How To Get A Drum In Tune With Itself.

Tuning your drums has never been easier. Learn how to tune your drums with this easy trick for incredible sounding drums through our educational videos.

These techniques will show you how to train your ear and how to get a drum head in tune with itself at the same time. DrumDial makes it easy to get perfect sounding drums for any live venue or practice room for record ready drums, with excellent stick response and a nice downward sound progression that your band mates and recording technician will appreciate.

Tuning drums like a pro, without the mystery, is easier with a DrumDial. Whether you are tap tuning by ear or using a DrumDial, this video will show you how.

Our teaching videos in the series have many drum tuning tips and on the beat tuning suggestions, so be sure to watch them all and put into practice what you have learned. DrumDial makes it easy to share your great drum sound with other drummers.

DrumDial has you covered for tuning your toms, bass and snare drums.

[Thatbobguy]

I am a guitar player and novice drummer and audio engineer. I have always tuned drums for any drummers I play with. They have all said, how does a guitar player know how to tune drums? lololol It's about presenting the best possible sound for every instrument especially before recording. I learned even more watching this video. Thanks so much!

[chrisw]

You are the first person I have heard say to adjust the others rather than attack the one. I have been chasing my tail for a few months and couldn't figure out why I sucked at tuning. I figured this out on my own recently and am glad I discovered the correct path but damn this could have saved me some time lol. Thanks for validating my inexperienced technique.

[ovancic]

This video can be truly called "Drum Tuning Masterclass in 20 minutes".
I recently started to learn about drum tuning and I found everything here as a ground concept.

Thank you very much !

[diehardpunk]

I bought the drum dial 20 years ago before youtube was popular and never really had this type of tutorial. I always tuned by toms around 70 but i always tuned the drum to the pitch of the shell so that the drums REALLY SING in live conditions. I use my stick to make the sound of the shell without heads on it. then keep that sound in mind when i tune my heads. My set sings!!!

[DrummerLP]

I was able to tune my 10” and 12” toms to a tension of 76 and 75 respectively as recommended by drum dial. I then checked the pitch and I was able to make very fine small adjustments (as they were very very close to my desired key pitch) doing so evenly with two drum keys on opposite lugs simultaneously to get it to a perfect “A”for the 12 inch Tom and a perfect “D” for the 10 inch Tom - (using a tuner app on my iphone) this being a one-fourth pitch apart - great- love the full sweet even tonal sound this achieved - all of which was my goal and feel proud of this accomplishment and deeper understanding of my drum’s sound and how to tune them right - no when I strike them with the stick they make that beautiful “OM” pleasant in tune sound that I wanted.

Now I’m going to tune my 14 inch floor Tom and 20” Bass drum both to tension of 74 on the drum dial tensionometer, and then do any fine tune and tweaks, using both keys at the same time on each opposite lug.

At first, as I was learning, I was chasing the pitch around each lug as one did affect the other, but then learned how to do it, and then used two keys at once to even everything up and and get it right.

This all works well as each drum is 2 inches apart and width, respectively to each other.
Thanks Drum Dial team for all your help. - Laurence

[Mari]

Drum dial changed my life. I thought I was good at tuning by ear. Always tuned it to where I thought it “sounded good.” With the drum dial I tuned both reso and batter for toms/floor toms to 75 and they sound great. The snare batter I tuned to 86 and the reso to 82. Sounds awesome!

[pawelmorrison]

I used to dread the thought of tuning one drum, not to mention the whole kit. Since I bought this little guy my life has been sooo much easier. You`ll find those conservative drummers who`ll bash these tuners and say you should alwasy use your ears, but what kind of ear does a beginner drummer, possibly with no musical theory background have? This tool helped me develop my ears and get a perfect drum sound. Can`t recommend it enough!
One thing to have in mind tho, is you have to be sure that your bearing edge is even, the drum shell is perfectly round and your hoops are not bent. If any of those happen, the Dial can give you false results.

[jpl]

This is the most helpful video for tuning the drums. Coming from the guitar world, tuning drums is much more complex. This video and the drum dial helped me get my drums sounding so warm and clear.

[bengraves]

My drum dial live in my gig case. Wonderful thing when setting up in a loud venue to make sure my sound is consistent from gig to gig. I have both my heads the same pitch by the way.

[dennislester]

I like to tune "by ear" and then use the drum dial to document successes after I'm happy with the sound I find. I also consider the pitch of the wooden shell and try to get my Reso head to agree with that.

[stoobieman]

Always done A: equal, because Simon Phillips said, and if anyone should know about tuning toms, it's Simon!

[tim]

I used to be same pitch top and bottom 24/7 for years and years. Discovered tuning bottom head a minor 3rd above batter has a very pleasing, rich sound - it's a bit more complex than same pitch tuning, but again more pleasing fuller sound (like tow voices singing together that blend well. I did not go back.

[TheJrrk]

I've been playing since I was 12 ( now 40) always struggled with tuning. Just went out and got a drum dial. Works amazing and my kit sounds fantastic. Thank you!!

[rcb_matt]

I’ve always done higher reso. Just bought a new kit that will be here in a couple days. I’m going to try same pitch for batter and reso.

[sandro]

This is my fav drum tuning video ever. Thanks for taking the time to explain this and for me to figure out the mistakes I’ve been making for years! Lol!

[stipped]

B: I tune the reso a minor third higher than the batter head. My mentor/instructor was a phenomenal percussionist and taught me this method. I feel my vintage ludwig will take to this tuning very easily and will not need internal/external muffling to moderate the sustain.

[darkpassenger]

I love my digital drum dial. Thanks for the video! 20 years and learning new tricks every day.

[tonyvalenti]

Great video! I find one thing interesting when compared to other videos. I’ve seem multiple instructions on tuning pattern. One, tune across then move one clockwise, another tune across then skip one or two lugs (depending on number of lugs) counterclockwise, and here two across simultaneously the rotating one after the other clockwise. It’s confusing to know which is best/right, but gotta say the two key method really makes sense to me for initial tune, then dial for consistency, then fine tuning by ear. Yep, best process to me! Nicely done!
😎👍🏻

[remotexpolde]

"Tuning Up into a note". SO glad you mentioned that. It's more the mechanics of the mechanism (not to sound utterly redundant.. Lol) but whether guitar, drums, or Zebraphone., it's simply the nature of the beast. *Also as with the jazz player you mentioned, tuning for effect has many uses as well. The only steadfast rule I apply to art, music, etc.. as long as it is somehow pleasing, or better yet, Exciting, there is no wrong tuning. ... Unless they make a sound you would hear if you took a plastic spatula and smacked a steamy pile of dog mess. GO TEAM!

[gossardstudios]

Great explanation on tuning toms. As a studio owner and engineer I prefere single ply heads to obtain a more lively sound. I do like the 12" tom at around 75 also my 13" tom is slightly lower. I like having both single ply heads on my 13" tom clear. Creates a really nice lower sound with good attack.