Man, I never comment on videos, but I've been playing drums for years, tuning them the way a friend taught me, and they never sounded how I liked them. My drums sound sweet now! Awesome tutorial!
Dude. You make me smile, Rick. I've been a drummer now for ...41 years. It always amazes me how many drummers don't tune because they don't know how, or nobody showed them a better way. I smile because a mentor of mine showed me this method many years ago. This is accurate knowledge, delivered appropriately people! It's not fine tuning, as promised in the video, but it gets you comfortable with changing worn heads and into a "base" tune (pun intended like a boss). You da man, bro.
The Evans EMAD heads with the foam pre-attached to the batter head are fantastic for helping one attain the tone and resonance desired on a kick drum. I have a cheap 22x18 kick at home with an EMAD on the batter side, and a standard Remo ebony on the resonant side with a mic hole, and it sounds like a cannon with little to no tuning, and no muffling on the resonant side whatsoever. Remo used to put out something years ago called the "Mufflr" that essentially did the same thing, but went inside the shell and up against the batter head from inside. For what it's worth, in the marching drum world, we just use the resonant muffling foam with adhesive on one side to control tone for bass drums by putting it on the inside of each head. I'd imagine you could use the same stuff on the batter head (or even the resonant head) on the inside without a whole lot of trouble.
It depends upon what kind of sound you desire. Remo still make Muff'ls. I have them on all of my toms for live use. As blasphemous as it seems, I also have them on my snare drums. Drummers always gripe about me doing it until they hear it mic'd up. For the Kicks, I have the drums half-filled with King-sized Comforters, but then - I'm using 28" Kick drums tuned so low the metal almost jingles. The sound I get out of them is somewhat like the concussion from a professional fireworks mortar. My brother said "It fells like the walls in the room expand and bow outward when you hit the kick drum." Which is exactly the kind of effect I am after - like when a delivery truck drives by and you feel it more than you hear it. I get the sound of the mallet slap, but the psycho-acoustic feeling because of the low pitch of the drum.
You look both 28 and 58 in this video! I feel like the stress of RUclips has aged you into your real age. But age comments aside - you are an absolute treasure of the musical world. Please keep up the same energy you have in this video in all your new stuff. I would love to see you interview Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree, or Mikael Adkerfeldt of Opeth
WOW! I have played drums for nearly 15 years and watched every tuning vid out there (including others from you) and I think this one may have been the break through... I've always heard "finger tight" - but the way you explained to press down on the rim and THEN finger tighten made all the difference. Just that alone had me 80% of the way to the sound I was looking for!
Rick you're amazing I didn't know how to tune my drum kit very well until I saw these videos. Your methods are great and easy to do, thank you so much.
Yes! I'll admit, I've always been challenged by tuning and the time it takes, which I don't have. I watched this video and tuned all my drums in under an hour and they sound fantastic. I will be using this technique from here on out! Thank you, sir.
You're doing it all with your Beato videos - you have become my go-to for home-studio setup, mixing, producing, and everything. Awesome work thanks for everything you're doing, Rick! Next time I'm in town, (I live up on Lake Lanier) I'll buy you a beer.
If you can afford new bass heads that often, sure. Otherwise, kick pads are a must for me. Good bass heads cost too much to let them get ruined just for a slightly more open tone.
If you're changing bass heads frequently due to wear and tear, you may need to reexamine your bass pedal setup. If the batter/mallet is improperly sized, or just plain too hard, you're going to destroy heads faster. Also, playing too hard can be an issue.
great stuff, I know most of these tricks but now and again it helps to look for other peoples approach to drum tuning, everything helps, thanks for uploading such useful videos !
I had a ddrum set and I just put a remo double stroke 3 on for the batter head and a clear ambassador resonate head on the front and no hole or padding and it sounded superior in the room. Nice tight thud with that bass sound like you hear in cars going down the road.
Okay here is my opinion about patches . The heads you use are already muffled . If you use the right patch it will actually enhance the sound . Hard plastic beaters compensate for the patch and to be honest it is too expensive to not use a patch and keep buying expensive high quality heads . Speaking of which I use Aquarian super kick 1, and if possible the matching resonant head with hole . It is very personal but I have been drumming for 55 years !
