remo was also quite a bit darker sounding too..i changed it back to another new evans 300 & all was good right away again..👍🎵🎵✔..ill never buy anything but evans here forward..i never knew how good i had it till i changed up..but yeah theres my choked tunning dilemma..😵..had me pulling my hair out for several nights remo..💩😵😵💩
I went down the parallel action snare road many years ago. I couldn't seem to get my snare drum out of the way of a single rack tom without choking the snare drum. Parallel action snares kinda allow me to tune the snare tension above or below the rack tom while still controlling the tension of the wires. They can be a little annoying to sympathetic buzz from the band during the quiet bits in a song. Easy fix though... Join a band that doesn't do quiet bits!
I like that super high tuning. So yeah nothing wrong with that
4 года назад
Thanks for all those great videos!!! I'm listening to them in my car on my way to work (certainly not the best fo sound quality...but at least I still get great infos from you) Will you someday do a "how to get this (snare) cliché sound for this or this genre" or a "how to recreate that (snare) sound for this drummer"? Anyway, great job and thanks for all the work!
You talk about trying different snare tunings. But, I’ve always been shy to only tune up and avoid ever tuning down on snare particularly. It seems like I could never get it sound right tuned back up after losing where the bearing edge had made its impression. Maybe I’m not doing something right. I don’t know, but I’ve always just changed the head if I’ve maxed out the tension and ever felt like it needed to come down.
It’s certainly possible to stretch a head out enough that it won’t return to lower tensions without behaving oddly. That said, heads with some life left in them should still be able to (generally speaking) be tuned up and down a bit and be stable. We recommend tuning up to the desired tension (meaning time below it and then increase the tension the same as tuning a string instrument) if you’re tuning down below the starting tension. -Ben
In general.I find once a head has been tuned high, it's useless at any tuning level below that. The plastic stretches out of shape and is never 💯 per cent even tension all round after that unless cranked super high and that means even more choking.
I have a question regarding a Supraphonic 402... I keep putting brand new reso heads on the drum and they start ripping after like 2-3 whole turns which is ridiculous I used to be able to crank the bottom without a problem. What could be the issue here? It’s costing me a lot of money :(
I don't know what sound your going for sir but that's a lot of tension 2_3 whole turns.Have you ever tried Aquarian hi-performance snare head.? There single ply 3mi.with reinforced material were the snare wires rest. Give one a try,hope I helped you out. 14" around $12.50
David Suprenant I know it’s quite a bit of tension but for a brand new head to rip from 2-3 seems like there’s a problem. I think there’s a bit of pitting or something like that on the edge of the hoop where the reso head makes contact and it might be ripping into it... or my hoop is warped .... I’ve had this snare for a good 6 years and thisproblem is only occurring recently
Oh and the other important thing is that the tension rods aren’t choked when it’s breaking... like the key is still feeling smooth and easy to tune... and then I hear a couple small cracks and boom it’s broken
Any comparisons like this will be part of a new series that we hope to launch in the future with your support. Please consider joining our Patreon to help make it possible for us to bring this concept to fruition: www.patreon.com/soundslikeadrum
Hey man, thanks for the inspirazion! I have a Ludwig supersensitive, I've tried an evans emperor but it sounded too resonant for me (I need a full sound but with great attack) and I'm enjoing the enjoying hd genera dry.. I use a tune bot, and in testing those 2 heads i was at 252 khz at the bottom and 378 khz at the top. Do you think it wasn't ideal to tune this Heads to the same note? Also, do you think there's better head compared to the genera dry to get a more open sound? (But without loosing attack? Maybe I need to experiment more with the tuning..) Thanks again
Could you just measure the ideal interval for the bottom head with Tunebot? It would create a great reference oint for everyone. I generally gor for 375 Hz bottom lug pitch with slightly lower for the 4 closest to the snares. I believe this gives me the sensitivity but still does not choke the drum.
There isn't really an "ideal interval" between the snare reso and batter heads. This is entirely dependent on the sound you're going for, the drum itself, the heads, the wires, the room (it goes on and on). With all of these factors affecting the sound and performance of the drum, tools like TuneBots or Drum Dials are a bit misleading. Rather than trying to aim for a specific pitch, why not start out low and bring it up to pitch, checking the overall sound along the way?
