drum tuning

[smopo24]

Originally Posted by dagosto

Top head is most important so I start with that one. I will sit the drum on my knee so the bottom head is muted. I will tune the head down until I am sure the lugs are all even in tension and the head is seated properly. I start to tune up very slowly, every one in a while checking the pitch of the head. The point at where the drum starts sound ing good is ussually pretty close is usually the plase where the drum is most comfortable. I usually tune it just slightly up from there so the tension of the head provides good stick response. Bottom head I do the same thing but tune it just slightly high to get a little bit of bend. Or you can do like lukedavo and remove the bottom head.

a friend of mine used to tune his toms while holding them up in the air. he would strike them away from the drums so you weren't hearing overtones from the rest of the kit.