Rick, thank you very much for your tutorial. I have done it for years similar to you , but you usually just the top batter head and ignore the resonant head or bottom head because the only one I was changing was the top. Today I went and tuned them exactly how you video shows including that I cleaned the rim because mine is in a place that collects some dust. The outcome is that I got one of the best tuning sound for the drum that I'm using which is just a pearl steel shell made in Taiwan serial number 20044-839 which translate to a cheap but good snare for everyday playing. I appreciate your time. I will still play around of course with the sound as I like it to be as Chris as a symphony snare sound and also a combination of short snare snap sound. And yet I also like the open rudimental sound if I can get the three of them out of one tuning. Maybe I'm a bit OCD also as I've been doing the same thing for 40 something years. I like the endorsement to be in front on top in between the lug nuts if possible while having the strainer across from right to left since I am right-handed and I can flip it or just it with my right hand, and I do the same things to all the other drums as much as possible. God bless you. Take Care thank you Juan Torres
Hi Mr. Beato, thanks for sharing your expertise and experience with us. But allow me to disagree about some points you presented in this video. 1st the weights, if you use the spurs of the bass drum feet and the spurs on the pedal I guarantee that it won’t move. 2nd try Aquarian Drumheads, for the. Beater head: Full force for opener sounds and Super Kick I for more controlled ones, as for the resonant side: Regulator with a 4 3/4” hole offset , sometimes you won’t even need a damping system. 3rd the way you tune the bass drums also affects the resonance, to damp it you can also add more torque on the resonant side, this will also help the drummer with the response and sensitivity of the beater side. 4th try to go with the cross tuning first, then fine tune with the clockwise method, lug by lug. And don’t!!! Don’t put any weight in the drumhead when tuning the head needs to fit by itself. These are my points of view about your video, as a Drum Specialist, check my channel to prove, and Aquarian Drumheads Brazil. Ah! There’s also a thin drum pad from Aquarian that do not affect the sound of the beater head, and gives some extra life to the bass drum head. Best regards, and once again, thanks a lot! Edison Piva
I've always found that the snare wires add so much to the sound of the kick drum. Kick drum with the snares on is a totally different animal to with the snares off. At least from a players perspective. Do you account for this when tuning, recording, or otherwise trying to get a good kick drum sound? Love these videos Rick. New subscriber here. A lot of wisdom in these pages.
Eoin Hayes i think EQing a kick is much more FUN when the snare wires are off. this is my personal preference, i just think there are many more frequencies to bring out of the kick with the overhead and room mics that snare wires tend to get in the way of!
I feel like it effects it quite a bit myself. I take it into account at times. I tend to crank my kick up a half turn or so on pieces that I only play my snare open. I just feel like a little tighter and higher feels and sounds better when the snares open.
I have found with my Ludwig USA Clubdates an SK 2 on the batter with my Ludwig white head on the front with internal plastic ring sounds great tuned snug with no other dampening. I get a great boom and definition.
Man, this guy would go insane looking at my bass drums lmao, I use 2 ply batter heads with a thick kevlar pad on the batter side and a thin "patch" or sticker on the opposite side of the batter in the same spot for reinforcement (I'm heavy-footed, and use hard, heavy beaters), then double Kickports on each resonant head for a mixture of overtone control, and boosting the low end. That's just my sound, though. Works well in metal, and I rarely need to use triggers for volume / clarity, as a result of tuning, head choice, muffling choice, pedal and beater choice, as well as technique. Sure, I have triggers available, but if anything, they just serve as an additional layer to my natural kick sounds, and are another thing to have to worry about lol I will say, though, the tuning technique is spot on. I do the exact same thing with mine. "JAW" tuning I like to call it.
It's a little frustrating watching a 10 minute long video on tuning if we don't get to hear what they sound like when you actually play them. Kinda completely useless.
The point of this video is to apply his expert technique to your own bass drum. If the results are satisfying to your ears then it isn't useless. If not, then move on to something else that you feel is better. Simple really.
Eric Gutierrez If the sound turns out not to be to Kyle's liking, then it is a waste of time for him. Time that could be saved if a sound demo was included in the video. So no, it's not simple.
You still need to try it for yourself to get the real idea of what the drum sounds like. If he gave you a "sample" of the sound, you might not like what you hear but still love the sound of the drum. His sample would have factors such as mic placement, preamp choice, room sound, etc. This technique, if applied right, will sound great.
I'm sure everybody, including me, would enjoy a little soundcheck but he's really just showing tuning technique and procedure, not showcasing his drumming skills. I got plenty use out of this, actually. Now I'm miles closer to helping my daughter learn to tune drums! I don't know why I say that, she's the snare player (among other instruments!) in marching band jumping headfirst into jazz. I just play guitar...
Actually no, this is a method to tune drums. It is kinda irrelevant to let him hear what the Sound is. People have a different rooms ,different drum sets, different heads, different playing style, different ears, different mics. So this result would be one of the thousands of possibilities. The thing is, apply the technique to your own Set and use your ears to fiddle around with it creatively. This Video is to help you Set you on your way. Cheers!
Thanks Rick, this has been a fantastic educational video series, especially for someone like me who is not a drummer and wants to learn. I will follow your instructions to setup and tune my Pearl Roadshow drum kit in my home studio.