I think it would be super helpful if you let us hear the pitch of each head individually. Is there some technical reason that wasn't included in the video?
It’s purely because different drums choke at different tensions (even identical drums) so it can’t really be used as a measurement that accurately. I’ve been amazed at what some drums prefer when it comes to head tension and what the resulting sound is :) -Cody
If I heard that Tama in a recording I would think it could be a piccolo. I own 2 of those Tama snares BTW. When I find one at a killer price I snatch it up. Interestingly it resonates at a higher pitch than my 80’s Tama Artwood 14” x 6.5” with a 9mm Birch shell. Thinner shell on the 14 x 6 vs thicker shell on the 14 x 6.5 dictates the thicker shell = higher pitch does not apply.
A lot of artists do use that sound. If I recall correctly both Garibaldi and Copeland said they preferred very high tuned batters. I like it too (but not for everything).
To be clear, if that sound (and feel) works for you, then that's great. As mentioned in the episode, this is a sound that has been sampled and used quite a bit. Still. there are ways to tune high without choking the drum so that it will project more, supply a wider dynamic range, and feel more forgiving (and less like playing on a countertop). That's what we demonstrated in Part II linked above.
Hey, Cody, I have a quick question. I was watching those reverb videos on how to make your kit sound like a certain artist, and in those videos, they always say stuff like medium tuning, medium-low, medium-high, stuff like that. Do you know what those would translate to on a drum dial (what number do I tune it to in order to get it to that tuning)?
In the end, your ear is ALWAYS your best guide for replicating a sound because it accounts for all of the variables that are represent- Something that no other device is capable of. -Ben
I for one like the poppy, hip hop sound of a tight snare, but usually go to a piccolo size to get it. Trying that on a full sized model just never sounds right. Great stuff here for sure!
One of the issues I’ve been encountering recently is that if I hit my snare anywhere except perfectly centered, it sounds super wonky and out of control. Would this be a batter head or snare side head issue?
You know, I don't have any sound issues in fact I love the way my whole kit sounds, but I've been playing this supralite for more than six months now and the snare tension still slips. Is it just a cheap throwoff? Or is tension slippage normal? I mean like every ten or twenty minutes I'll notice they're sagging again. Are new throwoffs universal fit?
I've had issues with the p85 throwoff on my supralite. They are not very good throw offs. I would recommend looking into upgrading if it is slipping that much. I would look into a ludwig p88. Not all throwoffs will fit the drill holes.
@@Fish_Face OMG Thank you! I have been asking around, one channel after another, for months. And you are the first person to reply. AND you gave me every bit of information I could ask for! Thank you thank you, I know it's silly that a simple answer could be so rewarding, but it's only because I've been asking this question to anyone-and-everyone for months now and nobody will respond.
@@CraigFlowersMusic No problem! actually i just realized you said supralite, and i read as supraphonic. I don't think the p88 will fit the supralite but you can get an inde throw off. Google it, and it has adjustable screw holes, will fit!
might be worth checking that the wires or straps are attached to the strainer/butt plate tightly. If they are snare wires/rope it is possible those need to be replaced and that is a cheap upgrade.
Hi ! For this particular reggae snare sound ( impossible to find after many years of experimenting ) what you hear in your side ? ruclips.net/video/tzbM1JA5V8Y/видео.html in particulary with bottom side , because top seem to be muffled as hell . THANKS
@@The_Other_Ghost Thanks ahahah . If it was simple like that yes , but it s not . Taping the wire with tape kill the breath and if tuning is good we don t need it...Overtight create a choked sound with strange things . In the exemple I hear some breath but controled crack . Love this Roots radics "Jamaican" crack .
Yep, though with less "air" to it and a less-than-pleasant feel. A piccolo snare would do this sound better or you could tweak the tuning like we did in Part II of this video to make this work.
Plenty of other options out there aside from Tama if having their drums made in China is enough of an issue to you. We’ve been really impressed with the work of some of the smaller scale American builders out there right now.
+soundslikeadrum *I tend to favor certain types of two-ply heads for center drum,* but I eschew "dry vents" out of moisture concerns. My TAMA®/Hoshino® IMS145 ø14"x5" poplarbuilt center drum (EVANS®/D'Addario® B14HD batter / S14H30 reso) has a replacement snare release, as the stock MUS-30 bent at the slide; I replaced the stock snappy (and its straps) with six turns of monofilament nylon for the "guts" tone.
