help me!!

i just got drums and need to know how to tune the damn things. i have no money (since blowing it all on drums) and have some sense of pitch and notes and am wondering how to tune them. they sound too high. any

there's a couple things you can do if they sound too high: 1. Take you drum key (that little thing that should have come with the set) and twist it (while on the key rods) to the left a little on each rod, tuning across to the next rod each time (much like changing a car tire) 2. take your kist and palm of other hand and put them to gether and press gently in the middle of the drum, stretching the head and lowering the sound, while remaining tense

If you think that they sound too high they probably are. You have to tune them to what you eant to hear. Personally i like them almost to the wrinkle point just barely where there are no wrinkles. It is suggested by many head campanies that you tune the bottom head just a hair tighter than the top heads, and that works for me. Go to www.remo.com and read the tuning tips section on the site. If your heads are brand new or slightly used they will need to stretch before they are 'broken in' and sound their best. Good luck.

Kramer

the best way that's worked in the 18 years i've been playing is take all the heads and rims off and hold onto the shell via the tom mount (or anywhere so that you're not immediately touching the shell with your hand) and tap the edge of the shell while listening to the note the shell produces. if you have a pitch-based instrument around (guitar, kbd, kazoo, etc.) match the note and jot it down for reference. now repeat the same thing with the other shells. if you match the note with the drum heads to the note you heard from the shell you will get the fullest sound from the drums.

attaching the heads:

put the head on (bottom or top doesn't matter) and screw on the lugs until they're only finger tight, don't use the drum key. once you have all the lugs on, start to turn each one 1/8 of a turn at a time until the head matches the note for that shell. this will take an ungodly amount of time to do but with practise it will get easier. the point of this is to make sure there is even tension around the head, a/k/a having a head that is in tune with itself. not doing this can choke the drum and produce the wrong overtones instead of the fundamental note of the drum. repeat with the other side head.

6 years and 14 days later you will have a well-tuned drumset! once you've done this a few times you can cut down the time it takes by judging the tension feel of the lugs and you did write down the pitches, right? that of course will change a little depending on temperature, humidity, sobriety, etc...

hope this helps

damien

san jose