Rick, nice tune job on the bass. I have Ludwigs with the same spurs and my drum never moves on me, although I have 2 toms and cymbal mounted on it. Take Care
I've seen some drum kits that have a small drum in front of the kick, what is that? What is it's purpose? Thanks for the tuning series, very clear & precise.
There's a speaker installed in the small tom that is wired to be a mic. The idear is the large speaker, as opposed to essentially the small one in a mic, will pick up lower frequencies.
This works for me every time i fix my bass drum ..i put a piece of leather or rubber tied with tied downs in the part were the pedal is attached and i don't have to rotate the rim and also saves the rim from getting damage by the pedal clamp.😎🇵🇷
There's a company, Evans which also makes drumheads and amongst other things invented the "waterproof" (not cow) head. They also make fairly good heads that you don't have to glue pop or stretch excessively.
0:49 unless you have a (good) kick patch, in which case it'll be good enough to last you at least a good 9 months. (And yes, 'good' is in brackets because the Evans kick patches (the ones that aren't the AF patches) are utter useless. :) )
Rick: Bill Ludwig Jr. personally told me at the Ludwig Factory in Chicago, that Drummers should ALWAYS Keep the Drum Hoop in the SAME Position as it was from the Factory. He told me that ''Over time the Hoop MATES to the Drum Head'' I must say that I Totally AGREE With WFL-II on that concept.
My favorite story about getting attack out of a bass drum was from Vinnie Paul. I forget which album he was talking about at the time, but he used 28" kicks with Danmar maple beaters -- and taped silver dollars to the impact point. How's THAT for a batter head patch?
Funny how you've gone on about how great Bonham's kick drums sound was...he always tuned his pretty high, the complete opposite of "as low as possible." Tuning a kick drum like a pro depends on what sound the pro is looking for.
Tighter gives faster rebound,a 26" kick will sound quite low even when tight(relatively),so to some degree makes up for the slower response of the bigger drum.
A good bass drum should have spikes coming out the legs to hold it in place on a reliable mat or carpet. I would think weights in front touching the drum would either make noise, ding the hoop, or totally choke the sound.
his thinking involved a reliable mat or carpet, so, not so wrong IF those are present. however, Rick covers all those points of concern with the towel.
Also this is a vintage bass drum (ludwig from the looks of it) and back in the day the legs were inferior compared to today's standard. All my vintage kicks tend to move around a lot more than my modern ones.
AACK! Never tension a drum by "going around" ! Always use a cross pattern. Going around causes the head to shift to one side and seat unevenly. Also for jazz/bebop tuning you'll want to crank the heads up a bit and leave them essentially wide open. Putting damping in a drum (that touches both heads) automatically negates almost everything else you've done. Once you've dampened a bass enough you might as well hammer on a pillow. I like the hand tuning of the Bass for rock music though, i picked up the concept from Thomas Lang.
Nice set up! Awesome stuff. In case you're interested.. Check the Kases KCP-5 crash pad drum rug. I've been using it heavily for years. Has a kick drum barrier built onto it so the set won't slide forward. Bout to need a new one soon.. But that's after.. Probably 10 years.. throwin it out there
Rick Beato you can also use a clamp on set of spikes similar to the ones used in the 60s that would go on the bottom of the hoop. I was skeptical at first but after I ordered a few sets for my shop I was very impressed. I use them on all my ludwig kits and love them.
I have tried this tunning method and acomplished the low end on my kick I was looking for! thank u very much Rick! BTW would you recommend to tune drums to a song key?
My "pro tip" is to go to the baseball park or a sporting goods store and pick up one of those novelty bats that are about 18" long. For tuning a kick drum, those things have a nice mass and contact area for simulating what the drummer's beater is going to do the the drum.
To avoid the problem of the weights affecting the bottom lugs/hoop, put the weights in front of the legs/spurs instead. As long as you have 2 heavy things of the same weight, it should work.
What About Just Setting up Your Kit On A Mat That Has The Block As Part Of The Mat, I Think It's Called A Crash Pad, What That Be The Same As Having Weights In Front Of The Kickdrum????
Last year i recorded 2 Rock-CDs with a deep dull in a broken 2-layer kick head... That "natural" crispy sound i really missed after changing the head ;-)
I have a power stroke 3 clear..and I put the the remo kick patch on it thinking I would like the sound..but I don't..now I can't get the bloody thing off lol! help!!?
so. . .you interview Tommy Emmanuel, Brian May and a host of others and have a list of credits a block and a half long. ..THAT. ..and my undying gratitude. . .after I discovered these freakin' videos of yours on drums a couple of years ago. Thank you, thank you, thank you. For all you do. If you ever need help on a project, cuz your also an accomplished musician, I'd be honored to assist. (I just hate accomplished musicians. . .) (apply the necessary amount of sarcasm to that last 'accomplished' thingy) Thank you again Mr. Beato. (I wasn't kidding if you need help with a project though. I'd be honored.) I Wonder. . . will RUclips actually let me post this?!?! . . .do people actually still read these things? .