The Snare wires Over tightened was wrong. If they were over tightened the wires wouldn’t Have rattled so Long. Choking from over tightened Snare wires Kill’s the resonance, and Tone of the drum. Hence the word “Choking” the drum.
The process is a really a breeze and is something that we outlined in Part II (linked in the description and pinned to the top of the comments section). The point of this episode was more of an ear training exercise to recognize/diagnose the issues.
Through all the commercial blurb I could not understand one word of it. Also it could have been told in 5 minutes in stead of this boutique video with too much nonsense therein.
Okay, so there's a lot to unpack in your comment, which seems to really hinge on opinions rather than objective fact. The reality is that high tuned snares are absolutely usable in the studio. There are myriad recordings with high tuned snares to prove this. Everything depends on context. The question as to why anyone would want a particular sound is also dependent on context as well as artistic taste. If you haven't listened to much music where this works well, it's quite understandable that you might be of these opinions but it's so important, if you really want to grow, to keep an open mind and beware of potential blindspots inclusive of making determinations about the viability of a particular drum sound in a vacuum.
![Tom Reso[lution] Tuning | A Pattern of Change](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dHCCCFE3xPU/mqdefault.jpg)
Don't miss Part II with the before and after comparison featuring the fixed issues for each drum over on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/33743154
Sounds Like A Drum there must be something wrong with me because i love the first two choked sounds. Is there a context where that tuning would make sense? Or should i buy a new pair of hears ^^
Dude this channel stopped me from buying a new kit without needing to because it was how I was treating the instrument and not the instrument itself, so thanks guys you are awesome
Most likely your new kit would've sounded like shit too because you wouldn't have the knowledge you do now thanks to these guys
My snare sound and feel has never been better since I found your channel a few months ago
So glad to hear that, Ian!
If I've learned nothing else in my life, I've learned from this channel that I don't need to put snare heads on with an impact gun to get a great sound. My lugs and I thank you.
I don't know who is making the thumbnails but they are amazing, just as everything else on this channel.
Thanks! I do all of the filming/editing, photography, and social management. -Ben
That "Hey everybody" at the beginning of the video sounded so oddly happy and friendly I smiled haha great video as always guys
Hahaha! Yep it was a good day 🤘🏻😎 -Cody
In choosing your own words to describe the tuning of your gigging snare so that it is not a one dimensional instrument, you Sir, make your tutorials fun, musical, inspiring, and all that kind of stuff...... and, if I might add, highly accurate and beneficial. Cody, I, a very shall I say "Vintage Drummer," I certainly do appreciate your knowledge and experience! Thanks and Blessings!!!
I've been chasing this issue forever. Naturally fell victim to all 3 situations. Love it when an issue that has been dogging me for so long is addressed spot on. Looking forward to resolving this once and for all. Thank you for the insight.
Really great video. I like that you went with a topic that kind of challenges the audience to consider how they are getting their sounds. I've learned so much from y'all.
You all continue to make the best drum mechanics videos I've seen. Well done and thank you.
Thanks Darren!
"Uh huh." is what I find myself saying through all your videos. This one is no exception.
Such a great demonstration of the various ways choking can happen. One instance I’ve had of the choking effect being subjectively positive was when I cranked my 5x14 Acrolite just right to get that hip hop tone you described when the batter was choked. Now id almost consider this a special effect tuning and not a broadly usable one but man it was so satisfying. But that’s an outlier. Your point about back line snares being choked on the snare side is a really good one. I’ve seen so many snares that just took a little love on the snare side to let them breathe again. Great episode
I really love this channel.
I used to think my snare sound was the shit! It was tuned high and from where I was sitting, it was awesome (before i really knew) but when I heard recordings, it was totally different to what i thought. All attack, no body, and I was choking the crap out of it.
Cut to years of me trying out multiple heads and I settled with coated G2's and Ambassadors. Then a five years ago I went into record, got a whole bunch of heads delivered and one of those I thought was going to be crap (mostly because of other people's opinions). A coated Powerstroke 3.
Didn't use it, then i had to change my snare head a few months later and I had to use it. It changed my life. It suited my style and my snare drum really really well. I have a 6.5" deep Maple Pearl Free-floating snare with 42-strand snare wires. It has the crack i want, the body I want, the control I want and in the sweet-spot, it is glorious.
