I've always had a fetish for TAMA drums, they are SO versitile! You can tune it to have a nice, clean, beautiful studio-perfect sound, but THEN you can also tune them to sound loud, dirty and MEAN!!! >:] TAMA FOREVER!!! \m/_(-_-)
But why do you use Tape? To shorten the sustain you can pitch the reso higher than the top head. This works much better in my opinion. Sorry for my bad english - i hope u can understand what i want to tell you
@gladiatus366 It's the idiot who understands acoustics of the room in which the drums are being recorded, and also understands pick-up patterns of the microphones being used.
What drum heads do you use? And would you recommend the Aquarians Heads you have or the Evans heads you had? What ever one you suggest will you let me now the model of head it is. thanks
@mayoazzzza Both Evans and Aquarian are great. I used to have EC2s on the tom toms, they have great attack. Now I have Aquarians Super 2s and they have more sustain and less attack, with a different tone. Either way you can't go wrong. The bottoms are Evans G1s original Tama heads. Now, for the snare it's Aquarians hands down. I use the PCRD and it sounds so good I won't use anything else. :D
@XthrownX Just two felt strips stacked on top of each other on the resonant ported head. Check my "How I record my Drums" video, part 1. I show the inside of the bass drum there.
Thank you so much; I got a drumdial and it took me ages to find a tone that I liked on it but using this technique I was able to accomplish a better sounding tone in mintues.
I have discovered that if you use two drum keys, one directly across from the other, and do 1/4 turns with both keys at the same, starting with the top and bottom lugs (as you are looking down at it) then do the two on the side, then do the remaining two, your drum will sound like a million bucks.
I have found my twin! I own the Tama Superstar Custom Hyper-Drive, and I tune my drums EXACTLY like this! Glad to see someone with the same technique. :)
@MusicKid1471 Thanks! You really don't have to develop an ear for this. If it's a good quality drum, the shell alone has a fundamental pitch that you can hear by tapping on the shell close to your ears. That's the tone that the heads will *want* to fall in tune at. What you do is just make sure the sustain is the longest you can get with the bottom head, and then do the same with the top head. Don't worry about the relation between the drum heads. When you get the longest sustain, it's in tune.
@MrNickdrummer the tune of a drum is HUGE. i recently left a school where i was in charge of care on a low end 1998 ludwig rocker series kit, and tuning the skins to the shells lead to the drums out of tune with eachother.
now i'm back at home with a 2002 pearl masters series kit and a recently discovered 1979 ludwig, and both of them i just tune the skins to the wrinkle point, get a good resonance from there and they both sound AMAZING. now if i can get the sound guy to keep up...
@XxStrongDrums1996xX The whole kit was custom ordered because those drum sizes were not readily available in any store as one kit. Tama Starclassic Maple. The bass drums were part of the special order.
Ok so what you are saying is that if you find the "fundamental tone of the drum" on each drum the intervals between each comes out automatically? Really? Man I've got to try that. I like Steve smiths toms and the intervals between them so I sit here and figure out what the tone is for each Tom by using a pitch pipe then tune each tom to match. Probably easier your way! By-the -way, I watched your snare tuning video and LOVED how your snare turned out!
@VoicesEchoes1 Yes, really! LOL Assuming your drums are good quality, you can find the fundamental pitch by holding the drum - with no drum heads installed - up to your ear and tapping the shell. You will hear that 'hummmm' at a pitch which is the fundamental pitch of the shell. The heads will have the longest sustain exactly at that pitch. The secret is to getting the bottom head tuned right. Once that's done, the top head will find its 'sweet spot' almost automatically.
"I tune it to where I get the longest sustain possible" ok that helped alot man, thx for that advice!
"After that the top head basically falls in tune on its own" do you do the same with the top one? the longest sustain as possible? or what do you excactly do?
@Tyrisas Yes, same with the top head. The sustain becomes sometimes so long, I have to use the tape as shown in the video. 2 ply top heads will have less sustain than single ply heads, but more attack (stick sound).
@blestdrummer I really don't know because I tune the bottom head to the fundamental tone of the drum. This means I tune it to where I get the longest sustain possible, with a full bodied sound. After that the top head basically falls in tune on its own, with very little effort.
@TheVelazquez95 I tune the floor toms exactly the same way as the tom tom you saw on the video. The only difference is that I don't hold them in the air, too heavy. Get the bottom head tuned first with the longest sustain you can get from the drum and the top head should be a breeze to tune. The bigger the drum, the more stretching of the heads it needs during the tuning process. Don't press too hard so you don't damage the bearing edges. Thanks and good luck!