Really enjoy your channel Rick and thanks for sharing your wisdom! I'm looking to replace both of my bass drum heads and leaning towards Remo's Power stroke 3 head. Is there a different head for the resonant side? I can't seem to locate a "resonate" head. Any help is appreciated brother.
Nice Video Rick :) I used to love the Powerstroke 3 very much until I tried the EMAD2. So much more low end and punch right from the get go (even with no mic) that on all my bass drums are now equipped with those Heads. Have you tried those in your studio? If so what's your thought on those heads? Regarding the moving bass drum, I put Velcro strips on all of my pedals at some point and have never looked back since. Any self glueing strips will do the trick. Takes 5 minutes to put on and will not detune your heads :) Love your videos and advice, always something to learn here, Thanks :) Much appreciated
hey sir, i really do like your videos on drum tuning. they're adding a lot to what i already know, so thank you very much for taking the time and effort to make these. my question is : for someone like me who practices/plays for an average of an hour a day 6 days a week a variety of genres from rock/metal, r&b, hip hop, funk, & country, light strokes to heavy hitting, in your opinion, how often should i replace my bass drum resonant head?
skwark56 Your bass drum resonant head I only change if the hole gets torn or once a year. It probably doesn't need to be changed more than once every five years to be honest with you. I think I do it because I make my living as a music producer.
I have a problem with my new kickdrum, the hoop do not align with the head/drum. I have not experienced this before, do you or anyone have any ideas for me to fix it? Or maybe it's something wrong with it?
When you were checking the bass drum with your hands I almost swore I heard you say "that's nice and low bitch!" and I was like Rick!!! Hahaha but it was pitch
Why couldn’t I have found this info a couple years ago when I had a drum set? It sounded horrible and was so uninspiring to play that I got bored quickly and ended up selling it. Now I find this series, and figure out the my whole kit was extremely poorly tuned and not properly set up.
Weights: unnecessary Exterior towel: unnecessary If you know how to use the spurs correctly you never need weights unless the drum is malfunctioning... in which case, don't record with it! If you get the reso head with the sound you actually want or properly place the interior pillow/towel/blanket the exterior one is completely extra. Now I'm not saying these techniques won't work. I'm sure they will and it'll sound fine... but it is a waste of time and energy when you don't really need them. Work smart, not hard.
Man, I never comment on videos, but I've been playing drums for years, tuning them the way a friend taught me, and they never sounded how I liked them. My drums sound sweet now! Awesome tutorial!
Same. My drums finally sound how I’ve always wanted them to
Dude. You make me smile, Rick. I've been a drummer now for ...41 years. It always amazes me how many drummers don't tune because they don't know how, or nobody showed them a better way. I smile because a mentor of mine showed me this method many years ago. This is accurate knowledge, delivered appropriately people! It's not fine tuning, as promised in the video, but it gets you comfortable with changing worn heads and into a "base" tune (pun intended like a boss). You da man, bro.
"it can sound great in the room and bad in the mic or vice versa"
Story of being a drummer :D
The Evans EMAD heads with the foam pre-attached to the batter head are fantastic for helping one attain the tone and resonance desired on a kick drum. I have a cheap 22x18 kick at home with an EMAD on the batter side, and a standard Remo ebony on the resonant side with a mic hole, and it sounds like a cannon with little to no tuning, and no muffling on the resonant side whatsoever. Remo used to put out something years ago called the "Mufflr" that essentially did the same thing, but went inside the shell and up against the batter head from inside.
For what it's worth, in the marching drum world, we just use the resonant muffling foam with adhesive on one side to control tone for bass drums by putting it on the inside of each head. I'd imagine you could use the same stuff on the batter head (or even the resonant head) on the inside without a whole lot of trouble.
It depends upon what kind of sound you desire. Remo still make Muff'ls. I have them on all of my toms for live use. As blasphemous as it seems, I also have them on my snare drums. Drummers always gripe about me doing it until they hear it mic'd up.
For the Kicks, I have the drums half-filled with King-sized Comforters, but then - I'm using 28" Kick drums tuned so low the metal almost jingles. The sound I get out of them is somewhat like the concussion from a professional fireworks mortar. My brother said "It fells like the walls in the room expand and bow outward when you hit the kick drum." Which is exactly the kind of effect I am after - like when a delivery truck drives by and you feel it more than you hear it. I get the sound of the mallet slap, but the psycho-acoustic feeling because of the low pitch of the drum.
I prefer the gmad but either way sounds so good
You look both 28 and 58 in this video! I feel like the stress of RUclips has aged you into your real age.