Thank you! I've always heard that cranking the snare side head and wires was the way to get a sensitive, articulate sound, and wondered why that never seemed to work for me. Love these ear training types of videos that explore how to improve from a given situation.
andwhatshouldbe it’s not Rocket Science. Tune your snare first. To get the tone, and attack you want. Then start from Loose snare wires and bring Tight while striking to your Preference. Wires too tight will Kill the tone of your drum.
After 50 years of playing, I've come up with a fairly fool proof way to get a good versatile snare sound from any snare drum. My snare playing is somewhat busy with plenty of ghost notes and one stick roles to stretch the feel I'm going for. (this style of playing isn't for everyone). When overhauling a snare I always put the snare side head on first and tighten it fairly high, but low enough where there's still good resonance across the dynamic range. Top head is basically the same, though usually a little lower pitch than the snare head. There's always a little back & forth tuning as you get the two heads to play well together. As for snare wires.... I put them on and tighten them until they start to choke the drum, then back them off until the wires & head are opened up , but still crisp. This consistently renders a drum that offers good dynamic expression, good crack on rim shots, manageable overtones, and clear articulation. Not a sound well suited for heavy rock music, but a good sound that works well in most situations!!!
Awesome video, thanks so much for your exceptional work!
Well right on time...
The exact issue I have with mine. I will work on it when I will change my head thi weekend
Thanks much for your channel. I hv a really cheap drumset, do to no funds, and with your help it actually sounds professional. Thanks again
Glad you mentioned the feel of the drum. That's huge. If it feels bad to play - something is probably at an extreme. I never understood why people would crank the bottom head. I remember reading or hearing some tech saying "Bonham would crank his snare side head." Really? I doubt it.
For me when in doubt, tune everything medium. All drums, both sides. :)
Bonham used a regular coated ambassador as a snare side head, so he would have to crank it to get it to function. ...THIS WOULD MAKE A GREAT EPISODE!!!!
Rob Brown cranks the snare side head.
According to Bonham's drum tech (Orcheltree) he pitched it "way up"... 3:50 ruclips.net/video/kmXy-ksqlq8/видео.html
The snare side needs to be tighter Than the Batter side. It makes the wires more sensitive which you can adjust tension easier. Also tuning the Batter head to pitch/Tone of the drum you want is easier. Keep your wires looser more Tone, crack, pop you get Out of the snare. (Don’t over Loosen) also some snare drum’s sound better with 1 vs 2 ply Heads and Visa versa.
The best sound I've gotten (so far) was intentionally choked the snare heads, then backing them off by 1\2 turn or so. This seemed to eliminate sympathetic buzz and give me decent wire response. Lower tuningsare tending to give me an unbearable amount of shell ring.
Cody my man, you rock.
Thanks for this really interesting episode Cody!!! Great comparison of choked snare drums... :) I'm off to my snare-room =)
Here’s a good one. I tune my Tama B/B drums to perfection in a smaller room that I would normally set the kit up in. I move the entire 3 piece kit, 10/16/22 to my living room which is 5X the size of my practice room and both toms sound choked. It was an attack heavy sound with no resonance and an extremely short note. So I drop the reso head in the 16 and the sound is better. I drop the batter down maybe 1/8 turn and suddenly the drum is resonant and full of bottom end. So at the higher tuning which was a middle tuning in the smaller room there was this activation in the high frequencies from the toms that caused a cancellation from what I could tell. The 10 also followed the same pattern. The bass drum needed a slight adjustment but nothing major. Another thing I found was the B/B drums could handle a slightly tighter reso head with coated heads. With clear heads the reso head needed to be lowered or the drum sounded choked. My Bubinga Elites on the other hand can take coated and clear heads, double or single play batters with tighter or looser reso heads in every room I’ve payed them in. This is why I always preface tuning advice with HEAVY consideration of the room the drums are in. Same drums and heads can be 2 different beasts in different rooms.
It is obvious that room size & acoustics affect/influence the drum sound.
Betula Obscura Yes I know that and you can see I understand that if you read my comment. My point was this was the first time I had quality drums that were perfectly tuned in one room sound unplayable when changing rooms. Usually they sound different but are still playable. In this case every tuning technique had to be tossed out the window and I did things I normally wouldn’t do for example tune the reso and batter heads much lower than I would have preferred. I’ve brought my drums into huge VFW halls that needed less tweaking to sound good which is why I was so surprised this happened in my own house which is a considerably smaller space.