Do you feel the tension in the rods in the beginning? couse it seems like your tightning all of the abit diffrent not like a half turn on all of them.
@DrumminGaming Yes, as I tune one rod, the others need a few more turns to start tensioning. But that's just at the begining. The important thing at the initial stages of tuning is to make sure the head sits evenly.
I noticed you didn't even out the pitches on the lugs. I could hear different notes when you hit all around the drum. the toms sound great cause it is a hell of a drum set! but trust me, If you get and even pitch on both heads and tune them just how you already tune them... your drums will sound like a dream!
@dinkyemg That is true, it wasn't 100% perfect on this video, but very close. The tom tom sounds at the end of the video are fully tuned though. Thanks!
@MrNickdrummer that explains everything XD I was like... "How do his toms sound so good at the end if when the tom was without the mic it just sounded just ok?! awesome man!
Dude, thank you so very much for this video. I have finally tuned my long-overdue-thatneedstobetuned shitty sounding toms! They now sound ORGASMIC. THANKS!
@luiggiibanez Audix and Shure. Check my channel posts, I answered it there. Yes, Starclassic Maple, check my other video "Paiste Cymbals and Tama Drums Demo". Thanks!
How many times have you out ur fist through a head?
fuckit123 17 hours ago
Nice sounding! thanks ^.^
lumyingluo 5 days ago
I've always had a fetish for TAMA drums, they are SO versitile! You can tune it to have a nice, clean, beautiful studio-perfect sound, but THEN you can also tune them to sound loud, dirty and MEAN!!! >:] TAMA FOREVER!!! \m/_(-_-)
mattlovesdrums25 1 week ago
But why do you use Tape? To shorten the sustain you can pitch the reso higher than the top head. This works much better in my opinion. Sorry for my bad english - i hope u can understand what i want to tell you
Archy8805 1 week ago
Starclassic...GREAT CHOICE!!!
mattlovesdrums25 1 week ago
tuning your drums without a drum dial is pretty badass if your drums come out sounding like its been actually tuned with a drum dial...
redheadlino12 1 week ago
why does the sticker matter in positioning the head?
1y9b9b 2 weeks ago
I love you simply because you use a Tama kit! :P
xXQcAresiusQcXx 2 weeks ago
Who idiot puts TAPE on perfectly good sounding toms?
gladiatus366 3 weeks ago
@gladiatus366 It's the idiot who understands acoustics of the room in which the drums are being recorded, and also understands pick-up patterns of the microphones being used.
MrNickdrummer 3 weeks ago 17
@MrNickdrummer Well, I just meant playing them live without mics, not thinking about studio at all. In studio the taping is fine.
gladiatus366 3 weeks ago
@MrNickdrummer woah...you just served that guy...do you have a vid where you show how to tune the drums with a drum dial?
redheadlino12 1 week ago
Do u tune your reso tighter than the batter?
ricardoieci 3 weeks ago
amazing tom sound, great sounding kit overall
muszyngr 3 weeks ago
what happened to break the head in naturally ?
irok75 4 weeks ago
man so hard for me to tune my drums no idea what's wrong with them
yisoonshin12 1 month ago
HOLY SHIT THOSE SOUND GOOD!!!!
beatlespaz 1 month ago
OH my god that is an amazing sounding kit, one of the best i've heard
EspGuitars1337 1 month ago
What drum heads do you use? And would you recommend the Aquarians Heads you have or the Evans heads you had? What ever one you suggest will you let me now the model of head it is. thanks
mayoazzzza 1 month ago
@mayoazzzza Both Evans and Aquarian are great. I used to have EC2s on the tom toms, they have great attack. Now I have Aquarians Super 2s and they have more sustain and less attack, with a different tone. Either way you can't go wrong. The bottoms are Evans G1s original Tama heads. Now, for the snare it's Aquarians hands down. I use the PCRD and it sounds so good I won't use anything else. :D
MrNickdrummer 1 month ago
@MrNickdrummer wich one is darkest? In sound?
SprayTanBanana 1 month ago
What do you use to muffle the bass drum and what head to you use??? please reply!
XthrownX 1 month ago in playlist Uploaded videos
@XthrownX Just two felt strips stacked on top of each other on the resonant ported head. Check my "How I record my Drums" video, part 1. I show the inside of the bass drum there.