But age comments aside - you are an absolute treasure of the musical world. Please keep up the same energy you have in this video in all your new stuff. I would love to see you interview Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree, or Mikael Adkerfeldt of Opeth
Helpful video. Playing for 48 years and didn't know about that technique. I tried it on my kick, and it worked for me!
WOW! I have played drums for nearly 15 years and watched every tuning vid out there (including others from you) and I think this one may have been the break through... I've always heard "finger tight" - but the way you explained to press down on the rim and THEN finger tighten made all the difference. Just that alone had me 80% of the way to the sound I was looking for!
Rick you're amazing I didn't know how to tune my drum kit very well until I saw these videos. Your methods are great and easy to do, thank you so much.
Yes! I'll admit, I've always been challenged by tuning and the time it takes, which I don't have. I watched this video and tuned all my drums in under an hour and they sound fantastic. I will be using this technique from here on out! Thank you, sir.
You're doing it all with your Beato videos - you have become my go-to for home-studio setup, mixing, producing, and everything. Awesome work thanks for everything you're doing, Rick! Next time I'm in town, (I live up on Lake Lanier) I'll buy you a beer.
Thanks!
If you can afford new bass heads that often, sure. Otherwise, kick pads are a must for me. Good bass heads cost too much to let them get ruined just for a slightly more open tone.
It takes a long time for them to get dented like that. I do this for a living though so that's just part of the cost of doing business.
I used a Powerstroke 3 for almost 5 years without a patch. They take tons of punishment day in and day out.
If you're changing bass heads frequently due to wear and tear, you may need to reexamine your bass pedal setup. If the batter/mallet is improperly sized, or just plain too hard, you're going to destroy heads faster. Also, playing too hard can be an issue.
Andrew Patterson lemme guess, you play jazz? 😂😂
Club Soda $30 right now on Amazon for a PS3.
Honestly, anything Beato is quality. Found production to this.... can't go wrong
great stuff, I know most of these tricks but now and again it helps to look for other peoples approach to drum tuning, everything helps, thanks for uploading such useful videos !
Remo Muffll all the way. Your tips are fantastic. I've been using a Muffl for 34 years and I'll put my sound against anyones. No blankets, no pillows.
I had a ddrum set and I didn't put any muffling in the bass drum nor did I cut a hole. In sounded great.
Really enjoyed the series so far, lots of good info. Thanks.
Wow!!! I tried these tuning methods only toms and they've never sounded this good...and it was easy and fast!! can't believe it
I had a ddrum set and I just put a remo double stroke 3 on for the batter head and a clear ambassador resonate head on the front and no hole or padding and it sounded superior in the room. Nice tight thud with that bass sound like you hear in cars going down the road.
Okay here is my opinion about patches . The heads you use are already muffled . If you use the right patch it will actually enhance the sound . Hard plastic beaters compensate for the patch and to be honest it is too expensive to not use a patch and keep buying expensive high quality heads . Speaking of which I use Aquarian super kick 1, and if possible the matching resonant head with hole . It is very personal but I have been drumming for 55 years !
Rick, thank you very much for your tutorial. I have done it for years similar to you , but you usually just the top batter head and ignore the resonant head or bottom head because the only one I was changing was the top. Today I went and tuned them exactly how you video shows including that I cleaned the rim because mine is in a place that collects some dust.
The outcome is that I got one of the best tuning sound for the drum that I'm using which is just a pearl steel shell made in Taiwan serial number 20044-839 which translate to a cheap but good snare for everyday playing. I appreciate your time. I will still play around of course with the sound as I like it to be as Chris as a symphony snare sound and also a combination of short snare snap sound. And yet I also like the open rudimental sound if I can get the three of them out of one tuning.
Maybe I'm a bit OCD also as I've been doing the same thing for 40 something years. I like the endorsement to be in front on top in between the lug nuts if possible while having the strainer across from right to left since I am right-handed and I can flip it or just it with my right hand, and I do the same things to all the other drums as much as possible. God bless you. Take Care thank you
Juan Torres
thanks Rick that's alot of great information...look forward to your next tuning series...cheers and happy drumming
Great advice for drummer who have been overwhelmed by tuning . Great as always Rick
you're doing a wonderful job, thank you for sharing your knowledge ... a drummer needs to appreciate this kind of work
Hi Mr. Beato, thanks for sharing your expertise and experience with us. But allow me to disagree about some points you presented in this video. 1st the weights, if you use the spurs of the bass drum feet and the spurs on the pedal I guarantee that it won’t move. 2nd try Aquarian Drumheads, for the. Beater head: Full force for opener sounds and Super Kick I for more controlled ones, as for the resonant side: Regulator with a 4 3/4” hole offset , sometimes you won’t even need a damping system. 3rd the way you tune the bass drums also affects the resonance, to damp it you can also add more torque on the resonant side, this will also help the drummer with the response and sensitivity of the beater side. 4th try to go with the cross tuning first, then fine tune with the clockwise method, lug by lug. And don’t!!! Don’t put any weight in the drumhead when tuning the head needs to fit by itself.