Totally agree
This guy is amazeballs
Haha thanks!! -Cody
Great! Great great great episode!
Lucky for me I use the massive 14X8 LUDWIG SUPRALITE snare. Not ONLY does it have a huge tuning range. I also am able to tighten both the batter and snare head to maximum tension without it choking. Getting a nice high end tone, while retaining a controllable ring.
🤘🏻🥁
the tama super high sounds like a drum n'bass snare
Finally got my hands on some UV2s and currently have the same snare batter/reso setup as you put on the Pearl, but for me, I think I still prefer the HD Dry Batter and will be trying the ST Dry soon, but I can’t say enough how great the UV2s sound on all the toms.
Btw, I also use twisted 20’s snare wires (40 wires twisted into pairs of 2 for the size of a 20 strand) to get that snare wire articulation without having to get out of that nice deep/phat sounding sound.
But really just experimenting and practicing tuning as much as possible, even with the same heads over and over, has taught me much of what I learned, I just had to first only learn the very basics of how to tune and go from there based on what I’m experimenting with and what sound I want.
I can definitely say, my drums sound a lot more open than they used to and I don’t need a pillow or big blanket in my bass anymore either. I’ve learned how to really get that where I want it and still get the BOOM I want and the feedback to the pedal and have that bass drum completely wide open now.
So, just keep practicing and eventually you’ll either learn it from someone else or you’ll figure out a method all on your own or a combination of the two, like I did.
@8:25 would be my ideal sound maybe for a smaller snare drum but for big snares for me would be no lower than -5 on tha pitch which it's a sound similar to The Meters used in songs like Cissy Strut :)
Many thanks for sharing 👍😁🥁
I have had all of these problems before. The best additional advice i can give drummers is to try a more.....exotic head. I found a evans hydraulic snare head (black) was very effective when tuned up higher. Got me that crack on the rimshot and a nice roomy center hit with few if any over tones. It did require fiddling with my snare side a bit, but the sound worked well for my blues/classic rock style.
Personally when tuning, i like to get the heads very similar in pitch first, the. Move the batter up or down. Works well on my finnicky side snare. The Sounds like a drum method works REALLY well too though.
Interestingly enough, we've found that the use of more "exotic" heads to be a bit counterintuitive when it comes to allowing the drum to speak and project, particularly at higher tensions where choking becomes an even more common issue. A lot of this has to do with the added mass. That said, if you find something that works for you, excellent! I've used a coated black Hydraulic head on that Starclassic B/B and cranked it up and it sounded stellar but was super susceptible to choking out. -Ben
Ok. I think I need snare help. Birch 20 ply and I changed batter heads 3X! Using a 2 ply with reverse dot. I keep stripping the lugs while tightening the head! I've NEVER had this happen! It ONLY sounds good when very tight.
Me: chokes drum*
drum: harder daddy
Me: what
drum: what
Sweet hi hats. What brand /model type. Love videos.
Hey! Thanks for making this video. I'm actually SO against the choked sound that I feel I get so far from it that I often produce a sound that most drummers do not like. Many times in kit sharing scenarios, i've offered for people to use my snare and they have made very ugly faces when they test it out. lol My snares tend to be lower, "boingy-er", and much "sizzly-er" than the norm. I think the difference is, I am always going for enhancing the final mix from the audience/listener's perspective rather than satisfying myself from the player's position. What's funny is, I generally dislike both Pearl drums and Evans heads because I feel they often have a choked sound. You can overcome it with tuning, but yeah... DW and Remo for some buttery, lively tones. :)
8:45 I’m not gonna lie. I love this sound. What depth is that snare?
Looks like a 14x6.5.
Man, that bassdrum sounds funky and chunky.
Altough it seems like it was tuned rather high.
Hello guys!
Can you make a video on tuning cheaper snares for example a Ludwig Breakbeats?
Through many headaches i finally got him to do it's job and i'd really like to hear your thoughts on it.
Love your channel!
Keep up the good work!