MrNickdrummer 1 month ago
Your drums sound godly... great tuning!
DrummingNonStop 2 months ago
:O my face when i heard the drum amazing the only suggestion i have is that you don't use your key to hit the head
yisoonshin12 2 months ago
Thank you so much; I got a drumdial and it took me ages to find a tone that I liked on it but using this technique I was able to accomplish a better sounding tone in mintues.
Gamerzlife 2 months ago
While listening to your drums .... hello my English is not perfect sorry. urgent as tuning a 8x8 tom please .. video tutorial .. : D thanks
jairorafael23 2 months ago in playlist Favorite videos
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I have discovered that if you use two drum keys, one directly across from the other, and do 1/4 turns with both keys at the same, starting with the top and bottom lugs (as you are looking down at it) then do the two on the side, then do the remaining two, your drum will sound like a million bucks.
audiophile55 2 months ago
Comment removed
IwshIcldstrtover 2 months ago
Never Tap Your tom head with the Key you will put marks on ther head
danalnajes9 3 months ago
I have found my twin! I own the Tama Superstar Custom Hyper-Drive, and I tune my drums EXACTLY like this! Glad to see someone with the same technique. :)
MrBillATW 3 months ago
Awesome video!
How long does it take to develop an ear for this sort of thing? Roughly?
And also, how do you tune the resonant and batter heads in relation to each other? which is higher or are they both the same pitch etc?
Cheers!
MusicKid1471 3 months ago
@MusicKid1471 Thanks! You really don't have to develop an ear for this. If it's a good quality drum, the shell alone has a fundamental pitch that you can hear by tapping on the shell close to your ears. That's the tone that the heads will *want* to fall in tune at. What you do is just make sure the sustain is the longest you can get with the bottom head, and then do the same with the top head. Don't worry about the relation between the drum heads. When you get the longest sustain, it's in tune.
MrNickdrummer 3 months ago
@MrNickdrummer could you do another vid on the new ec2 sst heads please
joeyjuniorjunior 3 months ago
@MrNickdrummer the tune of a drum is HUGE. i recently left a school where i was in charge of care on a low end 1998 ludwig rocker series kit, and tuning the skins to the shells lead to the drums out of tune with eachother.
now i'm back at home with a 2002 pearl masters series kit and a recently discovered 1979 ludwig, and both of them i just tune the skins to the wrinkle point, get a good resonance from there and they both sound AMAZING. now if i can get the sound guy to keep up...
stopmonkey47452 1 month ago
Thanks for the guide!
WhoDrums 3 months ago
Damn ! That's a kit
hangover71 3 months ago
What happens if a head gets out of place?
DontOrderTheSoup 3 months ago
@DontOrderTheSoup It won't sit properly on the bearing edges and it can potentially cause some unwanted noises.
MrNickdrummer 3 months ago
beautiful looking drum, i find that all tama starclassics look amazing, it's the lugs and hoops, they just look amazing !
DrumTam555 3 months ago
great my tom sounds beast but how do i tune the other tom next to it with out making it sound the same xD i fail doing that haha
Robotcam 3 months ago
what a midget tom, i wantt
EvilN00ber 4 months ago
OMG your kit sounds fuckin' amazing.
leon19951209 4 months ago
OMG THE TOMS ARE MADAFAKAING MASTER SOUNDING BITCH OWNED!!! Send me your toms XD
hugo12212 4 months ago
Are you tuning the resonance head higher or lower than the batter head?
ethansk8ter 4 months ago
what kind of kit do you have? And did you have to special order the 24 x 16 kicks?
XxStrongDrums1996xX 4 months ago
@XxStrongDrums1996xX The whole kit was custom ordered because those drum sizes were not readily available in any store as one kit. Tama Starclassic Maple. The bass drums were part of the special order.
MrNickdrummer 4 months ago in playlist More videos from MrNickdrummer
Ok. I'll give it a try. I just love Steve's tuning intervals.
VoicesEchoes1 5 months ago
Ok so what you are saying is that if you find the "fundamental tone of the drum" on each drum the intervals between each comes out automatically? Really? Man I've got to try that. I like Steve smiths toms and the intervals between them so I sit here and figure out what the tone is for each Tom by using a pitch pipe then tune each tom to match. Probably easier your way! By-the -way, I watched your snare tuning video and LOVED how your snare turned out!
Are you by any chance in the SF bay area?