These are my points of view about your video, as a Drum Specialist, check my channel to prove, and Aquarian Drumheads Brazil. Ah! There’s also a thin drum pad from Aquarian that do not affect the sound of the beater head, and gives some extra life to the bass drum head.
Best regards, and once again, thanks a lot!
Edison Piva
Rick - just got done tuning my 10 year old's set with your help. Sounds much better. Thanks!
I've had dimples in my bass head for YEARS
You broke my heart when you put the blanket in the bass drum. I love basketball bass drum BOOM!
hello Rick thank you. first time someone, you, show it right. appreciate!
Thank you
Enjoyed the style and explanation 👍🏼👍🏼
Man your videos are pure gold!!! thanks for teaching us!!
Thanks! Switched up my tuning method and I dig it.
Best way to tell if your head needs to be replaced is if there’s a giant hole in it and your beater is stuck inside.
I've always found that the snare wires add so much to the sound of the kick drum. Kick drum with the snares on is a totally different animal to with the snares off. At least from a players perspective. Do you account for this when tuning, recording, or otherwise trying to get a good kick drum sound?
Love these videos Rick. New subscriber here. A lot of wisdom in these pages.
Eoin Hayes i think EQing a kick is much more FUN when the snare wires are off. this is my personal preference, i just think there are many more frequencies to bring out of the kick with the overhead and room mics that snare wires tend to get in the way of!
I feel like it effects it quite a bit myself. I take it into account at times. I tend to crank my kick up a half turn or so on pieces that I only play my snare open. I just feel like a little tighter and higher feels and sounds better when the snares open.
Upon seeing this video, 5 years later; All the drums and cymbals affect the other, harmonically.
I have found with my Ludwig USA Clubdates an SK 2 on the batter with my Ludwig white head on the front with internal plastic ring sounds great tuned snug with no other dampening. I get a great boom and definition.
Thanks Rick, really good info!!
Man, this guy would go insane looking at my bass drums lmao, I use 2 ply batter heads with a thick kevlar pad on the batter side and a thin "patch" or sticker on the opposite side of the batter in the same spot for reinforcement (I'm heavy-footed, and use hard, heavy beaters), then double Kickports on each resonant head for a mixture of overtone control, and boosting the low end. That's just my sound, though. Works well in metal, and I rarely need to use triggers for volume / clarity, as a result of tuning, head choice, muffling choice, pedal and beater choice, as well as technique. Sure, I have triggers available, but if anything, they just serve as an additional layer to my natural kick sounds, and are another thing to have to worry about lol
I will say, though, the tuning technique is spot on. I do the exact same thing with mine. "JAW" tuning I like to call it.
Thank You Rick. Very valuable info. 👌
It's a little frustrating watching a 10 minute long video on tuning if we don't get to hear what they sound like when you actually play them. Kinda completely useless.
The point of this video is to apply his expert technique to your own bass drum. If the results are satisfying to your ears then it isn't useless. If not, then move on to something else that you feel is better. Simple really.
Eric Gutierrez If the sound turns out not to be to Kyle's liking, then it is a waste of time for him. Time that could be saved if a sound demo was included in the video. So no, it's not simple.
You still need to try it for yourself to get the real idea of what the drum sounds like. If he gave you a "sample" of the sound, you might not like what you hear but still love the sound of the drum. His sample would have factors such as mic placement, preamp choice, room sound, etc. This technique, if applied right, will sound great.
I'm sure everybody, including me, would enjoy a little soundcheck but he's really just showing tuning technique and procedure, not showcasing his drumming skills. I got plenty use out of this, actually. Now I'm miles closer to helping my daughter learn to tune drums! I don't know why I say that, she's the snare player (among other instruments!) in marching band jumping headfirst into jazz. I just play guitar...
Actually no, this is a method to tune drums. It is kinda irrelevant to let him hear what the Sound is. People have a different rooms ,different drum sets, different heads, different playing style, different ears, different mics. So this result would be one of the thousands of possibilities. The thing is, apply the technique to your own Set and use your ears to fiddle around with it creatively. This Video is to help you Set you on your way. Cheers!
Outstanding series!
Thanks Rick, this has been a fantastic educational video series, especially for someone like me who is not a drummer and wants to learn. I will follow your instructions to setup and tune my Pearl Roadshow drum kit in my home studio.
Rick, nice tune job on the bass. I have Ludwigs with the same spurs and my drum never moves on me, although I have 2 toms and cymbal mounted on it. Take Care
Nice drum drum
Good tips man. Thanks for sharing....