We’d love to address some topics like this, though it will require getting our hands on the drums and we need your support to help make things like this possible. Please consider joining our Patreon: www.patreon.com/soundslikeadrum
8:32 I’m sorry but this tone slaps! Add a tiny bit of reverb and that’s my ideal sound
You can get away with a lot of different things given a thoughtful performance and, in a recorded environment, some tasteful post production.
Yes recently i changed my aluminum starphonic reso... to a remo hazy ambassador..ive NEVER used any brand or type but evans 300 on all my snares..i just assumed a remo 3mil would tune the same as the 300 evans 3mil..well hell no !! I either got horrible wire clarity at lower ..then brought up alil it kept choking ..ive never ran into any of this with all the evans ive used in last few years..they tune up easily most every time..is there a reason the remo gave me such a hard time vs evans...is it due to the rim differances..cause they r both 3mil thickness..i just cant believe the change in the tunning struggle..the hazy remo was also quite a bit darker sounding too..i changed it back to another new evans 300 & all was good right away again..👍🎵🎵✔..ill never buy anything but evans here forward..i never knew how good i had it till i changed up..but yeah theres my choked tunning dilemma..😵..had me pulling my hair out for several nights remo..💩😵😵💩
I went down the parallel action snare road many years ago. I couldn't seem to get my snare drum out of the way of a single rack tom without choking the snare drum. Parallel action snares kinda allow me to tune the snare tension above or below the rack tom while still controlling the tension of the wires. They can be a little annoying to sympathetic buzz from the band during the quiet bits in a song. Easy fix though... Join a band that doesn't do quiet bits!
I like that super high tuning. So yeah nothing wrong with that
Thanks for all those great videos!!! I'm listening to them in my car on my way to work (certainly not the best fo sound quality...but at least I still get great infos from you)
Will you someday do a "how to get this (snare) cliché sound for this or this genre" or a "how to recreate that (snare) sound for this drummer"?
Anyway, great job and thanks for all the work!
Second one sounded actually good
That second snare sound reminds me of Chad Sexton from 311.
He tunes it regular but uses a ton of rim shots.
You talk about trying different snare tunings. But, I’ve always been shy to only tune up and avoid ever tuning down on snare particularly. It seems like I could never get it sound right tuned back up after losing where the bearing edge had made its impression. Maybe I’m not doing something right. I don’t know, but I’ve always just changed the head if I’ve maxed out the tension and ever felt like it needed to come down.
It’s certainly possible to stretch a head out enough that it won’t return to lower tensions without behaving oddly. That said, heads with some life left in them should still be able to (generally speaking) be tuned up and down a bit and be stable. We recommend tuning up to the desired tension (meaning time below it and then increase the tension the same as tuning a string instrument) if you’re tuning down below the starting tension. -Ben
Can you also play long rolls at different sound levels and at different areas on the batter head?
Off subject...that bass drum! Wow! Gurthy. 😁
In general.I find once a head has been tuned high, it's useless at any tuning level below that. The plastic stretches out of shape and is never 💯 per cent even tension all round after that unless cranked super high and that means even more choking.
I have a question regarding a Supraphonic 402... I keep putting brand new reso heads on the drum and they start ripping after like 2-3 whole turns which is ridiculous I used to be able to crank the bottom without a problem. What could be the issue here? It’s costing me a lot of money :(
I don't know what sound your going for sir but that's a lot of tension 2_3 whole turns.Have you ever tried Aquarian hi-performance snare head.? There single ply 3mi.with reinforced material were the snare wires rest. Give one a try,hope I helped you out. 14" around $12.50
David Suprenant I know it’s quite a bit of tension but for a brand new head to rip from 2-3 seems like there’s a problem. I think there’s a bit of pitting or something like that on the edge of the hoop where the reso head makes contact and it might be ripping into it... or my hoop is warped .... I’ve had this snare for a good 6 years and thisproblem is only occurring recently
Oh and the other important thing is that the tension rods aren’t choked when it’s breaking... like the key is still feeling smooth and easy to tune... and then I hear a couple small cracks and boom it’s broken
Any chance of doing a Steel vs Aluminium snare segment.
Both are in the less expensive bracket.