VoicesEchoes1 5 months ago
@VoicesEchoes1 Yes, really! LOL Assuming your drums are good quality, you can find the fundamental pitch by holding the drum - with no drum heads installed - up to your ear and tapping the shell. You will hear that 'hummmm' at a pitch which is the fundamental pitch of the shell. The heads will have the longest sustain exactly at that pitch. The secret is to getting the bottom head tuned right. Once that's done, the top head will find its 'sweet spot' almost automatically.
MrNickdrummer 5 months ago in playlist More videos from MrNickdrummer
"I tune it to where I get the longest sustain possible" ok that helped alot man, thx for that advice!
"After that the top head basically falls in tune on its own" do you do the same with the top one? the longest sustain as possible? or what do you excactly do?
Tyrisas 5 months ago
@Tyrisas Yes, same with the top head. The sustain becomes sometimes so long, I have to use the tape as shown in the video. 2 ply top heads will have less sustain than single ply heads, but more attack (stick sound).
MrNickdrummer 5 months ago in playlist More videos from MrNickdrummer
were you using a noise gate in your video at the end on the whole kit?
shadytree93 6 months ago
@shadytree93 On the drums only, individually. Never on the overheads.
MrNickdrummer 6 months ago
The tuning is the same tension or bottom more tight than top?
blestdrummer 6 months ago
@blestdrummer I really don't know because I tune the bottom head to the fundamental tone of the drum. This means I tune it to where I get the longest sustain possible, with a full bodied sound. After that the top head basically falls in tune on its own, with very little effort.
MrNickdrummer 6 months ago
2B sticks are my favorites thanks for the tutorial
biadrum 7 months ago
Hey can i ask for a vid on how you tune your floor Toms Please they sound amazing
TheVelazquez95 7 months ago
@TheVelazquez95 I tune the floor toms exactly the same way as the tom tom you saw on the video. The only difference is that I don't hold them in the air, too heavy. Get the bottom head tuned first with the longest sustain you can get from the drum and the top head should be a breeze to tune. The bigger the drum, the more stretching of the heads it needs during the tuning process. Don't press too hard so you don't damage the bearing edges. Thanks and good luck!
MrNickdrummer 7 months ago
Do you feel the tension in the rods in the beginning? couse it seems like your tightning all of the abit diffrent not like a half turn on all of them.
DrumminGaming 7 months ago
@DrumminGaming Yes, as I tune one rod, the others need a few more turns to start tensioning. But that's just at the begining. The important thing at the initial stages of tuning is to make sure the head sits evenly.
MrNickdrummer 7 months ago
I LOVE 2B sticks!
GWTFDrummer 7 months ago
my gosh dude, this is probably the best tom tuning video there is on the internet. my toms went from shitty, to amazing after this video! thank you!
switchheelfront360 8 months ago
@switchheelfront360 Thanks! I'm glad it worked out for you too.
MrNickdrummer 8 months ago
I noticed you didn't even out the pitches on the lugs. I could hear different notes when you hit all around the drum. the toms sound great cause it is a hell of a drum set! but trust me, If you get and even pitch on both heads and tune them just how you already tune them... your drums will sound like a dream!
dinkyemg 9 months ago
@dinkyemg That is true, it wasn't 100% perfect on this video, but very close. The tom tom sounds at the end of the video are fully tuned though. Thanks!
MrNickdrummer 9 months ago
@MrNickdrummer that explains everything XD I was like... "How do his toms sound so good at the end if when the tom was without the mic it just sounded just ok?! awesome man!
dinkyemg 9 months ago
This needs so many more views, cause i thought my toms sounded good before. Cheers!
JordanIPlaysPS3 10 months ago
Dude, thank you so very much for this video. I have finally tuned my long-overdue-thatneedstobetuned shitty sounding toms! They now sound ORGASMIC. THANKS!
metathrash121 10 months ago
@metathrash121 You're welcome, I'm glad it worked out for you!
MrNickdrummer 10 months ago
holy shit dude, those toms sound so sweet. What mics do you use? Is that a Starclassic Maple?
luiggiibanez 11 months ago
@luiggiibanez Audix and Shure. Check my channel posts, I answered it there. Yes, Starclassic Maple, check my other video "Paiste Cymbals and Tama Drums Demo". Thanks!
MrNickdrummer 11 months ago
Those floor toms are simply perfect. EC2 heads are my new favorites.
1982Rafael 1 year ago
Absolutely lovely! Great video.
Melonsanz 1 year ago