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the drum shell to a threaded hole in the bottom hoop. There usually is a small guide halfway down on single-tension drum shells to keep the tension rods straight. In older drums, the hoops are often held tight by separate clamps through which the threaded tension rod fits. Tension is applied by turning a special key that fits into a hexagonal drive, but many bass drums (especially those models designed for concert use) have permanent wing-nuts permanently affixed to each tension rod, even on double-tension drums.
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sewn-together loops called 'ears', usually made of leather, which slide along the rope to pull the hoops inward, tightening the drum heads. These ears remain in position due to the tension of the rope. Drum heads tightened in this manner are not as tense as more modern single-tension or double-tension systems, but offer a historically deep tone in keeping with the heritage of certain music, such as Pipe and Drum Corps, Fife and Drum Corps, and historical military bands such as
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254:. At times it may be desirable to use a specific key or individual musical notes to tune each drum to, creating more melodic tones and a more musical sound to the drums. The head is tapped once more around the edge to ensure even tuning. If double-headed drums are used, the procedure needs to be repeated with the bottom head.
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heads. Single-tension systems largely replaced the ancient rope-tension methods in the late 19th century and are still used today in lower-priced drums for student use. In this system, one long tension rod with a threaded end extends through the hoop holding the top drum head and then down outside
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When tensioning a head, the tensioning rod closest to the tensioner should be tightened first. The reason for this is to keep an even tension across the drum head, which is impossible to do if the lugs are tightened differently. Next, the tension rod opposite the first lug is tightened by the same
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An "old school" muffling technique is to cut a long strip of felt and mount it underneath the batter head on a tom or snare, or across the front bass drum head. However, many modern drummers dismiss felt muffling as dated and feel that the felt strip interferes with the seating of the head to the
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Using a commercial muffling device, which resemble Mylar "O" rings. This is a common approach and homemade muffling rings can be made by cutting up an old drum head. Some of these come with multiple rings of different sizes; layering multiple rings on top of each other increases or decreases the
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Putting a pillow inside the drum (for bass drums). The amount of muffling is controlled by how much of the pillow touches the front or rear heads; the less contact, the less muffling. Some companies produce dedicated bass drum mufflers that look like odd-shaped pillows; these work in the same
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mounted with bolts onto the outside of the drum shell. When there are individual stanchions for both the lower head and the upper "struck" head, or when there is one common center-mounted stanchion that accepts the threaded rods from both the upper and lower drum heads, that is said to be a
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heads and was the standard system used until the late 19th century. A long rope (or less commonly, a series of ropes) is passed alternately between the top and bottom drum head hoops that are held to the shell by clamps that incorporate holes for the rope(s). The ropes are made tighter by
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Double-tension is a method of applying tension to drum heads. Drum manufacturers use several methods to apply tension to drum heads; the preferred way is to tighten the heads with a hoop that is held tight to the drum shell with a number of individual threaded rods which connect to
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Some drummers choose muffle the bass drum tone by inserting a towel, blanket, pillow, or similar material inside the bass drum. This will cause the drum to sound more dampened and less "boomy", which is preferable in many situations such as recording or playing in small
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One approach is to loosen the batter head a quarter to a half turn. Another way is to either increase or decrease the pitch of the bottom head so that it's different from the pitch of the top head. Either of these approaches produces a slightly more dry, funkier sound.
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The rods are further tightened in order and incrementally, by no more than a quarter turn each time. From time to time, the head is tapped next to each tension rod and the rods are tightened and loosened so that the tones are the same all around the drum.
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Cutting a hole in the front head, or porting it, is an option for bass drums. The hole eliminates much of the drum's natural resonance and creates a drier, punchier sound with a more defined attack. The larger the hole, the less the audible
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When all of the rods are tightened, the first rod is once again tightened, and the process is repeated once again for each rod until the head is free of wrinkles and a very low tone is produced when hit.
54:. Drums are tuned by tightening or loosening the tension rods or ropes, which control the tension on the drumhead. Additional techniques such as muffling may also be used to affect resonance.
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on the batter head. Different lengths of tape, and different positions for the tape on the drum head can cause different sounds. Use of multiple strips causes a heavier muffle.
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When tuning a drum, drummers must keep in mind that the top (batter) head controls attack and ring, while the bottom head controls resonance, sustain, overtones, and timbre.
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to escape and to support the insertion of a microphone for recording. However, bass drums with a mic hole will usually have a less "round" sound than those without a hole.
