Tom Tuning Basics

An adventure in tom tuning by our very own Will Andrews. Will takes you through the thought process behind how we tune toms, highlights some of our favorite tips, and points out a few pitfalls.

Disclaimers -
We've been asked more than a few times to demonstrate how we tune our tom toms, so here is our response. While we believe there are no set in stone rules to how you tune drums, there are some basics that will help you on your way to better sounds.

We also believe that tuning is 100% subjective and to always find your own path to great sounding drums. Experimentation is how you learn for yourself, and it doesn't need to be a big, scary undertaking.

"One size fits all" tuning rules should be abolished. The subjective nature of drum sound, microphones, rooms, recording/mixing/live sound engineers and audience all have different opinions. Another thing to add is mods (gel, tape, tampering with snares etc.) are suggested to be used after the drum sounds great.

TuneBots and Drum Dials work to help guide you to get even tension around drum heads if you can't do it with your ears, and they're perfectly OK to use. What's also great about them is they provide a numeric value the tension at a particular point in the drum head. These values can be recorded and then utilized as needed to allow for consistent tuning at any time, for example having the same tone take to take in the studio. Tuning drums to actual pitches is a mostly futile and confusing mess unless you absolutely have to, which rarely occurs if you're a drum set player. Tuning devices do not replace tuning knowledge and experimentation. Understanding how drum tuning works without them will benefit your experience with them.

Feel free to post any additional questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer. We hope this helps and thanks for checking it out.

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[yaraslaubatanau]

Honestly, this is the best and most comprehensive tutorial I have seen so far.

[dcgreen]

My god! Absolute best tuning vid! My toms finally sing like a tub choir! Thank you! 🤘

[jackdixon]

Took me 10 videos to find this what im looking for

[amadorcaa]

Hi, I've been tuning my kit with notes for several years now and I haven't had any issues to begin with. I just wanted to change it up a bit. I think everyone should experience with their kit just like you mentioned on the video. I understand that many drummers are super picky about it too.. 😆.
I'm just sharing a thought and hopefully I can make new friends here as well. Happy Drumming to y'all.

[grundydan]

Great tuning tutorial, thanks! I really like the real time tuning and the full process going on.

[ANuisanceRockBand]

Watched several tutorials, and this is the first to end up with a great sounding tom. Great job. And you made it look simple.

[letsplayclassicgames]

Going to try this on my old 3 ply Ludwigs. Have gotten them pretty good sounding trying “wrinkle tuning” method but with that divebomb sound that isn’t quite as pleasant to the ears. Great video!

[houdinistree]

This was a great tutorial and very helpful thank you!

[Chiroman]

Will, nice simple Tuning Info. THX for the video. I'm learning how much Tuning is an Art.

[jas_bataille]

Great tutorial! First time someone tells me to mute the center! I'm still learning after 18 years :) Unfortunately the gate settings for the recording seems to be weirded out by the tom hits, there's a noticeable cut before the we hear the final decay of the last tom hit in particular. And the background music I'm not too sure about!

[fspar]

Nice video, but the floor tom keeps sounding weird, I'll try to loosen a bit the reso skin.
Also, I don't like the impact of the battent skin, I can feel it's loose when i punch it with the stick and it's weird. Do you have any advice? Maybe tightening the battent skin and loosening the reso skin more than the battent may help to have a nice impact while maintaining a low pitch?

[dutchschaefer]

The music in the background isn’t distracting whatsoever

[bramatias]

The background music does not allow listening…

[hippydippy]

It's mostly listening & trusting your ear's. After you've done it correctly a few times, it a breeze. It's not rocket science.

[IGIVRUP]

why play music that makes it hard for us to hear the tuning of the drums? its distracting and annoying.