Tuning The Bass Drums</<meta name="keywords" content="tuning the bass drum, tune the bass drum, how to tune your bass drum, bass drum tuning" /> title> <meta name="description" content="Learn how to tune you drums."> <meta name="keywords" content="drum tuning"> <link href="/stylesheets/styles-default.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <meta name="Description" content="Tuning the bass drum is a challenging task. There are a couple things to remember when tuning your bass drum..." /> </head> <body> <div id="contentBox1"> <h1>Tuning The Bass Drum</h1> <p><img src="/img/website/bass drum.jpg" alt="bass drum" width="290" height="290" align="right" />Tuning the bass drum can be challenging and frustrating at times. It is something that I continually experiment with and still find difficult to this day. There are so many different factors at play when tuning the bass drum. Due to the bass drum being so much larger then any of the other drums, it can be difficult to get it 100% even in tension and pitch. </p> <p>To start off, we will apply the same principles as we did in the snare drum tuning section. Loosen off the tension rods and retighten them by hand. Remember to not tighten the tension rods in a circle, but always work across from where you started. This will ensure that the drum has a good even tune. </p> <p>Depending on the style of music you are playing, you don’t want to tune your bass drum too high pitched. Most drummers nowadays are playing rock and funk gigs and generally want a deeper sound. However, if you are playing a jazz or Latin gig you may want to tune it higher. </p> <p>Many drummers ask me what do they do if the bass drum head has a ripple in it. Well, this was something I used to struggle with a lot. The reason your bass drum head might have a ripple in it could be one of a couple things. The drumhead could be bent or warped, or the bass drum itself could be warped. If this is the case, you will have to even out the drum head using the tension rods. At the point where the ripple it the most pronounced, you can tighten the tension rods even more. This should take care of the ripple, if not, you may have to go even tighter. There are<br /> times where I had to crank on it quite a bit to get rid of the ripple. However, I was <br /> still happy with the overall sound of my drum so I didn’t mind making the tension a <br /> little uneven. </p> <p>I would recommend making the resonant side of your bass drum the same tension as your batter side. </p> <p>After you are all tuned up, you may want to add some muffling to the inside of the drum. Evans Drumheads makes an excellent EQ Pad. However, you can use any blanket or sheet. I prefer to use a sheet, it is light enough that it doesn’t suck up too much sound, and large enough to touch the batter head and the resonant head. This sheet will just sit at the bottom of the drum around 4 inches below where the beater strikes the resonant head. </p> <p>At this point, you should have a nice deep sounding bass drum, ready for the recording session or gig. </p> <p align="center"><img src="/img/website/double-bass-kit.jpg" alt="tuning the bass drum" width="650" height="392" hspace="10" vspace="10" border="0" /></p> <p align="center"><< Back to the <a href="/drum-tuning/">Drum Tuning articles</a> here on Drum-Tuning.com</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://www.bassdrumsecrets.com"><img src="/img/website/bds-training-pack.jpg" alt="bass drum secrets" width="349" height="211" border="0" /></a></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://www.bassdrumsecrets.com">Click Here for Information About the All-New Bass Drum Secrets Traiing System!</a><br /> </p> </div> <script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript"> _uacct = "UA-304523-34"; _udn="none"; _ulink=1; urchinTracker(); </script> <div id="footer">Copyright © 2008 Railroad Media Inc. - All Rights Reserved</div> </body> </html>