Any comparisons like this will be part of a new series that we hope to launch in the future with your support. Please consider joining our Patreon to help make it possible for us to bring this concept to fruition: www.patreon.com/soundslikeadrum
Hey man, thanks for the inspirazion! I have a Ludwig supersensitive, I've tried an evans emperor but it sounded too resonant for me (I need a full sound but with great attack) and I'm enjoing the enjoying hd genera dry.. I use a tune bot, and in testing those 2 heads i was at 252 khz at the bottom and 378 khz at the top. Do you think it wasn't ideal to tune this Heads to the same note? Also, do you think there's better head compared to the genera dry to get a more open sound? (But without loosing attack? Maybe I need to experiment more with the tuning..)
Thanks again
Could you just measure the ideal interval for the bottom head with Tunebot? It would create a great reference oint for everyone. I generally gor for 375 Hz bottom lug pitch with slightly lower for the 4 closest to the snares. I believe this gives me the sensitivity but still does not choke the drum.
There isn't really an "ideal interval" between the snare reso and batter heads. This is entirely dependent on the sound you're going for, the drum itself, the heads, the wires, the room (it goes on and on). With all of these factors affecting the sound and performance of the drum, tools like TuneBots or Drum Dials are a bit misleading. Rather than trying to aim for a specific pitch, why not start out low and bring it up to pitch, checking the overall sound along the way?
I think it would be super helpful if you let us hear the pitch of each head individually. Is there some technical reason that wasn't included in the video?
It’s purely because different drums choke at different tensions (even identical drums) so it can’t really be used as a measurement that accurately. I’ve been amazed at what some drums prefer when it comes to head tension and what the resulting sound is :) -Cody
How would you recommend getting rid of sympathetic buzz without choking the snare in the process?
ruclips.net/video/l7Hkk3YID9M/видео.html
If I heard that Tama in a recording I would think it could be a piccolo. I own 2 of those Tama snares BTW. When I find one at a killer price I snatch it up. Interestingly it resonates at a higher pitch than my 80’s Tama Artwood 14” x 6.5” with a 9mm Birch shell. Thinner shell on the 14 x 6 vs thicker shell on the 14 x 6.5 dictates the thicker shell = higher pitch does not apply.
Oh dang, just realized my 6 lug snare literally sounds like the 3rd setup
At the risk of sounding like an uncouth unsophisticated simpleton, (whispers under breath) I actually really kinda dug the choked batter sound.
A lot of artists do use that sound. If I recall correctly both Garibaldi and Copeland said they preferred very high tuned batters. I like it too (but not for everything).
It’s also a widely used tuning in modern metal.
To be clear, if that sound (and feel) works for you, then that's great. As mentioned in the episode, this is a sound that has been sampled and used quite a bit. Still. there are ways to tune high without choking the drum so that it will project more, supply a wider dynamic range, and feel more forgiving (and less like playing on a countertop). That's what we demonstrated in Part II linked above.
The Cantankerous ddrum 😂
Hey, Cody, I have a quick question. I was watching those reverb videos on how to make your kit sound like a certain artist, and in those videos, they always say stuff like medium tuning, medium-low, medium-high, stuff like that. Do you know what those would translate to on a drum dial (what number do I tune it to in order to get it to that tuning)?
Afraid not, it’s wildly subjective :) I struggle with that too but in the end i just try to follow my ear and see how close I can get. -Cody
@@SoundsLikeADrum okay. Thanks for replying so quickly
In the end, your ear is ALWAYS your best guide for replicating a sound because it accounts for all of the variables that are represent- Something that no other device is capable of. -Ben
I for one like the poppy, hip hop sound of a tight snare, but usually go to a piccolo size to get it.
Trying that on a full sized model just never sounds right.
Great stuff here for sure!
One of the issues I’ve been encountering recently is that if I hit my snare anywhere except perfectly centered, it sounds super wonky and out of control. Would this be a batter head or snare side head issue?
Tyler Blake what kind of snare are you playing?
You know, I don't have any sound issues in fact I love the way my whole kit sounds, but I've been playing this supralite for more than six months now and the snare tension still slips. Is it just a cheap throwoff? Or is tension slippage normal? I mean like every ten or twenty minutes I'll notice they're sagging again. Are new throwoffs universal fit?
I've had issues with the p85 throwoff on my supralite. They are not very good throw offs. I would recommend looking into upgrading if it is slipping that much. I would look into a ludwig p88. Not all throwoffs will fit the drill holes.
