Why Does My Snare Drum Sound Cheap? THE BIG FIX...

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If your snare is too ringy, lacking in tone…or it just sounds plain cheap and you don’t know why… I’ve got you covered with a bunch of solutions today!
A mediocre-sounding snare might not be your drum’s fault - or at least not your snare drum shell’s fault. We’ll cover all the bases here and get your drum sounding way better without you going out and buying a new $500 snare.
Here’s what we’re helping you do today…
* Create a nice sounding ring that isn’t annoying (or get rid of ring altogether if you don’t want it)
* Create a “dead” sound without losing “beef” and “punch”
* Muffle your snare the RIGHT way without losing all the tone and character
* Sound way more professional by striking your snare the right way (sometimes a cheap snare sound is 100% the drummer’s fault! :/ )

Previous snare-muffling video about my “jingly bracelet:”
“Don’t Fix a Ringy Snare with Moongel. Here’s why…”

Cheap & expensive drums side-by-side tuning tutorial. Here we tune up two drums simultaneously, one cheap and the other higher end. These are detailed, complete, long-form video tutorials on tuning up your entire kit. Enjoy!

Link to PureSound Snare Wires on Amazon (affiliate)
(This is an Amazon affiliate link, so I get a small kickback if you buy with this link. Thanks!)

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[mikeprata]

Nice to see you work through that low snare tuning. I remember when I started learning the drums and watching tuning videos that made tuning look too easy, and then I’d try and it wouldn’t sound close at all. Actually watching you try something and go “Oh that sounds bad, let’s try something else” is super helpful. Thanks man!

[jgoosedrums]

Hey Stephen, I think there's still one more "last resort" step, and that would be to check the snare beds. I bought a custom snare drum years ago that should have sounded great but had this weird buzz that just wouldn't go away. So I disassembled the drum and had a good look at the shell, and realized it had virtually no beds cut at all.

Essentially the wires weren't able to hug the reso head as they should. After watching a couple videos on how to cut snare beds, I was able to take a file to the shell and get those beds to be a bit deeper. After that the wires fit more snugly and uniform the head, which got rid of that weird ring.

I know this is a fairly unique scenario but since then, I've seen snares on the shelf at drum shops with no beds at all. So I've learned to always check my snare drums for adequate snare beds.

[koalanectar]

Another thing to remember about snare ring is that it will be significantly drowned out in a mix\full band setting. I remember recording a drum track that I was sure would sound terrible because of how ringy the snare was, but in the full mix you only heard a smidge of the ring and it sounded great. If I had over-dampened the snare so it didn't ring so much while tracking, it wouldn't have sounded so good in the final mix.

[SpectreSoundStudios]

Puresound wires are great... but those Cotter Pins will slip at the worst time possible and ruin your recording. Regular straps work just fine. I really enjoyed this epsidoe, though! Great job!

[markmullen]

37 years playing drums. The one thing that helped me tune my snares better than anything was tuning the bottom head to "finger tight." Then tune the batter head. I never crank my resonant head. I get EXCELLENT results by just tuning the batter head tighter than the resonant and adjusting the snare tension. Saved me SO much time over the years.

[nicholasbstone]

The wear marks on this guys snare drum! Absolute control. Especially that tiny little spot in the center!

[marcpatzelt]

The last tip is the most important drum advice I heard in a while. Thank you!

[TheImperfectDrummer]

Thank you for this video! One interesting thing though, I have a Mapex Saturn III and my snare just never sounded quite right. It was when I LOWERED the snare side head a bit that it started to sound better. So I think on some snares, it actually helps not to crank the bottom head way up there. It's still tight, just not super cranked.

[brudbbb]

I'm just a noob bassist trying to learn more about drums
great video!

[jove]

For drumdial users, I've found around 80 on the snare side works well for most tunings.

[ignqpck]

Great video. Two more tips before you replace the snare:
1) Replace the hoops
2) Have the bearing edge reground. Sometimes the bearing edge is either warped or inconsistent, or cut in a way that produces higher overtones.
I wish you had also used a ring muffler and moongel, just to hear the difference on your particular snare. I stopped using moongel but love the thin hoop I got.

[madadam]

Perfect timing, I've been dealing with this problem from my snare

[McFlyGuitarsandStuff]

The best way to get a great sound is to keep tuning, keep trying different things and keep recording each time and listen back. If you're in a hurry forget it this is going to take some time LOL

[englaisfitz]

1 additional note, adding a 2nd mic to the underside of the snare to catch more of the snare's snap, gives a slightly drier sound with more of a crack without compromising the tone. This will allow you to effectively mask the ring from the batter head.

[glennracoma]

Glad you explained the bottom Reso head idea and that to tune it up. Not many if any tutorial on tuning snares make note of the resonate head bottom of snare. Thanks

[a.j.wilkes]

Subtle brag about hitting in the middle with that center dirt/worn mark. :D

[bbjjhhjj]

I have the Puresound wires, but what's even better are the 42 strand ones made by Masshoff which I just recently discovered and the difference is huge!

[rodriguezelfeliz]

Bad advice. It did not work with my electronic drumset.

[kazumaminton]

6:46 "cuz we wanna be dead right now" damn same