Advice on tuning a drum kit?

[Jeemag_USA]

I have procured a brand new drum kit, its nothing special, just a generic 5 piece but the shells are pretty good. A friend told me to tune then one nut at a time in diagonal fashion, but I am finding that hard as each rim has five nuts and my math is not too good. Does each tom skin have a note that it is tuned to, can I use a guitar tuner or what do I do, I have no idea. Are there any tips as far as bass drum and toms go, its mostly going to be used for jamming in peoples houses, so i don't want it loud and rocky, shoudl I leave the back skins off or on, should I apply tape and tissue?? Any ideas welcome.

The skins that came with it are pretty crappy so I am planning to buy a set of Remo skins which do not cost too much but have a good positive feedback on most sites I have visited.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

[Douglas Cowie]

Try this site it's a bit technical but it may help

http://www.tunadrum.com/index.htm

Grant Lyall (Local drum God) recommends tuning the drums to the opening notes of Glen Miller's In the Mood, my son uses this and it works.

[Deemac]

Are you sure of the 5 tuning bolts on each rim!! 6, 8 or 10 would be normal depending on shell size.

Roughly tension up the new head to a tone that sounds OK. Put a finger in the middle of the head while tapping an inch from each tuning bolt. Pick the highest pitched and tune all the rest to match this one. For bigger drums pre-stress the head by pushing hard on the head then repeat tuning process. It normally takes a few days and some playing to stabilise the tuning. Just tune the toms to a sequence of tones that sounds good as you play from the small tom to the largest. Normaly you would match the pitch of the bottom head to the top (though you can also tune slightly up or down depending on taste/type os sound required). All this can take years of practice and a good, well trained ear.:eek:

[Jeemag_USA]

Thanks both, yeah they definately have 5 bolts except for the snare and bass drum of course, all three toms have only 5 bolts which confused the heck out of me, i was trying to make a Star of David from a pentangle :Razz

Duncan, do you think its better to have the bottom skins on instead of leaving them off??

[Deemac]

Depends on the sound your after. With on you'll have a more rounded full beefy tone (depending on tob/bottom tuning). With off it will be more open and pure. Depends on the music it will be used against.

With only 5 tuning lugs you will struggle to get it/keep it in tune. The type of head you use (like guitar string guages) will also vary the sound. I would suggest a fairly thick single head to start off with. Remo and Evens are both good with a wide choice of thicknesses.

[The Pepsi Challenge]

Get this gadge to tune your kit for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SCZv7786KY&mode=related&search=