How the Pros Tune Their Drums (Feat. Gregg Bissonette)

In this episode, professional drummer Gregg Bissonette discusses how he sets up his drums and demonstrates how to tune them.

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[JpJP]

This is fascinating. Never seen anyone tune a drum. I could watch Greg all day.

[yetanothermusicboi]

Absolutely blown away at how good the kit sound mic'd up. Was not expecting that.

[EzeeLinux]

I love how Gregg expressed exactly what sound he was going for... Fantastic!

[jobaecker]

Gregg is the kinda guy you could hang with and talk about anything...oatmeal, wallpaper paste, medical equipment...I don't care, he's just so down to earth and fun.

[craigcraigster]

Gregg is not only super talented, he's also super informative -- and super NICE! I always look forward to your presentations with him Rick, and I hope there's plenty more to come in 2024. Happy New Year!

[ciadella]

Gregg is one of my favorite drummers. Such a versatile player. I met Gregg one time at Berklee in 1993. He was so down to earth and nice. He gave me a pair of his Vic Firth signature sticks.

[paulemma]

Greg, you didn't drop your tuning key and have it land right under your bass pedal. Thats what separates the pros from the rest. 😀

[flashy]

Gregg, I’m 52, almost 53, and I still have my Stubbs from seeing you with David Lee Roth in 1986 & ‘88, you guys were the best concert I ever saw, especially in ‘86, for the “Eat em and smile” tour, damn … nothing more that needs to be said. 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[michaelgehringmusic]

Greg is one of most supportive guys you will ever meet aside from a hell of a drummer.

[drummergetsthegig]

Remember, Gregg has been tuning drums for a long time. It may take a while to develop your ear to be able to tune as quick as him. Also, love the gaff tape tents! Really great for helping to control the sustain of the drum. Met Gregg many years ago. Such a beacon of energy and positivity. Glad he's being featured on this channel.

[RaincloudmusicTFS]

I have never heard anyone mention tuning to the pitch of the shell! That's brilliant.

[nathanielbrice]

Greg was my favourite drummer at the Buddy Rich Memorial concert back in the day. Cool drummer but also the coolest dude! Legend!

[MrSticks]

Very informative. I have watched lots of videos on this topic and I don’t recall hitting the side of the drum to get a pitch range.i will be trying it out very soon.

[unclerhombus]

Cool vid!

The first rule of drums is that there *are no rules.* That’s what’s unique about drums.

Whatever sounds best to you personally for tuning, heads, setup, muffling, etc. is what you should do.

[jimbodavis]

This is one of the better tuning explanations I’ve seen. I’ve always been a little uncertain about the best approach. I like his organic and simple approach. I’ve been guilty of tuning out too much tone and natural character of the shell. His way gives you choices with a more natural starting point without the brain surgery.

[jimrogers]

Years ago when I still lived in Portland, Oregon, I was acquainted with Brian Willis, then the drummer of Quarterflash. His drums sounded very musical. When I asked him how he tuned his drums, he told me that he started with the snare and tuned them in descending fourths, beginning with the top head of the snare. So top of snare was a specific tone, bottom of the snare a fourth below, then first rack Tom, a fourth below bottom snare, then bottom head of first rack Tom, a fourth below the top head, continuing that way for the rest of the kit. Then he used powder puffs as bottom head mutes to control, at will, the resonance of the bottom head like a mechanical gate. Very elaborate, but his drums had a very uniquely musical sound.

[mongarcia]

For me another fascinating thing about this is that he just makes the sound with his voice to communicate to the audience the idea of how he tunes his drums. He says "toom! toom!", "boing", etc. Using technical terms (if any) won't really help less-informed audiences (like myself 😅) to understand the idea of what he's trying to communicate. Just making the sound with his voice made me understand immediately. Awesome.

[MashaT]

I’ve always wondered how to tune drums. This is actually fun to watch, coming from a guitar! I find myself being more and more interested in understanding other instruments lately. I think it makes for a better guitar player when you can understand where other musicians and their instruments are coming from.

[TheEvertw]

Very well explained! I have seen drummers spend an hour or more tuning their kit, this is so fast and efficient, with excellent results!

[Cjzdrums]

Doesn’t get any cooler than Gregg, i remember playing his Vic Firth signature stick. AMAZING talented drummer and all around nice guy for the win!