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If unwanted ring is not eliminated—or if these types of heads produce unwanted tones—then there are multiple external muffling techniques that may be used, including:
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Taping a tissue or napkin to the rim of the drum, and letting it lay loose on the batter head. Again, different thicknesses and positions create different sounds.
38:. Drums require tuning for a variety of reasons: to sound good together as a kit, to sound pleasing as an individual drum, to achieve the desired amount of
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The thin, sensitive bottom (resonant) head is generally tuned higher than the batter head, to deaden the tendency for lengthy, ringing resonance.
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The resonant (front) head is usually looser than the batter head and is mainly responsible for the fundamental, audible tone of the bass drum.
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Laura P.A.A.; Rossit C.A.; Bambill D.V. Journal of Sound and
Vibration, December 2000, vol. 238, no. 4, pp. 720–722, Ingenta.
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Many percussionists prefer a more dry sound with less ring. There are many different techniques that can be used to reduce ring.
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number of turns. The process is repeated for the remaining lugs in order, moving from one side of the head to the other.
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Checking that the physical condition of the drum, drum head and hardware that is to be used are in appropriate condition.
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Relating each drum's pitch and sustain to the other drums in the drum set in accordance with the drummer's requirements.
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The relationships between individual drums and the overall drum set provide a logical and pleasant sounding combination.
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The relationships between the batter head and resonant head provide a sound character suitable for the intended use; and
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Other systems of rope tuning are used outside the
Western tradition, such as the "Mali weave" used to tune the
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The tensions on the individual batter and resonant heads on each drum are consistent and deliver a clear tone;
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The most common pattern fits a square-head tension rod. There are minor variations of size between makers.
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Treatment or muffling may be applied to any type of drum head to deaden resonances and control overtones.
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Seating the head to shape the generic factory-shaped head to match the specific drum being used.
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can be used to reduce overtones. The bigger the piece of gel, the more the sound is muffled.
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The resonant head may have a small (usually about 6" in diameter) offset hole to allow for
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The top, batter head of a 14-inch snare drum is tuned to a range of 220–349 Hz (
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The resonant head on a 14-inch snare drum is tuned to a range of 330–391 Hz (
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Fundamental Modes Of A Circular
Membrane With Radial Constraints On The Boundary
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Comments On “Fundamental
Frequency Of A Wavy Non-Homogeneous Circular Membrane”
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The tensions on the heads deliver the desired fundamental pitch when struck;
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Single-tension is one of several ways to apply the necessary tension to
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drum's bearing edge, making the drum slightly more difficult to tune.
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Tuning the resonant head to pitch relative to the batter head.
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lower than the resonant head. The most common interval is a
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Rope-tension is the oldest system for applying tension to
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of a drum, to change the pitch. It is also used to adjust
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The
Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Drums, 2nd Edition.
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The procedure is repeated until the head has the desired
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is the process of adjusting the frequency or pitch of a
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Process of adjusting the frequency or pitch of a drum
481:A step-by-step guide to achieve the perfect pitch
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293:Historical reenactors with rope-tuned drums
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156:Tuning toms is the act of ensuring that:
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487:Tuning drums for different music genres
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202:is a tool used to adjust the
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475:– Step-by-step drum tuning
308:American Revolutionary War
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26:. Although most drums are
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52:tuned to a definite pitch
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369:For toms and snares,
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281:double-tension drum.
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40:ringing and resonance
485:Tuning across genres
435:(2004) Alpha Books.
408:"Drum Tuning Guide"
359:Placing a strip of
328:A rope-tuned djembe
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316:American Civil War
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177:Rod and key tuning
431:Miller, Michael.
131:Bass or Kick Drum
32:fundamental pitch
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479:Tuning your toms
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312:War of 1812
304:Field Music
121:major third
20:Drum tuning
495:Categories
451:Wang C.Y.
390:References
385:resonance.
314:, and the
278:stanchions
185:A drum key
68:Snare Drum
361:duct tape
318:periods.
36:overtones
28:unpitched
501:Drumming
417:April 3,
412:Tune-Bot
381:fashion.
340:Muffling
196:drum key
190:Drum key
152:Tom toms
109:interval
48:rototoms
371:moongel
217:Process
147:venues.
44:timpani
334:djembe
310:, the
58:Styles
252:pitch
419:2021
299:drum
264:drum
119:and
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34:and
24:drum
198:or
100:to
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