Snare Drum Tuning
Tuning your snare drum can be a challenging task. I remember when I first started to play drums I knew nothing about tuning or the way my drums should sound. After over 10 years in the business I now have a better understanding of drum sound and how to achieve it. Here are some things I learned about tuning my snare drum.
The first thing I learned is that you need to figure out what type of sound you are looking for. You may want it to sound like your favorite drummers snare drum or your drum teachers snare drum. Either way, you need to know where your going to develop a clear path for getting there. Once you have figured out your desired sound it’s time to start tuning.
There are a few different keys to achieving a good sound when tuning your snare drum. One of the first is to make sure you have an even batter head tension. The way you can do this is by completely loosening the drum head so the tension rods are not pulling on the rim at all. Then, you hand tighten them as tight as you can go with your hand only. Next, you will want to follow the tuning map below.
Take your drum key and start on the letter “A.” Turn it one full turn. Next, go to “B” and do the same thing. After that, you can go to “D” then “C” and “E” and “F.” You are probably starting to see a pattern here. The mistake most drummers make is they go around the drum in a circle. This creates an uneven starting point tension. You want to keep going across the drum in the same order; do not get impatient! It may take 5 or 10 minutes as it is a slower method of tuning. It will make a world of a difference in how your snare drum sounds and how it holds it’s tune.
Now that your drum is all even you can tune it as high or low as you want. If you prefer a lower fatter sounding snare drum then you can do that. I always preferred a higher pitched drum so I cranked mine right up. It’s all personal preference though.
So once you have tuned the batter head of your snare drum, you can go ahead and do the resonant head. The same tuning principles are applied here. The resonant head should be tuned the same or even a little higher pitched then the batter side.
I hope this helped you with your snare drum tuning. If you are in need of more tuning advice, I highly recommend you check out Jared Falk’s Rock Drumming System.
Happy Tuning!
P.S. For additional information on snare drum tuning, I highly reccommend you check out the video below.
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