Awesome, gonna try this technique on my bass drum tonight!
I've seen some drum kits that have a small drum in front of the kick, what is that? What is it's purpose?
Thanks for the tuning series, very clear & precise.
There's a speaker installed in the small tom that is wired to be a mic. The idear is the large speaker, as opposed to essentially the small one in a mic, will pick up lower frequencies.
What you've seen is called a Yamaha SubKick.
Oh cool, thanks for clearing that up.
This works for me every time i fix my bass drum ..i put a piece of leather or rubber tied with tied downs in the part were the pedal is attached and i don't have to rotate the rim and also saves the rim from getting damage by the pedal clamp.😎🇵🇷
What about using Double Bass drums Rick ?😎
“Some sort of dampening device”
*pulls out blanket*
Great video man! Thanks for sharing...
There's a company, Evans which also makes drumheads and amongst other things invented the "waterproof" (not cow) head.
They also make fairly good heads that you don't have to glue pop or stretch excessively.
0:49 unless you have a (good) kick patch, in which case it'll be good enough to last you at least a good 9 months. (And yes, 'good' is in brackets because the Evans kick patches (the ones that aren't the AF patches) are utter useless. :) )
Rick: Bill Ludwig Jr. personally told me at the Ludwig Factory in Chicago, that Drummers should ALWAYS Keep the Drum Hoop in the SAME Position as it was from the Factory. He told me that ''Over time the Hoop MATES to the Drum Head'' I must say that I Totally AGREE With WFL-II on that concept.
My favorite story about getting attack out of a bass drum was from Vinnie Paul. I forget which album he was talking about at the time, but he used 28" kicks with Danmar maple beaters -- and taped silver dollars to the impact point. How's THAT for a batter head patch?
Funny how you've gone on about how great Bonham's kick drums sound was...he always tuned his pretty high, the complete opposite of "as low as possible." Tuning a kick drum like a pro depends on what sound the pro is looking for.
Tighter gives faster rebound,a 26" kick will sound quite low even when tight(relatively),so to some degree makes up for the slower response of the bigger drum.
Thoroughly enjoyed this. Thank you Rick.
Thanks, really worked for me.
A good bass drum should have spikes coming out the legs to hold it in place on a reliable mat or carpet. I would think weights in front touching the drum would either make noise, ding the hoop, or totally choke the sound.
Adam Reimnitz Your thinking would be WronG.
his thinking involved a reliable mat or carpet, so, not so wrong IF those are present. however, Rick covers all those points of concern with the towel.
Also this is a vintage bass drum (ludwig from the looks of it) and back in the day the legs were inferior compared to today's standard.
All my vintage kicks tend to move around a lot more than my modern ones.
AACK! Never tension a drum by "going around" ! Always use a cross pattern. Going around causes the head to shift to one side and seat unevenly. Also for jazz/bebop tuning you'll want to crank the heads up a bit and leave them essentially wide open.
Putting damping in a drum (that touches both heads) automatically negates almost everything else you've done. Once you've dampened a bass enough you might as well hammer on a pillow.
I like the hand tuning of the Bass for rock music though, i picked up the concept from Thomas Lang.
Nice set up! Awesome stuff. In case you're interested.. Check the Kases KCP-5 crash pad drum rug. I've been using it heavily for years. Has a kick drum barrier built onto it so the set won't slide forward. Bout to need a new one soon.. But that's after.. Probably 10 years.. throwin it out there
That's cool. I will check it out thanks!
Rick Beato you can also use a clamp on set of spikes similar to the ones used in the 60s that would go on the bottom of the hoop. I was skeptical at first but after I ordered a few sets for my shop I was very impressed. I use them on all my ludwig kits and love them.
Really cool , looking forward to the other drum videos
I have tried this tunning method and acomplished the low end on my kick I was looking for! thank u very much Rick! BTW would you recommend to tune drums to a song key?
Tuning to a specific key will not always help you. I wouldn't recommend it, there will be little to no change in the overall sound.
My "pro tip" is to go to the baseball park or a sporting goods store and pick up one of those novelty bats that are about 18" long. For tuning a kick drum, those things have a nice mass and contact area for simulating what the drummer's beater is going to do the the drum.
How do you go about cutting the circular hole in the resonance head?
Rick: I addition to Tuning by Ear, I Very HIGHLY Recommend the Drum Dial Drum Tuning Tool.
I've never used one. How does it work?
Great stuff!!!
Closed caption just said, "Hello everyone, I'm Rigby Otto."
🤘😆🤘
To avoid the problem of the weights affecting the bottom lugs/hoop, put the weights in front of the legs/spurs instead. As long as you have 2 heavy things of the same weight, it should work.
