Tuning a fusion-sized drum kit

[barfie]

I just got a second hand kit and I'm having some trouble tuning my drums. It's a Peace DNA fusion-sized kit, basically it's a smaller set, with a 20" bass, 14" snare, and the toms are 10, 12 and 14 inches.

So i tuned them up last night to a sound that I thought was okay, but the tom-toms' skins were really loose and it was wrinkled and there was a lot of vibration.

Today I tuned the toms up in pitch, now all nice and taut, and sounds quite okay albeit a bit high. I was pretty happy then i tried playing a fill. The 10" tom is higher in pitch than the snare! And it sounds a little bit silly.

What do I do now? Tune the snare up and have a whiny drum set or are loose skins on toms okay? Or should I be doing something else? It's my first drum kit and I'm just learning to drum and tune. Watching tuning videos on Youtube were pretty helpful, but I'm really not sure what a 10" tom should sound like. Hopefully you guys can help me out. Thanks!

 

[zelig]

I just got a second hand kit and I'm having some trouble tuning my drums. It's a Peace DNA fusion-sized kit, basically it's a smaller set, with a 20" bass, 14" snare, and the toms are 10, 12 and 14 inches.

So i tuned them up last night to a sound that I thought was okay, but the tom-toms' skins were really loose and it was wrinkled and there was a lot of vibration.

Today I tuned the toms up in pitch, now all nice and taut, and sounds quite okay albeit a bit high. I was pretty happy then i tried playing a fill. The 10" tom is higher in pitch than the snare! And it sounds a little bit silly.

What do I do now? Tune the snare up and have a whiny drum set or are loose skins on toms okay? Or should I be doing something else? It's my first drum kit and I'm just learning to drum and tune. Watching tuning videos on Youtube were pretty helpful, but I'm really not sure what a 10" tom should sound like. Hopefully you guys can help me out. Thanks!

..

Hi.. i believer i am using the same set as u.... firstly there isnt a "correct: sound for drums, its realli up to preference.... u mention u seen u tube video and shld know abt the oppsite endn thgy? ... yeap... equal amount of turn is quite important as well. For toms i usually like to tune the lower skin to be slightly looser than the top. it give a deep low tone. The top skins should not be too loose or tight. If u mention that u got wrinkles.. means ur tuning around is not equal.. The snare i like to to tune the lower tighter than top.

 

[murderdolls]

Huh ? u mention dat u tuned ur tom very very low and u see wrinkles ? dat means its very low and howcome alot of vibration ?

 

[barfie]

Well, it's a 10 inch tom, but i'm used to playing the 12 inch tom in my school band room. It's pretty high in pitch when i tune it up so that there aren't wrinkles anymore. Actually I thought having wrinkles on the skin meant that it isn't tight enough, I'm not very sure.

As for vibrations, I'm not sure what exactly you would call it, but when it's taut, the toms give off a clean sound. When it was lower in pitch and looser, it'd have a ringing sustain after I hit them, and I didn't like it very much.

Right now what I did was to tune the snare drum up to higher pitch, and it seems to be more or less okay, except it doesn't match the snares of the songs I listen to i.e. rock. All the drums in my kit now are a few keys higher than that. I guess that's what I have to expect from a smaller kit with smaller toms.

Maybe I'll just have to play around with the tuning of the kit a little more. Thanks for the advice so far!

 

[zelig]

Well, it's a 10 inch tom, but i'm used to playing the 12 inch tom in my school band room. It's pretty high in pitch when i tune it up so that there aren't wrinkles anymore. Actually I thought having wrinkles on the skin meant that it isn't tight enough, I'm not very sure.

As for vibrations, I'm not sure what exactly you would call it, but when it's taut, the toms give off a clean sound. When it was lower in pitch and looser, it'd have a ringing sustain after I hit them, and I didn't like it very much.

Right now what I did was to tune the snare drum up to higher pitch, and it seems to be more or less okay, except it doesn't match the snares of the songs I listen to i.e. rock. All the drums in my kit now are a few keys higher than that. I guess that's what I have to expect from a smaller kit with smaller toms.

Maybe I'll just have to play around with the tuning of the kit a little more. Thanks for the advice so far!

having wrinkles means ur turning on each screws are uneven.. means some are tighter than others... and tighten it randomly till u see no wrinkle does not solve the issue... cos it will still be uneven.. and the sound will be super high..

i tink the ring ur tokg abt are ovetone.. Actually it is good for a tom to have alittle of tt.. or else it will sound dead. if it gives out too much overtone means there may be somethg wrg with ya tuning (uneven etc). If it only gives off a little overtone, a moongel or Oring will solve the prob. if the sound is still crappy after u put the oring or moongel, means it still the tuning issue

Another thg is.. i have learnt.. You can never tune ur drumset to sound like what u hear on mp3 or CDs.. becos all of these have been editied thru.. i been through the stage where i kept on tryg to tune to what i hear on CDs and mp3 until i gone crazy... After i know i cant.. i learn to listen to what i am tuning and from there i actually got akind of sound that i like. yeap...

Actually tuning is a process where u cant just depend on the steps alone.. its realli thru time and time of tuning that u learn. I rem i started out with takg like 2-3hrs to tune my drums!!! arghh... crazy...

btw, if ur like stayg at east.. i actually dun mind helpg u out...

 

[ohfunk]

Try using O rings on your toms. They work like a charm..at least for me. The other option is to consider different drumheads.