Hi, this is Steve from Drumdial incorporated.
I'm going to show you how to use a Drumdial and how easy it really is in this short video,
the first in our series on drum tuning. Starting with toms. So, Lets get started with the basics.
Starting from finger tight, there are two options when seating a drum
head and both start with the standard criss-cross or star tightening pattern.
I'll be demonstrating both seating methods, starting with pre-tightened seating.
Now using the first seating method is simply to over tighten the drum beyond your
desired tension. This makes the collar or inside edge of the
drum head form to the shape of the bearing edge Over tighten to about 80-85.
Apply hand palm pressure to the center of the head, stretching and seating the drum head. Then loosen the drum head to 3-4 marks below
the tuning number you want. In this case 70 to 72, because we will be
tuning this batter head to a setting of 75. The second drum head seating method is to
do nothing, other than to bring the drum head up to your
desired tension. In this case 75.
This is very common for bottom resonant drum heads, for lower pitched top batter heads and always, always for bottom snare side heads.
Never apply palm pressure to the thin snare side head of a snare drum.
Also, if you decide to not pre-tighten your
batter head we have found that batter heads that are not pre-tightened,
detune very quickly as compared to the
pre-tightened seating method as shown previously. Now, tuning in the star pattern, we'll tune
up to about 71-72 and then will start fine tuning from there in a circular pattern. When tuning tom toms, what we want is a natural
downward chord progression and a similar stick response from each drum.
It is very important to get as close a stick response as possible.
You can only do that by matching the batter head tensions across the toms as
closely as you can. Be sure to fine tune in small increments here.
In this case I will be fine tuning this tom to a standard Drumdial setting of
75 in a circular pattern. 75 is a measurement of Timpanic pressure. The main difference between Drumdial and other
tension meters is Drumdial uses a calibrated mechanism that ensures that all Drumdials
read the same. When you use a Drumdial, it's easy to tune
a drum because the tensions are usually the same between the top and bottom heads.
The depth and diameter of the drum plus your head choice determine the natural pitch.
You don't need to use a calculator or guess at the frequencies between the top and bottom
heads to get the best sound out of your drums.
Drumdial does this automatically. Keep in mind that a thicker batter head will
always have a lower pitch than a thinner resonant head tuned to the same tension. Looks like both the batter and resonant heads
are tuned to 75 and are ready for us to test the lug pitches. Now that each drum head is in tune with itself,
you can be sure that the lug pitches match. Drumdial uses the most accurate testing software
in the industry. The lug pitches on this thin resonant head
are exactly 282.6 Hertz.
A very sharp C4, tuned to exactly 75
on the Drumdial. With Drumdial it's easy to get the best
natural sound and similar stick response from each drum. We test many drums at Drumdial and using spectrum analysis, allows us to make sure the drum is sound balanced for the most resonance and response possible. Lets double check to make sure that the drum
heads are still at 75. Note that the pitch goes higher when we set
the Drumdial on the drum head and then when we lift and release the Drumdial
off the drum head, we can actually hear the lug pitch of the drum. Listen closely, when I lift the tuner off
the drum head. In our next video, we'll tune 12", 13"
and 16" toms to thirds..