Can you put the weights in front of the drum legs and maybe put some sandbags on each so nothing is touching the kick drum hoop
What About Just Setting up Your Kit On A Mat That Has The Block As Part Of The Mat, I Think It's Called A Crash Pad, What That Be The Same As Having Weights In Front Of The Kickdrum????
Last year i recorded 2 Rock-CDs with a deep dull in a broken 2-layer kick head... That "natural" crispy sound i really missed after changing the head ;-)
Velcro on the bottom of my kick drum pedal has worked for decades for me. The drum doesn’t move a bit.
Really good videos, thank you.
No edge crinkling before seeding the head?
I love this guy
excellent information!!!!
thanks for making it simple
Holup. I notice that each mic is focusing on one head. Are people who mic the hole itself doing something wrong, potentially?
I have a power stroke 3 clear..and I put the the remo kick patch on it thinking I would like the sound..but I don't..now I can't get the bloody thing off lol! help!!?
Any single-ply head with dents can be remedied with a heat gun or even a lighter. I'm using a 35 year old ambassador on my snare.
But how do I tune my cymbals?
My question is, why put the weights against the front of the kick drum? Why not place the weights in front of the two kick drums legs/feet?
so. . .you interview Tommy Emmanuel, Brian May and a host of others and have a list of credits a block and a half long. ..THAT. ..and my undying gratitude. . .after I discovered these freakin' videos of yours on drums a couple of years ago. Thank you, thank you, thank you. For all you do.
If you ever need help on a project, cuz your also an accomplished musician, I'd be honored to assist.
(I just hate accomplished musicians. . .)
(apply the necessary amount of sarcasm to that last 'accomplished' thingy)
Thank you again Mr. Beato.
(I wasn't kidding if you need help with a project though. I'd be honored.)
I Wonder. . .
will RUclips actually let me post this?!?!
. . .do people actually still read these things?
.
Is Beato stadium named after this guy?
Great video
Wow that music room is insane
Interesting when you say that you place the mic on the opposite side of your port. I might have to play with that :)
Really enjoy your channel Rick and thanks for sharing your wisdom! I'm looking to replace both of my bass drum heads and leaning towards Remo's Power stroke 3 head. Is there a different head for the resonant side? I can't seem to locate a "resonate" head. Any help is appreciated brother.
Nice Video Rick :) I used to love the Powerstroke 3 very much until I tried the EMAD2. So much more low end and punch right from the get go (even with no mic) that on all my bass drums are now equipped with those Heads. Have you tried those in your studio? If so what's your thought on those heads?
Regarding the moving bass drum, I put Velcro strips on all of my pedals at some point and have never looked back since. Any self glueing strips will do the trick. Takes 5 minutes to put on and will not detune your heads :)
Love your videos and advice, always something to learn here, Thanks :) Much appreciated
hey sir, i really do like your videos on drum tuning. they're adding a lot to what i already know, so thank you very much for taking the time and effort to make these.
my question is : for someone like me who practices/plays for an average of an hour a day 6 days a week a variety of genres from rock/metal, r&b, hip hop, funk, & country, light strokes to heavy hitting, in your opinion, how often should i replace my bass drum resonant head?
skwark56 Your bass drum resonant head I only change if the hole gets torn or once a year. It probably doesn't need to be changed more than once every five years to be honest with you. I think I do it because I make my living as a music producer.
Rick Beato awesome, thank you so much for replying, this helps me out tremendously!
also, if five years is the norm, looks like i've got 3 more to go. thank you for saving me money kind sir!
Wait so the first head was tuned without a drumkey or am I burnt
I have a problem with my new kickdrum, the hoop do not align with the head/drum. I have not experienced this before, do you or anyone have any ideas for me to fix it? Or maybe it's something wrong with it?
really helpful thank you!!
If the bass drum slides use a mat plus a sand bag as used in the movie industry, or two ,one at each leg.
Why do you put a hole in the resonator?
put the weights on the legs instead?
Nice drum drum drum
Is than an RE20 or an RE320 inside the kick?
When you were checking the bass drum with your hands I almost swore I heard you say "that's nice and low bitch!" and I was like Rick!!! Hahaha but it was pitch
Why couldn’t I have found this info a couple years ago when I had a drum set? It sounded horrible and was so uninspiring to play that I got bored quickly and ended up selling it. Now I find this series, and figure out the my whole kit was extremely poorly tuned and not properly set up.
Great trick to keep the weights from de-tuning the front head: Put them in front of the feet, not the hoop.
Weights: unnecessary
Exterior towel: unnecessary
If you know how to use the spurs correctly you never need weights unless the drum is malfunctioning... in which case, don't record with it! If you get the reso head with the sound you actually want or properly place the interior pillow/towel/blanket the exterior one is completely extra.
Now I'm not saying these techniques won't work. I'm sure they will and it'll sound fine... but it is a waste of time and energy when you don't really need them. Work smart, not hard.