@@Fish_Face OMG Thank you! I have been asking around, one channel after another, for months. And you are the first person to reply. AND you gave me every bit of information I could ask for! Thank you thank you, I know it's silly that a simple answer could be so rewarding, but it's only because I've been asking this question to anyone-and-everyone for months now and nobody will respond.
@@CraigFlowersMusic No problem! actually i just realized you said supralite, and i read as supraphonic. I don't think the p88 will fit the supralite but you can get an inde throw off. Google it, and it has adjustable screw holes, will fit!
might be worth checking that the wires or straps are attached to the strainer/butt plate tightly. If they are snare wires/rope it is possible those need to be replaced and that is a cheap upgrade.
@@Fish_Face Actually I got a sabian hybrid 42 strand. It sounds fantastic! Very bonham, you should check my channel out! Thx for the advice.
Hi ! For this particular reggae snare sound ( impossible to find after many years of experimenting ) what you hear in your side ?
ruclips.net/video/tzbM1JA5V8Y/видео.html
in particulary with bottom side , because top seem to be muffled as hell . THANKS
Sounds like a possible metal snare with muffling on the top head. Try taping down the snare wires or over tightening them.
@@The_Other_Ghost Thanks ahahah . If it was simple like that yes , but it s not . Taping the wire with tape kill the breath and if tuning is good we don t need it...Overtight create a choked sound with strange things . In the exemple I hear some breath but controled crack . Love this Roots radics "Jamaican" crack .
The tight snare has a piccolo sound.
Yep, though with less "air" to it and a less-than-pleasant feel. A piccolo snare would do this sound better or you could tweak the tuning like we did in Part II of this video to make this work.
overweighted cast snares in the vein of a Kepplinger are solutions to a choked out snare as well..they simply don't choke.
Waitttttt a minute.... The background is darker
yes
I'm very disappointed to see Tama making those starclassic snares in China...
Plenty of other options out there aside from Tama if having their drums made in China is enough of an issue to you. We’ve been really impressed with the work of some of the smaller scale American builders out there right now.
+soundslikeadrum *I tend to favor certain types of two-ply heads for center drum,* but I eschew "dry vents" out of moisture concerns. My TAMA®/Hoshino® IMS145 ø14"x5" poplarbuilt center drum (EVANS®/D'Addario® B14HD batter / S14H30 reso) has a replacement snare release, as the stock MUS-30 bent at the slide; I replaced the stock snappy (and its straps) with six turns of monofilament nylon for the "guts" tone.
Just to throw it out there, clamping your snare too tight in the stand can choke it out badly, also.
Yes! This is very true. Extra bad news with rack toms in snare baskets.
The Snare wires Over tightened was wrong. If they were over tightened the wires wouldn’t Have rattled so Long. Choking from over tightened Snare wires Kill’s the resonance, and Tone of the drum. Hence the word “Choking” the drum.
Well... the first one does not sound chocked to me....
And yet it most definitely is!
@@SoundsLikeADrum what
" pitch" is the snare side head ? Around 440hz is fairly high but quite average....like in bob gatzen vid on tuning
This was helpful, but showing us the process of fixing them would have been WAY MORE helpful than talking about it for 20 minutes. Thanks.
The process is a really a breeze and is something that we outlined in Part II (linked in the description and pinned to the top of the comments section). The point of this episode was more of an ear training exercise to recognize/diagnose the issues.
Through all the commercial blurb I could not understand one word of it. Also it could have been told in 5 minutes in stead of this boutique video with too much nonsense therein.
Patience is a virtue…
Oh god 11:47 sounds like shit hahah
high tuned snares are unusable in the studio. why would anyone want that pingy bullshit that sounds like a cowbell
Okay, so there's a lot to unpack in your comment, which seems to really hinge on opinions rather than objective fact. The reality is that high tuned snares are absolutely usable in the studio. There are myriad recordings with high tuned snares to prove this. Everything depends on context. The question as to why anyone would want a particular sound is also dependent on context as well as artistic taste. If you haven't listened to much music where this works well, it's quite understandable that you might be of these opinions but it's so important, if you really want to grow, to keep an open mind and beware of potential blindspots inclusive of making determinations about the viability of a particular drum sound in a vacuum.
do we really need the political ads?
We don’t choose the ads that you get targeted for. That’s specific to you.
Talk,talk,talk. Geese guy get with the program and stop with all the bs talk!